Page 118 of The In-Laws

Amanda smiled. ‘It’s okay. Juniper is a very cute baby and she is part of Theo and Ross’s life now. I just need a bit longer to get used to it.’

‘Of course you do, and you’ve been incredible.’ Katie patted her shoulder.

She was right, Melanie thought. Amanda had been incredible. She had handled the whole baby thing with such grace. She was nice about Juniper from a polite distance and did not engage with any of Ross’s drama with Ruby, of which there seemed to be a lot. She had drawn her boundaries and refused to let anyone cross them. Melanie was so impressed with her. And Amanda had turned out to be a bloody brilliant assistant. She seemed to be able to do everything and grasp all of the minutiae of running a literary agency with relative ease. She was also firm with the persistent authors who turned up on the agency doorstep demanding to speak to Melanie ‘right now’. Amanda saw them off quick-smart, but without insulting them or making them angry. She was a true diplomat.

‘Oh, my God!’ Joni screeched. ‘She’s here!’

The twins and Katie jumped up and down as Xina climbed out of a black SUV and rushed up to the front door.

Melanie gave the twins a final warning look as Amanda went to let Xina in.

She walked into the room wearing an oversized tracksuit.

‘Hiiiiiiiii!’ The twins bounced up and down in front of her.

‘Oh, hey, you must be Joni and Janis,’ Xina said. Melanie gave her a thumbs-up from behind the twins for remembering their names.

The twins stared adoringly at her. ‘Oh, my God, you know our names?’

‘Sure, your mum talks about you all the time.’

Melanie liked Xina more and more every time she opened her perfectly glossed lips.

‘She does?’ The twins sounded shocked.

‘Yeah, she’s really proud of you guys.’

‘She is?’ The twins turned to their mother in astonishment.

‘Yes, I am.’

‘And you must be well proud of her too. She’s like a rock-star book agent,’ Xina added.

Now Melanie wanted to marry her.

‘Uhm, yeah, like, sure,’ Joni said.

‘Totally. She works so hard for all her authors,’ Janis added.

‘She’s got me an unreal offer and that’s what every author wants,’ Xina said. ‘She’s my hero.’

‘Would you like tea, coffee, water?’ Amanda asked.

‘No, thanks.’

‘I’m Katie, big fan.’ Katie waved at her.

‘Hey, love your hair.’

‘Thanks, I decided to dye it pink for fun. New hair, new me.’

‘You rock it.’ Xina turned to Melanie. ‘Okay, can we sign so I can get home? I have tons of recording to do and I’m not great outside my house, but I’m getting better.’ To the twins, Xina said, ‘Your mum is making me go outside for ten minutes every day because she says I have to do publicity in person to promote the book, which terrifies me. But it is kind of working. Like, I didn’t have a panic attack before coming here. I was chill.’

Melanie beamed at her. ‘Well done, that’s great news. We might up it to twenty minutes now.’

Xina groaned. ‘Really?’

‘Yes.’

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