Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
I haven’t seen my family yet. I’m supposed to meet them for dinner tomorrow night. Emma’s made a reservation at her favorite restaurant, and she cc’d Andrew on the email about it. He must have immediately reached out to her because a half hour later, she sent an amended reservation that didn’t include him.
I thought she might have called me to ask about Andrew, but we still haven’t talked.
“Summer?” Joy pokes her head out of her office, and when I turn, she waves me in.
I stand and smooth the wrinkles out of my skirt before I go in for our meeting.
She reclaims her seat behind her desk and smiles at me. “First of all, I just have to say, I’m really impressed.” I flush as she goes on. “We’ve reviewed the summary Nathaniel provided as well as the first few chapters of A Cosmic Penance, and we’re extremely excited to see where he will take this project.” She leans in and her eyes widen. “Honestly, I still can’t believe he’s writing.”
It’s been a week since I left England. A week without Nate.
He drove me to the airport and wrapped me in a tight hug, bending to whisper, “Don’t go. I’ll drive us back right now. Quick, get back in the car.”
I laughed and shook my head.
I had to leave; there was no way around it, but that didn’t mean I didn’t tear up as he held me, didn’t consider for one wild moment saying Screw it and letting him cart me back to his cottage forever.
“I have to go, Nate.”
I tipped my head back and he cupped my cheeks, his eyes flitting back and forth between mine, likely searching for a chink in my armor, some way he could convince me to stay.
“I’m only letting you go for now,” he declared with fierce determination. “When you’re over there, so far away, don’t forget you’re mine.”
You’re mine.
I cried on the airplane coming home, crammed in my economy seat as tears slipped down my cheeks. It felt like I was leaving my heart in England, making the wrong decision, somehow. The woman beside me pretended not to notice, though she did slide me a tissue from her purse. And later, when our meal arrived, she gave me her dessert too.
“I think you need it,” she said softly.
I did.
Joy takes a sip of her coffee before continuing, “I do think you should know that Nate sent an email yesterday praising your work. He said we’re lucky to have you.” She frowns, studying me. “To be clear, I would have pushed to have you stay on the project. I know you’re a junior editor, but it’s clear you and Nathaniel had chemistry together. I doubt this book would be happening if not for you.”
Chemistry.
Ha.
If she only knew.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable continuing.”
She studies me. “Was everything okay? I know the setup was a little unconventional.” She cringes after hearing herself. “Okay, scratch that, a lot unconventional. I’ve been in this business for twenty years and I’ve never had to live with an author.”
I smile. “It was fine. We grew close. Lines blurred.” I look down at my lap. “I wanted off the project because I don’t think it would have been possible to maintain a professional relationship going forward.”
With the responding silence, I glance back up to see her jaw has dropped. “Oh.” Then she shakes her head. “I didn’t realize…”
“It didn’t affect our work while I was there,” I tack on quickly.
She chuckles and points down at the printed summary on her desk as if to say, Clearly.
I’m not certain of the rules here. I wonder if I’m going to get reprimanded for admitting the truth to her. I have to imagine the InkWell board would be all too willing to look the other way on something like this considering they’re getting what they’ve longed hoped for: Nathaniel’s third book. I doubt they care how they get it so long as I didn’t break any laws.
“Is that why you’ve been a little off?” Joy asks, tilting her head and offering me a sympathetic smile.
I try to retrain my expression. Have I been giving too much away?
“Off?” I ask innocently.
“You’ve seemed a little down since you got back from the trip.” Her eyes become worried. “You still like it here, don’t you? Working at InkWell?”
“Yes, I don’t want to leave or anything.” I pause and then go for it. “Though, I have been wondering how complicated it would be for me to work remotely. I know other editors do it. I understand I’m newer and haven’t put in my time like they—”
She laughs and cuts me off with a wry smile. “Summer, I don’t think you quite realize what you’ve been able to accomplish with Nathaniel. I owe you, big time. So if you want to work remotely, let’s give it a try. That should be no problem so long as your work doesn’t suffer. Do you know where you’d like to go?”