I have some big news. I’ll call you tomorrow with an update. She hoped Sam would approve of her decision. If he didn’t … Well, Annie didn’t want to think about that.
Oh. Okay. He texted back.
Then nothing.
Annie was about to put her phone away when she saw that Sam was typing again. Did you know that tonight is the reunion special for Single Gal?
I know two people who won’t be watching. She punctuated her text with a laughing emoji.
I’m going to be on the show.
Ha ha!
You should watch. I’m interested in what you think. Let’s talk afterward. Wish me luck. Got to go.
What? Sam was going to be on the Single Gal reunion special? Why on earth would he do that? He hated the show. At least, he hated the publicity surrounding the show.
A wiggly-worm sensation crept through her stomach. This made no sense. The Sam DeLuca she’d gotten to know over the past month would never agree to be on reality TV again, nor would he even joke about it.
Annie slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, then walked into the family room to find Mom, Millie, and Charlotte sitting on the couch, huddled together, talking. They spotted her, then quickly broke apart.
“Annie!” Mom’s eyes went wide. “You’re early.”
“Really? I thought I was just on time.”
“Early for you,” Millie clarified. “You’re usually always running late. On account of work.”
Charlotte nodded.
Okay, this was weird. She was the one who had the big news, but they were the ones acting like they had a secret. She glanced around the room. Everything looked the way it normally did on book club night. Copies of the Jodi Picoult novel along with three empty wineglasses fought for space on the magazine-strewn coffee table. The only thing out of the norm was that the TV was turned on. It appeared that someone was winning big on Wheel of Fortune.
“How is everyone?” Annie took her usual seat in Pop’s La-Z-Boy recliner.
“We’re fine. How are you?” Mom asked with an emphasis that reinforced Annie’s earlier suspicion. Something was definitely up.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“On?” Charlotte laughed nervously.
Oh boy. This must be really bad.
Mom’s gaze flitted to the TV, where the ending credits to Wheel of Fortune rolled across the screen. “Oops!” She scurried to turn off the set. “We don’t need to see that, now do we?”
Twenty-nine years of being Carol Esposito’s daughter had taught Annie a thing or two. “I think I know what this is about. Tonight’s the Single Gal reunion special.”
“You know about that?” said Charlotte.
It’s time she came clean about her relationship with Sam.
“Sam just texted me. He’s going to be on the show. I guess this means we won’t be having book club tonight, huh?”
Mom nearly wilted in relief. “Thank God you know!”
“We were afraid you’d be upset,” said Millie.
“What do you mean he texted you?” Charlotte asked. “Are you telling us that you’ve been in touch with Gas Station Sam since … the, um …”
“Since the Good Morning, USA segment?” She nodded. “We’ve been calling and texting for the past few weeks.”
Mom perked up. “Really?”
“We’re just friends, Mom.”
Millie snickered. “I wouldn’t mind being just friends with that hottie. Now that it’s out in the open, we can enjoy the show.” She picked up the remote and turned the set back on. “Let’s make some popcorn. And Carol, open up another bottle of wine.”
“So you’re okay with Sam being the next Single Guy?” Charlotte asked carefully.
“What?” Annie must have heard wrong.
“They’re supposed to announce that Sam is going to be the lead on next season’s Single Guy. Kelly Seacrest spilled the news this morning on her Twitter feed,” said Millie. “She always has the best celebrity gossip.”
“You’re on Twitter now?”
“And Instagram. Gotta get with the times!”
Annie grappled with this new bit of information. It made sense now that Sam was going to appear on the reunion special tonight. He was going to be the next star of the nation’s hottest reality TV dating show. The audience was going to eat it up. Even though he’d only made it through one episode of Single Gal, he’d been their most popular bachelor by far. She couldn’t fault him for wanting to have his own show. He’d go on exotic dates and be fought over by twenty-five gorgeous women. What guy wouldn’t love that?
But why hadn’t he told her the news himself? They talked or texted every day. He could have certainly given her a heads-up. Except he didn’t owe her anything. As far as Sam was concerned, the two of them were just friends. Annie had painstakingly gone out of her way to keep it that way.
Oh God. What had she done? Was she too late?
It was your letter that made me travel a thousand miles. Because I wanted to meet the woman who wrote it.
Those were more than just pretty words. The man she’d gotten to know had meant what he said. She was only too late if she didn’t tell him how she felt about him.
“The show’s about to start,” said Mom.
They turned their attentions back to the screen, where Don Carmichael, sitting on a couch in front of a studio audience, smiled into the camera. “Welcome to the Single Gal Reunion Special! Last week we watched as Hannah gave her last rose to the man of her dreams … Mitch Anderson!”
“She picked the duck?”
“You haven’t been watching the last few episodes, have you?” Mom scolded.
“It came down to that creepy Dave and Mitch,” Millie explained, “but she found out that Dave had a girlfriend back home, and in the most dramatic scene ever, she gave him the boot.”
The camera panned to a section of the stage where a group of men sat in two rows of chairs behind the couch. The predominantly female audience began screaming like teenagers at a boy band concert.
Don Carmichael raised his voice to be heard above the catcalls. “Tonight, live from Los Angeles, we have some of your favorite bachelors in the studio, ready to answer all your questions.”
He began introducing the bachelors, one by one. The camera stopped long enough to give each man a chance to wave to the audience. When they got to Sam, the place went crazy with applause. Sam looked embarrassed by the attention, which only endeared him even more to the crowd, who began chanting his name. Sam-Sam-Sam!
“See? He’s the clear-cut favorite,” said Millie. “I can’t wait until Don gets him on the hot seat.”
“The hot seat? What’s that?” asked Annie.
“That’s when Don brings him over to the couch and asks what life has been like since he’s been off the show. Then he’ll announce that Sam is the next star of Single Guy. It will be the big finale.”
Annie felt like she was going to pass out. “Is anyone else hot?”
“Hot and bothered,” Millie said, causing Mom and Charlotte to giggle.
Annie got up from the recliner and lowered the thermostat a couple of degrees.
Mom suddenly got quiet. “Oh, Annie, do you think all that stuff about the letter will come out again?”