by S. K Munt
‘But you just said-’
‘Hey if we walk in there and find out that you’re the real Ryan Weaver, that might change my mind. But that’s a pretty big if and if I’m right, it means you might already belong to someone else anyway, doesn’t it?’ She leaned over and kissed him chastely, and he sighed against her lips, a sigh of relief no doubt. ‘I’m here for you,’ she whispered, pulling back. ‘Don’t think I don’t see that you’re trying to create an emotional mini-drama for me to distract you from your own.’ She tousled his hair and he closed his eyes and groaned. ‘Just promise me that you’ll look me up if you have a Kylie waiting for you and she does turn out to be bug-ugly and illiterate, okay?’
Ryan’s eyes opened and flashed like the purest of diamonds. ‘That is one promise I can make you.’
Leigh’s heart shivered and it was all she could do not to lean in and kiss him again. But she didn’t want to risk missing Kathryn’s exit by just seconds because she’d decided that an impromptu make-out session in the car park was a good idea. ‘Well let’s get inside then, hmm? It’s freezing in here.’
‘I hadn’t noticed,’ Ryan said softly, straightening back up, and Leigh smiled. ‘But I could use a coffee though.’
Leigh grinned and opened the car door, feeling excitement strike her like an unexpected bolt of lightning while her fears rained down on her like hail. She got out of the car and slung her bag over her shoulder, looking around nervously and hugging herself from the frigid wind whipping up from the nearby lake.
I don’t care if it takes hours for her to show up! I don’t know if I care if she shows up at all. This is HER haunt! I’m going to drink coffee that she has, and maybe even sit on a chair that she’s sat on before!
‘Are you cold?’ Ryan asked, materializing at her side. ‘Want my jacket?’
Leigh shook her head, though she couldn’t imagine that anything in the world would feel better than Ryan’s jacket settling over her shoulders. Then he slung his arm over her, and she was proven wrong.
‘You look beautiful today,’ he whispered, his breath too hot compared to the cloudy air. He tugged on her knitted jumper. ‘Sort of like a rock chick. Sure you want to go out with Bruce? This outfit would work so well at the bar I’m playing in.’
Leigh gaped up at him. ‘How can you even be thinking of tonight when we’re about to walk into THE café where Kathryn Praser writes?’
Ryan shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I figure we might be in for a long-ass wait, so I’ll conserve my panic attack energy for when she actually walks in the door, hmm?’ He pushed open the door and Leigh was bowled over by the delicious scent of freshly ground coffee beans. The interior of the café was sparse but homey, like sitting in an early 20th century farm-style kitchen. Her eyes ran over the timber tabletops and brick walls, committing every detail to memory, while Ryan steered her toward the counter. There were two people in line ahead of them and Leigh quickly checked them out and then sighed sadly. An old woman and a gorgeous young blonde- but no middle-aged writer.
‘Hey.’ He squeezed her against his side. ‘It’s all organic so that might counteract the cheesy fries a bit, eh?’
Leigh smiled weakly, but she’d grown so nervous that she couldn’t find her voice to respond at all, let alone with anything witty. There were no more than four patrons, and when she glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost two p.m. her hopes sank. When did writers write, anyway? First thing in the morning, or later?
‘Leigh… you need to calm down,’ Ryan said softly, lifting his arm from her and then gripping her cold hand, defrosting it with his hot one. ‘If she doesn’t show, we can always-’
But Leigh’s soul shook as her eyes landed on the second patron she’d checked out- a dark- haired woman sitting in a half booth toward the back of the room with a MacBook open on the table in front of her. Leigh didn’t have to look a second time or get closer to know for sure- she’d read the woman’s bio and had studied her website so many times that she had every inch of her gentle face memorized. She squeezed Ryan’s hand and then dropped it, her bag sliding off her shoulder and to the floor with an unceremonious thump as she did, taking a halting step toward the back of the room while an older man approached Ryan and greeted him in a heavy Ontarian accent.
‘Leigh!’ Ryan hissed her name. ‘What are… oh you’re kidding?’
Ryan’s voice had barely rated above a whisper, but the woman glanced up, and her brown eyes widened in response to the way Leigh was staring at her- probably with mouth agape. She wanted to lift her fingers to her mouth and see if she really was gawking- but she couldn’t move. The woman’s sudden, wary look made Leigh’s feet stop moving forward, and then, when the woman’s face scrunched up, Leigh understood heartbreak for real.
