* * *
That Monday, Callie was surprised to find out she and Wynn were assigned to a story together. “I want you guys to go and do a piece on this psychic who’s in town for a show at the convention center,” Adler said as he spoke to them in his office with his feet casually crossed on the top of his desk. He was much more laid-back than Jerry used to be, probably since the weight of the business didn’t rest solely on his shoulders. “Her name is Busy Honeycutt,” he continued. “And she’s been generating a lot of buzz lately—she’s got this YouTube channel that’s crazy popular.” He threw a Koosh ball up and down in the air as he spoke. “Make it fun. Do some playful banter with her, get her predictions for some newsy things.”
Callie let out an inaudible sigh. Another fluff story. She still wasn’t loving the kind of assignments she was getting at the new job, but she told herself if she kept working hard, they’d have to give her the better beats soon enough. At least she got to hang out with Wynn while doing this one.
A few hours later, as Wynn drove the two of them to the convention center downtown where they had planned to do the interview live on air at the six o’clock show, a panicked thought crossed her mind and Callie wondered why he was on the assignment, too. Did Adler think she was doing a terrible job—that she needed backup as a reporter? Was she too boring for viewers to be reporting by herself? “Isn’t it a little random we’re doing an assignment together?” she asked him, hoping she sounded casual.
“Not really. He likes to throw reporters together every now and then, especially when it’s a fun topic. I’m just happy I get to do something with you.” He took his eyes off the road for a second to look over at her and smile.
They made their way to the convention center and backstage where Busy was getting ready for her eight o’clock show. She looked around Hanna’s age, maybe a little older, and was wearing a black leather jacket and ripped blue jeans. Her short black hair was spiked and her red lipstick fierce.
“So, how’s this gonna work?” Busy asked Wynn and Callie as the cameraman set up. “Your producer said you guys are going to ask me for predictions about what’s happening in the news?”
“Yep,” Callie said. “Should be a quick, fun segment.” She cringed slightly after saying that. She was starting to sound like Adler.
The three of them settled in their chairs as the news started and their bit was about to begin. “Y’all ready?” Wynn asked with a smile, flashing his made-for-TV pearly white teeth.
They nodded and smiled, too, right as the senior anchor, Ainsley Frey, began talking through their earpieces.
“While our mission is to give you the news in real time, what if there was a way to find out what’s going to happen in the future? Well, News 12’s Wynn Kernstone and Caroline Breaux are about to find out. They’re with psychic medium to the stars Busy Honeycutt, who’s in town tonight for a special event at the convention center. Wynn and Caroline, have you been able to find out what the future holds from Busy?”
“Hi, Ainsley,” Wynn said in his deep TV voice. “Yes, we’re with the lovely Busy Honeycutt, and if you aren’t one of her one million YouTube subscribers or one of the two hundred attendees at tonight’s exclusive event, you may not be familiar with her. But all that’s about to change right now.”
Busy flashed a cool smile into the camera. “Thanks for having me!”
“Thanks for being with us,” Callie said. “So, Busy, you’ve made some major predictions on your YouTube channel through the years, and a lot of them have happened—last year’s hurricane in New Orleans, the latest presidential election results, Brad and Angelina’s divorce.…”
“Yep,” Busy said proudly.
“Well, we have some of our own questions for you,” Callie said. “We’ve got a big election coming up.…” Maybe it was a fluff piece, but she’d at least try to get something substantial out of it. “Can you give us any insight into what’s going to happen?”
Busy didn’t even flinch. “We’re going to see a record number of voters come out. The people’s voices will be heard. The message remains to be seen.”
“Interesting,” Callie said, trying to hide her disappointment in Busy’s vague answer.
“And what about our beloved Saints?” Wynn jumped in. “Are they gonna make it to the Super Bowl this year?”
Busy smiled. “You can start prepping for your big game party now.”
Callie swore she saw Wynn pull his right arm in quickly as if to say, “Yes!” He was so cute.
“Hey, I’ve got another one for you,” he said, suddenly serious. He took a deep breath. “Can you tell me if Caroline Breaux is going to say yes when I ask her to marry me?”
What did he just say? Callie’s eyes widened as her brain struggled to keep up. It felt like minutes, but she was sure it was only milliseconds.
Before she could process what was happening Wynn was down on one knee, presenting a sparkly diamond ring in his hand.
Callie looked at him in shock. Then she looked at Busy, who was covering her mouth in disbelief. Her head flooded with thoughts as everyone in the room stared at her.
A million questions raced through her mind. Was it too soon? Did she really know him? Was he who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life? She felt her forehead sweating. Oh god, what was she supposed to do?
“She’s going to say yes,” said Busy into the microphone.
Callie snapped back to reality. She could hardly contain her excitement. “Yes!”
CHAPTER 25 Hanna
As she ran around her house fluffing her new pillows and lighting honeysuckle and magnolia-scented candles, Hanna tried to remember the last time she had thrown a party.
She thought back to the Super Bowl party she’d hosted right after she and Tom had gotten married. The guest list had been a mix of both of their friends, and she had made the deviled eggs look like little footballs with trimmed green onions to resemble the stitching—which was especially impressive in the pre-Pinterest era. Everyone had gushed over the food, and the beer was flowing. It was a blast, but it never happened again.
Life got busy, and Hanna didn’t have time to maintain the friendships. Now she was feeling a little rusty.
She had spent the past two days trying to strike a balance between making it look impressive but also effortless. A quick trip to the mall to find a cute new outfit to wear resulted in the purchase of twenty new wineglasses, three marble cheese boards, and two sets of blue and white china. “So, these people are too good for plastic cups and paper plates?” Tom had said when he saw her unpacking them after she got home. He clearly had no idea.
Her favorite part of the preparation happened the day before when she went on a shopping spree at her local bookstore to fill up the shelves in her new den, where she envisioned the party would take place. Since she always used her library card, she didn’t actually own many books. She was on a time crunch, so she figured she would duck in quickly and grab a few classics.
But as soon as she opened the door to the store, she was hit with the comforting scent of paper and ink, and time immediately slowed down. She walked over to the front table with the bestsellers, running her hand along the colorful covers, feeling the different textures of each dust jacket as she picked them up to read the descriptions. An hour and a half later, she looked at her stacks of carefully curated books taking over the checkout counter. In the haul of about seventy-five books was a copy of almost every current bestseller and her favorite classics, plus a few steamy romance novels, which she figured she’d keep in her bedside table. The store owner’s expression was shocked as he rung up the total and began stuffing the books into boxes. When he finished packing them up, he pulled an embroidered bookmark off the display rack. “This is on the house,” he said with a smile, tossing it in one of the boxes. Hanna felt like she had won all over again.