That’s not true, at all. She’s not slipping. I’m not trying to replace her, and I think everyone knows that. I’m just an addition. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have to act like a mother half the time. I get along with Vanni like he’s a younger brother, and I adore the kid, but I do have to put my foot down from time to time and attempt to do some parenting. Luckily, he doesn’t give me much pushback about that, although sometimes he’ll pull that “but I thought you were my friend” thing.
At any rate, Jana comes and visits us once a month in Lucca, and sometimes we’ll all come up here to London, like we’re doing now, or we’ll all go up to Scotland to see my mother.
The book tour kicks off here and then all of us (except Jana) are on the road for a few weeks. With Vanni on summer vacation still, it’s the perfect time to travel as a family. Thankfully, Jana is taking care of Vanni tonight, so that Claudio and I can have some alone time and celebrate my first signing.
In fact, he went and got us a “pre-honeymoon suite” at The Ritz. I’m not sure if the hotel calls it that, but Claudio does, and even though I’ve been having fun signing, I can’t wait to stop talking and being social and enjoy some alone time with my husband-to-be.
I wave at Vanni and Jana, and then Claudio comes back to take some more pictures. Jana and Vanni wait for a bit, watching me. Jana looks very proud. Vanni looks…very bored. They only watch for about five minutes before I can tell Vanni is complaining about dropping dopamine levels or something.
Jana quickly comes around my table to me, crouching down. “Do you need anything?” she asks me. “How are they treating you? You don’t have any more coffee, do you need a coffee? They should be offering you coffee.”
I laugh. “It sounds like you don’t need any more coffee. And I’m fine. I have Claudio.”
“Okay,” she says warily. “But the bookstore should be stepping up. They should realize who you are. Grace Harper, bestselling author.”
“I think they know who I am,” I say, gesturing to all the signage around the store, pictures of the cover, and also my blown-up face from the one headshot I like.
“Oh but I did all that,” she says. And then she points to the rows of bookshelves. “See? I got you end placement on all those rows. For a romance, that is rare.”
Jana has been telling me all the things she’s gotten for me for months now, so I’m always aware of how much power she has. I’m also very appreciative.
“I see. It looks great.”
“Good,” she says, getting back up and giving my shoulder a squeeze. “I’m going to take Vanni to the zoo now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Pause. “Remember to have fun!”
I give her a big smile to show her how much fun I’m having.
“Wait, wait,” Claudio says, whipping his phone out. “Jana, go back there.”
Jana sighs and dutifully comes back beside me and we both smile for the camera. I know she acts like she doesn’t like photos, but she secretly loves it.
Then Vanni waves goodbye to me and off they go.
I watch them leave, then turn my attention to the line.
Holy moly, did it just get bigger?
I take a quick glance at my phone. Just another hour. My hand is cramping up from signing and my mouth hurts from talking, but I get back into the zone, and welcome the next person in line.
“So where do you want to go?” Claudio asks me as we leave the bookstore. He’s holding my hand, but doesn’t know what direction to take me. “We could go to Buckingham Palace, Camden Market, walk in the steps of Jack the Ripper in Shoreditch.”
“Claudio,” I say to him with a sigh. “I’m Scottish. I’ve done these things. Let’s go back to the hotel. This is our last chance to be alone before a month of travel happens. We should take advantage of it.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says, and we head in the direction of the hotel, which isn’t too far.
When we get there, we have a drink at the swanky bar and I take a few moments to just breathe and decompress and enjoy the quiet. Claudio keeps his arm around me, making me feel safe, but