Page 100 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

“Pace yourself.”

“What made you become an author?”

“Mary Jefferson.”

“Was she a teacher of yours?”

“Nope. She’s the author ofThe Adventures of Melody Lee, my favorite book when I was a kid. It was about this little Black girl named Melody Lee who checked out a book from the library, and it ended up whisking her away to a faraway land. She goes on an amazing adventure and defeats the Nightmare, a dark entity that brings evil to all that encounter it. She’s hailed as a hero and sent back home.”

“That made an impression on you.”

“A huge one. What about you? What’s your thing?”

“Cars. My dad took me to a car show when I was a kid, and I became obsessed. I learned everything I could about cars. That led me to work for Leroy as a mechanic. He passed away when I was twenty-six and left the business to me. I was a young man who went from being a mechanic to being a business owner seemingly overnight. It was overwhelming—and it still is—but I managed to grow the business and buy out a neighboring car wash, which I have expanded into a customization business as well.”

“Go ’head, Mr. Silas … I’m sorry, I don’t know your last name.”

“Magrady.”

“Go ’head, Mr. Silas Magrady.”

He laughs.

“My girls want to buy my son a car for getting into all five of his top choices for college.”

“Let me know when. I know some car dealers who will give y’all a good price.”

“Why, thank you. You’re just filled with chivalry, aren’t you? You’re willing to help me get revenge on my ex, volunteering to make sure my son gets the right car—what’s next?”

“You’ll find out once we hit the road.”

“I’m looking forward to it. You’ve actually made me look forward to a road trip.”

“One of many miracles I plan to work on you.” Silas smirks, then kneels. “Now hop on, I’ll take us down.”

Bridget hops on his back. “If you drop me or we roll down the hill on some Jack and Jill shit, the deal is off.”

“I got you.” He heads down, with her clinging on to him.

3

SILAS

Silas turns the page and starts chapter ten of book three inThe Queen’s Dilemmaseries. It’s early morning on Friday, and he’s been reading Bridget’s books since their breakfast date last week. Thanks to her gift for weaving words into a heart-stomping tale, Silas is close to starting book four. He hasn’t been able to stop reading. He sees a lot of parallels between himself and Tyberious. His rapport with Queen Miranda is so easy.

After her wall came down, Silas felt a similar connection to Bridget. King Rodrick has become a stand-in for Lamar. And Silas really hates this motherfucker. He doesn’t see how amazing Miranda is. It’s her fierce protection of the people of Maldornia that makes her such an exceptional queen. After not being able to sire a child, she’s made her subjects her children, and the country loves her for it. Maldorian citizens would kill and die for Miranda, and the fool she’s married to can’t see it. Silas suspects that everyone around Bridget can see her light, but Lamar refuses to. He knows it’s there, which is why he found someone who didn’t mind dimming herself.

Silas highlights the current speech he’s reading by Tyberious.

“You are a queen. You are my queen. A queen whose brilliance is only rivaled by her beauty. You rule with intense devotion for your subjects. You love this land and its people. They, in turn, love you. As do I. But my love runs deeper than any citizen of Maldornia. The bottom of the ocean is too shallow to measure the depths of my love for you. You will always have my sword, and you will always have my heart.”

Tyberious, my man!

Silas grabs his phone to text Bridget.

Silas

Tyberious’s ‘I love you’ speech is definitely in the top two most romantic speeches I have ever read and it’s not number two.