Page 49 of Coming Home to Crumbleton

‘Thank you, Ruby Hutchinson!’

Oli’s voice boomed from behind her. He was addressing the crowd as much as her, and they instantly began to settle - the noise levels subsiding into friendly murmurings.

Ruby felt his brief touch on her back, and she breathed a sigh of relief. There he was – her anchor.

‘Right… now’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for,’ said Oli, easily commanding the crowd. ‘Are you ready to give our Rubes a good grilling?’

Ruby turned to glare at Oli and, much to the amusement of the crowd, she gave him a good dig in the ribs with her elbow. Hands shot up all over the place, but Oli pointed straight at her mum, who had a broad smile on her face.

Uh oh!

Well, perhaps it was best to get the scariest one out of the way first!

‘Sally?’ said Oli.

Ruby’s mum beamed. ‘I’d like to ask… do you base your characters on real people?’

Ruby blinked. It was a question she’d been asked at every single event she’d done so far, and so removed from the terrifying inquisition she’d been expecting, she was caught completely off guard.

It was an easy question, and one she had a stock answer for. But… what if she actually told the truth for a change?

‘You know,’ she said, smiling at her mum, ‘I get asked that a lot. And in the past, I’ve always said “no” and then gone on about how - as an author - you pick up inspiration from everywhere. Which is kind of true… but…’

She paused and glanced back at Oli who was watching her with interest.

‘But… the answer is yes,’ she continued, turning back to the crowd. ‘This book is a love letter to every single one of you… you’re all in there somewhere. Your smiles, your kindness, your quirks. Not as one character in particular - but in the essence of all of them.’

She paused again and took a shaky breath.

‘I’ve been away from home for a very long time - and I spent most of it with my head in this book. So I filled it with all the people I love - all of you. I filled it with family. I filled it with home - so that I didn’t feel so very far away from you all.’

As she stopped talking, Ruby glanced back at her parents. Her mum had one hand on her heart - the other clutched her father’s arm. Both of them looked like they were about to burst with pride.

‘Kendra!’ said Oli.

Ruby jumped, and then realised several hands had shot up for the next question – and the moment passed.

‘Yeah… your male main character is hot!’ said Kendra, grinning at her and causing a titter to run around the room. ‘I want to know - did you have a mood board of cute guys or something?’

Ruby laughed and felt her nerves disappear completely.

‘What can I say?’ she grinned. ‘Sometimes the research can be really tough! But yes - I do make a mood board and-’

‘Coming through! Coming through!’

A familiar voice interrupted her mid-sentence. Ruby frowned as she peered towards the packed doorway. People were trying to squeeze themselves out of the way of two newcomers who were edging through the crowd, clearly intent on reaching her.

‘What on earth?’ muttered Oli, coming to stand next to Ruby.

‘It’s Bobbie and Ben!’ she muttered, watching the two flamboyant publicists elbow their way towards her. ‘Save me!’ she added with a jokey laugh.

‘Helloooo Crumbleton!’ cheered Bobbie, as she came to a halt right between Ruby and Oli, nudging her way into the gap.

The crowd blinked back, clearly not quite knowing what to make of this tiny woman with the huge voice. It didn’t help that she was wearing a ridiculous purple bowler hat and a catsuit that looked like it belonged at the Met Gala rather than in a small town bookshop.

‘Sorry to gate-crash, but we come bearing news!’ said Ben, coming to stand on Ruby’s other side.

‘News?’ said Ruby, her voice low - just for them rather than the crowd.

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