Through the Shadows Read Online Free Page A

and how much it had been Lydia’s voluptuous figure. Either way, she had a tentative publishing contract with one of the largest houses in the business!
    On the highway leading back to her house, Tori turned to the agent with a mischievous smile playing around the corners of her lips.
    “Lydia! You sneaky little devil, you! How long has this been going on?”
    Lydia glanced over with rounded eyes, an expression of assumed innocence at the implied charge of consorting with the enemy.
    “Why, Victoria! Whatever do you mean? There’s nothing ‘going on,’ as you so rudely put it! Ted Woodward and I have only known each other for a few days. I contacted him by phone to discuss your book. In the course of the conversation, he just happened to say he thought I had a sexy voice and that he just simply loves the English accent. So I casually mentioned that, perhaps, we should meet in person to discuss my young lady’s work. We’ve had dinner a couple of times, during which I persuaded him to meet with you.”
    “Lydia, you are one, sly fox!”
    Tori’s loving smirk did not escape Lydia’s notice.
    “Now you just mind your manners, Missy! What do you say to going by to see your mother? It’s been a few days since we’ve talked and I miss her. Besides, we simply must tell her the news in person!”
    Without waiting for a reply from Tori, Lydia pressed the accelerator a bit harder, seeming to be in a hurry to reach Sharon’s house. But then, Lydia was always in a hurry.
    Tori smiled, thinking how truly lucky she was. Not only did she get a top-notch agent who had become a loyal friend, but her mother gained a soul mate. The friendship between her mother and her agent always made Tori feel warm inside. It was nice to know that her two staunchest defenders were the best of friends.
    In fact, Sharon Canon saw more of her agent than Tori did. They had dinner together and went on long, exhausting shopping excursions for hours on end. The two women often stopped by Tori’s after a day spent together, just to show her things they had purchased on their recent mall safari. They would joke and giggle like schoolgirls when they were together. They would unabashedly discuss the men they dated, causing Tori to blush furiously and beg them to stop. Sharon and Lydia would both laugh and only make her blush more.
    Lydia pulled the car to the curb and Sharon was standing on the front steps to welcome them before they even got out of the car. She kissed her daughter’s cheek and hugged her best friend before escorting them into the house. Immediately, the two older women began their companionable chattering, being so in synch with one another that they would often finish the other’s sentence.
    “Well, Lydia, what have you and my baby…”
    “…been up to? Oh, nothing important. Only meeting with the acquisition editor of a well-known, verrrry prestigious, publishing house. His name’s Ted Woodward and he’s…”
    “…from New York! What did he say? Is he interested in Tori’s next book? Oh, how silly! Of course…”
    “…he’s interested! He’s read the synopsis and the first three chapters. He told us he wants to see the rest of the manuscript, right away! Isn’t that…”
    “…wonderful! Oh baby, I’m so proud of you! Not surprised, though! We know you’re a good writer and we were just waiting for someone else to know it, too. Right, Lydia?”
    “Absolutely! Let’s have a drink to celebrate!”
    As Sharon fixed them a martini, she turned to her friend with a sly smile.
    “Okay, Lydia, confess! Just what did you do, or promise to do, to get Mr. Big Shot Editor to come here?”
    The pretended look of innocence was less convincing than before.
    “What is it with you people? Tori asked me the same bloody question!”
    Sharon chuckled, then draped an arm around Lydia’s shoulders.
    “Could it be, just maybe, that Tori and I know you pretty well?”
    Adopting a fairly good Southern drawl, Lydia shook her head at