Page 41 of Happily Never After
‘This book means everything to her. She’s been working on it for years, telling everyone who’ll listen what a masterpiece it is. But, until now, nobody apart from her and the people she’s submitted it to have actually read any of it.’
‘But Suzie and Grace must have done. The way they were talking about it…’
‘They haven’t, trust me. Gina is, to put it kindly, quite a forceful personality, so if she tells you something is good, your natural inclination is to believe her. Suzie and Grace are in awe of her, and that’s part of the problem. Suddenly, she’s worrying whether her magnificent statue actually has feet of clay, and she’s insecure. Lynette doesn’t help, of course, but I suspect having you walk up and hear what you did is going to have sent her spiralling inside. She doesn’t take criticism well at thebest of times, but criticism in front of someone like you is just humiliating.’
‘Tell me,’ Finn asks before I have a chance to respond, ‘is her whole book like that?’
Tess smiles enigmatically. ‘I couldn’t possibly comment. What I will say is that the basic story and structure is good. She’s done her research too but, like any draft, it needs refinement. That’s what editing is for. Do you know what the real tragedy here is?’
Finn shakes his head.
‘That if she and Lynette could get over themselves and work together, they’d have a winning formula. Who doesn’t love a Tudor romp, eh?’
I’m up early again the next morning. I didn’t get any work done after Finn’s and my chat with Tess, as my mind was busy replaying the conversation with both her and Gina. My initial outrage at Lynette’s indiscretion and the things Gina said has faded a little and, although I’m still not particularly sympathetic to either of them, I do understand where Tess was coming from. By the time dinner came around last night, I’d semi-resolved to try to build some bridges with Gina at least, but it had quickly become apparent that the timing wasn’t right. Finn’s summary of the atmosphere between the two sisters as ‘colder than a nuclear winter’ was pretty much bang on, and we ate in a tetchy silence that was only broken by the occasional request for someone to pass something. Even Cara’s amazing cooking and the carafes of wine that Hugh had topped up as soon as they were half-empty had failed to lighten the mood, and everyone had retired to their rooms as soon as the meal was over.
However, today is a new day and I’ve decided to walk into Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val again before breakfast, taking my notebook so I can write down any ideas as they occur to me. I’m reasonably confident that my murder scene is as it should be, so now I need to start thinking in detail about the next part of the story. Gina, Lynette and the weird dynamics are quickly pushed to one side as I allow myself to become immersed in Claire’s predicament. It therefore takes me a moment to realise that I’m not alone as I step into the early-morning sunshine.
‘Oh, hello,’ Finn says, straightening up from tying the laces on his walking boots. ‘I thought I’d be the only one up at this time. I’d forgotten you were an early bird too.’
‘I’m not, usually,’ I tell him. ‘There’s just something about this place that makes me not want to waste an hour of the day. I thought I’d walk into town again to build up an appetite for breakfast.’
He smiles. ‘That was my plan too. I don’t want to crowd you though. Would you prefer it if I went the other way?’
I study him for a moment. Part of me would prefer to be on my own, but he’s easy company and I don’t want to seem rude. One enemy is more than enough to be going along with, thank you.
‘No,’ I tell him. ‘Unless you’d rather be alone?’
‘I think, given the atmosphere last night, us sane ones should stick together,’ he says, smiling again as he pulls a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and puts them on. ‘Shall we?’
Although we don’t speak for the first part of the journey, having Finn striding along beside me is surprisingly comfortable.
‘Tell me more about you,’ I say after a while.
‘Oh, no,’ he replies, and I can practically feel his eyes twinkling with amusement behind his dark glasses. ‘I’m stilltrying to make up ground for talking so much about myself yesterday. Your turn.’
‘I’m not very interesting. I live in Margate with my best friend and my dog. You already know I’m a writer. Your go.’
‘Uh-uh. Why Margate? What sort of dog? How old?’
‘You’re not going to let this go, are you?’
‘Nope. In my experience, the people who think they’re fascinating are usually monumentally dull and vice versa. I’m therefore betting you’re much more interesting than you let on.’
‘Fine.’
I don’t know whether it’s because he’s determined to make up for his perceived selfishness yesterday, but Finn turns out to be an attentive listener and, by the time we reach the outskirts of the town, I’ve told him all about the implosion of Angus’s and my relationship, shown him far too many pictures of Meg and given him the lowdown on Liv.
‘She sounds nearly as frightening as Gina,’ he observes as we reach the bridge and pause to look out over the water.
‘She’s a force of nature but, unlike Gina and the Double-Doubles, she has a heart of gold. She’s been my rock since Angus left.’
‘Everyone should have a best friend like that,’ he says wistfully, and I sense this might be my opening.
‘Don’t you?’ I ask.
‘I did. Or at least I thought I did.’ He takes off the sunglasses and I can see the sadness in his eyes.
‘Do you want to tell me what happened?’
