27
Nicole
“This was a terrible idea.”
Nicole paced across Joel’s living room and back again. “I can’t remember ever feeling this tense about anything.”
“Could you sit down? You’re making me nervous too.”
Milly checked the time. “Why hasn’t he called? It has been four hours. He said he’d call and update us.”
“Probably means it has all gone horribly wrong.”
Nicole sat down for two seconds, but it was impossible to relax so she stood up again. “We shouldn’t have asked him to do this. It wasn’t fair.”
“Don’t say that.”
Milly threw her a look. “It was my idea, and now I’m doubting myself.”
“What are you two worrying about now?”
Joel walked into the room carrying a plate of sandwiches and a jug of ice water.
Milly blinked. “Sandwiches? It’s eleven in the morning.”
“The day started early. I’ve adjusted mealtimes accordingly. Also, eating stops me from falling asleep.”
He put the sandwiches down on the table.
“Maybe I should call and tell him not to do it.”
Milly stared at her phone, as if she was willing it to ring.
“You two are overthinking this. If he didn’t want to do it, he would have said no.”
Joel topped up Nicole’s glass of water. He caught her eye briefly and smiled, and she smiled back.
He was so attentive, and Nicole was having to make a real effort not to watch him the whole time. He’d been such a good friend to her.
Fortunately Milly didn’t seem to be paying much attention to them. “I didn’t exactly give him much of a choice. He probably hates me now. It will be the end of a short but beautiful relationship.”
“And you hadn’t even had sex.”
Nicole gave her an apologetic look. “Next time, seize the moment. Life is too short not to grab fun whenever you can.”
She saw Milly turn scarlet, and Joel raised an eyebrow.
“There don’t seem to be a lot of secrets left between the four of us, so don’t worry.”
His gaze slid to the garden. “But if you want us to clear the room and leave you and Brendan alone, you need to tell us. Because he’s here.”
“Definitely don’t clear the room.”
Milly turned an even deeper shade of red and smoothed her hair.
Brendan tapped on the doors, and Joel opened them.
“Welcome. You took so long we were worried you’d been devoured by the press pack.”
“I got lost trying to find the trail.”
He glanced at Milly. “For the record, your directions are terrible.”
“I told you to turn left at the outdoor shop.”
“Yes, but you omitted to tell me that after that I had to climb a gate and dodge a herd of cows. Hi, Nic. Good to see you.”
He crossed the room to Nicole, and she hugged him.
“Brendan. It has been a while.”
She’d worked with so many people over the course of her career, some good and some bad. Fortunately Brendan landed firmly in the Good column.
“I didn’t know you were staying here. The owner of Forest Nest is the soul of discretion.”
Joel raised his eyebrows. “You two know each other?”
“I played the part of the detective from one of his books,”
Nicole said, “which you’d know if you ever went to the movies.”
“Now, why would I want to waste my life doing something like that?”
Joel helped himself to one of his sandwiches. “Sorry, but I need to eat. All this drama is making me light-headed.”
“Please,”
Milly begged, “will you put us out of our misery and tell us what happened? I feel physically sick.”
“In that case, is it okay if I eat your share of the sandwiches?”
Brendan accepted the plate Joel was offering and loaded it with sandwiches. “Put the TV on, and all your questions will be answered. I know you’re not a big screen lover, but you do have a TV, don’t you, Joel?”
“Sarcasm is an unattractive feature.”
Joel moved a couple of books on the coffee table and retrieved the remote control. He pointed it at the TV in the corner of the room.
“You don’t find me attractive? I’m gutted. That’s the last beer we share together.”
Brendan bit into a sandwich. “What’s in this? What am I eating?”
“I don’t know. Various bits from my fridge.”
Joel was channel-flicking. “What am I looking for?”
“The news.”
Nicole’s stomach lurched, and she exchanged looks with Milly. “It has made the news? I thought you were just going to get rid of them in a low-key way.”
“I was, but then I decided I might as well get some prime-time promotion for myself while I was at it. I have a new book coming out next month. Also, if you go big, then it stops the story escalating because it has nowhere else to go. They recorded a very nice piece to camera—now we just need to see how much they edited.”
He finished the sandwiches on his plate. “I don’t suppose you have any of Milly’s chocolate cake? I would kill for her chocolate cake.”
“Shh. Here we go, this is it.”
Joel turned up the volume, and all four of them stared at the screen as the presenter talked through all the serious news of the day.
“I write suspense for a living, and even I’m struggling with the tension.”
Brendan helped himself to a sandwich from Joel’s plate. “Oh look, she’s smiling. That means they’re about to do their light-hearted piece. That’s how it works. They give you half an hour of all the different ways the world is ending, and then give you two minutes of fluffy kittens to stop you cutting your throat when you turn it off.”
The presenter smiled at the camera.
