Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 145574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 728(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
“Is it badly written?” I challenged.
“Of course not, it’s you.” He shook his head in frustration.
“Then it stands. Copy edits are supposed to be back in a few days, right?” I folded my arms across my chest.
“Yep. And let me tell you just how pleased the copy editor was to have to do both versions because you hadn’t picked one. Spoiler alert, she was pissed.”
“Thank you again for accommodating me.” I meant every word.
“She also said the happy one is better,” he tossed back.
“On that, we agree.” A flash of red caught my eye, and I smiled. Paige Parker. That meant Damian was here somewhere.
“Then why the hell are you—”
“Noah Harrison!” someone called out from behind me.
I looked over my shoulder. Bingo.
“Damian Ellsworth,” I said in greeting. Keep it civil. You need information. This wasn’t exactly something I could ask Georgia about—not anymore.
“Imagine seeing you here.” He slapped my shoulder and moved to join us. Georgia’s ex was just shy of six feet, giving me a good four inches on him as he smiled up at me with teeth so white, they were nearly blue.
“I could say the same, seeing that you have a new baby at home.” I forced a smile as bile rose in my throat. This was the man who had ruined the woman I loved, who had told her time and again that she wasn’t enough to keep him satisfied.
What a fucking tool.
“That’s what nannies are for,” he answered with a shrug. “So, how is my wife?” He lifted his drink and took a long sip.
I refrained from shoving it down his throat. Barely.
“I wasn’t aware that you had a wife.” I blinked in mock confusion.
Adam sputtered on his own drink.
“Ha. Touché.” He glanced over me with obvious assessment. “Tell me, does that old grandfather clock still keep time? The one in the sitting room?”
“Sure does.” I lifted a brow at the transparent reminder of his past role in Georgia’s life. “You know, that reminds me. You knew Scarlett pretty well, didn’t you?”
Adam’s eyes bounced between us like a ping-pong match, but he stayed silent.
“Sure did. That’s why I have ten of her books optioned.” He smirked.
“That’s right,” I said like I’d actually managed to forget that fact. What the hell had Georgia ever seen in this off-brand Nick Nolte? “Then you arrived just in time, because my editor and I were discussing the end of the new book.”
“The book no one is supposed to know about?” He half winked, which was just weird.
“The same one.”
“Guys. Keep it down. We’re going for the whole surprise announcement angle, remember?” Adam warned.
“Right. Of course.” I could have kissed him for playing along. “Anyway, Adam and I were discussing the end of…Scarlett’s story, and there was one piece of the puzzle I didn’t quite get out of Georgia while I was in Colorado.” I exaggerated a wince. “Well, you know better than most how open she isn’t.”
Damian laughed, and my fists clenched, but I kept my arms crossed. “Yeah, she’s a prickly one, my Georgia.” He smiled wistfully.
My Georgia, asshole.
Adam lifted his brows and took a long drink.
“Right. Anyway, I was wondering—for the sake of the story—did Scarlett ever tell you why she waited so long to have Jameson declared…” The word died on my tongue. In my head, the two had lived on, deliriously happy.
“Dead?” he suggested, taking another drink.
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He looked at me like I was a moron. “She never gave up hope. Ever. That woman was hard as nails, but man was she a romantic. She checked the mail at the same time every day, hoping there had been some word, some discovery, and that was long after Brian passed on.”
“Brian. Right.” I nodded. “I guess meeting him finally gave her the push she needed to move on and live for herself. Makes sense. Should have thought of that.” My lips curved upward in what I hoped looked like a grateful smile.
Adam choked on his drink, then cleared his throat to cover the sound. That was exactly how I’d written the ending, putting the pieces together from what little Georgia knew about that part of Scarlett’s life.
“I wouldn’t say meeting him. Scarlett knew Brian for years, actually.” Damian’s beady little eyes narrowed slightly in thought. “They never talked about it, but he moved into that tiny cottage in the mid-fifties. Now that you mention it, she told me once that she couldn’t marry Brian that first decade because it felt like her first marriage wasn’t over.” He shrugged. “Guess she finally realized it was. I mean, I think waiting forty years is long enough, don’t you?”
My stomach sank.
“Hey, baby.” Paige Parker hooked her elbow through his. “You about ready to sit down?”
“I’m chatting business,” he told her, then leaned down to whisper in her ear when she pouted.