Epilogue
One year later
Arlyn mingled through the crowd, making sure to keep her
breathing steady and her eyes on either Molly or Cordel. They had both teamed
up to insure she came to the book launch. It had taken a little longer than the
publishing house wanted to release the book. Cordel had insisted they wait
until Arlyn was healthy enough to finish the book and Molly had threatened to
quit and take her entire client list with her if they didn’t adhere to Cordel’s
demands.
The publishing house had agreed to push the release day back
and even covered Arlyn’s hospital bill that wasn’t covered by her insurance.
They knew making Arlyn happy was the surest way to make Cordel happy.
She stood by Molly and scanned the crowd for Cordel. Once
she found him, she was surprised to find that he was looking at her. Of
everyone in the crowded room, he acted as if he saw only her and as she looked
at him, she felt as if he were the only one in the room. He had made good on
his promise to be patient and in turn she had ventured more and more out of her
comfort zone. She wasn’t traveling the world with him, but he had opened the
world up to her none-the-less. He was showing her what living was like, instead
of just existing.
She gave him a small finger wave, as his assistant, Hillary,
ushered him onto the stage.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said. “We’ve heard from the
publishing house and fantastic my editor, Molly O’Hanaghan, so I guess it’s my
turn to get up here and talk, something we all know I love to do.”
The crowd chuckled.
“When the studio came to me asking if I wanted to write a
memoir of sorts, I laughed. I was surprised they knew I could put two words
together, much less write a book. I jumped at the chance, or I guess I should
say, my ego did.”
Another round of laughter.
“And I knew exactly who I wanted to write it with. Now, it’s
common knowledge that I had help. Most of us in the business do, no matter what
the others say. I, however, am humble enough to admit it.”
As the crowd laughed again, Arlyn looked at Molly. “You
don’t think he’s going to pull me on stage or say my name do you?”
She could feel her nerves racing around in her belly.
“He can’t,” said Molly, “he signed a nondisclosure,
remember.”
“Do you really think that’ll stop him?”
“Now, I can’t say this person’s name. I’m legally obligated
to keep it a secret or I would shout it from the rooftops. I couldn’t have done
it without them. This person not only found me on the page, but they helped me
see the world in a different light. That it is okay to be still and appreciate
the bliss of not having to run anywhere. This person has made me understand the
world from a completely different angle, and I am a better person for it.” He
held up his glass of champagne. “So let us salute those who got me this far, my
parents, God bless them for not strangling me during my teens, the publishing
house, The Voyage Channel, my staff and crew, Hillary, my fantastic assistant,
Molly, and those people who have helped me all along the way become what I am,
especially the one that I can’t name.” He looked right at Arlyn. “To you I say
thank you and I love you.”
The crowd drank and applauded as Cordel stepped off the
stage. Hillary handed him a book as he made his way to Arlyn.
“Great speech,” she said. “Thank you for not mentioning me.”
“I knew you wouldn’t want it,” said Cordel as he kissed her
on the cheek. “But I did get you a book.”
He held up a copy of his memoir.
“I have that book,” she said. “It’s a best seller, all
serious book owners need one on their shelf.”
“You might have a book, but you don’t have this one,” said
Cordel. “It’s a signed copy. Go ahead, read the inscription.”
Arlyn took the book and flipped it open to the title page:
My dearest Arlyn,
I hope you will
continue this grand adventure with me for the rest of our lives? Will you marry
me?
Cordel Foster
Tears of joy swam in Arlyn’s eyes as she closed the book and
nodded. Cordel wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. She worried
she might go into cataplexy, because she had never been so happy, but she also
knew if she fell, he would catch her.
The End
Note from the author:
Thank you so much for
taking this journey with me. I appreciate you all understanding that this is a
rough draft. Thank you for ignoring my typos, grammar mistakes, and other
errors. Dream On will now go through my quality control of content edits, copy edits,
and Beta edits. The story will change, it always does, so I hope when the
e-book becomes available you will take this journey with me again. A writer is
nothing without readers, I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for your
support.
