“Oh, definitely. But uh...I wasn’t talking about calling her. I think I need to check this out face-to-face. So, if I could get my boss to give me some time off from work, I’ll fly down to New Orleans, hang out with my mom for a few days and figure out a way to hook up with her.”

I sighed. “You just got back from New Orleans.”

“So?” She shrugged. “The way my mama cooks, I’d fly in for Sunday dinner every week if I could. That two-hour flight is nothing so the only thing that’s in between me and that plane is my boss.”

I thought about Dru’s offer, but it didn’t take long for my lips to spread into a smile. “Open up your United app.” I motioned toward her phone with my chin. “Let’s buy this ticket now. For tomorrow.” Leaning over, I hugged her. “Thank you so much, Dru. Thank you for doing this for me.”

When she leaned away, she said, “This is part of the best friends code. To have each other’s back no matter what. And no worries, Chica. I’ve got yours.”

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“This is an opportunity that few people will ever have. It’s not even something most people can dream about.” Clyde paused. “Ginger? Are you still with us?”

Our agent’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Huh?”

He stood on the other side of the small conference table across from me and Jeremy in Jeremy’s office. His grin was as wide as any kid’s on Christmas.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m still with you,” I said, though I hoped he wouldn’t ask me to repeat anything he’d told us.

He’d been going over the paperwork the Amazon executives had sent to him and he’d wanted us to see every line. His voice had been trailing in and out of my consciousness, but I’d certainly caught the gist of his words: Amazon had stayed true to their promise. Their offer was for $8 million. It wasn’t Michelle and Barack Obama money, but there were bonuses included that would put us in the outfield of that league.

“You don’t seem excited,” Clyde said as his smile dimmed.

I turned the ends of my lips up into something that hopefully could fake a little joy. That was the best I could do considering I couldn’t focus on the millions in front of me when I wasn’t sure about the man who sat beside me.

It had been just two days since I’d taken Dru to the airport to head to New Orleans and she’d given me a kind of pep talk.

“I don’t know what I’m going to find,” Dru said, “but I’m going to do my best to find something so you can get out of the constipation that has become your life.”