room while it was occurring.
I quickly paused behind my desk to scribble down an idea in my notebook before it vanished. A podcast of ASMR bedtime stories for adults, especially adults who had to sleep with earphones in every night. Well, not every night, I thought, looking up at John, who was holding the door open for everyone. Officially speaking, we were still taking it slow, but the toothbrush in his bathroom and the drawer of my things beside his bed certainly had a sense of speed about them.
I was cautious, I was taking things day by day, but I was also fairly sure I was in love.
‘Ready?’ he asked as our friends assembled on the pavement outside, laughing and whooping and then scolding each other on behalf of the baby.
I looked at him, I looked at Sumi, Adrian and Lucy and at the October sun, starting to set against the London sky. And then I turned to gaze lovingly at my office, my desk, my chair, my mug. It was all starting to come together.
Picking up my bag, I slid the strap across my body and straightened my hair before taking John’s hand in mine.
‘Yes,’ I said with a smile. ‘I’m ready.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
They say it takes a village to raise a child and I say it takes a medium-sized city to make a book, perhaps something like Birmingham or Seville.
Firstly, thank you to my agent, Rowan Lawton, the greatest cheerleader in the land. I could not and would not want to do this without you.
I owe so many thanks to my HarperCollins family, it’s hard to know where to start. To Lynne Drew, without whom there would be no book (and not just this one, literally there would be no Lindsey Kelk books, full stop), thank you for all your wisdom, guidance and support. Martha Ashby, your keen Yorkshire eye is always appreciated. Felicity Denham, you’re the best at what you do and I could not appreciate you more. I might be sat in a room, pouring my guts into a laptop but it takes killer editorial, sales, rights, marketing, publicity, production, art, design, logistics and legal teams to make sure this book finds its way into your hands. I’m lucky to be held together by some of the very finest out there, in the UK and all over the world.
The last year has been a lot. Who thought it would be a good idea to move house, plan a wedding and write a book all at the same time? This idiot. And this idiot would be completely on her arse without the love and support of Kevin Dickson, Della Bolat, Terri White, Emma Gunavardhana, Danielle Radford. Also, he won’t ever see this but I couldn’t get through a day without my big brother, so thanks Bobby. I owe a lot of thank yous to a lot of people that will never be properly expressed (I mean, I still haven’t sent all the thank you cards out from the wedding) but I hope everyone in my life knows how much I appreciate and love them.
Special thanks to Caroline Hirons and the fantastic, not-at-all-Snazz-like, Max Hirons, for their insight into the minds and wardrobes of teenage boys.
To Jeff, thank you for all that you do, all that you are, and for taking care of me and our cat children. I love you very much. I can’t believe we got married. Lol.
Being an author is a very weird and often lonely job. I mean, it’s hard to go out for a drink after a hard day when your only office-mate is a cat, so thank you to Mhairi McFarlane, Kevin Dickson (again), Paige Toon, Giovanna Fletcher, Louise Pentland, Marian Keyes, Sarra Manning, Rosie Walsh, Rowan Coleman, Julie Cohen, Lia Louis, Isabelle Broom, Andrea Bartz for understanding and supporting and being absolutely brilliant. Sometimes it was just a tweet or a DM, sometimes it was an entire bottle of wine or a weeping three a.m. phone call (sorry about that) but I really want you to know it was appreciated.
There will never be a time I’m not completely stunned by the fact I get to do this for my job. The fact you chose to read this book means I am forever in your debt and you have my endless gratitude.
If you’ve enjoyed In Case You Missed It, read on for a taste of One in a Million, also by Lindsey Kelk.
The room at the end of the hallway on the first floor