‘Great. Just fucking great…’ the author rose to her feet and snapped her notebook shut and Leigh’s heart shattered like dropped glass. She narrowed her eyes at Leigh. ‘What’s it gonna be, hmm? You here to demand a sequel at gunpoint, or have you got a bucket of tar and some feathers waiting for me in your car?’
Leigh didn’t know how to explain that she’d brought, and now expected something far more precious than anything the writer had just suggested, and so she promptly burst into tears.
Four
‘Oh shit...’ Kathryn Praser sounded beside herself. ‘Hey, are you okay?’
Leigh cupped her nose and mouth with her hands, horrified by the ugly tears spluttering from her facial orifices, and shook her head wildly. She wanted to explain- she’d imagined what she’d say to this woman if she met her so many times before but suddenly, she couldn’t voice a coherent thought.
Kathryn rushed forward, and then seemed to think better of it and halted beside her table. ‘Can I do anything to help?’
Leigh shook her head again, jerkily this time, and then accepted a napkin from her hero’s outstretched fingers.
‘I’m… I’m…’ she sniffled and tried again. ‘I love you!’
Kathryn’s wispy eyebrows shot up. ‘You’re a fan?’
Leigh nodded as jerkily as she’d shook her head, and her eyes clouded so badly that she had to take her glasses off and wipe them, probably smearing the make up she’d had applied that morning, but she didn’t care. ‘I’m sorry…’ she pressed the tissue to her nose and tried to snort into it in a lady-like fashion. ‘I’m overwhelmed…’
‘That makes two of us.’ Kathryn glanced back at her notebook, then to Leigh again, and she gave Leigh a smushed-up smile. ‘Sorry if I was abrupt. I’ve had-’
‘I know.’ Leigh blew her nose, thinking of all of the web articles about Kathryn getting chewed out by Ryan’s fans. ‘I’m sorry to track you down like this but-’
‘You’re from… Australia?’ Kathryn cocked her head. ‘New Zealand?’
‘Australia,’ Leigh croaked. ‘I’m doing a book blog tour and…’ she looked down at the napkin twisted between her white knuckles, realised that Kathryn Praser had given her something and burst into tears again. ‘I came to Ontario because of-’ she sniffled. ‘Of…’
‘Oh dear. Come here sweet…’ Kathryn’s arm slipped around her shoulder and steered her to the seat across from hers and Leigh almost swooned with joy. She was being invited to Kathryn’s table! It was incredible!
‘Sit down, get a grip… and then say what you came to say, okay? I’m here with my assistant to organize a few things so I don’t have long but...’
Leigh nodded and sat, and the chair made an embarrassingly loud screeching noise as she pulled it back. ‘I don’t need much of your time,’ she said quickly, glancing over her shoulder in time to see Ryan glance over at her. He seemed to be mid-order and completely freaked out. He turned back to the cashier and slid a bill across the bench before glancing back over at Leigh and frowning.
‘Okay?’ he mouthed, and she nodded stiffly, turning back to Kathryn, who was staring at her expectantly and looked anything but settled in her chair.
She thinks I’m a nutcase and she’s
ready to bolt, and maybe she’s right!
‘I came to Ontario because of The Hardest Fall,’ Leigh said sniffing, grabbing another napkin and wiping beneath her eyes. ‘It’s my favorite book- ever, so before I say anything else… I just want to say thank you, okay?’
A pleased smile lifted the corner of Kathryn’s lips, making her prettier than she’d looked while perplexed. She was at that age where her looks were affected by her expression lines- frowning aged her, while smiling lightened her. In a few years, she’d be aged by every expression but for now, she was suspended in her youth by her moods, and Leigh thought she was beautiful even though most people would have labeled her as plain.
Leigh liked plain writers- it was reassuring to know that their beautiful heroines were figments of their creator’s imaginations, not projections of their egos. It made every character more believable for it. It was the same reason why Leigh loved Dean Koontz’s heroines- he seemed to pinpoint how women were, rather than how they were supposed to be, and no two were ever alike, reassuring Leigh that you didn’t have to be a Barbie, to be desirable. Sometimes, you could even be a bit wicked and imperfection was a necessity.
