A Year of Taking Chances

by Jennifer Bohnet

  ‘It’s almost finished,’ Luc said, reaching for one of the meringues.

  ‘Is it a sequel? Or a stand alone?’

  ‘Sequel. So…’ Luke said. ‘Is Tina Matthews Literary Agency going to sign me up?’

  Tina looked at him thoughtfully. ‘You’re happy with keeping your identity a secret for at least a little while? No bragging about it to your family or mates? Maybe even keeping the mystery going for a couple of years?’

  Luc nodded, ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you definitely haven’t been approached by Kirsty – or Leah – since I left the agency?’ Tina held her breath waiting for the answer to that question.

  ‘No.’

  Tina looked at him, knowing that however much she wanted to represent him, and however much she felt drawn towards him as a person, in all fairness she needed to say something else.

  ‘Before I agree to take you on as a client I have to tell you this. Even though I have lots of contacts in the publishing world, I’m going to be a very small agent working among the giants of the industry. Hell, my office is in the corner of my bedroom, not in the Gherkin, and I doubt I’ll ever rise to those dizzy heights.’ She took a deep breath. ‘What I’m trying to say is, I have a good friend in one of the biggest agencies in London who, if I told her about your book’s potential, would snap you up as a client. I’m happy to speak to her if you decide signing with a larger agency would be the best thing for you. And that really is what it’s all about – the best way forward for you.’ She looked at Luc. ‘Obviously I hope you’ll sign with me but I’d understand if you’d prefer a much bigger agency.’

  ‘I’m more than happy to sign with you,’ Luc said. ‘Everyone tells me there has to be a certain rapport between a writer and his agent and I feel certain you and I will get on. I already know we like each other.’ His blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he smiled at her.

  Tina smiled back at him before she opened her bag and took out some papers. ‘In that case I’m more than happy for you to become the first official client of the agency. But you do need to read the details of my standard contract, get it checked out by the Society of Authors, and make sure you’re happy with everything before you sign.’

  ‘OK,’ Luc said.

  ‘In that case, congratulations. You’re my first client.’ She raised her arm and held her hand out, ready to give him a high five.

  ‘It’s an honour,’ Luc said as their hands hit. ‘I hope we’ll be good for each other.’

  ‘More tea?’ Tina said, lifting the teapot. ‘I should be offering you champagne really but we’ll save that for another time.’

  Half an hour later Luc glanced at his watch and stood up. ‘Sorry, but I have to get home. I’ll get the signed contract back to you ASAP.’ He held his hand out for her to shake. ‘Thanks for taking me on as a client,’ he said. ‘I’m really looking forward to working with you.’

  Tina laughed. ‘You’ll probably hate me when the fourth or fifth round of edits lands on your desk, but yes, I’m looking forward to working with you too.’

  Sitting on the bus on her way home, Tina’s thoughts naturally centred around Luc. Looking forward to working with him was the understatement of the year. And it wasn’t just about his book. In the past she’d always kept her personal and professional lives separate, but something inside her this time was telling her she’d struggle to do that with Luc. There had been an undercurrent of chemistry between the two of them from the moment he’d introduced himself. She’d sensed there had been a spark on his side too.

  But he was her first client and could personally make or break the agency, so any chemistry that reared up between them would have to be dealt with or ignored. Life would have been a lot simpler if she’d met Luc Eldrich under different circumstances. Even easier if he didn’t ooze charisma by the bucket-load.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Over the next couple of days, Jodie began to establish a working routine. An early breakfast with Ben, a quick tidy-up of the kitchen and cottage before walking Tess, then back home for a coffee before opening her laptop and checking emails for anything that needed dealing with urgently, pencilling future events into her trusty Filofax and updating her to-do list.

  Despite being so busy, Jodie had a spring in her step that had been missing for a while. Nicola noticed the difference in her the afternoon Jodie went down to The Taste of the Countryside with her laptop, full of ideas to help promote the shop.

  ‘You’re a livewire today,’ Nicola said.

