Mending Hearts (13 page)

Next, we see Arden Aoide.
Emma and I both buy her
book
Tame.
Arden has fiery red
hair, which does not surprise me. I read her biography online and
she is a hoot. Her Bio reads
“Obstinate
Insomniac, Introverted Anarchist, Juvenile Humorist, Red Lipstick
Fetishist, Cat Herder, Lazy Housekeeper, Foodie, Compiler of Lists”
— and that’s only a few things about her
.
We get our picture taken with her
and I swear I could stay there all day talking to her. After she
signs the books and the bag, we leave.

Emma pulls out several books
written by David Bruce, who writes books about anecdotes and good
deeds, and he writes easy-to-read retellings of classic plays by
William Shakespeare and epic poems by Homer and Virgil. When we are
next to see him, Emma hands him three books to sign:
The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds, The Funniest
People in Dance
, and
The Funniest People in Comedy.
I buy
and have him sign his book
William
Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar:
A Retelling in Prose
.
David Bruce complains, “Currently, someone seems to be buying one
of my e-book anecdote collections almost every day, reading it, and
then returning it for a refund. I don’t blame him or her; for some
people, a dollar is a lot of money. If I ever meet that person, he
or she will probably tell me, ‘I’ve read 40 or 50 of your anecdote
collections, and not one is worth the time it takes to read it.’”
He is a complainer; I like that in a person. We get our picture
taken with him before we leave. 

“
Emma, do you think Brice
and Alec would like to come to a book signing?” Brooke asks
seriously. 

“
I think it depends on the
genre.” 

 “
Oh, definitely. I
think as soon as I self-publish my first book, I’m going to gift
Brice and Alec tickets to attend my first book
signing.” 

Emma says, “That’s a good idea. I think
they’ll enjoy a multiple genre book signing. Alec loves to read
thrillers, nonfiction, and sci-fi.” 

“
Brice does, too, but I’m
going to make sure it’s strictly steamy romance and erotica, with
some BDSM thrown in,” I say, laughing. 

“
Brooke, that is hilarious,
I would love to see them squirm.” 

“
Did you see some of the
swag that
is being offered here? Penis
candies, penis pens, chocolate penis lollipops. I think they’ll do
more than squirm.”

We walk around laughing and
look at the seating chart and see that DB Jones and Brenda Kennedy
are sharing a table. The line seems to move fairly quickly for DB
Jones and for Brenda Kennedy. Emma finds the books in her bag that
she wants signed and we move up in line a little more. Emma has
three books of DB Jones she wants signed along with her bag:
Storms of Winter, Nights of Autumn, and Summer
Heat.
While I’m talking to Brenda Kennedy,
Emma talks to DB Jones. 

“
So, you’re a fan of
cliffhangers, I see.” I look up and Brenda is talking to me. I hand
her the three books of her first trilogy —
A New Beginning, Saving
Angel
, and
Destined to Love —
to sign and say,
“Yes, I love them. But I am really in love with Mason. I could read
about him forever.” 

“
Good, thank you. While I
sign these, why don’t you help yourself to some
swag?” 

“
Thank you, I will. I’m
currently writing a book, I was hoping maybe you could give me some
pointers,” I say, nervously. 

“
What is your
name?” 

“
My name is
Brooke.” 

“
Brooke, are you going to
write a cliffhanger book for a series?” 

“
I am. I love them, so I
decided I’ll write about what I love.” 

“
What genre will you write
in?” Brenda asks.

“
I read romance, so I
thought I would write soft romance, not erotic, although I read
that, too, on occasion.” 

“
Good, I think you’re on the
right track. I also think you should know, not everyone likes a
cliffhanger ending to a book. So be prepared for that. Those
one-star reviews can sting.” 

“
I see, I never thought
about that. What do you do about that?” I watch as she puts my
signed paperbacks into a gift bag and hands it to me.

“
What I do when I get a
one-star review because my book is a cliffhanger, I write another
cliffhanger trilogy.” She laughs and says, “People say they don’t
like cliffhangers, but I bet these are the same people who watch
soap operas or the
Twilight Saga
or
The Walking
Dead
. They love the shows that don’t
end
or that take a long time to end. People
also claim they don’t like the band Nickelback and how many albums
did they sell?” 

“
Millions.” I
smile.

“
Exactly. Nickelback is like
that restaurant that Yogi Berra says no one goes to anymore because
it is too crowded. Do you know how Nickelback got its
name?” 

“
No.” 

“
Lead singer Chad Kroeger’s
brother worked at a Starbuck’s, where coffee sold for $1.95, so
customers got a nickel back. Brooke, you write about what you love
and enjoy the ride. Oh yeah, and write trilogies, have Books 1 and
2 end with cliffhangers, and make Book 1 free.” 

“
Trilogies, cliffhangers,
and a free first book. Got it and thank you, I
will.” 

Emma and I meet up and she takes a drink of
a bottle of water with DB Jones’ book cover advertised on it.
“What’s that?” I ask. 

“
Water.” 

“
Emma I know it’s water, but
DB Jones has her own water?” 

“
Yep and she makes her own
wine glass charms.” 

“
Wow, DB Jones is a rock
star.” 

Emma and I walk around and Emma asks every
author to sign her canvas bag. We use Goodreads to search for
information about some authors we aren’t familiar with. After I
purchase a few more books, Emma and I head out to do some shopping
and sightseeing. 

Molly

After I gather up my things, I walk around,
saying my goodbyes to the people I have been in recovery with the
last 45 days. It is definitely a bittersweet day. I walk back into
my room and, Sally, one of the counselors, comes in and tells me my
mom and dad are in the lobby waiting for me. 