Leigh saw no hint of Kylie Lyle within Kathryn Praser’s face or build, and she sagged a little heavier in the chair, relieved that this probably wasn’t Ryan’s true love and therefore, Leigh wouldn’t have to resent her in addition to admiring her.
‘I’m pleased to hear that,’ Kathryn said softly. ‘When the book first came out, I got a lot of positive feedback. But after it caught on, well…’ she smiled sadly down at her threaded fingers. ‘Let’s just say that I’ve found that popularity is as much of a double-edged sword in the publishing world as it was in high school.’
Leigh nodded eagerly. ‘I read it only a few weeks after it came out, and I loved watching people react like me.’ She paused, annoyance settling over her as she remembered what had transpired after. ‘And then the masses got a hold of it and…’ she cringed. ‘I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that backlash.’
‘No writer does,’ Kathryn said quickly, and took a sip from a tall coffee mug, smiling at Leigh over the rim. ‘It’s nice to hear it from a reader though. Sometimes I just feel…’ she frowned down at her laptop. ‘Hopeless. I want to write something that pleases everyone, but I… I just don’t think I can write something as powerful as people claimed The Hardest Fall was, without that element of tragedy.’
‘Then don’t,’ Leigh said lightly. ‘Write the story in your heart just like you did the last. At least you’re renowned enough now to profit from the haters.’ She made a face. ‘And if you hold back in the name of pleasing everybody and lose the elements that I loved so much, I’ll probably end up being one of them.’
Kathryn chuckled. ‘Well said.’ She eyed Leigh again. ‘So… you read it when it first came out? Can I ask how you found it? Back then I was counting every single sale and download and review so early birds like yourself were my lifeline.’
Leigh cringed. ‘Sorry but I wasn’t much of a lifeline. I um, downloaded it free during one of your Kindle sales.’
Kathryn laughed. ‘Hey, those count too.’
‘Good. Well yeah, I had it about six weeks after it came out. I have a book blog, so I’m always on the look out for that new story, and I loved your cover so I nabbed it and two days later, I was your biggest fan.’ She leaned forward and grinned. ‘And I’ve bought at least twenty-four paperback editions new or secondhand since the publishing house put you into print so don’t worry- that free download paid off with me.’
‘Twenty-four?!’ Kathryn almost spat out her coffee. ‘What on earth would you need with twenty-four copies?’
‘I give them away all the time,’ Leigh said, not even slightly embarrassed though she suspected that Kathryn now saw her as certifiable.
‘Huh…’ Kathryn grinned at Leigh. ‘So I’m not a success after all, I just have one well-to-do fan boosting my profit margin?’
‘By the look of Goodreads, you’ve gotten rid of a lot more than twenty-four copies and one free download,’ Leigh responded cheekily.
Kathryn winked. ‘One angry fan said I needed to jump off a bridge- so I’ve just booked myself a Christmas holiday in New Zealand- complete with bungee jumping in Christchurch... off a bridge.’ She wriggled her eyebrows. ‘And I’m telling myself that it’s on her dollar.’
Leigh giggled, not even slightly surprised to learn that Kathryn was as warm, witty and wicked in person as she came across on the page and didn’t seem even slightly pretentious, despite the fact that Leigh knew she was a millionaire. Leigh was so glad that she’d come to Canada in pursuit of this exact moment, because her watery, ear-to-ear grin felt too broad to ever be replicated again.
But her smile faded when she realised that she hadn’t come to Canada hoping to meet Kathryn- she’d come hoping to meet Ryan and he was the one who needed to be talking to the author- not her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him leaning against the counter and smiling a bemused smile at her, and Leigh’s heart tripped over a beat. She turned back to Kathryn and bit her lip.
‘Um… Miss Praser…?’
Kathryn had been doing something on her phone but she raised her eyebrows and said: ‘Hmm?’
‘Thank you, for taking the time to talk with me. It means… more to me than you’ll ever know. Before I go, I’d love it if I could have your autograph and hopefully… if it’s not too much trouble... a picture?’
Kathryn smiled warmly at Leigh. ‘Of course.’
Leigh sighed. ‘Great. But before that… I need you to meet someone.’
