Page 71 of A Summer of New Beginnings
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It was good to be back in Inverness. People were rushing round just like last time, but the atmosphere was totally different from London. Not better. Just different. Zara made a mental note to pop into Highland Trax before her homebound flight and see if Patrick was around. It had been so lovely to see him at the reunion and he had said to stop by if she was in town. He’d no doubt be excitedto hear what had happened and why she was in Inverness.
She met Loretta outside the Kingsman and when they walked in Loretta asked for herusualtable. They were situated in a bay window with views out to the neatly kept gardens, where an abundance of colours made for a stunning outlook. With its Italian marble floors and thick, sumptuous drapes and modern chandeliers, the Kingsman was as plushas she had anticipated, and Zara was glad she had dressed in a smart designer suit for the occasion of meeting Loretta. Luckily the creases in her outfit gained on the flight had fallen out whilst she had been wandering round Inverness and enjoying the atmosphere again.
The afternoon tea arrived on two cake stands and was packed with tiny sandwiches, cakes and scones. Prosecco was placed downtoo, and Zara had to pinch herself under the table to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
Loretta was a very elegant woman in her mid-forties and she reminded Zara a little of a modern-day Jane Russell. Her bright red lips were in contrast to her pale skin and dark wavy hair. Her own fitted suit dramatically matched her lips and her black stilettos complete with red soles made the already tall womanstatuesque. She definitely belonged on a screen rather than behind a desk.
‘So how does it all sound to you, Zara? Do you feel we could do your work justice as an agency?’
‘I really do. I mean that. You represent some incredible authors and it would be an honour to be amongst them. Like I said, I don’t want to do this for fame or millions of pounds. Although a living would be nice, obviously.But ultimately I just love to write but never expected I would be able to write anything other than articles and features.’
‘Well, now you know it’s a possibility. Although, I can’t promise that famewon’thappen. Once a book takes off you never know where it may lead. But you can accept and decline things as you feel it appropriate; so long as it’s in line with any publishing contract we sign.And it seems to me that you have some wonderful experiences to draw from after your trip round the Highlands. It’s a route that fascinates me, although I do think you’re brave to have done it all by bicycle and camping.’
‘Brave or crazy, I haven’t figured that one out yet.’
Once they had finished their afternoon tea Loretta pulled a pile of papers from her briefcase. ‘Now, I don’t want you tofeel pressured at all. If you want to take these home and have your solicitor look over them, that’s absolutely fine. Most people prefer to get a second opinion. But everything we’ve discussed is here: my commission, the specifications of the agreement, et cetera. So take the contract away and peruse it at your leisure. Then if you choose to sign, simply return it to me in the post, but scan thesignature page and email it to me, then we can get the ball rolling.’
‘I will. Thank you again. Before I leave, can I ask you something?’
Loretta held out her perfectly manicured hands. ‘Fire away. What would you like to know?’
‘Howdidyou end up contacting me? Who was it that put my name forward? Was it Sandy from the Association HQ?’
‘No. It wasn’t Sandy, although I do know she adored yourbook as much as I did.’
‘So who was it?’
Loretta smiled but shook her head. ‘I… I’m not entirely sure they’d want me to tell you. Can we just leave it as a wonderful occurrence? Kismet perhaps?’
Zara dropped her gaze to her empty plate. ‘Okay. It’s just that I owe that person a lot. I’d really like to thank them.’
Loretta sighed deeply. ‘Okay. Okay. It’s a little convoluted. And this is whyI mentioned kismet. Believe me, I couldn’t have made this up. It’s like a movie plot.’ She laughed. ‘I’m one of three sisters. We don’t meet often due to schedules as we’re all busy with our own businesses and such, but there was a family gathering some time ago now – my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary, and we always make a point of attendinganythingour parents arrange. We each adore them.Anyway, they threw a party and my sisters and I were there. We got chatting and catching up and my baby sister, Sophie, was telling me about this friend of her fiancé’s from school who had written a book. Apparently she had just finished cycling the North Coast 500.’ She raised her eyebrows and a chill travelled Zara’s spine and she gasped.
‘Anyway, my brother-in-law-to-be, Patrick, joined inthe conversation and he was telling me about how it had turned out that this friend had hired one oftheirbikes for the trip. He knows I’m a literary agent, obviously, and was asking for advice on how to get a book out there. I think Paddy was planning to contact you with some tips, bless him. Andthen, unbelievably, my other sister, Saskia, the middle, overly dramatic one…’ She rolled her eyes.‘Saskia was telling us how her fiancé had rescued a woman who fitted the same description when she was almost hit by a tractor. We all agreed what a small world it is.’
Zara’s stomach plummeted to her shoes as the pieces of the puzzle began to fit into place. Loretta continued, waving her hand. ‘We kind of got completely off track at that point, as you can imagine, but Lachlan contacted me theday after the party and said he hadn’t wanted to interfere because you’re a very strong-willed, independent woman who doesn’t accept help easily, but thathehad a copy of the book that Paddy had mentioned, your book, saved to his hard drive and that it was really,reallygood.’ She cringed. ‘I have to admit that I receive so many manuscripts professing to be excellent that I wasn’t all that interested,but I didn’t want to rain on his parade, as it were, so I agreed for him to send it by email.’ Zara was doing her best to keep up, although the pain of finding out Lachyhadn’tbeen single when she had slept with him knotted her insides and made her feel nauseated.
‘Are you okay, Zara? You’ve gone very pale.’
Zara forced a smile and nodded. ‘Sorry, yes. Too much cake, I think. Please go on.’
‘I have to be completely honest that it sat on my desk untouched. So, imagine my shock when the day afterthatI was out to lunch with Dominic McAllen’s wife – she loved the book too, by the way – and she mentioned youagainand all the things that had occurred with the third-party submission problem, et cetera. It was like a lightning-bolt moment. This person’s book was coming at me from everyangle and I was sure it was fate telling me I had to do something. I asked more questions and when she realised I already had a copy of the book and I was intrigued, she asked me to read the book as soon as possible and see if I might like to represent you. So there you go. As I said, you have alotof support. The book was the icing on the cake.’
‘So your sister, Saskia, she’s the current fiancéeof Lachlan Grant.’ It wasn’t really a question. It was merely a clarification aloud that Lachy had lied to her. Just as Josh had. Men were clearly not to be trusted.
‘That’s right. Ugh, they’ve been togetheryears. You should see how they look at each other. I wish he’d just marry the girl and do us all a favour. But, yes, bloody small world, isn’t it? Lachlan’s a lawyer, you know. A very goodone too. The farm is purely inheritance and I believe he’s selling it off to move back to the city. Between you and me I think that’s partly because of Saskia’s aversion to the outdoors. She isn’t one for mud and sheep.’ She laughed. ‘But then again Saskia isn’t one for much that doesn’t have a designer label. Just don’t tell Lachlan I said so.’
‘There’s no risk of that. It’s highly unlikelyI’ll ever see him again.’
