A Summer Affair: A Novel - By Elin Hilderbrand Page 0,29
DATA—that’s Bono’s thing in Africa—the Mount Rushmore Restoration Concern—”
“Okay,” Claire said. “Stop. I get it.”
Bruce sighed. He was a nonagent agent and he had bought the cheeseburger and the Coke for Claire so long ago, when she had no money for lunch herself—but he wasn’t exactly kind, either. Maybe he had been kind at one time, but representing Max West through twenty years of meteoric success had made him . . . a realist. It was hard to be a realist and kind.
“Claire . . . ,” he said.
She should never have called. She should have mailed the letter to Sweet Jane and waited to hear back. Jane Westfield was sweet, she was kind, she had known Claire since Claire was twelve years old, she wouldn’t give Claire a song and dance . . . but what, really, did Claire know? Maybe she would. Claire felt like she was going to cry. It was rejection, plain and simple, and the thing was, she deserved it—for being so smug, for assuming that she had been an unforgettable influence in Matthew’s life. You don’t forget your high school sweetheart, do you? But maybe you did. She hadn’t seen Matthew in forever and a day.
Lock doesn’t think you’ll be able to deliver. She couldn’t deliver. She experienced vestiges of an old hurt—Claire, out behind the Stone Pony, hugging Matthew, holding on to him for dear life, knowing she was going to lose him—and it was combined with the hurt she was going to feel when she told Lock Dixon, who admired her and believed in her, that she couldn’t get Max West.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I get it. All those people want him.”
“Those are just the requests from this month,” Bruce said. “This is what’s come in since he’s been gone. He turned down Bono, Claire. And nearly all of these organizations are willing to pay . . .”
“I know,” Claire said. “I just thought I’d ask.”
“You were right to ask,” Bruce said.
He was quiet again, and Claire thought, Please let’s just end this call. Did he expect her to make nice and ask about his daughters now?
“Do you know who I work for?” he said.
“Who?” Claire said.
“Max West.”
“Right.”
“He’s like my own son,” Bruce said. “I know everything about him. For example, I know he’s in Brunei right now, jonesing like crazy because the sultan is Muslim and his kingdom is dry.”
“Right,” Claire said. There were only ten minutes until pickup; she had to hang up. “Listen, would you do me a favor? If you talk to Max, will you tell him I called and just ask him? Tell him it’s really, really important to me . . .”
“I don’t have to ask him,” Bruce said. “I know everything about him. If I tell him you called and asked for this crazy, inconceivable thing, I know what he’ll say.”
“What?”
“He’ll say yes.”
“What?”
“He’ll say, For Claire Danner, yes. Free concert, no problem, sure. Saturday, August sixteenth. You’re lucky because he happens to be free. He flies to Spain a few days later. So, yes, he’ll be there.”
Claire stood up from the bed. She started to bounce—she couldn’t help herself—but she didn’t want Bruce to know she was bouncing.
“Really?” she said. “You think?”
“I don’t think,” Bruce said. “I know. He’ll be there.”
CHAPTER FOUR
He Surprises Her
On Sunday, Jason and J.D. spent all day scalloping, and on Monday night, Claire sautéed the scallops for dinner and served them with risotto and asparagus. Claire wanted Jason to be happy about dinner because he was not happy to hear she had another gala meeting.
“Is this what it’s going to be like?” he asked. “Two, three nights a week, you at meetings? Leaving me with the kids?”
“They’re your kids, too,” Claire said. “It will be good for you to spend time with them. It will be good for them to spend time with you.”
“Just answer my question,” Jason said. “Is this what it’s going to be like?”
“Only at first,” Claire promised blindly.
“I told you, it was a mistake. You should have said no.”
“Well, I can’t back out now, can I?”
“No,” Jason said grudgingly.
“No,” Claire said. There had been a crackled message on the machine, left late Friday night while Jason and Claire were at Joe’s fortieth birthday party. It was Matthew, calling from Brunei, saying he was coming to Nantucket in August.
“I can’t wait to see you again,” he said. “God, this is going to be great!”
Even Jason was impressed with Claire for locking up Max West so quickly, so easily,