Sky's the Limit
Copyright© 2026 by aroslav
Chapter 15: Awards Banquet
THE EXCITEMENT of having the publishing awards banquet and presentations kept us all busier than necessary. We didn’t want to just be sitting around waiting for the 6:30 banquet. As managing editor at TBR Books, Pearl felt the pressure most. I think Ruby had intentionally left the printing of her sample cover posters until Saturday morning so she could be part of the tension. I had my own area to take care of. I took copies of all the recent years’ winners’ books to have available for sale. Several of those authors would be there to sign books that we sold. Attendees at book events were prime buyers of books.
Of course, I was using the activity to keep my own nerves under control. I couldn’t even tell the family why I was nervous. I didn’t intend to let anyone know I was Jan Winslow, but I was still anxious for the results. And I confess, I did have a fantasy or two about walking onstage to receive my award from the twins. How would they react to learning I was their fantasy author?
I was pretty sure that if Jan Winslow was really a middle-aged woman, the girls would be just as infatuated with her; though maybe not to the point of marrying her. But what did I know? It was better to just keep my identity secret.
At 5:30, the girls got back to the venue in their matching party dresses. I left to shower and change clothes, then I made it back at a quarter past six. Pat and my intern Jeremy were already busy ringing up sales for people who had come early to have a drink before the dinner. We weren’t foolish enough to sponsor an open bar. They had to go into the lounge to buy a drink. Hopefully, anyone who got drunk would stay there.
I hadn’t kept tabs on who was coming to the dinner. Even though I technically owned the majority share in both businesses as one company, the publishing company and the bookstore were different profit centers. I was happy to let the Larsons run the publishing while I built up the retail business.
When I got back, I was surprised to see the entire Drake family at one of the tables. It made sense in a strictly objective way. It was a public literary event and they ran a bookstore. It was only a surprise in that they were our not-so-friendly competitors, and I’d locked horns with David over the Waterfront development. Even Matthew, who abhorred crowds and being touched, sat at the table between Debbie and David, dressed in a nice suit. I had to say ‘Hi.’
“Matthew, my friend,” I said, coming to the table. “I’m so glad you could come join us tonight.”
“Good guy!” Matthew declared, smiling, but still shrinking in his seat.
“David, Brent, Debbie, welcome,” I continued. I didn’t recognize the other two women with them.
“Thank you, Sky,” David said. “This is Melanie Johnson and Theresa Callum.”
I immediately recognized Melanie’s name. She was one of the finalists in the “Local” category. I’d read her very scholarly book on the indigenous people of Southern California before the Spaniards. It was good and had received my vote.
“Good luck this evening, Melanie,” I said. “I’m cheering for you.”
“Any hints?” she asked. “I’m dying to know.”
“Sorry to say, the results were sealed and none of us here know who won. We’ll be as surprised as you are.”
“If it was my company, I’d want to know in advance so I could prepare a proper reception,” Brent said.
“Sky has never had your business sense,” Debbie said, snorting in my direction.
She was seated between Brent and Matthew. Theresa, on the other side of Brent, leaned in toward him to whisper in his ear. I wondered what that relationship was. Neither woman looked like she was Matthew’s nanny, but aside from her snide comment, Debbie seemed much more engaged with Matthew than with Brent.
I took the opportunity to separate from their table and greeted several other people on my way to join the angels at a table with a couple of other finalists and our staff. Pat and Marge were at a different table with some of the finalist judges.
“It seems Debbie’s role with the Drakes has changed,” Ruby said. “Brent has another new girlfriend and Debbie has become Matthew’s nanny.”
“A new girlfriend didn’t stop Brent from coming on to us when he got here,” Pearl sniffed.
“It’s hard to imagine Debbie caring enough to be Matthew’s nanny,” I said. Yes, I was a little snarky when it came to my one-time girlfriend.
“You might have noticed that Matthew has a thing for pretty girls,” Pearl said. “I’m sure she gets rewarded well for just being near him. He’s offered both Ruby and me money for helping him in the store. We declined, by the way.”
“It’s six-thirty. You’re on,” Ruby told her sister. Pearl heaved a big sigh and went to the podium.
She made a little welcome speech and encouraged people to enjoy the meal. Then she made a few little quips about writing.
“You’ve all heard and laughed at the famous Bulwer-Lytton opening line, ‘It was a dark and stormy night,’ if by no other means than Snoopy’s literary endeavors in the old comic strip, Peanuts. But the nineteenth century author left us other literary gems that are as well-known as the famous first line, but are seldom credited to him. For example: ‘Pursuit of the almighty dollar,’ came first from his pen. ‘A dweller on the threshold,’ and ‘the great unwashed,’ are often mistakenly credited to mid-twentieth century politicians. And what writer has not at some time or another said, ‘The pen is mightier than the sword,’ another of Bulwer-Lytton’s gems. In the mid-nineteenth century the Rosicrucian Order claimed him as their Grand Patron, though he denied having any association with the esoteric society.
“I bring all these things to your attention as we wait for the results of our annual competition to emphasize how little control we have over what is remembered. Bulwer-Lytton accomplished many things in both a literary and political life, yet the one we remember with his name is referred to as the worst opening line of a novel in history. Or as Shakespeare said in the voice of Marc Antony, ‘The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones.’ Let us all hope that tonight is not our ‘dark and stormy night’.”
There was applause as Pearl timed the end of her little speech with the arrival of the last person’s dinner. She returned to her seat next to me. She clutched my arm and hugged herself to me.
“Speaking like that always makes me so nervous!” she gasped.
“You were wonderful, honey. No one could tell you were the least bit nervous. And it was a great five-minute intro to the evening’s festivities,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
“Five minutes? It felt like I was up there for an hour! I wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t helped me write it,” she said. We disentangled enough to eat our dinner.
“I don’t think anyone has read more books or done more literary research than our Sky,” Ruby said. She leaned against me and I kissed her head for good measure. After all, I’d been commissioned by the twins just the day before to figure out how to make it work.
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