‘You will. Or Clara will have my guts for garters. I’ve heard rumours she is making jelly for dessert. You’re getting the full red-carpet treatment.’
‘I’m honoured,’ he said with a grin.
36
Tangled
Jo decided that, more than anything, there was one thing that she needed to do to allow her to be able to let go of what Ewan McLachlan had done. It wasn’t something she relished, and she was scared that she might let her emotions get the better of her, but she knew that she would ultimately feel better for doing it. She would feel empowered for doing it.
First, though, she made a mug of tea and stress-ate four chocolate digestive biscuits without even tasting them.
Then she went to her room, closed and locked the door and lit a scented candle. Sitting on the floor in Lotus Pose (one of the very few yoga poses she could do without swearing), she did her best to calm her breathing and focus on positive thoughts.
She didn’t need to go into this all guns blazing and screaming at Ewan at the top of her lungs. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to keep absolutely calm.
When she felt sufficiently zen, she took her phone and scrolled until she saw his phone number and hit the call button.
It all seemed so simple in her head, but she hadn’t prepared for the flood of emotions that would hit her as soon as she heard him say hello. At the sound of his Scottish lilt, the slightly wary way he answered, she felt a rush of adrenaline flood her veins. This was the man who had, in the space of a few days, made her believe in her ability as a writer and then strip her of the belief that she was able to judge people accurately. This was the man who would have sacrificed her big break to suit his own needs.
The anger she felt towards him momentarily floored her, so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At least he had answered, she told herself. She would be able to say what she wanted to.
‘Ewan, it’s Jo.’
‘I know,’ he said, his voice quiet.
‘I just need to know why,’ she said. ‘I don’t want spin or lies. I just want to know why you would do that to me? And why you would do it to others?’
She was able to disguise the shake in her voice, which she was grateful for.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to, not really. I just felt under a lot of pressure to come up with a new book and I didn’t think. I would’ve told you, you know.’
‘Really? When? Before or after I sent it out for submission? Before or after you published it?’
There was a pause. ‘You wouldn’t have missed out. I’d have made sure you were financially rewarded. And with my name on the book, you know it would have sold well…’
She felt her temper flare a little but forced herself to think zen thoughts. ‘It isn’t about the money. It was never about money. It was about my dream, and you tried to steal that from me. And if Libby hadn’t already sent my book to Graham Westbury, you’d probably have done it. Was that why your mood changed so rapidly at breakfast? As soon as I told you about the email, you shut me off.’
‘I’ve said I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘My career is over, Jo. Is that not enough for you? You’ve got what you wanted.’
‘This is not what I wanted, Ewan. Not at all. And I’m not responsible for your career going south. You did that to yourself. Were any of your books genuinely your own or did you steal all your ideas?’
‘I don’t think we should talk any more,’ Ewan said.
She couldn’t help but agree. With the press of her finger on the ‘end call’ button, she did just that.
Ewan McLachlan was gone from her life as quickly as he had entered it, and a wave of relief washed over her.
37
Star Wars: A New Hope
Jo felt lighter in every way as she walked downstairs, the slam of the front door and a shout from Clara having pulled her back into the moment.
‘We have a secret!’ Clara bellowed as soon as she saw Jo.
‘Now, Clara, the point of a secret is that it’s supposed to stay a secret!’ Jo watched her mum tenderly help Clara take off her coat and hang it at the bottom of the stairs.
‘But it’s a good secret and it will make Jojo happy,’ Clara said. It made perfect sense to her, of course.
‘I do like secrets which make me happy,’ Jo said, pulling Clara into a tight hug.
‘Oh, okay then, Clara. You can tell Jo our news!’ her mum said.
With bright eyes and a huge smile across her face, Clara announced: ‘Daddy’s coming home tomorrow early as a surprise.’
‘Really?’ Jo asked as she looked from Clara to her mum and back again.
‘Oh yes, really,’ her mum beamed. ‘He finished up the contract early and said he just couldn’t wait any longer to get back to his girls. We were visiting Noah when he called.’ The smile on her mum’s face was full and radiant. She had the look of someone who had just fallen in love. ‘He’s flying into Dublin tomorrow at lunchtime, so he’ll be home for tea. I can’t wait to see his gorgeous grumpy face!’
‘And he says he’s going to bring me back a present!’ Clara chimed in.
‘I bet he will,’ Jo said and pulled her little sister into a giant hug. ‘And I suppose this really is my cue to get house-hunting,’ she said to her mother.
‘Josephine Campbell, you know you don’t have to go anywhere. At least not until you are ready to do so,’ her mother said.
‘I know, Mum. But I think I need to do it for myself too.’
Jo felt Clara grabbing her tighter. ‘But you won’t go far away?’
‘Oh of course not, honey. You’ll see me all the time and you can come to sleepovers with Buttercup and everything.’
That seemed to be enough to settle Clara, who released her vice-like grip and looked up at her. ‘Jojo,’ she said, ‘are you going to share a house with Lorcan?’
‘No!’ Jo said, her face blazing. ‘He’s just a friend!’
‘I don’t think so,’ Clara said matter-of-factly and Jo heard her mother burst into laughter.
‘Out of the mouths of babes,’ her mum said with a wink. ‘Now, Clara, can we go and start making dinner for your sister’s just-a-friend?’
The two of them left the room, and Jo stood in the hall feeling completely owned by a six-year-old.
Lorcan was due to arrive at half past five. Jo found herself considering changing her clothes and freshening up her make-up, but quickly reminded herself that they were very much in the friend zone, no matter what her mother or Clara might think. If she slapped on a bit of lippy, she would only have set their tongues wagging further.
So she simply ran a comb through her hair, to tame some of the frizz brought on by the day’s humidity, and spritzed on some perfume. Then she sat at the kitchen table and helped Clara with her reading, while her mum pottered about making pasta and meatballs, with her own special sauce. Jo noted her mother had picked up a bottle of red wine too. She really was pushing the boat out.