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Oops. The book hadn’t been announced yet. Carly thought quickly. “Oh, well, as a store owner, I’m given the release dates ahead of time...for promotion and stuff.” Her cheeks were flushed and she could see that her cousin wasn’t buying it. Skylar could always tell when she wasn’t being completely truthful or was hiding something from her. They’d always been as close as sisters.
“Right...yeah. That makes sense.” Skylar paused. “You know what I thought was uncanny as I was reading, though?”
“What’s that?” Carly asked casually, avoiding her cousin’s piercing stare as she readjusted several items on the table.
“The similarities between you and Sealena,” Skylar said.
Now she was sweating. “What?” She scoffed. “That’s silly.” She headed back behind the counter and pretended to restock the till tape.
“Like the physical description of Sealena when she becomes human in the preview of book three—five-two, slim build, long dark hair and green eyes.”
Shit. She hadn’t realized she’d given the humanized version of Sealena her characteristics. Must have been subconscious. “That could be the description of practically half the women in town,” Carly said, waving a hand.
“Okay, well, the whole plot ofForbidden Lovesounds very familiar as well... Two souls connected but forced apart by circumstance?”
“Skylar, you don’t read romance, but that is a very common trope,” Carly said.
“A fisherman who is grieving the loss of his family? Closed off from the world? A wood-carver?” Skylar moved closer with each word. “The fisherman is Oliver!”
“Shhh,” Carly said as a patron entered the store. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oliver doesn’t fish,” she said.
Skylar’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, what about the turquoise pendant Sealena wears around her neck?” Skylar’s eyebrows rose as she eyed the one Carly was wearing.
“That’s really coincidental,” she said, her voice tight.
“Unless it’s not... You’re Y.C. Salwert, aren’t you?”
Carly scoffed. And scoffed.
“OMG, you are!” Skylar’s eyes widened with excitement as though she’d been bluffing, but now Carly had confirmed it.
Carly sighed and desperately pleaded with her cousin. “You have to keep this to yourself,” she whispered.
“Why? This is incredible. I never knew you wanted to be an author,” Skylar said, lowering her voice.
“I didn’t. Not really. I kinda just fell into it,” she said.
“You fell into a six-figure, multibook contract for a mega bestselling series?” Skylar asked incredulously.
“Sort of, yeah. It started as a fanfic out of frustration one night.”
“Frustration about Oliver?”
Carly nodded. “Do you think everyone else in town can see the similarities between me and Sealena and Oliver and the fisherman?”
Skylar thought for a second. “It took me a bit to see it and I think I only did because we’re so close, and, well, I started to suspect something was up with the recent spending. Putting the puzzle pieces together made me fairly confident in my accusation,” she said with a laugh. “Hey, why are you so freaked out that I know? This is great! I’m proud of you.”
“You are?”
“Yes, and so would the rest of Port Serenity be if they knew. Why the secret?”
“It all happened so fast and I had never expected the series to do so well. I guess a part of me wanted to keep the focus on the books. The mysterious author element seemed to help with sales, so the publisher was on board with keeping my identity a secret,” she said.
“But don’t you want people to know?”
Carly thought for a moment. She wasn’t sure. As Skylar had pointed out, there were parts of herself—a lot of herself—within those pages, and announcing herself as the author might feel too personal. “I don’t know... Maybe, but not yet,” she said. Then she pointed a finger at her cousin. “And not a word to Rachel!”
Skylar nodded emphatically. “Oh yeah, no, that makes sense. She’d never be able to keep this to herself.”
