by Laudat, Reon
“Wait until you need to use that pit toilet.”
“I’ve survived worse. A certain Porta-Jon at a cabbage festival and tractor pull show comes to mind.” After noting Dominic’s bewildered look she added, “Long story for another day, when we’re not about to eat.” She came to her feet and walked over to hug him from behind. “You pulled this together quickly. Where did you get all this gear?” A few yards away stood their blue tent that Dominic had quickly erected upon arrival.
“You’d be amazed what I can do when motivated.” Dominic put down his grilling utensils and turned inside the circle of her arms. He held her tight and kissed her on the forehead. “While you were still sleeping, I was on my phone, texting, making things happen.”
Kendra’s stomach lurched. The idea of Dominic moving about her room, in her things, while she slept did not sit right with her. Was that the reason he was so eager to spend the night? To snoop a rival’s camp? She recalled the mattress dipping a bit. He’d left the bed before she’d fallen into deep sleep, but then she’d drifted off again after hearing the shower’s spray. Paranoia tightened its stranglehold on her. She didn’t remember putting Four Simple Wishes or her notes on it away before he’d arrived at her door. The pages had been stacked near her laptop and knitting supplies on the desk at the time. Idiotic lapse, but she wasn’t thinking of Dominic as the competition or even a colleague, but as a man whose company she enjoyed. Still, her thoughts spun into an unwieldy ball of regret for letting him spend the night.
Dominic genuinely liked her. It was in his touch and in his eyes. Everything felt so right when she was in his arms like this. He wouldn’t… What were the chances he’d spied and read some of Corinne’s manuscript while she’d slept? She had to quash these foolish thoughts or their lovely evening would be ruined.
“Kendra?” Dominic asked. “Hello. You still with me?”
Kendra blinked. “Yeah!”
“Anyway, found everything I needed at one website so all I had to do was place an order. I went to pick it up during business hours. I wanted to experience the famous Haleakala sunrise with you. I hear camping out is the best way to do it. From here, it’s easier to make it the rest of the way to the summit for the five-fifteen sunrise. We’ll have plenty of time to find a good viewing spot and avoid most of the traffic crush.”
“Good thinking,” Kendra said, taking in the other campers moving about the open grassy area surrounded by forest and shrub land. She counted at least twenty-five tents. “So, how was your day?”
***
“It went well.” Dominic released Kendra and got back to his grilling before the steaks burned. He wasn’t about to mention his conversation with Brody. He still couldn’t believe Brody had actually given him the heave-ho, after all Dominic had done for him. The more he thought about it the more his blood boiled so he’d focus on what had gone right on the business front that day.
When he’d met with the Ostertags, he was surprised to discover the daughter had been Kendra’s hiking partner on the Haleakala zip tour.
Dominic had left the meeting with the mother/daughter team with a signed agent/client agreement. He was now the official representative for Corinne and Four Simple Wishes. It was obvious Mrs. Ostertag and Corinne had not planned to sign with Impact on the spot, but all the agent research in the world hadn’t prepared those ladies for Dominic when he had a book he wanted to rep in his sights.
He was that good. He smiled. He’d displayed overwhelming passion for the manuscript, and he’d expounded on how the book should be positioned. But the clincher had been a projected advance range that had made Mrs. Ostertag’s and Corinne’s eyes pop out of their sockets. Yeah, it was a gamble, but most of his strong hunches had paid off. He was sure the money, including various deal points, would fall in the range he’d mentioned or comfortably close. He’d already requested a digital copy from the Ostertags and forwarded it to Tucker.
Dominic believed he would pay big because it was exactly what he’d been looking for. And Tucker had the clout of his own imprint and blockbuster track record to ensure the right people at his house hopped onboard, too.
Tucker, who had an unerring nose for sniffing out The Next Big Thing, could drum up in-house support for a book of parking tickets.
Everything would fall into place speedily, the way Dominic, at the top of his game, could orchestrate it.
