‘I might get arrested if I wear them to the spa day,’ Johnny said.
Liv whipped them out of his hand. She’d not worn her own swimsuit in ages and wondered if it would still fit her, too. ‘I’ll buy you some new ones.’ She turned back to Jake. ‘Have you bought Katrina’s birthday present yet?’
Jake’s mouth fell ajar. ‘Oh, I thought you might have sorted it out.’
Liv stared at him. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get something for her,’ she said, feeling like she’d redeemed herself a little. ‘You were going to tell me your business talk with her…’
Jake glanced at his watch. ‘Sorry, it’ll have to wait. I said I’d go to the park with Johnny.’
When Liv arrived at Essie’s flat, she drank two pints of water before crashing down into the writing chair. The previous night kept playing in her mind, the way Hank looked at her, and the sensation of his breath on her lips. Liv touched the side of her mouth and reminded herself that he wanted Essie, not her.
She’d not been that close to another man since meeting Jake. Again, she couldn’t help wondering if she’d settled down with him too soon. Had she missed out on dating other men, and other life experiences? Essie was worldlier than her. It gave her material for Georgia’s adventures that Liv didn’t have.
Liv’s bones felt heavy. She was exhausted after last night and from all the deceit and turmoil of the last few months. She just had to limp through eight more weeks of writing. Learning of Essie’s superstition about 1 November pushed her on.
She had now finished chapter thirty-two of Book Twenty and had to write the end to Georgia’s story on her own. She had no skeleton bones to provide her with structure.
Liv crossed out all the remaining names off her hero list, and scrubbed the mishmash male character she’d been working on. She decided to create a brand-new leading man for Georgia instead, and she named him Frank. He was a handsome American with dark hair, a fellow novelist who now owned a bar in Texas. He and Georgia had sizzling chemistry together.
Liv finally started to craft her own sentences and paragraphs. She drew on her experiences in Croatia and from meeting Essie’s men, and she added them into her work.
Except, as she developed Frank’s character further, a sour taste crept into her mouth. Hank had cheated on Essie. The author might have loved him, but that love was tainted. Liv couldn’t give Georgia’s heart fully to her new hero.
Georgia pressed her body against his. She sought out his lips with a feral urgency she couldn’t contain. ‘I’ve waited so long for this moment,’ she murmured.
‘Don’t talk, just kiss me,’ Frank said, pulling her towards him. His skin was warm against hers. He smelled of cedar wood and whisky.
Georgia closed her eyes and felt like she was melting. But then something inside her seemed to snap in two. She pulled away from him. ‘Stop. We’ve got work to do,’ she said. ‘Time is running out.’
Liv chewed the side of her nail. Frank felt more like Frankenstein’s monster. He was good-looking, persuasive and confident, but didn’t seem to have a soul.
She pressed on regardless for several days. The deadline was looming. She had to keep writing.
One day, when her wrists started to cramp, she took a break and wrote a couple of quotes on behalf of Hank. She emailed them to him and he replied soon after.
Go for it, doll. Did you say hello to Ess for me?
Liv let her fingers hover over the keyboard, not wanting to lie to him. Her attraction to him still sparked inside her. Her chest ached when she thought about him learning of Essie’s death.
Thanks so much,she wrote back to him, keeping him at bay.Great meeting you!
She emailed Hank’s quotes to Chloe, unsure if the journalist would keep up her end of the bargain or not. Liv sat with her eyes fixed on the laptop waiting for a reply. When nothing arrived in her inbox, she prowled around the flat like a caged lion.
After printing out a chapter she’d just drafted, Liv scribbled lots of notes on the paper. She pressed down so hard her pencil snapped and she looked in the top drawer of Essie’s writing desk for another one.When she saw a crumpled up yellow note, she picked it out and smoothed it out. Essie had written…
The best day of my life was also my worst.
Liv said it out loud. Although the words might be meant for a book, she felt the author was referring to the Constellation Prize. She pictured Essie writing the words on the note. ‘Hank is really sorry, Essie,’ she said aloud. ‘Everything is nearly at an end.’
Essie tossed her black bob.Humph, she said.
Liv’s eyes settled on the bee-shaped cufflinks sitting on the desk. It was obvious they didn’t belong to Hank, so how did they fit into everything? Why would Essie push them under her pillow before she went in hospital?
Her brain was too stuffed from writing to think about it further.
She left the flat early and headed into the city to buy new swimming shorts for Johnny, and Katrina’s gift. Her limbs were sluggish and she came across a designer shop called Pooliversity. The items in the window display looked more like dental floss rather than swimwear. Tiny price labels displayed huge prices.
Three hundred pounds for a straw bag?her mum’s voice appeared in her head.Has it been hand woven by fairies?
