The kernel of an idea began taking shape. There was still a way to ease the turmoil the sale of the paper might cause. Leigh pulled out Star Media’s proposal from her purse. “How are you with numbers?”
She grinned. “Best waitress this side of Boston. And I never used a calculator.”
• • •
Leigh and Andrea studied the media conglomerate’s proposal line by line, and before long, darkness set over Oak Hill. Leigh smothered a yawn and pushed herself to a standing position. “I really should get going. I’m beat.”
Andrea got up and started clearing the remnants of the apple pie “Why don’t you spend the night?”
“I don’t know, I — ”
“You can stay in your old room. The bed is all ready for you.”
So that’s what she’d been up to all that time she was supposed to have been in the bathroom. “What about Zeus?”
At the sound of his name, the German shepherd got up from his resting place under the coffee table, almost knocking over a nearby lamp.
Andrea glanced in Zeus’s direction and took a deep breath. “The dog can stay, too.” Zeus wagged his tail, as though he’d understood the entire exchange, and curled up at her feet.
In a few swift moves Andrea made the plates, teacups, and paperwork disappear from the coffee table all the while sidestepping her furry houseguest. In less time than it took Leigh to offer to help, the room looked as though it had never been disturbed.
“There are clean towels, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion for you in the guest bathroom if you — ”
“Drea?”
Andrea looked up and smiled. “Yeah, honey?”
Leigh’s face burned up and her eyes filled with tears of joy. “Thank you.”
• • •
David woke covered in a fine sheen of cold sweat. In the dream he’d been laughing and cuddling with Leigh. Gazing into his eyes, she’d whispered, “I love you, David” and then had morphed into a white wolf. Intrigued, he’d reached out to the mystical animal, only to have it disappear. He’d run after the phantom wolf through the woods until he’d collapsed, exhausted.
He got up and padded out to the living room. He’d decided to stay in his apartment, reasoning it’d be more comfortable than his sloop after the day he’d had. Truth be told, he didn’t think he could handle sleeping in Serendipity’s sex-rumpled sheets.
His father had believed in the power of dreams. He had considered wolves to be the highest animal in the spiritual plane and believed them to be spiritual messengers in animal form, between the Divine and human beings.
He looked out at the burg’s pretty downtown. The bright moon peaked out from between ominous clouds highlighting college students and revelers walking the streets of Old Watford. He envied their insouciance. He’d give anything to go back to a time when he’d been as happy-go-lucky. To a time when Ben was still alive, and ‘Leigh’ was just the name of some rich kid he’d probably never see again.
How could she have betrayed him like that? He was Watford’s most eligible bachelor, for heaven’s sake. The thought pulled the corners of his mouth into a sardonic smile. No. He was Watford’s biggest idiot. He still couldn’t believe he’d let her into his heart, only to have her walk all over it. He’d known from the start, she’d be nothing trouble. Still, messing with his feelings was reprehensible enough, but interfering with his livelihood? Completely unacceptable.
He glanced at the time. Midnight. Soon she’d be back in New York, attending a bunch of fancy events and hanging out with that hoity-toity artsy crowd of hers. The thought made his skin crawl. He abhorred those pretentious urban snobs. Most of them had never been outside of the Big Apple, and yet they acted as though it were the center of the universe. How could they possibly know what the rest of the world was made of? They all wore black, went to the same clubs and — Enough. He’d already spent too much time thinking about them. Ben always said, “A tiger can’t change its stripes.” Leigh sure had shown him her stripes. Still, better now while there might still be time to undo some of the damage she’d caused.
Finally, after a good hour trying to figure out how to stop her from selling The Sun, David went back to his room and surrendered to a night of fitful sleep.
• • •
Leigh took a deep breath and tossed her hair back. Walking out on David the day before without breaking into tears had been hard enough. Facing him again today would be even worse. But Andrea was right. She’d worked too hard to make the paper a success to leave now. She swallowed her pride and walked through The Sun’s big elegant doors.
Everything, including the recycled air, seemed to come to an abrupt halt when she stepped into the Bull Pen. Undaunted, she crossed the paper’s nerve center, offering smiles and nods to everyone she encountered. Incredulous looks met her actions. She gathered her mail, pulled a few stories from the news wire, and wandered toward her office. Then, after making a good show of not being affected by the previous day’s events, she stepped into her office and closed the door. She heaved a sigh of relief. All things considered, it hadn’t been that bad.
She jumped, the ring of her cell phone startling her. All right, so she wasn’t entirely calm.
“Leigh Cameron speaking.”
“Hi, it’s me.”
Leigh smiled, recognizing her new partner-in-crime’s towney accent. “Hi, Drea.”
“Have you seen him yet?” she asked, her voice barely containing her excitement.
Leigh glanced up through the glass partition and scanned the room for David. There. Next to the copy desk. Broad shoulders, imposing gait. He had his back to her but she’d recognize that backside anywhere. Her heart sank, and the bitter taste of sorrow filled her mouth. Seeing him hurt even more than she though it would. She angled herself so her computer would obstruct her view of the newsroom. “Let’s just say, we haven’t officially crossed paths yet.”
“You avoiding him?”
Leigh looked around wishing she had a cup of coffee. “Like the plague.”
Andrea’s trademark cackle boomed from the receiver. “Don’t let him intimidate you, honey.”
