Page 16 of Coming Home to Crumbleton

‘It’s always off the record with you, Rubes,’ laughed Caroline. ‘You know that. Unless you explicitly tell me otherwise, of course. Besides, I don’t think anyone would be that interested in reading about your teenage exploits… even if you are the talk of the town at the moment, what with you being our very own home-grown celeb!’

‘Urgh… don’t joke!’ Ruby wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

‘I’m not,’ said Caroline in surprise. ‘Not about that last bit, at least. You know, I don’t understand why you always get your knickers in a twist the moment anyone mentions your writing. You should be proud of what you’ve achieved! The book is stunning - and by the looks of it, the rest of the world thinks so too. I know we’re a bit biased in Crumbleton – but we’re allowed to be proud of you, you know!’

Ruby cringed and took another sip of water. How had they just managed to stray from one excruciating topic to another that was equally as painful in a matter of seconds?

‘Can we not… with the book stuff?’ she said, clearing her throat and glancing up at the intricate mouldings on the ceiling.

Ruby had just come to the annoying realisation that this time, there was no way she could do a runner to avoid talking about a sticky subject. It might have worked with Oli – at least temporarily - but Caroline would probably rugby-tackle her to the cobbles and force answers out of her in the middle of the high street if she tried the same trick on her.

‘Why not?’ sighed Caroline. ‘Come on Rubes… spill!’

‘Okay, fine’ said Ruby, quickly deciding that out of the two topics on the table - Oli or writing - writing was marginally less puke-worthy. ‘I liked the writing bit… when it was just me, in my bedroom - and the characters were talking to me and all I had to do was bung everything on a page.’ She paused and glanced at Caroline, but her friend stayed quiet. ‘Then I finished it and sent it out… because that’s what you’re meant to do, right?’

Caroline shrugged and nodded.

‘And then the world went mad. It felt like I blinked and suddenly I had this agent. Blink again and I had a publisher and an editor who believed in the story.’

‘But surely that’s a good thing?’ said Caroline. ‘Kind of the whole point?’

‘Yeah,’ said Ruby nodding. ‘Harriet wanted the book to be as strong as it could be. Her edits were brilliant - but every change I made took me one step further away from the story I’d cosied up with on my own for so long.’

‘Weird process!’ said Caroline.

Ruby nodded again. She knew she sounded ridiculous right now - that’s why she never talked about this to anyone. But this wasn’t just anyone… this was Caroline. She knew she could talk to her about pretty much anything.

‘I know I’m lucky,’ she said grudgingly. ‘Plenty of people have made it blindingly obvious that this is the kind of thing other writers would give a kidney for.’

‘Right,’ said Caroline. ‘I mean… maybe not an actual body-part… but…’

‘You know what I mean!’ Ruby huffed at her ever-literal friend. ‘Anyway – before I knew what was happening, there were all these international auctions… and… well… suddenly I’m getting all this attention for this book and it doesn’t feel right. I don’t deserve all this fuss.’

‘Why not,’ laughed Caroline. ‘You wrote it!’

‘I did… but I don’t really remember much about it. I just sat down and hammered it out. Harriet’s edits were what polished it. Now everyone wants me to talk about writing the blasted thing until the cows come home.’

‘Okay – breathe!’ said Caroline, sounding unusually gentle. ‘You’re at the end of a pretty long tour. It’s natural you’re a bit tired of the whole thing and bored of the same old questions.’

‘But I’ve felt like this from the very first interview,’ said Ruby. ‘And now Harriet’s dropping hints about the next book!’

‘Well… that’s a good thing too,’ said Caroline. ‘You can hole back up in your flat, pretend the world doesn’t exist, and get back to the bit you did enjoy about the whole process.’

‘It won’t be the same,’ said Ruby, feeling a wave of exhaustion roll over her.

‘Why on Earth not?!’ said Caroline.

‘Because now I know what happens when I’m done with it. I know I’ll have to jump straight back on this marketing treadmill.’ She paused, gnawing at her lip until she tasted the metallic tang of blood. ‘There’ll be more deadlines. More pressure…’

‘More sales, more money,’ countered Caroline. ‘What an amazing life!’

‘That’s just it!’ Ruby practically shouted in frustration.

‘What’s just it?’ said Caroline. Her voice was still calm and low, but she held Ruby’s eyes with the kind of intensity that demanded the truth.

‘I don’t have a life,’ muttered Ruby. ‘No real friends, no community. I’m not at home anywhere.’

‘Excuse me?’ huffed Caroline, suddenly looking decidedly put out. ‘You have friends. You’ve always had friends. It’s not our fault you absolutely refuse to come home to see us.’

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