“And finally, best-selling crime writer Brendan Scott confirmed today that he and Nicole Raven are in the early stages of negotiations to bring another of his books to the big screen.”
The camera cut from the presenter in the studio to a shot of Forest Nest, the sun glinting through the trees.
“Looks good, Milly.”
Joel’s eyes were fixed on the screen. “Your bookings are going to go up.”
“According to Scott, he and Raven have been scouting possible locations around the UK, including Yorkshire and the Lake District. Scott refused to confirm or deny rumors that Raven may be setting up her own production company, but the two have worked together in the past, and Scott admitted that he was excited about the possibility of another collaboration.”
“A production company?”
Nicole looked at him. “You told them I was setting up a production company?”
“Pay attention. She said I refused to confirm or deny rumors.”
Brendan was still watching the report. “Gives them something else to think about. Shh. This is my big moment.”
The camera cut to Brendan, looking relaxed and handsome by one of the trails in the resort. “Nicole Raven is that rare thing, a global superstar. I’m a long-time fan of her work, and I’m looking forward to seeing her bring one of my most popular fictional characters to life.”
“Scott, who has notched up fifteen number-one bestsellers in the last decade . . .”
“Sixteen,”
Brendan muttered. “I told them it was sixteen.”
“Be quiet!”
Milly caught his arm, her focus on the TV.
“. . . will be back in the US next month for the launch of his next book. Raven has already left the country and was unavailable for comment, but Scott dismissed rumors that recent revelations about her alleged affair with Justin Fisher had sent her into hiding. ‘She’s been working hard, finding her own projects for development,’ Scott said as he confirmed that more meetings were planned. ‘She’s one of the new breed of actors who aren’t afraid to take control of their own destiny, and that can only be good news for authors like me and for moviegoers everywhere.’”
“They cut the part where I told them the title of my next book!”
Brendan scowled.
“They think I’ve already left the country?”
Nicole felt light-headed with relief. “Do they believe that?”
“Yes. I said you were far too busy and important to spend time hanging around here with me. But you probably should lie low for a couple of days, just to be safe.”
Nicole felt a soaring sense of gratitude. “I can’t believe you did that for me.”
“I know, I’m a hero. And I didn’t even get anything out of it for myself because they cut the mention of my book.”
Brendan winked at her. “If I’m not careful there will be rumors that I’m a good guy, and I can’t have that. I work hard at making my life seem murky and mysterious, in keeping with my author persona.”
Nicole laughed. “Does this mean that I actually have to set up a production company?”
Brendan helped himself to the last sandwich on Joel’s plate. “I don’t know, but I’ve heard worse ideas in my time. Shame you’re not still in the country or we could have a meeting about it.”
Milly sank onto the edge of the sofa. “So now what?”
Joel picked up the empty plate. “Now I make more sandwiches, given that Brendan has eaten them all. After that, you go back to work and do whatever you do. We don’t want to raise suspicions. Nicole stays here. Brendan goes back to editing his book.”
“You mean I go back to staring out the window. That’s how writers spend their day.”
“Why don’t I cook dinner for us all tonight?”
Milly made the suggestion tentatively. “Zoe is spending the evening with my mother and Nanna Peg. I can do it here, so that Nicole doesn’t have to leave the house.”
Brendan looked at Milly, and his expression softened. “I’d rather have you to myself than share you with these two, but I suppose it depends on what you’re cooking. Is it lemon chicken?”
Nicole saw Milly blush.
“It could be lemon chicken.”
“Great. In that case I’ll bring the wine. Tonight will be dinner with friends. Our date can wait until tomorrow.”
Dinner with friends.
Nicole looked at the three of them.
Milly had given her sanctuary, and Joel had done the same. Brendan had willingly stepped in to protect her from the press. And she knew without doubt that she could trust every person in this room.
A lump formed in her throat. “I thought I was going to have to do this on my own. Handle it on my own.”
“No chance,”
Joel said, and Milly shook her head.
“We are all in it together.”
“I wasn’t in anything at all,”
Brendan said, “until Milly threatened never to make me her lemon chicken again. Now I’m all in.”
Nicole didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I’ve never had three friends before. Not three real friends.”
They all turned to look at her, and she felt suddenly awkward. “I mean friends who would put themselves out. Friends who would do something for me without getting anything in return.”
There was an emotional silence, and then Joel spoke.
“I want something in return,”
he said finally. “I want you to help me make the next round of sandwiches because I’m starting to feel as if I’m running a catering company.”
“And I want you to mention my book on social media,”
Brendan said, “because you have more followers than I do.”
Nicole laughed and walked with Joel to the kitchen, feeling as if she was poised on the edge of something exciting. A baby, good friends and a home in a place she’d always loved. It was a million miles from her old life, but it felt exactly right. Exactly where she wanted to be.
It was a clarity of thinking that was long overdue.