Page 48 of Clear Blue Sky

“I love that scenario,” Brandi interrupted Marcus. “Tossing everything we can at a character is awesome. But there has to be a glimmer of redemption. Revenge as a motive is hard to pull off. The reader needs something tangible. You need to define it. Murder is the goal. In your case, the wife’s motive is she believes the antagonist purposely let her husband die because he wanted her to himself, but he has no idea about the baby or that it could be his. It’s too cliché.”

“That is where I do agree with my sister.” Lake waved a French fry before dunking it in ketchup. “But I think I might have a better solution than what’s been suggested so far.”

“I’m anxiously waiting to hear it, because I’ll be honest, I wasn’t loving Brandi's direction.” Marcus shrugged. “I’m sorry. No offense.”

“None taken.” She smiled. “It’s your book and you have to do what you think is best. Mine are but suggestions. If you send me back something else and the execution is spectacular, we’ll buy it. If it’s not, maybe another publisher will feel differently.” Standard verbiage. It wasn’t bullshit either. Some writers walked away feeling like they got some editorial crap that was given to everyone. Well, sometimes it was, but it was still a truthful answer.

Lake leaned forward and laced his fingers together as if he were excited. “I believe you have the wrong hero and antagonist.”

“I’m not following.” Marcus scowled.

“Your antagonist should be your hero and your female lead, Rose, should be your villain. She should be the mastermind. She should come after Anderson, who cares for her but doesn’t want to be with her anymore, especially since she’s married to someone else. She lies, works him good. Does whatever it takes to seduce him. She needs to be pregnant, and Anderson looks similar to her husband. Same build. Same eye color. Same hair color.”

“I don’t know about this,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “I feel like this has been done before.”

“Every storyline has been done to death.” Lake leaned back. “But I’m suggesting that Anderson is the one who’s left behind and the husband and Rose go on as if nothing happened.”

“The beauty of this plot twist is the husband doesn’t know anything. Rose’s brother was in on it. He made sure Anderson was left for dead. But Anderson comes back to seek his revenge. This is the kind of broken hero readers can get behind.” Brandi swallowed her beating heart. Her raging pulse wasn’t out of excitement, but more out of disgust. She hated acting as though any of this was okay.

The worst part was, this wasn’t a horrible storyline.

“There are a few ways you could write this, but in the end, the hero could find a new love interest. He could be a fallen hero in the sense that the military would see him as a traitor for some reason. There could be so many reasons he can’t just come out and say what happened. Plus, he won’t know the baby is his until after it’s born. So many turning points. So much conflict. The ending could be a tender moment between baby and father,” Brandi said.

“Do it right, and this could be a series with a new hero and heroine working together to solve all sorts of different injustices in the military and political arena.” Lake raised his glass. “Write that story and do it well, I can guarantee you we’ll buy it.”

Marcus’ normally arrogant expression had been replaced with a tight lip and a narrow stare. He lifted his hand and rubbed his jaw with his thumb and forefinger. “That’s an interesting idea.”

“Again, this is your story. You need to tell it your way. These are suggestions.” Brandi lifted her finger. “However, I can’t say this enough. If you want Grant Publishing to be your publisher, I’d consider making some serious changes.”

“Take your time. Think about everything we’ve said. There is no timeline on resubmitting.” Lake continued to nibble on the food.

Veronica brought Brandi’s second glass of wine just in the nick of time. If she had to sit here any longer without alcohol, she’d lose her freaking mind.

“You’ve given me a ton to mull over and I appreciate your time.” Marcus pressed his hands on the table. “My sister is here. She got a new job about two months ago in New York City where her boyfriend lives. I had no idea it was for your mother's public relations firm.”

“Excuse me?” Lake stood.

“Roxy, my sister, works for Keller P.R. and she’s here with her boss, Leslie, for the movie premiere. I couldn’t believe when she called me a couple of days ago to tell me she was coming up. I haven’t seen her since she moved.” He glanced toward the door, then smiled and waved. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to run.” He held out his hand. “It was so nice to meet you, Lake.”

“You as well.” Lake nodded.

“I’ll be working on that manuscript and sending it back as soon as possible.” Marcus pushed his chair in, turned, and practically skipped like a child toward a woman with long blond hair wearing a pair of jeans, black boots, and a dark-gray sweater.

Brandi glanced over her shoulder and up the stairs. She couldn’t see through the windows, but she knew Nelson was up there listening, which couldn’t have gone over well.

“Did Mom or Dad say anything to you about new hires at the PR firm?” Lake asked.

“Nope and you know how Mom gets. She trusts only Leslie. In the last twelve years, she’s never worked with anyone else.” Her cell buzzed in her purse. She leaned over and lifted it. “It’s Nelson.”

Nelson:Veronica is coming over. I need you to vacate the table so she can remove the bug and put it wherever Marcus is going to sit.

Brandi:Where do want us to go? And did you hear all that?

Nelson:Sit at the bar or out on the patio. Just don’t leave without me. And yeah, I heard it. I’ll be down in a minute. They want a reaction out of me; I might as well give them one.

Brandi:Don’t do anything crazy.

Nelson:Jared’s in the parking lot. Tristan’s at the bar. Maverick and Phoenix are wandering the premises. Nothing is going to happen.

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