‘I know. Yours,’ said Donna with a happy smile.
Flora had been disappointed when she had arrived to learn the kitten wasn’t in the kitchen.
Now her day was made.
‘A kitten?’ asked Edward but he had reached into the basket and was cradling the small animal while Flora stroked its head.
‘It’s a girl kitten, Daddy,’ Flora said.
‘What will you call her then?’ asked Edward.
Eve smiled at them both as they chatted about names.
‘He’s a lovely one, that Edward Priest,’ whispered Donna. ‘He’s perfect.’
Eve watched the way he listened to Flora, a different parent from the man she had met weeks ago.
‘No such thing as perfect, Mum – you taught me that – but he’s close. Pretty close.’
34
Three days after Christmas, Eve finished editing Edward’s book. Instead of telling him immediately, she sat at her desk in the snug and wondered how she would explain it to Serena. The company was expecting the usualEdward Priestepic novel filled with adventure and far-flung places that his average reader would think of visiting in their lifetime.
Instead, he had written a book about a feminist female detective investigating a serial killer in Sheffield. Serena wouldn’t like change and Eve knew trying to sell in this genre would take a strategy that showed her the financial opportunity, but if Eve couldn’t position this correctly, then she might see it as Eve failing at the task Serena had set her.
Finally she took a deep breath and started to write the email. It took seven versions before she was satisfied with the words and she attached the manuscript and pressed send before she chickened out.
She had done what she could with the argument for publishing Edward’s book and giving it the same level of support they would give his other work, but because it wasn’t Serena’s idea, there was every chance she would refuse to even read it.
Eve closed the laptop, otherwise she knew she would be refreshing her email every ten seconds waiting for a reply, and she walked to the study to tell Edward.
Flora was sitting on the rug playing with the kitten.
‘How is Christmas?’ asked Eve as she wandered in and sat in an armchair.
Flora’s decision to name the cat Christmas was accepted by the family when she announced that this was her favourite Christmas ever. Who could argue with that? Edward had agreed.
‘She’s good. She liked chasing the mouse with feathers up its bottom.’
‘Poor mouse,’ Eve said as she rubbed her eyes that were sore from staring at the computer for so long.
‘You okay?’ asked Edward looking up from his own computer.
‘Just sore eyes,’ she said. ‘They’re dry.’
‘Go and water them,’ said Flora.
‘Good idea,’ Eve said with a smile. ‘I’ve finished,’ she said to Edward.
‘Finished?’ He frowned.
‘The first edit. I’ve done all I can now. It’s good. In great shape. If I read this from a new author I would commission them immediately.’
Edward jumped out of his chair. ‘You’ve finished? This is amazing. Did you send it to Serena yet? Has she said anything?’
‘I sent it to her a little while ago. She won’t have read it yet, so hold your horses.’
Edward came to the side of her chair and kissed the top of her head.
