Page 64 of Riding the Waves

Damian trailed a hand over Billy’s hair. “That’s okay, thanks.”

She felt a pang of rejection and had to force her features to remain neutral. It wasn’t as though she thought they’d jump straight into a relationship. She really wasn’t sure what she’d expected after last night, but when she said goodbye to them and set off back to her bungalow, it was with a sense of disappointment that she couldn’t shake.

It didn’t help that they’d made no plans to meet up again.

With Damian’s parents around for the week, there was a chance she wouldn’t see him properly until the following weekend, and she didn’t like the thought at all.

CHAPTER 32

To keep her mind occupied on Sunday afternoon, Amy got stuck back into playing around with the book descriptions Lizzie had asked her to look at. Firing them off in an email that evening, she was happy to get a reply saying Lizzie, Emily and Scarlett would be in the office the following morning and were hoping Amy could join them. They also mentioned going for lunch afterwards, which Amy was keen for.

The busier she was, the less time she had to sit around wondering about her future.

Emily arrived in the carpark beside the office at the same time as Amy, and they walked in together, chatting about Emily’s pregnancy as they went. She was seven weeks from her due date and was impatient for it to be over.

Inside, Lizzie was pottering in the kitchen while Scarlett slouched on the couch.

“Damian’s parents are helping with your brats this week,” she told Amy. “So I get some time off from them.” She grinned. “How did I do? Did that sound affectionate?”

“No!” Amy and Emily said at once.

“You sound as though you hate my children,” Amy said fondly.

“I give up then,” Scarlett said. “Anyway, I was just reading the book descriptions you rewrote and they’re really good. You don’t mind us using them, do you?”

“Of course not.” A warm burst of pride grew in her chest.

“Good.” Scarlett sat up, making room on the couch. “Because I’ve already uploaded one of them onto online retailers.” She rested her laptop on her knees, then showed Amy the sales page for a crime thriller with her description beside the cover.

“We’ll test them online to start with,” Lizzie said, handing Amy a coffee.

“That’s amazing. Thank you.”

“We should be the ones thanking you.” Emily looked uncomfortable as she lowered herself onto the couch. “It’s really helpful. When you first got in touch we weren’t sure if it would be more of a learning experience for you or help for us, but I think it’s working both ways, which is perfect.”

“I’m definitely learning a lot,” Amy said.

“That’s great.” Emily looked up at Lizzie. “Do you mind if we jump straight in with things? I don’t know how long I can sit comfortably.”

The conversation moved quickly as they each discussed where they were at with their various projects. Emily filled them in on a conversation she’d had with one of their authors about an upcoming release and then told them about the press release she’d been putting together for it.

Lizzie mentioned changes she wanted to make to their contract with the authors and talked about the editing project she was in the middle of. There was more to tackle than Amy had imagined, and when Scarlett talked at length about marketing and advertising, she found her mind wandering.

“Sorry,” Lizzie finally said, catching her eye. “This isn’t very exciting for you, is it?”

“It’s fine.” She felt bad for being caught daydreaming. “Sorry. I had a busy weekend. I’m not sure I’m fully alert, and a lot of this goes over my head.”

“I think we probably forget that this is actually quite specialised knowledge,” Emily said. “We probably talk in our own version of shorthand too.”

“Is there anything I could do to be helpful this week?” Amy asked. “I could use a distraction.”

“Is that because your in-laws are around?” Lizzie asked. “Are you looking for an excuse to hide?”

“No. Damian’s parents are lovely. But they’re not really my in-laws. And I don’t think they like me.”

“Families are complicated,” Emily mused. “How was it with your ex, by the way?”

Amy had told them the previous week about Anthony’s visit. She wasn’t sure what to say about it now.

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