Chapter 1: When Lola Met Scott

Seven months earlier...the end of May

“It’s so lovely to see you again, Lola,” Rachel Chapin said, taking Lola’s hands in both of hers. “Are you ready for today?”

As Silver Lake’s first lady mayor, Rachel had taken it upon herself to introduce new ideas that would not only bring the usual suspects together for the Annual Arts Awards Ceremony but that would also draw in the town’s newest and hippest residents. It was organized to entice the younger set, the ones who had moved into the two or three developments growing up on the town’s outskirts. The ceremony, which before this year had only showcased the work of visual artists, would for the first time include what Rachel had dubbed “Blogbusters”, which allowed her to include the work of gardeners, cooks, photographers, poets, and writers who shared their work in blogs online as well as in more traditional ways.

And this year, also for the first time, the keynote speaker for the morning’s ceremony was to be Lola herself. She was one of the award recipients, and to hear Rachel tell it, her blog, "A Fine Romance", was one of the most popular of its kind on the Internet. Lola had no idea about any of that. She supposed she could find out if she tried, but she was too busy to worry about it. Between her actual work of writing and academic editing, and the challenges of publishing her work independently as well as through traditional channels, she had no time left over for frivolous Internet searches. She had simply taken Rachel’s word for it and smiled her thanks.

Now, she smiled in greeting. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Mrs. Chapin.”

“Now, now, haven’t I told you you’re to call me Rachel? What’s with all the formality?” Rachel rolled her eyes at Lola. “You island folk are so formal all the time.”

Lola chuckled at the mayor’s reference to her Caribbean heritage. “Old habits die hard, Mrs...Rachel,” she hastened to correct herself when the mayor sharpened her gaze at her.

“Try harder,” that lady said with a wide grin. “Please follow Hermine,” she continued, turning to her assistant. “She’ll show you to breakfast and then to where we’ve set you up for the book sales and signings afterward. And again, thank you for being such a good sport about all this.”

“It’s my pleasure, M...Rachel.”

Rachel chuckled as Lola stumbled over her name again and then turned to welcome the next VIP. Lola followed the young woman into a large room that had been set up with tables laden with all sorts of breakfast goodies.

“Please help yourself to what you need, Ms. Cassidy,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be back in about half an hour to show you to your display table and then we’ll head to the podium. Will that be enough time for you?”

“Yes, thank you...Hermine, is it?” When the assistant nodded, she added, “Half an hour will be fine.”

Food that she didn’t have to prepare herself always seemed to taste better to Lola. She savored the delicious, perfectly cooked bacon, the scrambled eggs, the perfectly toasted bread which she slathered with butter because why not? She had taken a day off to indulge herself and she wasn’t going to feel guilty about a little butter. The rich dark coffee was a delight, waking her up all the way once she’d doctored it with flavored cream and sugar. She was just finishing it when Hermine returned. She poured herself a second cup, added more fixings, and followed the assistant to another large room where tables had been set up and piled with books. Next to each table were boxes, presumably with more books, in the event that all the ones on the table were sold out.

“We’ve put you here,” Hermine told her, gesturing to the first table on the right wall, a few feet away from the entryway. We’ll supply you with cold water as needed. Just raise a hand and someone will be with you to help you.”

Lola looked down at the table, which had two pens at the ready, some swag that she had managed to get in time for the event, and copies of her latest novel, "Commander-in-Chief". She felt a shot of pride in what she had accomplished in the last five years, once she decided to give writing for herself a shot. This was her tenth novel, and she was feeling the burn of exhaustion since it had been self-published, but she wouldn’t change anything about how it came to be. As a result of trying to sell it around to publishing houses, she had a brand new contract for a three-book series that was to start in the new year. Life was great.

“Thank you, Hermine. This looks lovely.”

“Well then, if you’re ready, we can head to the auditorium. The ceremony won’t begin for another fifteen minutes or so, but I imagine you’d like to be in your seat before then.”

“Who’s been telling on me?” Lola asked with a chuckle. She hated being late to anything.

Hermine echoed her amusement. “I follow your blog,” she said, as if that explained everything.

Which it did. Lola shared the uncomplicated parts of herself on her blog, like the fact that being late terrified her since she hated being the center of attention. So how had she gotten herself into this situation where all eyes would be on her? She didn’t have time to ponder that now. She needed to get her head in the game, and being in her seat before it began sounded like an excellent plan.