Celebrating Excellence

Bronwyn experiences a win that helps her make some serious life decisions.

When then pulled up in front of a quaint wee house in Cardiff, it did not take Laurel long to fling open the front door and hurry out to meet her guests.

“I’ve not been watching at the window,” she said, giving them both a mischievous smile that said she was very much stuck to the glass - probably for the last hour, at least.

I laughed knowing Laurel was telling tales. I crushed her into a hug that both thrilled and embarrassed the woman.
“Missed you,” I said.

“I’ll bet. You two have been galavanting all over Europe since April. Having too much fun to even bother to miss little ol’ me.”

“Well, the end of April anyway,” William corrected and Laurel waved him off.

“How were your aunt and uncle?”

“They were doing well. Excited to get home and see the grandbabies.”

“You miss them.” Laurel said and I smiled my acknowledgement.

“It was so good to have all that time with them. My aunt and I had some good heart to hearts, particularly when it came to deciding what to do going forward. I still can’t believe I only have three more months….”

“A lot can happen in three months. Look at you two. Things must be going okay because you haven’t killed each other yet.”

We all laughed and I added, “My stepfather used to say traveling together could either make or break a relationship.”

“And what’s the verdict so far?” Laurel said, looking from William to me.

We both radiated a closeness she too longed for in her life. ‘Thought so.”

We followed her in and got a tour of her place.

“You two can sleep in here,” she said, opening the door to her guest bedroom. It was a lovely room full of warm wood furniture and graced with blues and greens.

“This is so kind of you,” I began, but Laurel waved me off.

“I was so excited when you told me you two were going to come for the Hay Book Festival.”


William had asked if any letters had arrived from his brother. "I asked Ross to forward anything that looked promising. Namely your stuff."
"There was a package," Laurel said as she ambled back into the kitchen and returned with a packet addressed to William and I.

"You do the honours," William said, giving me a wink as he handed me the pale brown envelope.

I slit the edge and pulled out several envelopes. Christa had taken to writing me letters c/o William. She said it made her feel less alone if she knew I had a guy. The ones from her were in pastel envelopes with stickers of love and friendship stuck haphazardly over the front and back of each. The address was written in her whimsical sweep and flourish. But the last two letters that fell out were professional white ones with my name and William's address typed across the front.

I picked up both and glanced from one to the other. One had the Waterloo Region District School Board stamped into the corner. It was much thinner than the last one I had received from them - the one granting my leave of absence.

Laurel noticed my face and twisted to see the envelopes. Deftly she took the school board one from my hand. I barely noticed as I stared open mouthed at the second letter.

Its envelope was of a fine linen-like material. I read the return address: The Ampersand Agency. I sucked in a breath and held it, as I shook it.
Over the last couple of months I had been sending out query letters. A few had responded thanking me for my interest, but not wanting to represent me. I'd almost given up hope, though both William and Laurel assured me to keep at it.

Biting my lip I thrust the envelope towards William. "You open it... please." I added the last on a gasp of breath.

William smiled as his warm hand covered mine. "You sure. This could be the one."

"I can't look. Read it to me.... please."

He chuckled, shaking his head mildly as his smile deepened.

I kept my eyes fixed on his fingers as he slipped his index finger under the fold and slowly drew it through the paper to open and reveal the contents. I sucked in another breath, holding it as I sent a silent prayer of hope out into the universe.

I watched as his eyes scanned the single sheet of paper. He looked so serious that my stomach which had been twirling and twisting in anxiety dropped low. Then a slow smile settled at the corner of his lips and grew. Hope ignited.

"Read it, damn it." I shot out, unable to reign in my patience. William laughed, his smirk twinkled in merriment.

"Seems we have an author on her way," he began before I snatched the letter and read it for myself. My eyes ate up the words like a starving person.

"Well, don't leave me in suspense," Laurel sang out leaning over the table toward me.

"They love my book and would be honoured to represent me. They may even have a publisher that would be interested... Oh, my God." I said the last in an airy breath of unbelief. Was it really true? I looked over the letter to make sure it looked authentic.

"It's a real letter, Bronwyn." William said as if reading my thoughts. "And yes, they really do want to represent you."

I let the feeling of accomplishment settle over me as Laurel hustled back into the kitchen to grab a bottle of sparkling wine she had bought for such an occasion.

"But this is for your celebrations," I said when she brought it out along with the glasses.