“I like mine well-done,” Kendra said.
“Gotcha.” Dominic flipped their steaks before transferring the vegetable skewers from the heat to a platter.
“So you had a good day. Any workshops or podcasts you’d like to recommend?” she asked.
“You mean, besides my own?” He smiled.
“I will get your podcast. That goes without saying.” She smiled back.
Dominic watched Kendra as she took the platter and placed it in the middle of their table before taking a seat and putting some on her plate.
“Why do you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Turn your plate like…” He made a circle with one index finger. “I noticed you did that on our first date, at the luau, and when we ordered room service. Is that some sort of ritual for good luck or something? Like tossing salt over the shoulder.”
“You could say that.” Kendra looked so good nibbling on grilled mushrooms, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Bet she could make cracking walnuts with her teeth look sexy. A disturbing realization came to him, dampening his mood again. They’d been pleasant enough to one another, but he sensed a divide between him and Kendra. The wall that had lifted since they’d arrived in Maui slowly descended again because he was holding back.
With Corinne signed, what harm could it do to share how excited he was to represent her? Dominic only briefly considered telling Kendra before scrapping the idea entirely. They’d engaged in trivial conference workshop and seminar banter and discussed their opinions on indie publishing and a few contract points, but had yet to hammer out exactly which agency-related topics were open for discussion.
And there was that other nagging thought that had occurred to him as soon as he’d entered the Ostertags’ hotel room and recognized Corinne as the woman Kendra had spent a great deal of time with during the Haleakala zip-line hike. Was Kendra the other interested agent, the female agent, Mrs. Ostertag had used to taunt him?
Kendra had to know about Four Simple Wishes. Though Mrs. Ostertag had mentioned her daughter wasn’t aggressive in her approach to agents, surely she’d seize the opportunity to pitch Four Simple Wishes to an agent of Kendra’s caliber during their hike. Maybe. Maybe not. After all, she hadn’t pitched to Dominic during the hike. And Mrs. Ostertag had revealed Corinne wasn’t the go-getter that she herself was.
The sticky issue regarding what to say, what not to say, who should know what and when was a potential tinderbox. Still, he held out hope that with more time and frank discussion everything would eventually work itself out. Again, he smiled at Kendra, who smiled back and blew him a kiss. He pretended to catch it and place on his lips. At damn near forty years old, he’d taken the hokey antics to new heights as of late, but Kendra had brought that out of him.
And he liked it.
***
“So how was your day,” Dominic lobbed back at Kendra as he removed their steaks from the grill. “You didn’t talk much on the ride here.”
“Just a little tired,” she replied. “I’m having the longest, but most productive days here. Did a lot of this and that.” Too bad she couldn’t share just how productive her day had been. Brody had phoned her and left a voicemail message: The thirty-day countdown begins as soon as I can send a registered letter, but my agent has been informed. I am moving on.
Kendra never would’ve guessed Dominic had just discovered one of his most successful authors was leaving his agency. He appeared to be in great spirits, cracking his usual dorky jokes on the drive up and even humming while he prepared their food. Perhaps he’d actually meant what he’d said about no
t taking client departures personally. And besides, his roster was loaded with celebrity and best-selling authors. Surely he could spare one.
Even if Kendra wanted to, she still could not reveal anything about her dealings with Brody or Corinne because neither had a signed agent/client agreement with her yet. And she wasn’t about to gush about Corinne’s wonderful manuscript until she had it all locked up with a contractual agreement. It would be suicidal to get Dominic’s radar up on that one. He walked to the covered picnic table area with steaks on a platter. She reached for their canned sodas inside the cooler.
“Did you attend any panels, workshops?” Dominic cut into his juicy New York strip and stuffed a huge chunk inside his mouth.
Kendra replied around a mouthful, “Zoe’s workshop was excellent. I assumed I’d see you there.”
“Yeah, I planned to attend, but something came up so I missed most of the presentations today.”
