Missy smirked. “Since when does God ever use the ideal person for anything? Moses, Rahab, Paul, Peter, Ruth—”

“Fine, fine, whatever, you win,” I groused.

“I mean, you do have to admit it’s pretty miraculous that he’d want to talk to you again after you threw something like that out there the first time you met him, right? And not only does he talk to you, but he buys you a car, he invites you to a freakin’ premiere … You have to wonder, don’t you, at how unlikely that all is?”

“That’s what I have been telling you” I reminded her.

“Yeah, but you think it’s unlikely simply because you’re not some model-perfect beauty goddess. I think it’s unlikely because most people would have thought you were off your rocker to say something like that. And yet it’s happening.”

I sighed and clutched my stomach as it danced the jitterbug. “Yes, It is.”

JACK

“SO YOU’RE DRIVING down to get her and then coming back? Do you have any idea how horrendous traffic is gonna be? For all the gas that’ll take you’d probably save money hiring a helicopter.”

I laughed. “Now that would be a heck of an entrance. But a bit incongruous for the opening of a romantic comedy, don’t you think? Let’s save that for the opening of Nine Lives.”

Kate chuckled. “All right, it’s your call. Anything else?”

“Nope, I’m good on my end. You?”

“No, I’m fine for now. If anything last minute comes up I’ll call, but everything should be fine. Have fun tomorrow.”

We hung up, and I went back to reading the script I’d started just before Kate’s call. I was having a hard time concentrating though and ended up having to start over from the beginning. I was three pages into it the second time around when I realized I just wasn’t focused, so I tossed the script on the couch beside me and got up to change for a jog on my treadmill.

This would be my sixth premiere, but it was only the second one I’d ever been nervous about. Usually I was excited to see the finished product on the big screen. Besides tonight, the only one I’d ever been nervous about had been my first, and that was only because I’d been ignorant about the process. Now I had it down pat: arrive to cheering crowds, get blinded by camera flashes, wave to the onlookers, submit myself to a couple on-the-spot interviews, slowly make my way into the theatre, watch the movie, feel relieved that it turned out well (usually), and then reverse the process and go home.