Kathryn put her phone down and frowned, picking up her coffee and cupping it with two hands. ‘You mean like… go visit a friend in the hospital or something?’ She hissed in a breath through her teeth and immediately looked uncomfortable. ‘Gee, I’m-’
But Leigh shook her head. ‘No…’ she glanced over her shoulder and waved Ryan over, and he straightened and paled. She turned back to Kathryn and said. ‘I’m not sure if introductions are in order but…’ she slid out of her chair and grasped Ryan’s arms as he bumbled over with long, wary features. To Leigh’s surprise, she felt him trembling like a leaf in rain. ‘This is Ryan.’ She squeezed Ryan’s arm reassuringly, and then pushed him in front of her. ‘Ryan Weaver.’
The coffee cup fell from Kathryn’s hands and shattered on the floor.
Ryan
The writer’s reaction to the introduction made Ryan want to bolt from the room like a scared bunny, but Leigh wrapped her other arm around his and squeezed harder, and he knew that he could get through anything with her at his side.
‘Kathryn!’ The blonde who had been in line ahead of him and on her blackberry since she’d ordered her cake, suddenly zipped into view with a fistful of napkins and bowed at the stunned woman’s feet, pressing the entire papery wad to the biggest part of the mess. ‘You didn’t burn yourself, did you?’
Wide brown eyes locked on Ryan’s. ‘Unbelievable…’ the writer stepped around the clean side of the table and approached Ryan slowly and carefully, her eyes boring into him. ‘Absolutely unbelievable.’
Ryan fell every cell inside him buzz painfully. This was the moment he’d been waiting for six months, and he could not believe it was at hand. When he’d first seen Leigh, and she’d reacted to him he way she had, Ryan had assumed that she’d recognised him, and that had shaken him pretty severely.
But Leigh hadn’t known him, only bits about him and this was the woman who had put all of those bits out there for the world to read; private things. Erotic things. Hurtful, embarrassing things, and now she was standing in front of him and he didn’t know what to do or say.
The writer turned to Leigh, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘Where did you find him?’
Ryan let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and on the floor, the blonde’s head snapped up to gape at the author, then glanced at him with swiftly bulging grey eyes.
‘Holy shit!’
&
nbsp; Whoa! Does she know me too?
‘At Niagara Falls- busking.’ Leigh swallowed. ‘Playing one of the songs from the books playlist.’ Her fingers fell away from Ryan’s hand, and she hugged herself. ‘So, you recognize him?’
‘Recognize him? I’d know that face anywhere!’ Kathryn swung back to Ryan and cupped his face with warm hands. ‘The resemblance is uncanny!’ And then, to Ryan’s horror- she smiled. ‘Okay I’m impressed. Ryan, is it?’ She winked and slapped his shoulder casually. ‘Give me your number and if they get around to making the movie, I’ll give you a strong recommendation, okay? Lord knows that haven’t even gotten CLOSE to finding my Ryan yet!’
WHAT?
‘Resemblance? Movie?’ Leigh slid between Ryan and Kathryn. ‘Wait- you don’t actually know this guy?’
The author’s face creased in consternation. ‘Why… no. Of course not.’ She looked back to Ryan, and her frown deepened. ‘She said you were busking by the falls… You haven’t taken this girl for a ride, have you young man?’ She crossed her arms. ‘What’s your real name?’
Ryan’s mouth popped open as the writer leapt to the same disgusting conclusion that Leigh initially had. How paranoid were women, anyway? Wasn’t he good-looking enough to pull chicks on his own merit? ‘Are you serious? You just said that you’d know me anywhere!’
‘Well yeah that face with those contacts-’
‘I do NOT wear contacts,’ Ryan snapped, and Kathryn Praser slanted her eyes at him.
‘Well, whether that’s the truth or not-’
‘It’s the truth.’ Ryan crossed his arms and glared daggers at her. ‘I’m just pretty, got it?’
Kathryn’s eyes flared, but in amusement, and the blonde snorted.
‘I can’t believe this!’ Leigh, who had seemed so nonchalant about Ryan’s possible links to Kathryn Praser until then, suddenly exploded, her hands, eyes and blonde plait flying about dangerously. ‘His name is Ryan! He has a ring to prove that!’ Leigh held up Ryan’s hand but he was so numb he barely felt that. ‘It’s inscribed in here: For Ryan.’ She dropped his hands. ‘He’s twenty-three years old and a musician with an Australian accent with a predilection for light bondage and-’