Dominic couldn’t look her in the eye. He was holding something back, but so was she. No prying. “I know how that can happen. You’ll get the conference podcasts.”
“Correct.”
They laughed, and then ate the rest of their meal in strained silence.
After dinner, there was still enough sun left to take a self-guided tour on a nearby nature trail. Their hike eased some of the tension between them. By the time they returned to their tent, night had fallen and the temperature had dropped to forty-eight degrees. They spooned inside their double-wide sleeping bag and listened to a “mixtape” of eighties love songs Dominic had on an iPod. He used a Y-adapter for their earbuds so she felt cozy and adored inside his embrace.
“I considered giving you an iPod of your own, but I thought better of it. This gives me an excuse to stay closer than close,” he said, placing soft kisses on her neck and stroking her hair.
“You don’t need an excuse.” She caressed his arm. “I could listen to those songs all night.”
Dominic took her comments as his cue to sing along off-key. It was such a sweet gesture she tried, but failed, to suppress her laughter.
“Did I mention the karaoke king can’t carry a tune?”
“But you do it with a lot of heart.”
“Because in my mind I have a trophy case full of Grammys.”
“I can’t sing either, as you’ve already heard. This was a great idea, Dominic,” she said with a deep sigh of contentment. “I’ve loved Maui and our time together.”
“It will only get better after we return to New York.”
The next morning as a beautiful red and orange sun rose at the summit, Dominic held her close.
“I’m glad I could see this with you,” Kendra said.
“Yes, nothing but rainbows, sunsets, and sunrises.” Dominic drew her in his arms and sealed that promise with a kiss.
Chapter 24
Four weeks after returning from Maui, Kendra got a call from Vanessa, who was still honeymooning in the Bahamas.
“I think we might buy a place here.” Vanessa’s voice bounced with excitement.
Kendra, who had bundled up for the snowy trek to The Sassy Sheep for a sit-and-knit session with her friends, was already roasting. “Sounds great!”
“We’ve extended our visit obviously. Ashton and I have been scouting properties. You sound distracted. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Well, I was heading over to the yarn shop and—”
“Tell Jackie I will give her a ring later. Have you given any thought to that girls’ getaway I mentioned a few weeks ago? Just you and me. No Ashton. No boys.”
They’d already planned numerous trips. Vanessa had begged off at the last-minute for some reason or another. As a result, Kendra had not spent any one-on-one time with her mother since Kendra went to live with the Millers. “I don’t know. Since returning from Maui, my schedule has been crazy. Not sure I can manage a pleasure trip out of town so soon, especially with another book conference coming up.”
“Where is the next one?”
“In Frankfurt,” Kendra replied. Could she take another one of her mother’s last-minute cancellations?”
“Germany? Oh, that could be fun! Maybe I can meet you there and—”
“Won’t work,” Kendra said, implying she’d be too busy, when in reality she had no plans to attend that conference this year.
“But you have to eat, not to mention shop, sometime,” Vanessa said with a laugh.
“It probably won’t work.”
“Tell me what will work. Whatever you choose, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen this time. Promise.”
“You will?” Kendra’s heart leapt with hope.
“Wait. Ashton and I are joining his family in Aspen. And I want to surprise him with a Christmas trip to France for his birthday.”
“Oh?” Kendra made a face. A pricey gift quite possibly funded with his own money. Happy Birthday, Ashton!
“But there are plenty of other dates so—”
“I’ll get back to you on it.”
“Hey, what if we meet in Orlando? You’ll get a break from the New York cold, and you always wanted to go there! You talked about it all the time.”
“Yeah, when I was eight. Besides, Aunt Jackie and Uncle Alex took me there for my tenth birthday. I think I’m long over Disney World.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Vanessa replied, sounding deflated.
