Tom leaned forward. ‘But this is where it gets interesting. Serena has gone and she never sent us the signed contract. This is your leverage.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Let them keep the other books and let’s find you a new home for your detective.’
‘Can I do that?’
‘Of course you can. We can find her a lovely house who is smart and progressive and clever and who promotes women characters and cares about their authors.’
‘Are there any?’ Edward laughed. ‘You’re only as good as your last BookScan sales numbers.’
‘Yes, there are, so stop being cynical. Jasper Harris is doing great work at the moment. You need to go somewhere smaller but boutique, who understands social media and how to promote at a grassroots level. Your existing readers will already follow you but you need to find new ones, younger ones.’
Edward thought for a moment. ‘Jasper? He’s great but I think I’m a bit commercial for him.’
‘Your other books are but the detective book? No, that’s right in his wheelhouse. Her fighting against the system and the oppression of a female in the police, the poverty in the area where she works, people not caring about her victims because they’re not pretty white girls called Emma or Lucy.’
Edward was surprised. ‘You’ve read it? I just forward things to you to keep on file. I didn’t think you read them anymore.’
‘I’ve read everything you’ve ever written, my friend, and I tell you, this book – if you can get it into a series – is what you were meant to write. Everything leading to this was practice.’
Edward felt his eyes sting with tears. ‘It feels like that,’ he said. ‘Like I’m finally writing what I care about. Not the toffy, fake Indiana Jones guff.’
‘Let me talk to Jasper. I’ll keep it quiet and see what he says. They won’t have the advances that Henshaw and Carlson gave you though.’
Edward shrugged. ‘He should pay me what he thinks it’s worth. This is a new genre for me and untested.’
‘Let me and him thrash that out,’ said Tom.
‘I need to call my lawyers about the house,’ Edward said. ‘And I need to speak to Eve about the house stuff. I won’t mention the books news to her yet; I don’t want to talk shop with her about Jasper Harris until I know what’s happening and if I can move there for the new series.’
Tom stood up. ‘Good idea. Focus on her and the kids, and call me if you need anything at all, okay?’
‘I will.’
Edward was exhausted once Tom was gone but he was grateful Eve had brought him all this way to talk.
‘You finished? Has Tom gone?’ he heard her say and he turned to see her in the doorway.
‘Yes, he’s off to do deals and make offers I can’t understand.’ He laughed.
Eve came and sat opposite him. The sunshine coming through the window promised more warmth than it delivered.
‘I’m staying with Henshaw and Carlson,’ he said.
She nodded but said nothing.
‘I never signed the contract, and since the house is ruined, I can’t sell it. I’ll need to get better and write because I need the money.’
‘Okay,’ she said.
‘But I don’t want to talk shop, now. I just want to sit here with you in the sun.’
Eve handed him a coffee and they sipped in silence.
He wanted to ask what was in her head but knew better than to pry. Eve would tell him what she was thinking when she was ready and only when she was ready.
‘I’m going to call Sanjeev,’ he said after a while. ‘I think that the kids and I will need some help to get through this. We can’t just pretend it hasn’t happened and I think the kids need really good support outside of us. You can’t just get on with something like this. You have to understand it and the children need to know it’s not their fault – any of it.’
