Page 88 of The Write Choice

“Did you need something, Daniel?” I ask gruffly.

“Well, if you’re done making out in my kitchen, we were wondering if you wanted to join us for the end of this movie.” He ticks his head toward the basement door in invitation.

I look at Katie questioningly. “We could leave the kids here and go back home to properly make up.” I wink. Daniel coughs indelicately.

She shakes her head. “The gang’s all here. Let’s enjoy it.” She leans in and nips my earlobe. “We can properly make up later,” she whispers.

I keep her hand in mine as I stand, pulling her up with me. As soon as we get to the open door, we can hear the kids’ joyful yelling and a few adults punctuating the sounds with warnings or laughter.

Daniel descends first, but Katie and I take an extra moment at the top of the stairs before joining everyone. It’s absolute chaos, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. As she gazes up at me, I know she feels the same. I give her hand an extra squeeze as we walk down the stairs. Together.

Epilogue

Katie

Six Months Later

I’m running a few minutes late between meetings, which usually tends to set me on edge. But, this time, my first meeting of the day was with a sober community I visited at the urging of both Brandon and Nora. They both insisted it would be good for me to have a group of people with shared experiences, and I think they were right. It felt good to hear from people who had the same thoughts and temptations as I do, which brought an unexpected sense of ease to my morning. Now, I’m on my way down the hall of Leade Park High School, clutching my purse and sporting a bright orange visitor’s badge.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Mr. Mac,” Daniel says to a chorus of laughter as soon as I walk in the classroom door. Mac rolls her eyes from her perch on a stool at the outskirts of her classroom. “Okay, okay. I’m Mr. Evans. This is Mrs. Conley.” He indicates me, and I wave. “Ms. Mac asked us here to kick off your first unit in this brand-new creative writing class. Isn’t it exciting that this class got started because your brilliant teacher saw you were all interested and pitched it to your school administrators?”

“You flatter me,” Mac says flatly, though she’s fighting the blush rising in her cheeks. The students laugh again.

I didn’t know what to expect when Mac asked me to join Daniel for a question-and-answer session with her class but watching them together in front of the students is something special. They play off each other beautifully, almost like they both belong in front of the twenty-eight students staring at us, waiting for us to say something profound.

“Anyway,” Daniel continues, “I’m a writer. You may have heard of me. I’ve written a few books that have been pretty popular.” More laughter. “And Mrs. Conley is working on her very first children’s book that she’s writing and illustrating.”

Two of the girls in the back of the room perk up. One wiggles in her seat so she can sit up straighter, suddenly interested in what we have to say.

“Katie, do you want to talk a little about that to kick us off?” Mac asks, clearly trying to tone down Daniel’s enthusiasm by letting me start.

“Sure,” I say slowly. I look out at the classroom and remind myself that I belong here just as much as anyone else, even if my book isn’t published yet. “I’m an artist. I’ve always loved painting, and a few months ago, I started drawing a bunch of panels that all kind of went together. It told the story of two kids who loved their dad, but their dad sometimes made some tough choices they didn’t like. The book is about how they work through that as a family.” I glance at Mac, who nods encouragingly. “I’m not sure how I’ll publish it yet, but I’m looking into self-publishing.”

“Which is a great way to get your work out there, and just as valid as traditional publishing,” Mac adds. “This is an excellent opportunity for you all to ask questions. You have two very different writers here. Daniel writes very dense, difficult novels—”

“Wow. Thanks,” he says sarcastically.

Mac simpers. I love them, I think as I chuckle to myself. And, not for the first time, I’m so glad they brought me into their little group here in Leade Park.

“He works with a publishing house and an agent and editor, the whole nine yards. Katie is working on a children’s book, which as you can imagine, is much lighter but no less difficult. She’s thinking about publishing it herself, which I assume she’s done a lot of research on.” She raises her eyebrows in question.

I nod. “A ton of research.” I widen my eyes dramatically, and the students laugh. It feels good to make them laugh. Better than I had thought it would.

“Okay.” Mac claps her hands. “Who would like to ask the first question?”

What follows is a lively, full-hour class where the students ask us all kinds of questions. They ask us about everything, from the difficulty of illustrating versus writing, to how to query agents, to whether or not I need an editor for a self-published children’s book. They are so curious about the process of writing and publishing that we don’t get a break until the bell rings. Even then, a few students come up to us on their way out to thank us or ask something they were too shy to say in front of class.

When the last student has filed out of the room, Mac beams at us.

“That was amazing. They were so engaged!”

Daniel crosses the room and side-hugs her as he plants a kiss on her temple. “Happy to help. Right, Katie?”

“That was great,” I say. “I’d do that again any time.”

Mac claps her hands and bounces a little in excitement. “And now, off to the ground-breaking ceremony for the new addition!” She giggles. Mac might be the only person more excited about this addition than Brandon’s employees. After much deliberation, the school board selected the design of one of his junior architects, Thalia. He said that was a pivotal moment for her career. I love a good single-mom comeback story.

“I’ll meet you both down there.” I throw my purse over my shoulder, “Brandon is bringing the kids, and I want to do the trade-off early so he can get ready.”