Kyle grinned. “Yeah. But more like the Watson in the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock. Someone who can protect the main character, because I don’t see Robby being especially good at fighting or weapons or anything like that.”
“Okay,” Harper said. “Male or female?”
Mitch approved. “Good question.”
“Hmm.” Kyle tapped his fingers on his leg. “I was thinking another guy, but a woman would make for a nice twist.”
Harper leaned toward him, a sure sign that she was getting invested. Mitch had seen her do that enough times to know. “What if she was former military? Maybe not even U.S. military, maybe Israeli. They’re pretty tough.”
“Oh.” Kyle’s eyes widened in obvious excitement. “I hadn’t considered anything like that but wow, I like that a lot.” He sat back and went into thinking mode, his gaze somewhere distant, his lips rolled in.
“Maybe,” Harper went on. “She’s the sister of Robby’s college roommate, who died for reasons as of yet unknown, and on his death bed, he made her promise to protect Robby.”
“Oh, wow, yeah,” Kyle said. “I could do so much with that.”
Harper smiled at Mitch. He winked at her. She was good. He never would have thought about the female soldier angle or the death-bed promise. In all truth, he probably would have suggested another male character, an older mentor type. But her idea was better. Her idea would bring in a wider demographic of readers.
“How did you get so good at this?” he asked quietly.
She just grinned. “I read a lot. I watch too many movies. And I know what I like.” She shrugged. “It’s a blessing and a curse, I guess.”
Mitch shook his head. “All blessing, I promise.”
Kyle got up. “I need to go make notes and write some of this down. Work on names. Things like that. I’m sorry, but I need toget this down. I have all kinds of ideas now and I don’t want to lose them.”
Bunny stood, ready for anything.
“Go ahead,” Harper said. “Whatever the process is, embrace it.”
“Thanks.” Kyle started to leave, then stopped. “You were really helpful. I mean it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled.
He took off, Bunny jogging after him.
Mitch shrugged. “I guess we’re done. I’ll still pay you for the whole hour. That’s only fair.”
“Whatever you think.” She tugged at the cuffs of her shorts. “Willa, Jack and I are going to the beach. Archie, too.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It should be. Unless the paparazzi figure out we’re there. Well, that Jack is there. They don’t care about the rest of us, obviously.” She snorted. “You want to come? You’re welcome to. You and Bunny.”
Having to say no was a bummer, but he really wanted to stay on track with the book. “As much as I would like to, I need to get some pages done. Especially if I’m going to have this draft done before we leave for L.A.”
She nodded. “I figured. Don’t worry about it. We’re just going to hang out. It’s not like we’re doing anything special.” She inched toward the edge of her seat. “I heard from Jack that Angelo got things taken care of with Addison. I don’t know if I was supposed to know that or not.”
Mitch grunted, a little peeved at himself. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself. I meant to. It was kind of a late night last night and then Ruthie was a little fussy this morning and things just got away from me.”
“No worries,” she said with a smile. “I’m just happy that’s behind you. Both of you. It has to be such a huge weight off your mind.”
“It is.” He sighed. “She signed those papers without even trying to negotiate for more money. She took the first offer.”
“You seem bothered by that.”
“I am. I don’t get how a mother can be so cavalier about her child. How she can care so little.”
Harper pursed her lips. “I do.”