Guilt pricked Kendra for acting like a big brat. Perhaps she had been too harsh. She mentally scrolled through additional locations and possible dates for a get-away with Vanessa. “Okay. About the girls’ trip, I think—”
“Just a minute. It’s Ashton. He can’t find his keys. I’m talking to Kendra, honey bear,” she called out, and then added for Kendra, “Ashton says hello. He says he downloaded that ThunderFire series by Blake Spencer to read on his iPad. Spencer is one of your clients.”
“Yes, he is,” Kendra replied, sure Vanessa knew this information only because Ashton had told her. She had expressed little interest in what Kendra did for a living. And when she did comment, it was usually only an attempt to get the numbers: So what kind of money are we talking? The average (editor, agent, author, publishing executive) makes about what?
“Tell Ashton I said hello, and I hope he enjoys the series,” Kendra said.
“Check that left drawer, right shelf in the kitchen,” Vanessa called out to him again. “You’ve left them there twice already.”
There was an indecipherable response from Ashton.
“Then try your walk-in closet shelf,” Vanessa said to him.
As this exchange with Ashton dragged on, Kendra rested her shoulder bag and her knitting tote near her snow-booted feet. She silently counted to ten and gazed out the window at the luminous snow. Icicles dislodged from the stairs to her fire escape and fell to the ground.
Another indecipherable response from Ashton and girlish laughter from Vanessa. “He’d lose his head if it weren’t attached,” Vanessa said to Kendra before calling out to Ashton again. On and on their back-and-forth went for another ten minutes.
“Look, Vanessa.” Kendra checked her watch. “I’m going to be late meeting my friends at the shop if I don’t get a move on now.”
“But, but, you were saying about our trip—”
“I’ll get back to you,” Kendra said cheerily though her mood had crashed. “Good luck with the bungalow hunting!”
***
Kendra trudged through the snow to take the subway and then the train. When she arrived at The Sassy Sheep, Selena and Alyssa were already there for their sit-and-knit session. The threesome rarely let so much time pass before getting together so they had a lot of catching up to do. At no point would she slip upstairs to her office. This time was strictly for her best friends, she vowed.
Kendra removed her coat outside the door, shook off the snow, and hung it on coatrack after she stepped inside. Now that repairs were complete one would never guess the place had suffered water damage from the flooding. The charm
ing little shop had been arranged to resemble a country sitting room with laminate wood floors, mismatched, but comfy, ruffled furniture. Assorted afghans, all knitted by Aunt Jackie, adorned every chair and sofa. Vintage inoperable pop machines, refrigerators, trunks, and china cabinets had been repurposed and used for storing and displaying the yarn.
Aunt Jackie and Donalisa Findley sat upfront in wing chairs while two shop attendants assisted the handful of customers, who milled about. Kendra moved toward the sitting area at the rear of the shop. She noted that Aunt Jackie had formed a special bond with her new friend. Thank goodness for Donalisa Findley. Maybe Aunt Jackie would also reconnect with her longtime friends. She still wore dark slacks and a black turtleneck, but an elaborate mint-colored eyelet sweater she’d knitted brightened the ensemble. Her curls hung loose around her shoulders. Progress? The bell on the front door jingled when the mailman entered. Smiling, Aunt Jackie went to him to sign for packages.
“I’ll join you in just a bit to check on your progress,” Aunt Jackie called out as Kendra joined her friends. Brittany, who was visiting her family in Stamford, would miss today’s session.
Female relationships had always been important to Kendra. She felt extremely fortunate for hers. She and Selena, thirty-two, had become close while working as editors at Winn-Aster. Seven and a half years ago, Kendra had acquired the debut novel of Alyssa, a.k.a Aurora Chastain, now thirty-three. The series that followed had become one of Winn-Aster’s best-selling properties. The pair had developed a beyond-business bond after spending time together at numerous writers’ conferences.
When Kendra left Winn-Aster to open Porter Literary Agency, Selena inherited an “orphaned” Alyssa. Alyssa had considered hiring Kendra as her agent, but ultimately remained loyal to her longtime literary representative with whom she’d had a fruitful partnership. Kendra understood that decision. If it ain’t broke…