  ‘I love working and being busy,’ Jodie said. ‘I hadn’t realised how much I missed it. Although it’s beginning to feel like there’s barely enough hours in the day to fit everything in. Work, the cottage, shopping, Ben.’

  ‘Ah, the joys of being a working wife,’ Nicola said with a smile.

  ‘And now we’re buying a house. I’m so excited,’ Jodie said. ‘Right, these are the ideas I’ve come up with so far for you.’

  For the next half hour the two of them tossed around the various ideas Jodie had thought of, with Jodie writing phrases down and Nicola translating them into French alongside.

  ‘This is going to be so good for my French,’ Jodie said.

  Along with the list of people who’d already signed up to receive the regular newsletter Nicola wanted to set up about The Taste of the Countryside, there were several photos for Jodie to scan and include with the mailing.

  ‘Give me a couple of days and I’ll be back down with the final proofs for your approval,’ Jodie said, gathering up her things before heading home. ‘Everything should be ready to go out early next week.’

  Back at the cottage late afternoon, Ben was still in his study so Jodie went out to the conservatory to do some more work before supper. Concentrating, making sense of, and typing up the notes she and Nicola had worked on was engrossing and Jodie lost all sense of how the time was disappearing.

  She jumped in surprise when Ben appeared. ‘You still working, ma cherie? It’s nearly eight o’clock.’

  ‘It can’t be! I haven’t even thought about supper.’ Jodie quickly closed her laptop down and went into the kitchen.

  ‘Pasta OK?’ she asked as she put a saucepan of water on to boil. ‘I’ll fry some onions, mushrooms and garlic, add a jar of tomato sauce and we can pretend its spaghetti Bolognese.’

  Taking the parmesan out of the fridge she handed it to Ben. ‘The grater’s on the dresser.’

  The onions, mushrooms and garlic were all simmering nicely with the tomato sauce when her phone rang. While she answered it, Ben finished grating the cheese and poured two glasses of wine, handing one to Jodie before wandering into the sitting room with his own glass.

  ‘We’re invited to Sunday lunch with Annette and Thierry,’ Jodie said, closing her phone and calling through to him. ‘Annette wants to tell us all about their holiday. From what she’s already told me, it sounds like they had a wonderful time.’

  ‘Have you accepted?’ Ben asked, returning to the kitchen.

  ‘Of course I have. Why wouldn’t I?’ Jodie said.

  Ben shrugged. ‘You could have asked me first. I might be working. Or have my own lunch plans for us.’

  ‘But you’re not working and you haven’t planned anything, have you? So don’t be such a misery. I’m looking forward to hearing about Venice. Annette says Thierry’s taken lots of photos.’ Jodie gave the sauce mixture a quick stir before pouring some pasta into the saucepan of boiling water and looking at Ben.

  ‘Your mum sounded really happy,’ she said quietly. ‘I don’t understand why her friendship with Thierry still bothers you so much. I thought you were accepting it. Glad that she was happy.’

  Ben sighed. ‘I know, and I am in a way. It’s just – I always thought people were attracted to similar types after they’d lost someone? But Thierry’s so different from my father. He was always the life and soul of everything. Thierry is such an introvert compared to him.’

  ‘Maybe Annette prefers a quieter companion
these days. Did she and your father do a lot of travelling together?’

  ‘Not really. She stayed home to look after me while Papa was away a lot on business. He’d come home with all sorts of stories about what he’d got up to around the world. When he was home I remember lots of dinner parties and Mama getting in a tizz entertaining his business associates.’

  ‘But they must have gone away on holidays together? Especially after you left home.’

  Ben shook his head. ‘Papa always said he did enough travelling for work. He wanted to spend his holidays at home. Even when he retired he refused to go further than Provence.’

  Jodie was silent for a moment. ‘To be honest, Ben, Annette’s life with your father sounds, well, a bit one-sided, especially in this day and age. He got to see the world and she got to stay home with you and work.’

