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“That one,” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “You’ll be fine. If May starts, Grandma will choke her.”
Was he joking?
“Is that a joke?” I asked.
“Sadly, no.” He knocked his knuckle against the door before I could ask what the heck he meant by that and pushed the door open. “I have someone here for you, ladies.”
Welp, there was no backing out now.
Max pushed the door fully open to reveal me to the ladies in the library, and I’m not ashamed to say my first focus was the walls.
The bookshelves.
Floor. To. Ceiling. Shelves.
Rammed full of books.
Beast, Belle, eat your hearts out.
Old books. New books. Books that looked older than they probably were.
Romances and thrillers and mysteries and fantasies and—
“Ellie!” Esme got to her feet and held out her hands, stopping my happy perusal of the shelves that surrounded the room. “You’re here!”
I smiled, and I hoped that I looked a lot more confident than I felt. “Hi, Esme. Thank you for inviting me to drop by tonight.”
She approached me and wrapped me in a huge hug. “You’ll be fine,” she whispered in my ear, squeezing me tightly. “Take a deep breath.”
I did just that. “Thank you,” I whispered right back.
She patted my back and pulled away. “Come and sit with us, dear. We were just discussing the first meeting between Allegra and Benjamin.”
“Ah. A good place to start,” I said, following her over to the table.
May, who was dressed in a black dress with a bird print on the skirt, eyed me. “The beginning usually is.”
“For some people.” I smiled, sitting down. “The first scene I wrote of this book was one of the last ones, where Ben’s mum finds out where Allegra’s parents live and goes there to apologise to her. I always knew their relationship would build to that moment where she gave her the key to their house in Edinburgh.”
She scowled. “I found that particular scene to be quite unrealistic. Why would Stephanie have travelled all the way to Edinburgh from Portsmouth just to apologise to someone? It wasn’t in character for her at all.”
“It was actually inspired by a friend of mine. It happened to her in real life.” I kept my smile in place, accepting the glass of gin and tonic Dawn passed me with a small, “Thank you, Dawn.” I turned back to May, cradling the glass. “She fell in love, but she didn’t get along with his mother. It was a complicated situation, resulting in her leaving. She told me it wasn’t in character for his mother either, but her son’s happiness mattered more in the end.” I sipped the gin. “As it happens, I believe the two of them are quite good friends now.”
“Fascinating,” Susie said, leaning forwards. “Do you often draw inspiration from real-life situations?”
I nodded. “Of course. Sometimes the best stories and scenes come from things you’ve experienced in real life or from the things others have.”
“Does yourfriendknow you drew from her life?” May asked, her lip curling at one side.
“Of course. That’s why I dedicated the book to her.” I held her gaze. “As long as I changed the names and locations, she promised not to tell her future mother-in-law. Although given that she bought a signed copy for her birthday this year, I don’t think she kept that promise.”
Dawn giggled. “What did she say? The future in-law?”
“You know, I’m not sure. I’ll have to find out for you.” I smiled at her.Goodness, she was sweet.
“Okay, so I must know,” Susie said, adjusting her seat. “If you draw from real life experiences, does that mean the, uh…adult… scenes… are also real?”
