Chapter 19

19

H olden felt Finley's lips brush against his brow. He reached out and cupped her nape, giving her a kiss as she bent over him while he lay in bed.

"Have a good day," he told her.

After she left for school, he decided to get up and go home. Although they weren't living together, they spent every night with one another, whether at his cottage or her house. It was impractical for them to move to either place. The cottage's rental agreement would end soon, and he would have to give it up. At her house, he had Emerson to consider, though she had assured Holden he was welcome at any point.

The house was cramped, however, with the third bedroom serving as an office to both women and their side businesses. Emerson had cookbooks and sketchbooks for cake ideas stacked everywhere, while Finley had photography equipment and various samples of her work stored. Though he didn't have much, no closet space was available. The house only had the one bathroom, and he didn't think it fair to move in, no matter what Emerson said.

Because of that, they were looking for a house they could move to, hopefully before the wedding. A local realtor, Cyndi Johnson, had shown them two houses so far. One had potential, but the other had far too many renovations to do to bring it up to being livable. They didn't have time to take on such a huge project.

Whatever they chose, it needed to be large enough so they both had a home office to work from and still have bedrooms for them and the family they wanted to raise. That had been one of the first things they had discussed after they became engaged. Coming from a loving family, Finley definitely wanted children. She told him she didn't want to assume he felt the same, though. Holden assured her that he did want kids. They had talked of having at least two, possibly more, and they would start trying after a year or so of marriage. They both agreed they needed time to grow as a couple before adding children to the mix.

Holden rose, dressing and driving to Java Junction. He grabbed a morning coffee and pastry before returning to The Inn on Lost Creek. Once at his cottage, he ate his breakfast while flipping through various news sites on his phone. He checked his email and then went for a long walk, thinking about the outline for his Mr. Hamilton story which he had sent to Evan McGill.

His agent had called it schmaltzy as hell, but he had loved it, all the same. Evan said it had the perfect mix of nostalgia and realism and was the kind of uplifting tale that would do well in the market. Evan had told Holden he thought it had book club potential written all over it. That was what an author hoped for, writing a book which not only would a lot of people buy and read, but that they would gather and discuss it.

He took a long, hot shower after he returned and readied himself for the day. He had a meeting with Wolf and Ana this afternoon at two. By now, he had completed his first pass on the script and used Wolf's notes to tinker with a second draft, deleting two scenes and adding three more, along with tweaking the dialogue throughout it. Wolf had passed the script along to Ana to read, and the three of them would talk today about what changes— if any —needed to be made before the script was considered complete.

His cell rang, and he answered.

"It's Cyndi, Holden. I know Finley is at school now, but I have a pocket listing that I want you to see ASAP."

He knew a pocket listing was a property which had not yet officially gone on the market and asked, "Will I be the first to see it?"

"You will. It's a little larger than what I think you're looking for, but it checks off pretty much every box the two of you gave me."

"Can I see it now?"

"I was hoping you'd say that," Cyndi said.

He asked for the address and told the agent he would meet her there.

When Holden pulled up to the house, he was pleased that it sat on a cul-de-sac, one of four houses. The house had terrific curb appeal, with a manicured lawn and flower beds in bloom. He could imagine their kids riding bikes in the circle and shooting baskets at a portable hoop.

He saw Cyndi's car turn onto the cul-de-sac and got out of his vehicle, greeting the realtor as she did the same.

"The bones are good," she told him. "Although it's almost forty years old, you couldn't tell by looking at the outside. New roof. New paint. New landscaping, with the yard resodded in the front and back. It recently was renovated inside, as well. The owner passed away, and the interior hadn't been touched since he moved in decades ago. His son inherited it, but he lives in Austin and doesn't want to uproot his family to come to live in Lost Creek, so he had the entire inside updated to get the best price possible. He wants it sold as quickly as possible. It's just over four thousand square feet."

As they moved up the sidewalk, Holden thought it might be too large and then decided it could be something they grew into, especially when kids came along. It would be easier to find and purchase one house now than having to buy something larger ten years down the road.

Cyndi let them in and said, "I'll let you wander about since that's what you like to do." She pulled out her phone and began tapping away. "I'm sending you and Finley some details about it now."

Holden moved throughout the house, excitement filling him. He liked what he saw and thought Finley would, too. The floor plan was fairly open, and he suspected a few walls had come down to make it so. The kitchen was the showplace of the house, with double ovens, six gas burners, and even a pot filler, something he'd known nothing about but which Finley raved about. Since she was such a great cook, he wanted her to have a dream kitchen.

He walked the entire ground floor, opening drawers and checking inside closets, and then ventured upstairs, returning to the kitchen when his tour was completed.