“
Thank you. I also wanted to
thank you for everything you have done to help me over the past 45
days.” I nervously run my hands up and down my
jeans. 

Sally walks further into the room. “Molly,
you’re very welcome. You have nothing to worry about.” 

“
The last 45 days I felt
like I could do this, but now I’m scared to death to
leave.” 

“
Like we taught you in
group, stay focused on what is important, and you’ll do fine. I
believe in you, now you have to believe in
yourself.” 

“
Thank you.” I hug her and
then I gather my things. We walk to the main lobby where mom and
dad are waiting for me. I say my goodbyes and follow my parents out
the door and to the car. On the drive home I get a text from
Bobby.

Bobby:
How are you, Doll?
 

Molly:
Great. On my way home. How are you?
 

Bobby:
Better than ever. I was hoping I could see you when you get
home.
 

Molly:
What about your wife? I don’t want to cause
problems.

Bobby:
Sorry, Doll, Leah’s reading the text with me and she said not
to worry about that. She would like to have you, your daughter, and
some of your friends over to celebrate. A graduation party for the
both of us.
 

Molly:
Sounds like fun and thank you, Leah and
Bobby.
 

Bobby:
Good, I’ll text you the time and the address later. Thank
care, Doll.
 

Molly:
See you soon.

I get another text from Adam. He sent me an
emoticon of an animated person wearing a graduation cap and gown. I
laugh out loud before I show my mom the picture on my cellphone. My
dad is driving, so I try to explain it to him. Adam, Bobby, my
parents, and Raelynn wrote me almost every day. I don’t think a day
went by that I didn’t receive mail from someone. The people I left
at the facility will be reminded of me for a long time because of
all the glitter. 

We pull up in the driveway of my parents’
home and I think I’m waiting for a craving to hit me or a memory of
a craving to come at me at full force, but nothing happens. I shake
off the feeling of doom and help my dad get my things from the
trunk. 

“
I’m glad to have my little
girl back,” my dad says.

“
Thanks, dad, I’m glad to be
back.” 

Smiling, we walk into the
house. I go into my old bedroom and see that it has all new
bedding, lamps, and curtains in it. The flowery bedding with the
butterflies has been replaced with a white-and-black
zebra-stripe comforter set. A desk in front of the
large double window has a wrapped present on it.

“
Your father and I thought
you may have outgrown the flowers and
butterflies.” 

“
Maybe just a little,
although I still liked them in high school.” 

“
I would have bought you
Care Bears if your mother would have let me,” my father says as he
walks further into the room. “You know, you’ll always be my little
girl.” 

“
I know and thank you,
dad.” 

“
Molly, we bought you
something.” 

I look at the beautifully wrapped gift, and
then I look back to my mom. “You didn’t have to buy me
anything.” 

My mom smiles at me and says softly, “We
wanted to get you something. We hope you like it.” 

“
Go ahead, Molly, open it,”
my dad says.

I walk over to the gift and set it on my
bed. I carefully unwrap it and smile when I see what it is. “Oh, my
God, I have always wanted this. This is the best camera out there.
You shouldn’t have.” 

My dad walks over and picks up the box I am
holding. “We know how much photography meant to you. We’re hoping
maybe you can get back into it.” 

“
Dad, this camera is too
much. It must have cost you…” 

“
Molly, we wanted to get it
for you. We shopped around, and this is one of the better ones,” my
mom says.

“
Please, we want you to have
it. Let’s see what this baby can do,” my dad says as he removes the
camera
and lens from the box.

“
Oh, dad, I think you need
to return that. These cameras are very expensive.” I watch as my
dad removes everything from the box and then reads the
instructions. “Dad, are you listening to me? I can’t take
that.” 

“
Molly, listen to me.” My
dad looks at me and says, “Consider this an investment, not a gift.
I know photography at one time was your passion. Your mother and I
believe it can be again. In a few months, or even a few years, when
you start making this your profession, then that’ll be our
repayment.” 

I nod and smile. “Thank you, I love
it.” 

“
Here, put this together
before I break it.” My dad laughs as he hands me the camera and the
many parts. 

“
I’m going to start dinner
while you two play with Molly’s new toy.” 

“
Hang on, Bridget, I’m
coming with you. Molly, do you need anything?” 

“
No, I’m fine. I’ll be down
in a few minutes.” 

After dinner I call Alec to make sure it’s
still ok that I come over to tuck Raelynn into bed. I invite mom
and dad to come with me because I don’t want them to worry about if
that’s where I’m really going or if I’ll be right home. They both
decline to come, and they tell me to be careful.

On the drive there I suddenly feel free and
scared. If I wanted to screw up, this would be my chance. I turn
the music up and focus my attention on Raelynn. I pull up at the
gate of their home and push the button and wait to be buzzed
through. When the large house comes into view, I can see Raelynn
standing on the porch and smiling. I park my car and she runs down
the stairs and into my arms. It feels so good to hold my
daughter.

“
I missed you so much,
mommy.” 

“
Oh, Rae, you have no idea
how much I have missed you.”

“
Are you all
better?” 

“
I am. I got the cards you
and James wrote me.” 

“
Did you like the
glitter?” 

“
Raelynn, I loved the
glitter,” I say, taking her hand and walking up the front porch
with her. 

“
Hi, Molly, please come
in.” 

“
Hi, Emma, thank
you.” 

Emma shuts the door and says, “Raelynn, why
don’t you show your mom your bedroom and then come back down for
your bedtime snack.” 

“
Ok, Emma, can I show her
Bubby’s room, too?”