She thought, also, she could ask Anders to read the manuscript. Although, he might not be comfortable doing so after their night together. She valued his opinion enough not to take any notes too personally. But she understood, too, that it was a complicated dynamic. They’d discussed the idea of early reads. Anders admitted he only felt comfortable letting interns or “underlings” read his rough drafts.
“Underlings?” she’d said. “What does that mean?”
“Just readers or writers who aren’t peers. Does that make me terribly insecure?” he’d said. The comment surprised her. If Anders Fleming, with all his bestsellers and accolades didn’t feel confident in the first-draft stage, how could she expect to?
“Not at all,” Shelby said.
“I’ll tell you something: the only time you should worry about your first draft is when youdon’tthink it’s absolute rubbish.” That made her smile. She decided to write it on a Post-it and stick it on her laptop.
Still, her first choice would be to give the manuscript to Mia.
“Mia, feel free to say no, but I was wondering if you might have time to take a look at the first draft of my manuscript so far.”
“Me?” She stopped unloading the book delivery.
“Well, yes. I know you read everything, and I trust your opinion. I’m only halfway done, but I’m just too close to it to tell if it’s working. And it would be so helpful to get some perspective before I get much further.”
Mia appeared daunted by the request. It was like Shelby had asked her to scale the Pilgrim’s Monument.
“But if you’re too busy, I completely understand,” she said quickly. “It was just a thought.”
Shelby had meant it when she said feel free to say no, but deep down she felt a little offended. When she’d been in high school, she would have been thrilled to read a work in progress by an author. Even in college, she would have dropped everything. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was personal.
It reminded her that the only one who wanted her in town was Colleen. Everyone else was merely tolerating her. It hurt, but then, she’d brought it on herself. It seemed like things were going better, it appeared on the surface like good things were happening—that maybe in some small ways she was redeeming herself. But that was wishful thinking.
It was fine, really. She’d fulfill her promise to Colleen, finish her novel, and then she’d be able to get back to her real life.
“Okay,” Mia said. “I’ll read your book.”
“Really?” Shelby said, relieved. “Oh, that’s great, Mia. I really appreciate it.”
Mia smiled weakly. She thought about what Carmen asked of her, and realized maybe Miadidneed someone to talk to. That something was bothering her. Or maybe Mia just didn’t want to go to college. Lots of people didn’t, and they found their path. She was surprised that Carmen and Bert, having raised their children in an unconventional place, would have such a conventional view of education. But then, they were very hard-working people, and she knew from Justin how they’d instilled the value of doing the right thing even when it was hard. Maybe they thought Mia’s attitude towards college came from fear. And maybe they were right.
“Is everything okay? In life, I mean?” Shelby said.
“Sure,” Mia said. “Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just remember heading into senior year was stressful. College applications, all that.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want to go to college. So I’m not stressed about it.”
Shelby nodded. “Got it. So what do you think you want to do?”
“Exactly what I’m doing now.” She cocked her head to the side, as if finding it difficult to understand the question.
“Right,” Shelby said. “You know, I worked here every summer during college. And then the summer before grad school. You can do both.”
“I don’t want to do both.” She pulled her headphones over her ears.
Okay. She wouldn’t push the issue. It was time to quit while she was ahead.
Thirty-Two
Hunter sat across from Anders in his bright, airy kitchen. He leafed through his manuscript, reading the pages she’d annotated, glancing up every now and then to comment. Hunter felt nervous, as if he were evaluating her work instead of the other way around.
“This is very thorough, Hunter. I appreciate it. You’re a skilled editor.”
She beamed. “Thank you. Well, it’s easy with such brilliant material to work with.”