"This is a big deal, Bronwyn and I can always buy another bottle."

"I'll buy you another bottle," William said, "You shouldn't have to buy your own bottle."

She chuckled before saying, "That would be lovely, thanks William."

My eyes glanced over to the second white envelope.

"Don't even think about it," William said, scooping up the rest of the letters. "Right now we celebrate and focus on the moment. Later you can look at these." He dumped them back into the larger brown envelope they had come in and sat on it. I think he knew reading the letters from Christa would also upset me.

I grinned. He knew me too well and he was right. Now was the time to celebrate. I had managed another step forward in my writing and publishing journey.

"I'm going to see if I can make a reservation at the Pasture Steak House," Laurel said and was gone before I could call her back.

"No sense stopping her. All we can do is do the same for her when her book gets published."

I nodded.

At the restaurant I marveled at the coziness of the place. A steak house yes, but one far more upscale and fancy than I had ever been in. Even the cuts of meat they had aging were on display behind a thick glass wall. So much grass fed beef.

We made our way to a table with chairs of warm soft leather. Candles flickered as if sending out celebration vibes. The space was comfortable and cozy despite the painted industrial ceiling.

We slid into our seats and when the waiter appeared William ordered another bottle of bubbly.

“You’re going to get me sloshed,” I said behind my smile when the waiter returned to fill our glasses.

“This is the time to celebrate and we have all come a long way in the last eleven months. Laurel’s book is getting published, you’ve gotten an agent….”

“And you also have your book coming out next month. Did I tell you he has been asked to be interviewed at the Edinburgh Book Festival?” I told Laurel proudly.

“We really have done well for ourselves haven’t we,” Laurel mused as she raised her glass to toast to our hard earned accomplishments.
We clinked and chuckled in delight.

“Think about where we’ll be by this time next year,” Laurel added and before I could let that sink in with all the decisions I had to make, she pressed on, “I will be on a book tour and so will you.”

She reached over and grabbed my hand pulling my thoughts back to the present. I smiled over at her enthusiasm.

“Maybe we’ll get to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival… and Hay too for that matter.”

Oh how sweet that sounded. She did a sitting happy dance raising the roof and I joined her. William grinned over at us.

“Speaking of the Hay festival….” Laurel pressed on and carrying me right along with her.

I had been so looking forward to this festival. It was surrounded by a town steeped in literary dreams. A town of used book stores. I had a feeling my book budget would be blown so quickly. Thank goodness William had said I could keep them at his place at least until I decided what I was going to do.

Seeing the serious look on my face, William reached over and placed his hand over mine. He gave a gentle squeeze as he smiled warmly. I felt the heat run over me like molten chocolate and the dread of decision vanished.

“I rented us a wee house with two bedrooms so we can head over a day early and stay for the full festival. It’s a beautiful area so we can do some exploring as well.”

“That sounds perfect,” I told her, feeling the rush of excitement.

“We can even do an early morning session of yoga,” she said, then laughed at William who groaned. “I didn’t think you’d want to go, but Bronwyn and I could.”

“Yes, most definitely. I want to take it all in.”

By the time the meal was finished and the bill paid, we walked back to Laurel’s full and satisfied. The cool May breeze was soft and lovely. William took my hand and I reached out to take Laurel’s as well as we wandered through the town.

“The history of this place always leaves me spellbound,” I mused as we made our way along the road. I wine had mellowed me. “I don’t think I will even get used to it.”

“Sometimes I take things for granted and then you come along and remind me of how special it is. I have a feeling you’ll never lose that ability.”

“All this traveling I have done this year… it’s been so amazing. I don’t want to stop,” I said looking up at the stars.

“Don’t stop. Keep that child-like part of you alive wherever you are.”

“I can’t keep traveling…”

“But you can keep writing and living a creative life,” Laurel reminded me. “This year has been so full for me. I can’t believe I used to carve out a life in a cubby chunching numbers. I could never go back to that. It would kill me.”

I nodded slowly, letting her words wash over me. I felt sad thinking of going back to Canada and teaching high school English. I had some serious decisions to make, but my heart already knew what my mind would eventually come to understand. Life was too short to waste it doing something to just pay the bills. Life was to be lived and to be that way I needed to take some risks. By the time we got back to Laurel’s place I was feeling ready to take the leap and see where it took me, regardless of what the letter from the Board of Education had to say.



Word count = 1957.