  ‘I suppose it was one-sided, now you mention it,’ Ben said. ‘I just took it for granted that that was the way it was. The way their generation did things. And Papa wasn’t always the easiest of people to be around, especially after…’ His voice faded and he shrugged. ‘Let’s just say things changed one year.’

  ‘Well, I think Annette is very lucky to have Thierry as a close friend in her life these days. He may be quiet but he’s thoughtful, charming and kind,’ Jodie said. Ben was clearly not about to tell her about his father catching Annette with Thierry all those years ago.

  ‘Annette was so excited to be going to Venice. She told me she’s longed to go for years. I also think she enjoys the company of a man who clearly likes her and wants to take her places.’

  After Herve rang to say the seven-day cooling-off period had passed without any problems cropping up, the purchase of Jodie and Ben’s new home began to gather speed.

  Jodie drove over to the house late one afternoon to take some photographs to send to Tina. Parking in the driveway she sat and gazed at the longhouse that in a few weeks would be home. Lots to do before then. Going from a small, two-bedroom cottage to a large house with four bedrooms, a sitting room that took up the majority of the ground floor and a kitchen big enough to eat in definitely meant it would be necessary to find some more furniture.

  Nicole had told her about ‘Ty-Recoup’, a recycling place in the next small town that was apparently filled with some real bargains. She’d drag Ben along there one afternoon and see if there was anything suitable for their new home.

  ‘Look what you’ve helped Ben and me buy, Mum,’ she said quietly, looking at the house and fingering her locket. ‘Wish you were still around and could visit, but thank you.’

  The picture she sent to Tina on her phone showed the house still bathed in the afternoon sun with the deep-purple bougainvillea clinging to its front wall. The text she sent with the photo read: ‘How beautiful is this? You need to visit and see it soon.’

  Thirty seconds later her phone rang.

  ‘Wow! It’s beautiful. I’m definitely coming for a visit soon. I’ve got some fantastic news.’

  ‘Must be good if you’re ringing me rather than texting,’ Jodie said. ‘What’s happened?’

  Jodie listened intently as Tina started to tell her about her meeting with Lucinda Penwood. She could hear the excitement in Tina’s voice as the words poured out and did her best to calm her friend down.

  ‘Hey, slow down.’

  ‘Sorry. I know I’m gabbling. I’m in shock really. I can’t believe Luc is going to sign with us.’

  ‘Luc?’

  Jodie listened as Tina explained about Luc. ‘His identity is top secret at the moment but just think of the publicity when Lucinda Penwood is revealed to be a man. Honestly, Jodie, I know, just know, that this book is going to be a huge hit and will be the making of the agency! It’s such a stroke of luck for us.’

  As Jodie listened to Tina she couldn’t help wondering about her friend and this Luc, who was going to propel the agency to the forefront of major literary agents and publishers with his debut novel.

  ‘And he’s such a lovely person. I’m really looking forward to working with him.’

  ‘Lovely person?’ Jodie said when she could get a word in. ‘You like him as a person then? Not just as an author who’s going to make you a lot of money when he makes the big time?’

  There was a short pause before Tina said, ‘Of course I like him. I promised myself after the Kirsty episode that from now on I would only work with people I liked and who liked me. Our relationship will be purely professional and there’s no way I’m going to jeopardise that.’

  ‘Fingers crossed it all works out,’ Jodie said. ‘I’ve got to get going. I promised I’d drop some stuff off for Nicola and I’m running late. I’ll try and Skype you tonight. Otherwise we’ll talk tomorrow.’

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  After their meeting in Covent Garden, Tina and Luc communicated almost daily by telephone and email, slowly growing their agent/writer relationship, albeit with an undercurrent of emotional rapport. Once Luc had signed the contract and returned it, Tina sent him the edits and changes she thought he needed to make to his book before she started approaching publishers.

  This evening they were progressing to a video chat on Skype to discuss a few of the points she’d raised. Meeting up with Luc in real life would be better, of course, but seeing him on a screen would be good too. She couldn’t believe how much she was looking forward to seeing him again. Despite having told Jodie her relationship with Luc would be a totally professional one, and being determined to keep it that way, she had to fight more than the occasional daydream about it becoming personal too. This evening was no exception.

