Jane Bites Back_ A Novel - Michael Thomas Ford [25]
She forced herself to get up and take a shower. Then, dressed in the fluffy white robe provided by the hotel, she raced through the manuscript, adding words here and there and occasionally muttering her disagreement with something Kelly had written. But mostly everything he’d done made sense, and she finished with just enough time left to get dressed and pack her suitcase for the trip home.
Kelly had arranged to meet her in the restaurant in her hotel, so she had only to go downstairs. Still, she was five minutes late, and found Kelly already seated at a table.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized as he stood and kissed her lightly on cheek. “I was up late going through the manuscript.”
“I only just got here,” he reassured her.
As she sat down and placed the manuscript on the table, Jane couldn’t help noticing how put together Kelly looked. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and a blue striped tie. His hair was slicked back and he looked refreshed and impossibly handsome. Meanwhile, Jane thought, I look and feel like the undead.
“Did you sleep well?” Kelly asked as Jane accepted a cup of coffee from the waitress.
“Very well, thank you,” said Jane.
“And is there anything in the manuscript you want to discuss?”
Jane shook her head as she poured cream into her coffee. “It all looks good,” she said. “There were just a few little things. Nothing terribly important.”
“I have to tell you, so far you’re a dream author,” Kelly told her. “I almost hope the book doesn’t do well.”
“Why?” Jane asked, startled by the statement.
“I’m kidding,” Kelly said, noticing her reaction. “It’s just that often when new authors have a bestseller they become, shall we say …” He waved his hands around as he searched for the right word.
“Self-important?” Jane suggested.
Kelly nodded. “Self-important,” he agreed.
Jane raised her eyebrows and smiled. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” she said.
She and Kelly went over the final edits on her manuscript. When they were done, Kelly tucked the pages into his briefcase.
“We should get you to Penn Station,” he said. “Your train leaves in half an hour.”
Jane went upstairs to retrieve her bag. Then Kelly flagged them a cab and they rode to the train station.
“Have a safe trip home,” Kelly said, kissing Jane on the cheek again before she exited the cab in front of Penn Station. “I’ll call you in a few days to discuss what happens next.”
Jane waved goodbye and watched as the cab pulled away, her head filled with thoughts of Kelly, her book, and the new possibilities in her life. Had his lips lingered a bit longer than was strictly polite?
The train was not particularly crowded, and Jane had a row to herself. She settled into the window seat and opened the book she’d started on the journey down the day before. But she found herself unable to concentrate. She would have to tell people about her novel, of course. Lucy anyway. Perhaps Walter. Suddenly she thought of Walter. She saw his face, and imagined how excited he would be for her when she told him she was going to be published. His congratulations would be genuine, not the insincere words of someone jealous of her success. Walter was incapable of insincerity.
Despite knowing it was foolish, Jane couldn’t help comparing Walter to Kelly. They were so different. Where Kelly moved in a fast-paced world, Walter was content with small-town life. Where Kelly was worldly, Walter was simple. Yet both were kind men. Most important, Jane reminded herself, Walter had already expressed his feelings for her. Kelly was just her editor.
And yet she couldn’t help wondering if Kelly might not become more. They were—at least as far as Kelly knew—roughly the same age. They shared many interests. And they would be working closely together. Wasn’t it possible that romance could blossom?
Jane felt guilty for even thinking such a thing. But there it was. She couldn’t deny that she found Kelly attractive. And part of her believed that he might accept the inevitable truth about her condition more easily than Walter would. I imagine there are