Small Town Girls Don't Marry Their Back-Ups - Carol Moncado Page 0,5

hero gave the heroine?

Instead, she said nothing while the mostly-older women had a lively debate over the meaning of the pickle spears.

Finally, Mrs. Beach - he thought he got that one right - turned to Madi. “We have the author right here. What did he mean by it, Madi?”

Madi shrugged. “He wanted to do something nice for her. She’d mentioned in passing that she loved pickle spears in the first chapter, so he got it for her. That’s it. There wasn’t any hidden meaning at all, like the blender in the first Father of the Bride movie.”

“No hidden meaning?” Mrs. Scarlotti asked. “I thought there was hidden meaning in everything in a book.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Scarlotti. Not in my books. Most of my books are written at face value.” Madi shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable.

“What about the underlying themes?” one of the women asked. “What about when Jesse had been confident in who he was, but then found out he was adopted?”

That wasn’t in this book. It must be in one of her others.

Madi took a deep breath. Wyatt watched her carefully and was fairly certain she was about to reveal something deep.

“You’ve all heard me say writing gives the voices in my head something productive to do,” she started. “It’s a flippant answer, but it’s also true. I have friends who write extensive outlines. One friend has an 80-page outline for a story she wants to write. There are some full scenes, but mostly it’s just notes. I don’t have any of that. Most of the time, I have no idea where a story is going until it gets there. Jesse and Janine didn’t tell me anything for the longest time. I didn’t know Jesse was adopted until he found out two-thirds of the way through the book.”

“That’s incredible.” Wyatt didn’t realize he spoke until he heard his own voice. “I had no idea that’s how some people wrote books.”

“You had to go back and add all the foreshadowing then?” That question came from the woman with the hyphenated last name. Wasn’t she an English teacher?

Madi shook her head. “No. Almost all of it was already there. It’s something that’s totally intuitive for me. I think, on some level, I must have known Jesse was adopted, but not consciously. That kind of thing happens to me regularly. Sometimes I’ll get a message from a reader about how I’d woven in some deep spiritual meaning into a book. I completely understand what they mean and how they arrived at that conclusion, but I hadn’t intentionally woven anything in.”

The conversation went on. Wyatt tried to follow it, but they talked about other books besides the one he’d read. Rather than paying too much attention to the content of the conversation, he found himself focusing on the author. Her mannerisms. Her facial expressions. Her hand gestures.

When his phone buzzed for the fifth time in as many minutes, he excused himself.

“Carson,” he answered once he was away from the gathering.

“It’s about time you answered.” His publicist sounded both annoyed and giddy at the same time.

“I was in a meeting.” Close enough. “What’s up?”

“I have an amazing opportunity for you. It will completely re-endear you to everyone who is rightfully disappointed at the moment.”

The comment stung, but it sounded like something he should be interested in, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to care too much when he was missing out on the conversation in the other room. “What is it?”

“It’s a dating/reality show. Don’t worry,” he hurried on. “It’s kind of a cross between The Dating Game and The Bachelor. The young woman will pick someone to date. It’ll be prearranged so she picks you. That part won’t last long. Then there will be cameras in the house they provide for you and follow your day-to-day interactions and dates with this woman. The house she lives in will be the same. There will likely be some unexpected surprises, of course, but they said it wouldn’t be anything too outlandish. No overnight dates or anything risqué you’d be opposed to.”

Wyatt ran a hand through his hair. “Send me the contract. I’ll think about it.” Before his publicist could press him, he continued. “That’s as close to committing as I’m willing to get right this moment.”

“It’s a good start. I’ve been promised they plan to show you in the best possible light, as long as you behave yourself.”

He sucked in a breath and held it before letting it out slowly. “I’ll look at