  As she had no intention of sitting in her bedroom to chat to Luc – that would definitely be unprofessional – she gave the sitting room a quick tidy… well, the area on and behind the settee where she was sitting that would show up on the screen. There was no time for more as Luc rang promptly at the appointed time.

  ‘Hi,’ Tina said, feeling unexpectedly shy at Luc seeing where she lived. The glimpse she had of his apartment on the screen showed a large, comfy-looking leather settee, a computer standing on an otherwise empty desk and, on the wall beside it, a modern painting.

  They quickly went through all the points Tina had highlighted, with Luc arguing against a couple and agreeing with the others.

  Tina couldn’t help laughing when Luc told her one of the scenes she’d suggested he make some edits to was based on his own failed attempt to learn to scull during a family holiday in Wales, which had ended with him falling into the river. ‘You wouldn’t believe how cold the water was, even in June,’ he said.

  In return she gave him a shortened version of the time she’d been chased and butted by the billy goat on her uncle’s farm. Luc was so easy to talk to, she found herself wishing they were sitting together chatting in person.

  ‘Your apartment looks lovely,’ she said. ‘Did you paint the picture on the wall by the desk. I love all those mauves and reds swirling around together.’

  ‘This isn’t an apartment,’ Luc said. ‘It’s my room in my parents’ house. And my sister Fiona painted the picture – thinks she’s a female Picasso. She’s not, of course – she’s much better,’ Luc said, laughing.

  ‘Does she live at home too?’

  Luc shook his head. ‘No, she’s married and, boy, is she going to tease me when she hears I’ve written a romance.’

  ‘You haven’t told her the name you’re using, have you?’ Tina said anxiously. ‘Remember, no one must know.’

  ‘No, I promise I haven’t said a word. I’m happy to wait to have her laughing at me.’

  ‘You’ll have the last laugh when you’re in the bestseller lists.’

  ‘Do you really think that’s going to happen?’ Luc asked quietly.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Tina said. ‘I’ve already ordered the magnum of champagne to celebrate with you.’ She hadn’t, but she had every intention of doing so the moment she had a publishing contract for Luc to sign.

  ‘Do you work every evening?
’ Luc said.

  ‘Yes, at the moment, while the agency is so new,’ Tina said. ‘Being single and working from home, I can suit myself how much I do. Once the agency is up and running I’ll probably stick to regular office hours a bit more.’ She managed to stop herself adding ‘Single and fancy free, that’s me’ just in time. Too much like a hint. She was single but there was definitely someone she fancied. Tina pushed the thought away. He was a client. Even if sitting here chatting to him felt like being with a friend.

  ‘How about you? D’you rush home from your day job and write in the evenings? Or spend them with, what’s the phrase, your significant other?’

  Damn, now she sounded as if she was fishing. Men like Luc were in great demand and he was sure to have a girlfriend he’d failed to mention so far. Or he could even be married. Though, having a room in his parents’ house did seem to suggest he was single.

  A shadow passed over Luc’s face before he answered. ‘No significant other in my life either,’ he said as he glanced at his watch. ‘Sorry, I have to go. I’ll work on those points and get back to you in the week. Ciao.’

  ‘Ciao,’ Tina echoed to a blank screen as Luc cut the connection. That was a sudden departure. Had she upset him when the talk became personal? Closing Skype down, her home page on Facebook flashed up on the screen with a couple of notifications from friends. Facebook! Of course. How could she have forgotten? Everyone was on social media these days, weren’t they? She only had to look him up on there to learn more about him.

  She quickly typed Lucien Eldrich, London into the search box. It was an unusual name, so there couldn’t be that many in town. There weren’t. One person showed up in the search box. No profile picture, and private settings prevented her accessing the page to confirm it was him – which, intuitively, only served to make her suspect it was. Was he hiding something by not having a more open Facebook page?