AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You pulled a Nicholas Sparks on me,” Paige said as her face—her disapproving face—appeared on the screen. Her editor looked polished and professional, but if she was surprised to see an author disheveled and a hot mess, she didn’t show it.
“A what?” she asked with a frown, still not quite awake. It had been a very late night and a very troubled sleep once she finally did pass out, well after 3:00 a.m.
“You killed the fisherman,” Paige said, shaking her head in disbelief, her pretty blond bob swishing around her chin.
Carly’s heart raced as she nodded and prepared to defend the decision. “It just seemed like the most realistic ending...” The entire series was about forbidden love, a union that could never be. Sure, it was sad and slightly depressing, but what had readers expected? The two of them were from different worlds and simply couldn’t make it work, despite their love for one another.
Paige sent her a look that suggested she was crazy. “Realistic? Carly, you’re writing fantasy romance—suspension of disbelief is assumed and an HEA is required.”
If only it were that way in real life. “Yes, but it’s the end of the trilogy and each book has ended on a cliff-hanger. No real HEA.” Where else could the love story go? Sealena was on borrowed time, and if she had to return to the ocean and give up her fisherman eventually anyway, what was the harm in killing him off?
“About that—we’ll come back to this awful ending in a sec—the publisher wants more books,” Paige said with a slight hesitation. Obviously not so excited about that offer now that Carly hadn’t quite delivered the promised story in the third installment.
Her heart raced. “What?” Had this petition circulating around town reached the publisher? Were they really giving in to what the readers wanted?
“I spoke to the higher-ups and they want to go to contract for three more.”
She blinked. Three more? Carly hadn’t thought more than one installment was possible. Then, when she’d turned it into a trilogy, she’d had to dig deep and plot out two more books...
“Readers want more,” Paige said, flipping through a stack of papers on her desk. “Early preorder sales indicate that this third book is in high demand. It will be the biggest seller yet—or at least, it was supposed to be,” she said, sending Carly a look.
Carly bit her lip.
“So, rewrite that ending, bring her fisherman lover back to life, and I look forward to a more uplifting ending,” Paige said in an upbeat tone that left no room for argument. Carly knew she was bound to the terms of her contract and she did want to give readers the satisfying ending they wanted and deserved. Her loyal fans would be devastated by the current ending, and now, with the potential for more books in the series, she had to rethink things.
“Of course. I’ll send a new ending over to you soon,” she said with another forced smile. “And thank you for the opportunity for more books, Paige,” she said.
“I know you won’t let me—or your readers—down,” Paige said. “Talk soon.”
Carly sighed as she disconnected the Skype call and slumped back in the chair.
A more uplifting ending. Could she possibly put her own heartache aside to give the serpent queen an impossible happily-ever-after?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
OLIVER’SSHOULDERSSAGGED, once again feeling the weight of the world on them as he climbed out of his vehicle and headed toward Callan’s house early that morning. The day before, Tess had asked to spend the night at Darcy’s and Oliver had been relieved to see that she was feeling better and wanting to see her friend. After his run-in with Sebastian, he’d appreciated the time alone to review the proposal without Tess there. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to tell his daughter about all of this, but he needed to that day, before she heard there was a possibility that they were losing their home from someone else.
And Carly supported it—that was the part that hurt the most, the part Oliver couldn’t quite wrap his head around.
She hadn’t even spoken to him about it before cosigning Sebastian’s proposal.
He’d gone to see her about it, hoping there had been a misunderstanding, but she’d actually argued that this might be a good thing. It had cut him deep and he’d reacted by shutting down again, shutting her out.
Maybe things had moved too quickly between them. He’d opened up and gotten hurt, and now he wasn’t sure how they moved on from here.
The problem was, he didn’t want to go back to being friends. The two of them together had felt right. They’d been friends forever and had shared a grief and sadness like no other, and he knew her feelings had only grown after that. Carly had developed a love for him in recent years as their friendship had changed and evolved. Just like his own feelings had over recent weeks.
This was the first time the two of them had really disagreed on anything and it was a big thing. How were they supposed to reconcile their differences on this? And how could they have a future together if they couldn’t see eye to eye on something so important?
Knocking on the front door, Oliver scanned the yard. A tire swing hung from the tall maple tree, and the large trampoline, occupying most of the space, was one of Tess’s favorite activities when she visited her friend. The two of them would bounce on it for hours, talking and giggling, then collapse on it when they’d exhausted themselves.
Maybe he should buy her one for her birthday.
But where would they put it if they ended up moving?
The door opened, and Callan, dressed in SpongeBob SquarePants pajama pants, coffee cup in hand, looked surprised to see him. “Hey, Oliver, what’s up?”
Oliver’s gut twisted instinctively before he said, “Here to pick up Tess.”
