Page 72 of Romantic Hero
A sudden beam of sunlight shines down on us, blanching Henry’s face so that he squints. I notice then that he has an almost imperceptible bit of dry skin dangling off the end of his nose. Ew.
‘Wait there a sec,’ I say, pressing the buzzer so River lets me back into the building.
I race up the stairs, a sudden torrent of energy in my limbs catapulting me up two at a time. River is waiting for me, holding the door open. I fly past him into my apartment and grab the folder containing Henry’s new manuscript. Then, hurrying over to the big window, I yank it upwards. I suddenly find myself giggling as I lean out of the window to see that Henry is still standing there on the pavement, blinking at the front door as if he expects me to come back down at any moment with editorial notes.
‘Hey, Henry!’ I yell down onto the street. And then, when he looks up, I shout even louder. ‘Here’s my feedback on your pages!’
I unclip the folder and dangle it out of the window, shaking it so that the pages drift this way and that, down towards the pavement. Henry reaches up and dramatically tries to catch them as they fall, even though I know for a fact that he’s got a backed-up version on three different email accounts and probably at least another two hard-copy folders.
‘My pages!’ he cries. ‘My work!’
‘Shove ’em up your arse!’ I shout gleefully.
Behind me I hear River laugh out loud. ‘Shove’em up your arse?’ he murmurs. ‘I’m gonna have to take that one home with me. Shove ’em up your arse. Ha! Perfect.’
I close the window and start to pace around the room, body zinging with energy and …power.
‘Is he still out there?’ I ask. ‘Actually, I don’t care. But is he? Is he out there? Is he mad?’
River leans out of the window. ‘He’s running away down the street! Actually running. He’s left the paper behind. It’s everywhere.’
‘Oh my God. I’ll go and clear it up now. I may be a foul-mouthed window harlot, but a litterbug I am not.’
‘Foul-mouthed window harlot.’ River quirks an eyebrow. ‘That’s hot.’
‘You think so?’ I’m smiling at him, trying hard to keep the smile sensibly platonic, when suddenly, I feel a tiny flicker in my brain. A sort of buzzing and then a clink as if a light has been switched on. And then the buzz turns into a small chorus of noises – voices and birdsong and the sound of a very familiar clock tower chiming 10 a.m.
I close my eyes, my heart swelling as Bedlam comes sharply into focus in my mind’s eye. It’s scorching hot, the scent of freshly cooked donuts wafts through the air. I can hear the sound of Texans laughing and hooting good-naturedly alongside the excitable morning chirrup of the birds and an occasional dog bark. And then I see her. I feel her.Cassidy.My protagonist. My girl. My friend. She’s there in the town square, looking down at Ethan and wondering what on earth she’s meant to say to the most important question she’s ever been asked. She’s excited, but nervous, her heart pounding so hard she’s worried it will explode out of her chest and splat Ethan in the face.
I gasp, pressing my hands to my face. ‘Oh my God.’
She’s here. Cassidy’s here. And she’sloud.
Tears flood my eyes, making my vision blur.I missed you, I say to myself. To her.
‘What is it?’ River asks as I wipe away the tears now tumbling down my face, splashing onto my chest.
‘Pass me my laptop at once!’ I cry, my voice trembling with excitement and relief. ‘She’s back. Cassidy is back.’
‘You being serious right now?’ River bounces a little on the heels of his cowboy boots. ‘Is this for real?’
I start laughing, my brain noisy and full and curious again. At last!
‘Looks like you’re on litter duty, Oakley,’ I say gleefully. ‘Operation The End has moved to the next phase. I’ve got me a book to finish!’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Now that Cassidy is back, she will not shut up – she has so much to tell me that I’ve barely stopped writing since yesterday. She ran away from Ethan’s proposal, leaving him heartbroken in front of the whole of Bedlam Creek. And then, just as she was about to leave town for ever, she discovered that River had gone missing. His truck was found in Blue Egg Meadow. No warning, no note, no instructions for the ranch, which was very unlike the River Oakley they had always known.
When I tell River that he’s gone missing in the book, that everyone in Bedlam is wondering where he is, his mouth drops open. ‘This is so fucking weird.’
‘You’re telling me! It’s melting my mind.’
‘Shit.’ He runs a hand over the back of his neck. ‘They must be absolutely panicking about the auction. I promised my staff, the locals, that I’d be there to buy the land up, no matter the cost.’ He goes quiet for a moment and tugs at his earlobe. ‘Does, uh, anyone seem to miss me?’
I laugh. ‘A few old flames from around town are holding a vigil for your safe return, trading tales of how you broke their hearts, but that if they could only see you one more time, they would forgive your indiscretions.’
River’s mouth lifts into a mischievous half-smile. ‘Yeah?’
