when I read it.”
I looked up. “Oh no. I cried when I wrote it, and I wanted to make my readers feel, but I didn’t want you to cry.”
The woman laughed. “No, it’s a good thing. I’m one of those people who likes when books make me cry.”
I laughed, too, and pretended to wipe my forehead. “Whew.” After signing the book, I gave it back to the reader. “Thank you for reading it.”
The reader hugged it and walked away.
As soon as she was gone, Harper said, “Your book really was amazing, but I still think Colin and Jane should have ended up together.”
I rolled my eyes. We’d had this conversation more than once. “Travis is my Levi.”
Levi was a guitarist in a band. Harper had fallen madly in love with him, but in the end, things hadn’t worked out for them. She’d been heartbroken for months but eventually moved on, found Ian, and gotten married.
“He’s not my Ian. My Ian is still out there.”
Harper shook her head. “Travis is not your Levi. Travis is maturer than Levi, not a partier who will never settle down.”
“Okay, you have a point. But he’s not my Ian either.”
“He is. You’ll see.”
I doubted that.
I hadn’t heard from Travis at all. Derek had texted me to say that he had given the book to Travis last weekend, but it had been crickets since. I didn’t really know what I’d expected Travis to say in response, but I’d thought he would have said something. Even just a simple thank-you would have been nice. I had hoped that he would at least give the story a chance and maybe forgive me. I didn’t expect him to take me back, but it would be nice to not have him hate me, too.
Two readers came up to my table, and one of them picked up Beautifully Broken with Travis on the cover. One of them started whispering to the other, and all I could hope was that they’d buy it. I had ordered extra copies with the intention of going to the Iowa book signing with Travis to sign them. I had a buttload that I would love to get rid of, so I didn’t have to look at his face every time I opened the case where I kept all my paperbacks.
I almost regretted putting him on the cover, except that I had to admit that it was still one of my favorites.
“Is this Travis Zehler?” one of the ladies asked.
“Yep, that’s him.”
The two looked at each other and squealed. “We just saw him.”
They must have been at the Iowa book signing the prior weekend. It wasn’t unusual for readers to go to more than one, especially if they lived in a central location.
“You two are lucky,” I said, hoping that would shut the conversation down. I didn’t want to talk about him.
“He’s super nice,” one of them said.
“He is,” Harper said, so I didn’t have to comment.
“Too bad he’s taken,” the other reader said.
My breath caught in my throat, and Harper clutched my hand under the table.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked.
The first one shrugged. “That’s what he said when people asked him.”
Tears stung my eyes. He’s moved on already?
It had been over a month, but he already had a girlfriend.
I pushed my chair back. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.”
I ran out of the room, not caring if anyone was looking at me, and out of the hotel. I walked around to the side of the building, away from everyone coming and going, and let myself cry.
I pounded my fist against the wall. Damn it. I’d thought I was done crying over this guy.
I let the tears flow because I couldn’t go back in there with my emotions all bottled up. After a few minutes, I felt a little more like myself. I took a couple of deep breaths and went back inside, straight toward the restroom. I blew my nose and cleaned up my makeup. My eyes and nose were still a little red, but hopefully, that would calm down soon.
With my head held high, I went back to the room where the book signing was. When I got to my table, Harper was still there with sympathy-filled eyes.
“What did you tell the readers after I bolted? I’m guessing they aren’t going to come back and buy the book,” I joked.
Harper raised her eyebrows. “Oh no, they both bought a copy. They said they were going to come back to have you sign