Cyndi put away her phone. "You can check your email about the particulars of the house. I haven't even had a photographer come in yet to take pictures, or I would've sent those, too. Besides what I mentioned previously, the house has a new HVAC system. The wood floors laid throughout are also new." The realtor paused. "What do you think of it?"

"What I think is why didn't we start with this to begin with. It's perfect, Cyndi."

"The owner just contacted me yesterday," she explained. "He drove down from Austin and handed over the keys and listing to me. I thought of you and Finley immediately."

"What's he asking for it?"

Cyndi told him, and Holden nodded. "I need Finley to see it, of course, but I'm going to ask that you not show it to anyone else, Cyndi."

She smiled brightly. "That's what I thought. Something like this rarely comes on the market in Lost Creek. I can easily sit on it for a few days. In fact, let me give you the key so you and Finley can see it today when she gets out of school."

"Thanks, Cyndi." He accepted the key. "I don't think we'll be needing to see any more houses."

He returned to his new SUV, having bought it a couple of weeks ago. While he'd liked driving Wolf's truck, he didn't think it was practical to buy one for himself since he had no need for such a large bed. An SUV was roomy and suited him.

Holden decided to text Finley.

Think I've found our house. Turnkey and large. On a cul-de-sac. Cyndi emailed you info, & I am inside it now. Hope we can look at it together today once you are out of school.

He drove back to the cottage and by the time he reached it, Finley had replied.

Have a faculty meeting. Will not be free until 4:30 or later. Can meet you then. Excited!

Holden replied, sending her the address and telling Finley he'd be waiting for her once her meeting let out. He was in limbo now, waiting to hear about his script and not wanting to start on the Mr. Hamilton story just yet. He decided it was time to pull out Inside Threat and begin his re-read of it. He could get through a couple of chapters, doing his usually fine tuning and hunting for any typos.

Going inside the cottage, he set an alarm on his phone, so he wouldn't get caught up in the story and forget his meeting with Wolf and Ana.

The alarm went off, startling him, pulling Holden from the world of Washington, D.C. He had researched the city and government in-depth while working on Capitol Crimes , and he'd been able to use some of that research which had been untouched for Inside Threat . Already, he liked what he read. The pacing was spot on. His protagonist was smart and likeable. Holden decided he would devote the next few days to polishing his manuscript before he sent it off to Evan. They had talked about it, deciding to give his current publishing house first dibs on reading it and making an offer.

His publisher had liked Capitol Crimes so much that they'd signed him to a two-book deal, which included Capitol Crimes and what had eventually become Hill Country Homicide . They had wanted to lock him up for a three-book deal, but Evan was cagey and had pushed for only two, wanting to give himself wiggle room down the line in future negotiations on Holden's behalf, seeing great potential in his new client. If his current house wasn't interested or his agent didn't think their offer up to snuff, Evan had said he would open up the bidding to other houses.

He drove to Meadow Creek Ranch, Ana greeting him with a hug.

"You know I'm a fan of your writing, Holden, but I had some doubts as to how you would tackle a script. Not only did you capture everything from your novel, you tightened it like a pro. I would've thought this was the tenth screenplay you'd authored and not your first."

Holden glowed at her compliment, knowing Ana did not shower praise lightly. "Thank you. The format is tricky, but I told Wolf I might like to try writing another screenplay again in the future."

As they moved to the den, Ana said, "Wolf has already tasked me to look at other books we could make into films, as well as read screenplays which are starting to come in. Do you think you'd be more comfortable working with your own source material, or do you believe you could take someone else's novel and turn it into a screenplay?"

"I have no idea," he said honestly. "Part of me thinks it would be simpler using my own work since I'm so familiar with it. Then again, it was difficult to take a hatchet to my book and chop out so much. I would be interested to see what I might do with a novel if I were given a fresh start with turning it into a screenplay."

"I know you already know your next project. As much as I've loved what you've written so far, I think your Mr. Hamilton story will become my favorite. But after that? You'll have to see where you wish to go in your career."

They went into the den, where Wolf was watching ESPN. He turned off the TV as Holden took a seat, setting his laptop on the coffee table in front of them. Wolf reached for a legal pad and consulted it.

"First, my friend, let me congratulate you on completing your first screenplay. I liked the additional scenes, especially two of them. It was a good move to cut a couple of others, but I put one deleted one back in. I think it flows better with it included."

The director told him which one and why he'd reinserted it, and Holden agreed it could stand as is.

Glancing at the legal pad, Wolf told Holden about two minor tweaks he wanted. Holden called up the first scene on his laptop and asked for a couple of minutes to revise. He knocked out what Wolf requested within ten minutes and then asked what the second revision was. The adjustment was so small, Holden completed it within two minutes.

