Please let the book be worthy of Essie and her fans, she thought.
Meg’s expression gave nothing away until she fluttered a hand to her heart. ‘I devoured the entire thing in one reading, Livvy,’ she said. ‘Essie really knocked it out of the park this time. The ending is wonderful, so poignant. I totally understand that Georgia needs to find herself. So many readers will relate to that.’
Tears of relief rushed to Liv’s eyes and she blinked up at the ceiling so Meg wouldn’t notice.
‘Oh, don’t cry, darling. You’ll set me off.’ Meg dabbed her nose with a tissue. ‘Essie certainly left her best work until last. I wish she were here, so I could tell her to her face. Not that I’d seen it for a long time. And, of course, we’ll need edits… I wonder if you’d be interested, Livvy? You know her creative spirit so well.’
‘Thanks.’ Liv smiled to herself. ‘Perhaps I could take a look.’
She looked around her, and didn’t feel out of place among all these book people. She was no longer on the outside looking in.
‘Are you raising a glass to her, darling?’ Meg said.
Liv glanced at her watch. Anthony still hadn’t arrived, and she didn’t know if he was coming or not. When the door opened a little, she raised her chin expectantly. One of the bookshop staff entered with a jug of water.
Liv sighed and turned away. She straightened a tablecloth and poured more tea for Ted.
Sometime later, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Anthony wearing his cobalt suit. His neck muscles were taut and his arms hung stiffly by his side. The white patch in his hair appeared to shine.
Her eyes met with his and she felt an unexpected gush of understanding towards him. Essie’s strange last wish had thrust two people together, her ex-lover and the daughter of the man she loved. She and Anthony had both struggled, and searched, and learned the truth. They had survived all the craziness and carried out Essie’s request. Liv felt much stronger for it, but she wasn’t sure about how he felt.
His eyes were downcast. ‘Apologies for being late, and for keeping things from you,’ he said. ‘Finding out you were Grant’s daughter brought back a lot of old emotions I thought I’d buried.’
‘You were right to be suspicious. I hope I proved myself to you.’
He raised his head and looked into her eyes. ‘You didn’t need to,’ he said. ‘Essie saw you as her worthy successor and that’s good enough for me.’ He paused before holding out his hand for a shake.
Liv hugged him instead.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.
‘Me, too.’
Pulling away, he looked around him. ‘You’ve done Essie proud. Have I missed your speech?’
‘I hadn’t planned one,’ Liv said, then realized the room had fallen quiet. ‘Essie would hatethat.’
‘You seem to have everyone’s attention,’ Anthony said. ‘It looks like they’re all waiting for you.’
Liv thought about all her feelings for Essie, from being a timid twelve-year-old schoolgirl, to becoming her cleaner, and evolving into her trusted co-author. How could she ever explain her myriad of emotions to anyone? ‘What should I say?’ she said.
‘Just say what she meant to you, what she meant to us all.’ He rubbed her arm and started to pour champagne into everyone’s glasses.
As Liv stood at the head of the table, palpitations pattered in her rib cage. She sipped water to wet her throat before she spoke. ‘Thanks, everyone, for coming today. And for keeping everything under wraps,’ she said. ‘I’m sure if Essie was with us today, she’d insist I keep things short and definitely not sweet.’
A ripple of laughter sounded around the table.
‘What can I say about Essie?’ she continued. ‘When we first met, she was pushy. She was stubborn, and scared me half to death. Not much changed as time progressed. She wasn’t an easy person to please. But when you did, for those few seconds you managed it, what a great feeling that was. Like walking on the sunny side of the street.
‘I didn’t do well at school. I cleaned houses and offices for a living. Some people looked down on me. Yet Essie never did. She had her demands, liked her carpets cleaned a certain way, and hated the smell of grapefruit in her bathroom. But she treated me with respect, like I was a human being. If she asked me a question,she listened to my answer and considered it. Even a small gap in a door can let in a lot of light. And it made me feel special. I’m proud to be one of the few people she let into her life. The other people wereyou. Our relationships with her weren’t smooth. Maybe Essie could have treated people better. Maybe they could have treated her better, too…’
Ted looked down. Sven played with his cuffs, and Hank nodded.
‘You probably all gave her great material for her books. She loved us all in her own way, even if she didn’t always show it.’
Liv took a moment to look down at her hands. She pictured her fingers tracing across Essie’s manuscript and dancing across keyboard keys.
‘My dad, Grant Cooper, taught Essie at university and recognized her talent. I’m proud that he helped her to write. He also brought me up to be a good person, encouraging me to understand and forgive others. I’m pleased to have been Essie’s cleaner, her assistant, but most of all, her friend. I’m going to leave the last few words to Essie’s heroine, Georgia Rory.’
