Page 63 of The Day After Christmas
‘You think you know a person,’ she said.
Harry laughed. ‘Sorry. That was a bit of a bombshell, wasn’t it? That’s not me on the cover, by the way. Just my name.’
‘I worked that much out.’ Felicity shrugged. ‘You write… romance? Very spicy romance, from the look of that cover. Wow. Maybe you and Andrea would be perfect for each other.’
Harry shifted uncomfortably, his lined face flushing slightly. ‘I didn’t mean to. It was a kind of accident. I was doing this writing course and they recommended trying to write in a totally different style from your default, pushing boundaries and all that, and, I don’t know how to explain it but for a bit of a laugh I tried writing a sex scene from a woman’s point of view and I really enjoyed it.’
James guffawed. ‘I bet you did.’
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. ‘God almighty. This is not something I ever thought I’d be discussing with my daughter and her… well, whatever you are, can I just say?’
‘Clearly,’ said James. ‘And also, hey, I’m her… er…’
‘He’s mine,’ said Felicity, quickly.
Tristan’s eyebrows were now the highest anyone’s eyebrows had ever been.
Harry went on, looking more and more uncomfortable. ‘I loved trying to write as a woman. It was cathartic in some ways, after… everything that happened.’
Felicity frowned. ‘So why not just own it? Write under your own name?’
‘Do you know how few male romance authors there are out there writing proper spice? There’s one or two of course, but mostly the men all use a pseudonym. There’s something a bit creepy about it being a man, or at least some people might think so. Anyway, I changed the name on the cover and stuck it on “thebook site”, not thinking anything would come of it. It didn’t do anything for a long time and then, I don’t know, it just started to take off. It’s still my biggest seller even all these years later.’
Felicity’s finger hovered for only a split-second over the “buy now” button. ‘This I have to read,’ she said.
‘I can get you a copy for free,’ said Harry. ‘You don’t need to order it, love. I have hundreds.’
‘He really does,’ said Tristan, rolling his eyes dramatically.
‘Too late,’ said Felicity, with a smile.
‘So how does any of this help us?’ said James, when they’d retired to the lounge for brandy and cigars aka coffee and cake. ‘You said it was anonymous.’
‘Well, that’s the thing,’ said Tristan, leaning back in his chair. ‘Harry’s not famous but Diana Edwards certainly is. She has quite the following, shall we say?’
Felicity squealed. ‘This is amazing.’
James waved his chopsticks as if he was signing his name in the air. ‘Ah, I see. So, you come along to the open day and do a signing as Diana Edwards? Or at least, we’ll advertise that it’s her coming along and then it’ll be you, not her. If that makes sense.’
‘They want you to come out, basically,’ drawled Tristan, clearly highly amused by the whole situation.
‘I got that, thanks, son,’ said Harry. He was still smiling but his eyes were lost in thought.
‘Is it a terrible idea?’ said Felicity at last.
‘What? No, oh no, no, not at all,’ said Harry. ‘It’s just, I’ve never been asked properly to do that before. And it would be in front of you guys.’
‘No one’s asking you to go on in drag, Father,’ said Tristan, shifting in his seat and picking at the icing on the chocolate fudge cake Felicity had hastily bought after her own attempt went spectacularly wrong.
‘That would be a good wheeze though,’ said James.
‘Trust me, no one wants to see these legs on display,’ said Harry with a laugh.
‘So you’ll do it?’
‘Fine, fine. I’ll think about it.’
‘Oh my gosh, that would be perfect,’ said Felicity, excitement bubbling in her throat. ‘Can’t wait to get started.’
