Tia stood between the two desks as she used her phone to navigate to her in-box. The dress she’d been wearing for the photo shoot was gorgeous. She had no doubt it had photographed well. It was her face she was worried about. Had Miguel been trying to enhance or hide her scars?

Butterflies rioted in her stomach as she found the email Nina had been referring to and downloaded the attachment.

The cover had a wintry theme, as she’d expected. She saw that in a general sense right away but wouldn’t allow herself to look directly at her own picture. She was so nervous she had to ease into it.

First, her eyes ran over the shout lines that touted the content. A new year of fit and healthy, The best of plant-based eating and Oscar hopefuls were three she read before coming to the blurb that corresponded with the cover: Tia Beckett. Accident. Recovery. And an Oscar nod for Expect the Worst?

It all sounded so matter-of-fact. So...possible.

At last, she allowed her eyes to focus on the subject of the cover, and because her knees suddenly went weak, she had to lean on one of the desks.

The thud of her own heartbeat filled her ears as she stared at herself for several seconds. Then she felt a huge smile spread across her face. She wasn’t as beautiful as she used to be. But she didn’t look as bad as she’d expected, either. As a matter of fact, given the circumstances, she looked pretty darn good. The team at People hadn’t hidden her scars, but they hadn’t done anything to make them more apparent, either.

Hugging her phone to her chest, she let her breath seep out in relief. She’d made the cover of People, just like she’d dreamed about when she was a little girl. She was going to take a moment to celebrate that accomplishment, to be grateful for it.

When she was ready, she finally turned to the article inside and perused the photographs they’d included with it, before reading the headline: Up-and-coming actress Tia Beckett. After surviving a near-fatal accident, Tia looks forward to mental and physical healing and, possibly, an Oscar for one of the best performances of the year.

“What are you doing? Are you okay?”

Tia looked up to see Seth.

“Nina sent me the cover,” she explained.

“The woman you’ve been dealing with at People?”

With a nod, she held up her phone, and he strode over to take it.

“Wow,” he said on a long exhale. “You gotta be proud of that, Tia. It’s drop-dead gorgeous. You’re drop-dead gorgeous.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “You really think so?”

“Are you kidding? There’s no question.”

He seemed absolutely committed to his answer; she didn’t get the impression he was just being nice.

“What does the article say?” he asked.