Page 20 of Winter With You

What? Was Cheyenne, the publicist, quoting contract clauses at her? What was actually going on here?

‘Gabriella, you should be pleased that All Chapters are pushing the budget on this one. There aren’t many authors who get the chance to tour New York and talk with Zeeta Friedmann.’

‘And fewer who do that with a book cover they’ve never seen before.’ She threw her hands up. ‘It’s like asking Zendaya to promote a movie she starred in but hold up, wait, the studio are changing the entire plot right before the talk show comes back from the ad break. Just putting it out there.’

‘It’s not like that at all.’

‘No? So why wait until now to tell me? When the decision is made, when the books have been printed, so I have no choice.’

‘I don’t know why⁠—’

‘Yeah, well, the last part wasn’t a question, Cheyenne. It was a statement. You didn’t ask me at all. And you didn’t tell me until now so I could do nothing about it.’ She turned her head away from looking at her publicist and instead looked inside at her niece.

Phoebe was stood, hands clasped together, eyes rapidly flitting left and right then back to the patio doors, unsettled, mulling over this development about her mum’s drawing. Gabriella had committed to her care, would always be committed to her care, as long as she had breath in her own body. She had to somehow make this right, or, for the time being, if she couldn’t make it right, she had to make it bearable. She looked back to Cheyenne.

‘I want you to tell me exactly what else has changed in the book,’ Gabriella said, eyes firmly set on the All Chapters’ employee.

‘I don’t think⁠—’

‘I’m not dumb, Cheyenne. Don’t treat me like it. If they’ve changed the cover then they’ve altered some of the content and I’m not sitting with Zeeta Friedmann or Jimmy fucking Fallon not knowing what is or isn’t in this special edition. Got it? Or do I need to pinch your arm again?’

‘Got it,’ Cheyenne answered with a shaky nod.

‘Then start talking,’ Gabriella ordered. ‘Because we aren’t going back inside until I know everything. I don’t have being turned into an ice sculpture on a hotel balcony on my New York wish list but, in this case I could absolutely roll with it.’

14

‘This is better, right?’ Gabriella said, clapping her glove-clad hands together then holding them outwards towards the gas flames of one of the two patio heaters she had ordered for the balcony from room service earlier. It seemed that twenty-four-hour club sandwiches weren’t the only thing they could conjure up if a VIP guest demanded it.

Phoebe looked less than convinced as she pulled her chair through the residue of sleet on the tiles to be nearer to the warmth, dressed like she was ready for Antarctica not just New York in winter. ‘It’s still cold.’

‘I know,’ Gabriella said, coming to sit opposite Phoebe. ‘But it’s away from Cheyenne and it’s atmospheric and look at NYC! It’s right there and we are in the middle of it.’ She took a breath and observed the high-rises surrounding them, the bright illuminations through the misty air, the string of traffic on the street heading north. ‘And we have caramel coffees. Always a good thing, right?’

‘You can just tell me what Cheyenne said now. About the new book cover. About Mum’s drawing.’

Yes, Gabriella needed to remember that Phoebe was sixteen, not six anymore. In two years’ time she would be a fully-fledged adult. Ready to be independent in every way. But her thinking, that was already independent, had been from the second she’d had to grow up faster than most.

Gabriella sighed. ‘The special US edition is green. I mean green, what were they thinking?’ She gently nudged a coffee cup on the table toward Phoebe.

‘Green has never been popular for books, I looked it up. But, it’s had a resurgence. Now it’s supposed to be calming and remind people of freshly cut grass,’ Phoebe informed her.

Gabriella frowned. ‘Why did you look it up?’

‘Because… I’ve seen the new cover.’ She sighed, wrapping her hands around the cup of coffee.

‘What? How?’

‘Because you can’t do anything without leaving an internet trail. I had to dig a bit but, I found it.’

Gabriella stood. She needed to go inside the suite and get her phone. She had to see this.

‘You don’t need to see it now,’ Phoebe said. ‘Trust me. You won’t like it.’

‘Great!’ Gabriella exclaimed. ‘So, the book I’m going to have to publicise on American TV looks like shit.’

‘More like spinach I’d say,’ Phoebe said. ‘Or one of those healthy smoothies you talk about in chapter nine.’

Gabriella thumped down into her seat and put her hat-covered head into her hands. ‘Why is this happening? Why are All Chapters turning into a dictatorship to rival the Trump administration?’