Page 85 of The In-Laws

Melanie chuckled. ‘No, I can’t either.’

‘Are you going to tell Frank?’

Melanie paused. ‘No, because Frank will talk me out of it and try to organize some kind of mediation or something. I want Ross to face up to this in front of Nancy.’

‘Yes! Me too. I won’t tell Jamie either, although it’ll besooooohard to keep this to myself.’ Katie frowned. ‘What about Amanda, though? On the very small chance she doesn’t know, she’ll be devastated. And there’ll be no hiding it when this Ruby one exposes Ross in the office.’

Melanie stopped typing and put her phone down on the table. ‘Well, by doing this we’ll have one hundred per cent proof that Ross is about to father a child with this woman. I think it’s best to have the facts. Then you make decisions. This way, we’ll find out the whole truth for her, no matter what she does or doesn’t know.’

Katie picked up her cup and sipped thoughtfully. ‘I think you’re right. If it was me, I’d be grateful if you two found out for certain and told me all the facts. I’d rather know – especially if my husband had been lying to my face.’

‘I think you should hold off on telling Amanda about Theo until after Ruby comes over. Once all of that is out in the open, we can have a really honest and open chat with Amanda and make sure she feels supported by us.’

‘We’re Team Amanda all the way! I can’t wait for that smug jerk to get his comeuppance.’

‘It’s going to be epic,’ Melanie said, typing furiously again. She tapped send and sat back in her chair. ‘It’s done.’

‘I wonder if she’ll –’ Katie was interrupted by a buzz from Melanie’s phone.

‘It’s her,’ Melanie said, picking it up. ‘That was quick.’

‘What does she say?’ Katie said, leaning forward.

Melanie scanned the email. ‘We’re on,’ she said. ‘She’s suggested Monday at eleven. She’s keen.’ She checked her schedule, then sent a reply. ‘We’re good to go,’ she told Katie.

‘So Ross has a date with destiny on Monday,’ Katie said, shaking her head. ‘He has no idea what’s coming down the tracks at him.’

The two sisters-in-law walked out of the café, chuckling with nervous excitement. Ross was going to face the music and Katie could not wait to watch it all happening. He had been so condescending and awful to her after her argument with Nancy, made her feel so small and worthless, and all the time he was hiding this dirty little secret. She wasn’t a vengeful person, but in Ross’s case she had no issue with watching him thrown to the wolf that was his mother.

30. Melanie

Nancy knocked and walked into her office. Melanie noticed that her mother-in-law was steadier on her feet now, barely limping. Ross followed her, the ever-faithful lapdog.

‘I’m just checking in. Are you absolutely sure about Petrus? Maybe Ross could work with him. Petrus strikes me as more of a man’s man.’

Melanie gritted her teeth. ‘Nancy, I have never had any problems dealing with male authors. The issue is not his sex, it’s his idea. He will not listen to anyone and is hell-bent on writing this godawful book. When he has written it and it dies, I will talk to him again. But for now, he is a liability, not an asset.’

Ross picked up the stapler on her desk and opened it, then shut it again. ‘I could talk sense into him, make him see his idea is not going to work. He probably thought that, as a woman, you were too sensitive about the theme.’

Melanie looked at her stapler and imagined punching staples into Ross’s large hands. ‘I’m not sensitive about the theme. I’m realistic. We do not want the heat from this. Petrus is going to write this book and nothing is going to stop him. If he finds anyone insane enough to publish such crap, he’ll probably be cancelled and anyone who represented him or supported the book will have a negative spotlight shone on them. We do not want that kind of publicity. It puts authors and publishers off. We’d be the laughing stock of the publishing world.’

Nancy nodded. ‘Okay, that’s final, then. I respect your decision.’

‘Hang on.’ Ross put the stapler down. ‘Let me at least talk to him, man to man. See if I can change his mind, or at least steer him in a different path.’

‘Ross,’ Melanie snapped, ‘I have been dealing with authors for twenty years, I know when an author is not for turning and, believe me, Petrus is not.’

‘I trust Melanie’s judgement. She’s never been wrong. We’ll leave you to it. You have a new author coming in now who wants to meet us all, correct?’ Nancy asked.

‘Yes.’ Melanie smiled brightly. ‘She’s due any minute.’

‘Who is it?’ Ross asked, as Melanie’s phone rang. It was the author. She was having trouble finding the building.

‘You’re on the right road, I’ll come down and get you,’ Melanie said. She walked past Ross and Nancy, out through the office, and down into the street.

Melanie saw Ruby Rose walking the wrong way and called out to her. Ruby turned. Under her open coat she was wearing a tight-fitting wool dress, which showed off her big and round pregnancy bump to the max, and bright red lipstick.

Here we go, Melanie thought.No going back now.She went over and introduced herself. ‘Thanks so much for coming over from London. Are you feeling okay?’

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