“I think we’ll give the ice cream breakfasts a rest for a while,” Hailey said, laughing. “Cornflakes tomorrow.”
“Yerghk,” Will said, and made a face.
“Maybe pancakes. I’ll get up in time to do them.”
“Yum. Xena didn’t know how to do pancakes, so we had ice cream.”
“That makes perfect sense,” she said, happy to be home with her children. The book tour had been interesting and rewarding, and hopefully good for Phillip’s book, but there was nothing as sweet as being back with them. She had missed them more than she realized or wanted to admit while she was gone. She’d been busy doing what she had to do. She had enjoyed working with Phillip. He had been a gentleman and good company for the entire trip.
He thought about her in his silent, orderly apartment in the Dakota. He had enjoyed her company too, but seeing her with her children had added another dimension to her. She was a warm, loving woman. Leaving them for two weeks to help make his book a success had been an incredible gift. He didn’t know how to thank her.
Will and Arianna crowded into her bed with her that night and she let them. Bentley wanted to sleep in his own bed. He was too old to sleep with his mother. Arianna and Will snuggled up next to her like warm puppies, happy to have her home. The last two weeks had been an adventure for them, and for Hailey too.
Chapter 6
Hailey got a warm welcome when she got to the office the next day. Julia and Jane were thrilled to see her. Jane had read and done coverage on all four books Hailey had given her before she left. They were sitting on Hailey’s desk, with Jane’s reports clipped to each of them. She had enjoyed reading them, and thought that at least two of the writers, and possibly three, would be good candidates as clients for the agency. She was thoroughly enjoying her increasing responsibilities, admired Hailey, and loved working with Julia.
Julia had everything organized for Hailey’s return, and brought her a cup of coffee. Francine dropped by to check in with her, and she was smiling.
“How was it? How did it go?”
“It went great.” Hailey beamed at her. “He’s a total pro. And incredibly easy to work with.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Allie asked as she slipped into Hailey’s office unnoticed.
“Of course not.” Hailey made a face.
“Too bad. He’s hot.”
“Yeah, and he’s my client,” Hailey reminded her.
“We don’t all sleep with our clients.” Francine gave Allie a disapproving look.
“No, just our bosses,” Allie said under her breath, and slipped out again, while Francine gave her a murderous look. Hailey ignored the comment and pretended not to hear it, although she had heard the rumors about Francine too, and didn’t believe them.
By lunchtime, it was as though she’d never left. Clients were calling to complain. One of her favorites called to say he was late with his deadline, and Hailey laughed. He was late with every book, but he was a talented young writer so his publisher put up with it. When Hailey went to the kitchen to get a yogurt, she saw Allie walk into Bob Benson’s office and shut the door behind her. Half an hour later, Hailey could see them still engrossed in earnest conversation through the glass wall of Bob’s office. She wondered what that was about. They all heard about it later, on the news.
Rod Talbott, one of their biggest stars, had been arrested on criminal charges, for raping a seventeen-year-old actress. He had allegedly drugged and raped her. Two other young women had already come forward and said that he had raped them too. He had been kicked off the movie he was making. He was one of the agency’s biggest clients on the dramatic side, and everyone at the agency was upset about it. He always seemed like such a nice guy and was kind to everyone when he came to the office.
Allie said it to Hailey and Francine, before anyone else did. “His career is over. You won’t be seeing him here again. I spoke to Bob about it. We’re taking him off our roster. He won’t work again anyway. And the way things are now, he’ll go to prison. Guys like that don’t get away with it anymore. This is a big deal, and the girl is a minor.” It was all over the news that night. He had called Allie and asked for her help to find a criminal attorney, and Bob wouldn’t let her do it. He wanted no part of it. They had other clients who had been in trouble with the law before, but nothing as shocking as this.
When Hailey got home that night, there was the biggest bouquet of roses she’d ever seen in a vase on the coffee table. Three dozen pale pink long-stemmed roses, and the card read, “I can’t thank you enough. Phillip.” He was amazingly gracious and generous. Arianna stared at the roses and then at her mother when she came home.
“He is your boyfriend, Mom. Is that why you went on the tour with him?”
“He is not my boyfriend. And I went because my boss asked me to.” Arianna didn’t look convinced.
Hailey watched the video of Arianna in Annie that night and she was terrific. She told Arianna how proud of her she was. Arianna really had been wonderful, and she had a lovely voice. Hailey would have loved to get her singing lessons, but they couldn’t afford it.
Felicity had left chicken curry for them that night, which was one of their favorites. Hailey was putting the dishes in the dishwasher when Phillip called her. She was pleased and surprised to hear his voice. She smiled as soon as she heard him.
“You sent me the most outrageously beautiful roses I’ve ever seen,” she said gratefully. “I was going to email you tomorrow.”
“You deserve a whole garden for what you did for me. I missed talking to you today. Are you free for dinner on Friday?”
“If I can find a sitter. I may have worn them all out while we were away. If I can find one, I’d love it.” She had missed talking to him too. They chatted for a while, and she promised to let him know as soon as she could about Friday.
And in the morning she had even better news for him. They had just gotten word that the tour had worked its magic. His book was going to be number one on The New York Times list next Sunday. She called to tell him, and he let out a whoop.
“And I owe it all to you,” he said in a choked voice. He’d been number one on the list many times before, but it always felt like the first time, and he had worked hard for it on the tour. Coming up from number three, after it dropped to number eleven, was nearly impossible to achieve, and Hailey had helped him do it.
“I didn’t do all those interviews and charm them, you did,” she reminded him, and refused to take the credit for it.
“Now you have to find a sitter so we can celebrate,” he said.
“I’ll work on it today,” she promised.
Bob Benson heard the news and came in to congratulate her.
“Good job, Hailey. Well done. That really is some tour you did with Phillip. The publisher is thrilled. They set up some great interviews for him but you got him through it.”
“He really deserves this,” she said kindly. He was working on a new book and told her he’d have a first draft to show her soon. He really appreciated her comments. He liked the independent editor he used, but lately he’d had more faith in Hailey’s suggestions.
After Bob left her office, she asked Jane to make a copy of three of the manuscripts she’d done coverage on. She wanted to give them to Francine to read, after seeing Jane’s rave reviews on them. Jane had said that the fourth one wasn’t worth pursuing.