He handed over his laptop and allowed Wolf to read what he'd done. Ana came to sit next to her husband so she could also read the changes at the same time.

While he waited for them to finish, Holden scrolled through his phone, seeing where the vote on upping minimum wage had finally passed and there was yet another new push to keep the country on Daylight Saving Time year-round. He had just opened the Publishers Weekly site to peruse when Wolf spoke up.

"This is fantastic, Holden," the director praised. "We have ourselves a finished script, and I know exactly who will be receiving it. First, though, we need to protect it before I send it out."

"Do I file for a copyright?" he asked. "Evan and my publisher usually handle that kind of paperwork for me, but I have no idea how things work with a screenplay."

"We could go the copyright route as backup, but it needs to be registered with the Writers Guild of America. A final script always should be registered with WGA. That'll provide a public record and will state your claim to authorship."

"Both our names should go on this," Holden insisted.

"No," his friend said flatly. "I may have passed along a few ideas to you, but you're the one who put the words on the page. If I would've written a scene and you'd written the next one, that would be different. Yes, I helped you polish it a bit, but it's all your work, Holden. You should receive sole credit."

He raked a hand through his hair. "Okay, how do go about it?"

"Remember how I had you join WGA when you agreed to write the screenplay?"

"Vaguely," he said, thinking how swiftly things had happened as he'd left Brooklyn for Texas.

"The Writers Guild of America has two offices. One on each coast. L.A. and New York. I had you join the California branch. Give me your laptop."

Wolf had called up the site and turned it so Holden could see.

"You can submit your script online, but I'm a little old-fashioned when it comes to things such as this. Ana can handle this for you. They state you should mail one unbound copy of the script with a title page and your name, plus a check. WEBA Productions will cover the cost, which is minimal."

"I'll print it out after I pick up the kids at school," Ana said. "I'll swing by the post office in Bandera tomorrow morning after I drop them off and send it off."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

The three of them talked over some of the actors Wolf wished to approach. Ana threw out an unusual choice for the murderer, but Holden saw just how good the actor might be in the role.

"Not being a large studio, we can't offer the flashy salaries a couple of these name actors are used to," Ana said. "Still, I think we should shoot for the sky and try for everyone we suggested, then go from there."

"I agree," her husband said. "I've already been dangling hints to Jack Calder. I knew not to go through his agent, who's a greedy little bastard and would never let him sign for what we can offer to pay him. We can always offer Jack points off the back end, just as we have with you, Holden, in case he does decide to do it."

"I want you to be able to make money off this movie, Wolf," he said. "If you give away too many points, where will the profit be?"

The director's eyes gleamed. "Oh, we are going to make money off this, my friend. I guarantee it."

They talked a while about some of the places Ana had scouted. A few of them he was familiar with because they were in or near Lost Creek.

"I do want you on the set as much as possible, Holden," Wolf urged. "Not every day, of course, and not all day. Just enough to get a feel for things throughout the shoot. I know you'll be juggling other projects by the time filming begins."

"Yes," he said. "I've started my read-through of Inside Threat , the novel I finished just before I came to Texas. It's fermented enough, and I want to spend the next few days cleaning it up before I send it off to Evan. Then I'll be starting the Mr. Hamilton story."

"If you don't mind, send it to me when you finish tweaking it," Ana suggested. "After all, WEBA Productions is always interested in anything Holden Scott writes."

He agreed to do so and glanced at his watch. "I need to get going. I think I've found the house for Finley and me."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Ana exclaimed. "Is it in Lost Creek?"

"It is. It's got plenty of space for both of us to work from home."

Since Finley had already turned in her resignation, they had shared with Wolf and Ana her plans to go into photography full-time. The couple had been delighted with the decision.

Holden drove directly to the house in Lost Creek and parked in the driveway. Satisfaction filled him as he studied it.

This would be their home.

Since Finley wouldn't be here for another five to ten minutes, he picked up his phone. It opened to the Publishers Weekly site, which he had forgotten to close. He tried to check it once a week, just to see what books had been sold and what they were about, trying to gauge the market.

His eyes fell on a familiar name. A wave of nausea washed over him.

Winston Press has acquired the rights to Assassination Games , the first novel from newcomer Madison Parmalee. Publication has not yet been set. The two-book deal was brokered by Amanda Sommers of SGR, who said the political thriller is ‘ a thrill ride and glimpse into the shadowy dealings of how Washington is run .'

Madison Parmalee is a graduate of the University of Iowa's famed Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is now working on a sequel to Assassination Games , which will also be published by Winston Press.

Holden had forgotten that he'd given Madison a copy of Inside Threat to read.

And she had hijacked his book.