Page 11 of Modern Persuasion

"Alone?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, Christi, Louisa, Mary, and Tommy were all there. I'm pretty sure he hates me. Has anyone talked to him yet? Is he ok with me taking over?"

"Yes, his publicist said Fredrick agreed."

I gave a curt nod. "Will you check in on Dad and Elizabeth?"

"Of course I will. Are you sure you don't want to talk about this?"

I stopped and turned to Karen as we exited the exhibit floor and was able to get away from the crowd. "Did he know before me?" I asked.

"Know what?" Karen asked as she nodded her head a little.

"That I would replace Christi? I'm getting the impression the decision had been made before that meeting started."

Karen walked away from me and started walking toward the doors outside. "Yes, he knew before you did."

Chapter Eight

I went directly to the hospital and met with Christi to go over the details of the tour. She looked relaxed, and I assumed it was the drugs. Her right leg was in a cast and elevated with a sling. Her right arm was in another cast. If she was in pain, I couldn't tell. Her mind was sharp, and she was able to tell me everything I needed to know about the tour. We were undisturbed while we talked.

"You start here with morning shows, a party at the New York Public Library, and one signing at Barnes and Noble," she told me from her hospital bed.

"Nothing else in New York?"

She shook her head. "Not until the end of the tour. From here, you go to Boston for a few days. That is mostly readings and signings and an interview with the Boston Globe."

"Brookline Booksmith is included, I presume," I said with a smile, thinking of the independent bookstore just outside of Boston.

"They rented the theater across the street for him," Christi said as she adjusted her pillow a little. "The tickets sold out fast. The only other venue to sell tickets was Los Angeles, but that's because of local notoriety. After Boston, you go down to DC. Again there will be signings and newspapers."

"Ok."

"After DC, you go to Atlanta. The same will go on there, and this is the farthest south you will travel."

"Not Miami?" I asked, without looking up from my planner where I was taking notes.

Christi rolled her eyes. "No, Books and Books wouldn't agree to what we asked."

"What did you ask of them?"

"We wanted the reading in the courtyard," she said and shrugged.

I jerked my head up. "Christi, Miami in June is hot as all hell. What were you thinking?"

"It's the only space they have that could accommodate the crowd. The bookstore is already crowded, and they refused to find another space."

"Did they think the crowd would be smaller?" I asked as I drew my eyebrows together.

My colleague shook her head. "No, they just wanted it in the store with the space they have."

"Ok, so no Miami," I said, looking back at my planner again.

"From Atlanta, you go to LA, and you'll be there the longest. I mean, other than New York City."

I had never been to Los Angeles, which was the city I was most nervous about visiting. If I had married Fredrick eight years ago, that's where we would live. I was sure all his friends knew about me and had already judged me.

"We spend three days in each city, without the travel time. How much time in LA?" I asked, trying to figure out if I could find other things to fill my time.