Page 50 of Where You Go (Whisper Lake 5)

He blinked back his emotions. This was not the time or the place for them. He could do that later. Right now, he wanted to be present and commit to memory his mom’s reaction to the news he was about to tell her.

“Actually, I asked Liv to come and meet you because you are such a big Harper Rose fan.”

“Oh!” His mom clapped her hands in front of her. “Are you a fan, too?! I love her! She is my favorite author. I’ve read everything she’s ever written. I can’t wait till book six of Rogues come out! Have you read Rogues?! If you haven’t, you have to! There’s one more book left in the series, it’s the Duke of Havenshire’s book. I think he’s going to end up with Rebecca, who has been pining after him for years, not that he’s noticed. He seems totally oblivious! But I think he’s going to take the blinders off and finally see what’s right in front of him.”

He loved his mom’s big reactions to things, and today she did not disappoint. If he let her continue, she’d keep talking about Harper Rose for hours.

“I’m wondering the same thing.” Grady turned to Liv. “Is he?”

Liv smiled at him.

“How would she know, Grady? Wait!” His mom gasped. “Did the book come out?” She grabbed her Kindle off the side of the bed. “I didn’t get an email from Amazon!”

“The book is not out yet.” Liv smiled as she glanced over at Grady. He could tell she was asking if it was okay to reveal her identity, he gave her a nod. She turned back to his mom. “It’s not out yet, because I haven’t finished writing it.”

His mom looked up from her device, her brows knitted. “You haven’t finis…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened as her hand clapped over her mouth.

“Mom, Liv is a romance author, and her pen name is Harper Rose.” Grady spelled it out to her because he knew that she was probably in a little bit, or a lot, of shock.

“How did this…? How did you…?” She looked at Grady. “How is she…?”

He knew his mom well enough to answer her unfinished questions. “I didn’t know who she was until we were dancing at the wedding reception last night. She’s going back home to Chicago today but I asked her if she wouldn’t mind coming to meet you before she left.”

Her eyes shot to Liv and there was an urgency in her voice. “Who does the Duke end up with?! Is it Rebecca?”

Liv bit her lip, and he could see that she was actually considering telling his mom. He’d tried to warn her that she would ask, but maybe she’d thought he was kidding.

“Mom, she can’t—”

Liv stood from her chair cutting off his explanation. He watched as she leaned over and whispered in his mom’s ear. He tried to hear what she was saying, but she was a very good whisperer. His mom’s face split into a wide smile as she listened.

When Liv sat back down his mom clutched her chest. “That is so perfect.”

Liv smiled at him. His mom might think the book was perfect, but he thought that this was. This was the most perfect moment in his life.

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