Meant to Be (Sweetbriar Cove #1)(62)

Cooper paused. "I'll do my best," he said, and her heart sank a couple of inches. "We really are slammed," he added. "I've already got my crew working through the weekend, but I'll try to get away."

"OK," Poppy said quietly. She didn't even suggest she drop by after work; she already knew he'd have a reason not to. Unless he chose to talk to her about whatever was going on, there wasn't anything she could do.

Except write. And hope. And try to ignore the rejection weighing heavier in her chest with ever day Cooper breezed by with quick smile, or cut their night short after one drink at the pub to go catch up on his sleep.

How much sleep did one man need? Especially when there was a willing woman ready to bear the burden of insomnia right alongside him. And under him. All night long.

But Poppy didn't want to push. Cooper, as everyone had been telling her, was stubborn, and maybe he just needed some space to figure things out for himself. So, she bit her tongue, and accepted enough rain-checks to float a life raft, and before she knew it, it was the weekend, and she was just a few chapters away from finishing her novel. Her agent, Quinn, was overjoyed, and insisted on driving down from New York to accompany her for the day.

"Every bestseller needs her entourage," she'd declared, and Poppy was glad to take her up on her invitation.

"Look at this place!" Quinn announced as she stepped out of the car: sunglasses on, red lipstick, and a massive thermos in one hand that Poppy knew contained pure espresso. She looked around at June's cottage and the beach like an explorer surveying a foreign land. "I love it. So small-town, Hallmark movie . . . I just want to slap a 'now a major TV series' label on the cover and call it a bestseller." 

"It's good to see you too, Quinn." Poppy went to greet her, accepting Quinn's trademark air kisses on both cheeks.

"I mean it. I swear I've seen this place before. Are you sure they didn't shoot the last Nicholas Sparks movie here?" she asked, peering over the rim of her designer shades. "The one where someone dies in the end?"

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down." Poppy grinned and Quinn snorted with laughter.

"You should try that in your next book. People love a tragic ending, they weep bucketloads, then go tell all their friends."

"I prefer happily-ever-after, thanks all the same."

Quinn shrugged, unconcerned. She helped Poppy load her bag into the car, stuffed with bookmarks, postcards, and other fun freebies she always had shipped out to sign for her readers. They got in, and Quinn gave her a grin. "So, are you ready to rock this thing? I had your publisher send someone down to take care of us, full VIP treatment."

"I don't need that!" Poppy protested. "This is just a local thing."

"Are you kidding? You're a headline act, babe." Quinn started the engine. "And with your new contract negotiations coming up, I won't let them forget it."

Poppy sighed, but she couldn't deny she was glad to have Quinn fighting in her corner. The business side of her career had always made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She loved writing and would do it for free if she had no other choice, but love didn't pay the mortgage, or buy her the freedom to drop everything and come spend a month on Cape Cod when she needed, so she knew not to argue when her agent got dollar signs flashing in her laser-corrected eyes. As much as a shark Quinn was, she was Poppy's shark, and that was a blessing. At least, it was most of the time.

"Susie Atwood just left Atria." Quinn launched into her updates of all the big publishing and romance world gossip. "She got lured away when her editor switched houses. And sales on the new Kate Munroe book are terrible, it sank like a stone."

"Poor Kate!" Poppy shuddered. It was every author's nightmare to have readers suddenly stop showing up.

"Oh, she's fine." Quinn waved away Poppy's concern. "She already banked her advance check. No, it's a great opportunity. I hear her editor is looking for a new big release for 2020, something with series potential. Have you given any more through to your next book?" she seamlessly asked. "I wouldn't need a full manuscript, just a few chapters and an outline will do."

"I told you, I'm not thinking about it until I'm finished writing this one." Poppy said firmly. "Who knows, maybe I'll take some time off after, wait a while before signing something new." She'd been through the emotional wringer these past few months, and as much as a month in Sweetbriar Cove had restored her, she knew she'd need a real vacation after this book was done.

Especially if she was going to be nursing a broken heart.

But for Quinn's ear-splitting screech of a reply, you'd think Poppy had suggested throwing in the towel and never writing again.