Sweet Thing (33 page)

“Great, it’s good to see you. Congratulations,” I said, pulling out of the hug and running my hand across her belly.

“Thank you. We’re so excited. We’re having a boy.”

“That’s wonderful, Mia.”

“Oh, hey, I read your new book. I loved it… absolutely beautiful story.”

“Thank you so much. So you two figured everything out, I see?” I said, glancing at her belly and then in Will’s direction.

She nodded and smiled serenely. “But what about you? Did you figure everything out?”

I paused for a long second. “Yes.”

“Good.” She leaned in, kissed me on the cheek and then whispered, “So what’s next?”

I glanced over at Will, who was looking at me like he knew my face but couldn’t place it.

“Well, I can tell you that things may get all muddled up again, especially after that little guy comes along,” I said, pointing to her belly. “Just remember, you can always hear the answers in the music, just the same way I hear them in the writing. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to listen.”

“Right,” she said, nodding, “The sound of our souls.”

“Yep.”

We hugged and then she walked over to Will, who was holding a cab door open for her. She whispered something in his ear; he glanced back and studied me as he got into the car. When he closed the door he smiled really big, blew me a kiss, and mouthed the words, “Goodbye, Lauren.” I thought I caught “sweet thing” as he left my view.

-The End-

For Jackson: The best damn dog in the world. RIP, Buddy.

Acknowledgments

I owe a supreme thanks and credit to the following people for their hard work and professionalism with
Sweet Thing
.

Developmental editing by Jennifer Pooley. Copyediting by Anne Victory at Victory Editing. Digital Formatting by Guido Henkel. Cover Image and design by Carla Toson Photography. Final Proofing by Angela Fones To all of the musical muses: there are no words to express the appreciation I feel for your art and the art born from it.

Seth Fischer and the WWLA gang, Aisling, Aja, Christina, Geoff and Rose: I’m thankful for your passion and assistance.

Gushing gratitude for the friends and relatives who have supported me through this process and extra love to my parents, mother-in-law, brother and sister and their families for embracing my weirdness as uncomfortable as it may be at times, and Dad, thank you especially for your mad internet researching skills.

Tracey Garvis Graves, I was inspired by you and your writing and I’m so grateful for the time you took to answer my emails just to help a fellow writer and relative stranger. I could not have ventured into the self-publishing world without your help.

Tanner J. Jupin—not just because I said I would, but also because I’m grateful for your kind words and encouragement.

Rachel, thanks for listening to the meandering, late night rants and for helping me put Mia and Will through the wringer.

There were so many great lessons I learned on this journey. None more than the importance of taking it seriously while laughing to the point of tears and being brave and embracing vulnerability, taught to me by Terry Littlefield, a great beta reader, friend, and Yogi.

To Heather, who was able to find even the most elusive of errors—you have hawk eyes, lady. I will never forget our conversation the night you finished the book. Thank you for your words and friendship all these years.

My dear friend, Carla, I could not have finished it without your time and energy. Thank you for treating this with a seriousness that gave me the courage to continue.

I know
Sweet Thing
would have been a nameless, twenty-five-page purge of silliness forever entombed on my computer had it not been for Angie, the ultimate first reader, cheerleader, BFF, and hopeless romantic—thank you, every step of the way for basically saying, “Write more, send more, and I still love you.”

To Sam and Tony: my beautiful, brilliant and patient boys, thank you for inspiring me to do better. I love you above and beyond the world around and the spirit within.

And finally, to Anthony, who for the record pointed out Will should not say, “Please, woman” to Mia because he thought is sounded misogynistic. You are the coolest, most hardworking, and honest guy I know. Thank you for encouraging me, believing in me, and loving me wholeheartedly… and thank you for all the raw material… wink.

About the Author

Renee’s first friends were the imaginary kind and even though her characters haven’t gone away, thankfully the delusions have. She admits she’s a wildly hopeless romantic and she blames 80’s movies staring Molly Ringwald for that. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog June. When she’s not at the beach with her boys or working on the next book, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate. This is her first novel. You can visit her website and drop her a message at www.reneecarlino.com.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Track 1: Fledglings

Track 2: Hello, I Like You

Track 3: Ask Me

Track 4: Cheers, Baby

Track 5: Religion

Track 6: You Get That, Right?

Track 7: What Would J.C. Do?

Track 8: Hopes and Dreams

Track 9: Mystical Alchemy

Track 10: TGIF

Track 11: Benediction

Track 12: Prayer for Each Other

Track 13: The Sound of His Soul

Track 14: Wait, What?

Track 15: Hallelujah

Track 16: Lies, Lies, Lies

Track 17: Angels’ Wings

Track 18: A Violin

Track 19: A Cautionary Tale

Track 20: The Sound of Her Soul

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Table of Contents

Prologue

Track 1: Fledglings

Track 2: Hello, I Like You

Track 3: Ask Me

Track 4: Cheers, Baby

Track 5: Religion

Track 6: You Get That, Right?

Track 7: What Would J.C. Do?

Track 8: Hopes and Dreams

Track 9: Mystical Alchemy

Track 10: TGIF

Track 11: Benediction

Track 12: Prayer for Each Other

Track 13: The Sound of His Soul

Track 14: Wait, What?

Track 15: Hallelujah

Track 16: Lies, Lies, Lies

Track 17: Angels’ Wings

Track 18: A Violin

Track 19: A Cautionary Tale

Track 20: The Sound of Her Soul

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author