Page 124 of The Bookshop By the Loch

“I did. Her daughter Maeve would love to see it published. I thought it might have legs for a series – a prequel and then a third about her two daughters.”

“Right. How quickly can you email it over to me and I’ll pass it onto one of the commissioning editors? If they were keen and wanted to commission a series, would you be willing to write it?”

My breath quickened.

“Lexie? Are you still there?”

I pulled myself together and thought of Celeste’s faith in me. “Yes. I would.”

Rhiannon sighed with pleasure. “Wonderful. Ok. Can you email it over to me now please?”

A frisson of nerves shot through me like an electric current. “I’ll send it straight away.”

“Great! Oh God, I can see the press release about this beauty already!”

I laughed. I just hoped it lived up to Rhiannon’s expectations.

I was preparing to leave my flat the next morning for Book Ends, when Rhiannon’s number lit up my phone. I didn’t even have time to say hi, before she launched into an excited tirade.

“Can you check your emails on your phone if I forward this on to you right now?”

I clicked on my inbox, to see an email to Rhiannon from Verity Edwards, one of the commissioning editors at Literati:

Hi Rhiannon,

Hope you’re ok?

Thanks to you, Lexie and the late, great Celeste, I’ve been up all sodding night reading that book. I look dreadful but what a wonderful story! The characters are compelling and I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

I will send it back for Lexie just to address a couple of minor tweaks and then I’m getting it straight to acquisitions. I’ll keep you posted.

As promised, Rhiannon returned the manuscript with only a couple of suggested minor changes to be made, which I worked on that evening and then returned it to her before heading to bed.

I was prepared for a glacial wait. I knew only too well how slow the publishing industry could be.

But just as Tobias had persuaded me the following evening to go out for dinner, an email arrived in my inbox. I was putting the finishing touches to my hair and didn’t take any notice. It was only when Rhiannon called me moments later, fizzing with excitement, that I wondered what was going on. “Have you had a chance to read Verity’s email yet?” burst out Rhiannon. “Guess what? An offer already! A three-book deal with us for a silver songbird trilogy. The sales team bit Verity’s hand off, they think it’s got huge potential!”

I gripped the phone, emotional visions of Celeste wavering in front of me. She would be thrilled.

“Lexie? Lexie? Are you ok?”

Tobias, who had been patiently waiting for me in my sitting room, appeared.

“Literati want to publish Celeste’s book. They want a trilogy.”

Before I knew what was happening, he whirled me around, planting a fierce kiss on my thrilled, stunned mouth.

“Yes,” I beamed up at him, through the promise of delighted tear as I gripped my phone. “Everything is simply wonderful.”

Epilogue

Twelve months later

Time had moved on, but the memories of Celeste stayed.

The trilogy of the Silver Songbird books was eagerly anticipated. The first novel hit the Kindle Top 20 and stayed there for weeks. The second in the series is about to be published.

With Maeve’s approval, I donated all proceeds from the first book to the Silver Songbird charity for troubled teenagers that she had started up in Celeste’s memory.