The Scarecrow

Chapter 44

It had been a few weeks since Rory's book had been officially published and shipped to the stores.  The preliminary reviews had been positive, but not as plentiful as she'd hoped.  Her editor was also surprised by the slow beginnings, and the publishing house had done the usual promo events.  In fact, they'd actually a few more to no avail.

About a week after Rory's meeting with Logan to finalize the local press tour, sales began to skyrocket.  It was puzzling until they discovered the culprit.  One of the stars of Parenthood had read her book and gave it a glowing review.  She had posted about it on several social media platforms, which had caused the sales growth, and the publishers immediately jumped on the opportunity.

Just before she was about to embark, they reevaluated the length and locations for the circuit.  The thought of a coast-to-coast press tour overwhelmed her because she had no idea how she was going to do this with a baby who was less than two months old.  The East coast tour was only slated for a week, and Logan was going to escort her, but now, there were two more weeks tacked on.

"Finn, what am I going to do?  I can't do press engagements and take care of Tori all by myself the last two weeks!" Rory said sounding distraught about her predicament.  She didn't want to ask Logan to extend his stay with her because she knew he'd pulled a lot of strings to go with the first week.

"Love, relax!  You've got Logan the first week, and I'd be happy to offer my services," he replied with a smile.  "I also know a certain grandma who would jump at the chance!"

"Your mom would fly in from Australia for me?" she asked sounding shocked that Adelaide would even consider such a thing when they hardly knew each other.

"Of course she would, but that's not who I'm talking about," he said.

"I'm not understanding.  I'm not so sure my grandma would be a practical choice."

"You are forgetting about the obvious choice," he stated and paused.  He looked at her, but she only returned a confused, blank stare.  It was clear that her distress had impaired her logical thinking.  "Your mum!"

"Wow, how did I forget about her?!  Don't tell her about this," she begged.

"I swear I won't!" he promised.  "She can pick her week and I'll take the other.  I can work from just about anywhere."

Rory started to look even more frantic than before as she began to think about all of the things she needed to do before embarking on her trip.

"Oh, my god!  I still need to do more laundry and pack!  I can't possibly leave Monday," she lamented.

"Love, just relax.  I'm calling the maid service to help out, and after that, I'm sending you out for some pampering," Finn said with a comforting smile.

"I appreciate that, but I don't feel like being shoved off onto a lonely island," Rory said sounding defeated.

"I'm not sure I understand what that means," he replied.

"I don't mind some pampering, but I'm just not up for being alone, especially when I'm going to be gone for three weeks."

"How about you invite your mom?"

"What will you do and who's going to watch Tori?" she asked.

"Tell her to bring Luke and we can hang out with Tori," he suggested.

"You're good, Finn!  You're damn good!"

"Hope I'll be hearing that later, too," he said with a wink.

"Keep it up, and you just might," she replied coyly.

"Now, you call your mom and I'll call the spa," he advised.