“All right. I won’t. I’ve got to go now. Bye — ”
“Coming home for dinner?”
Leigh looked at her watch. Quarter after nine. She repressed the urge to groan, then smiled. No one had mothered her like this since, well, since her mother had passed away. It actually felt rather — nice. “I don’t know. Probably. I’ll call you when I have a better idea of when I’ll be able to leave, okay?”
David turned around and made eye contact. Leigh’s stomach iced over and her heart ached with misery. Then he looked away, seemingly unaffected by her presence. She vaguely heard Andrea’s voice saying something about roast beef at the other end of the receiver.
“What? I huh … Sure. Whatever you like. I’ve got to go. I call you later.” Leigh pressed end and bit her lip to stop it from shaking. Great. She’d been back a whole five minutes, and she already felt like running away.
After a few more minutes of mind-numbing distress, her pride took over, and she started working on another one of her prison series articles. She’d completed her research and organized the layout of the series, now all she had left to do was write the final few articles and a summary. She found some consolation in knowing she’d be able to leave The Sun in all good conscience knowing her readers would get the conclusion of the story they’d come to expect.
She’d always been able to find solace in her work. When her mother died and her father remarried her studies had filled the void, and once she graduated, work became her only refuge. The act of writing took the edge off her misery during the day and gave her a sense of purpose. But once the sun went down and she found herself alone, her soul bled.
The minutes and hours crawled by and by the end of the a
fternoon, Leigh only felt mildly noxious when she and David crossed paths. The few times it happened, he looked right through her, like he would a complete stranger. His face was a mask of composure and other than the hint of surprise she’d glimpsed when he’d first noticed her presence, she saw nothing. His indifference hurt more than his wrath.
She’d kept her sorrow under wraps. It was something she’d always been good at, having had years of practice after her mother’s death. In the end though, she couldn’t help keeping tabs on which part of the newsroom he found himself in, every minute of the day. In between bouts of inspiration, she observed his behavior from behind her computer monitor. Not only did he act as though she were invisible, he seemed indifferent to everyone else as well. All the staffers saw was a bitter, angry man, and they blamed her for it.
By six P.M. she’d had enough of the team’s silent treatment and awkward stares. She crossed the Bull Pen and barged into David’s office. “Damn you. Look at what you’re doing to them.”
“What I’m doing? What the hell are you doing here? I seem to remember you making a very big scene of walking out of here yesterday.”
She felt herself flush. Andrea’s words came back to her. Don’t let him intimidate you. Leigh took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “I walked out on you, not on them or on my responsibilities. These people look to you for leadership. And if you took as little as five minutes of your time to hear me out, you’d see I’m not trying to offload this paper on someone else. But you’re too pig-headed to listen to anything but to your own stupid pride.”
David crossed his arms and leaned back, an insolent smirk pulling at the corners of his lip. A pulsing muscle in his jaw betrayed his nonchalance. “If this is an apology, you’re failing miserably.”
Her tone hardened. “It’s not an apology. You’re angry with me right now and that’s fine. But this is not about you and me. It’s about the paper and our staff. So do yourself a favor. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start worrying about these people. They need you to tell them everything’s going to be all right. They need you to keep leading them.” She stood her ground, her heart beating in her throat.
“You’re forgetting something. If you sell out, I’ll lose my job, and I won’t be around to help anyone.” He smirked at her, insolence highlighting every one of his features, then turned his attention back to his computer monitor.
She shrugged in resignation and slogged back to her office. The sound of a solitary clap, followed by a few others followed behind her. Leigh turned to find Geoff grinning at her. “Well said.”
“Doesn’t anyone mind their own business around here?”
“But your life is so much more exciting than mine.”
“What could you possibly know about my life? Last I heard we’re not speaking.” She felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Leigh, wait.” He shook his head with regret. “I’m sorry.”
She looked at him, willing herself to stay angry a while longer. “I’ll think about it.”
“While you’re thinking about it, can I buy you dinner tonight so I can grovel properly?”
She cracked a thin smile. “Thank you, but I’m having dinner with Andrea.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re brushing me off to have dinner with your step-monster?”
“Stepmother. And yes, I am brushing you off.” She withdrew from his grasp and set off toward her workspace.
He walked forward, stopping in front of her. “Leigh? Are we okay?”
“Keep groveling for a few more days and I’ll think about it.” She offered him a forgiving smile and winked. “Now, get back to work.”
“Yes, Miss Cameron.” He grinned and with a springy bounce, he was gone.
Men. Even the gay ones were a pain in the neck.
Chapter Ten
Leigh took a right turn into the long driveway leading up to Oak Hill. The trees swayed in the wind, their branches and leaves waving at her as though Mother Nature herself were acknowledging her return.
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool evening air. The wind swished through the trees, rustling leaves and exciting a raucous flock of finches. Another storm brewed, and the shrill calls of a pair of mourning doves echoed through the trees. She walked through the gardens, listening to their call.
In less than a week, she’d be back in New York falling asleep to the shrill calls of ambulance and squad car sirens. In a strange way, she’d always found the sound of emergency vehicles calming. It reassured her to know that New York’s finest were out fighting crime and protecting citizens. All they ever heard in Watford were foghorns and warning bells when an inmate escaped. As a child, she’d been terrified of that sound. On the rare occasions a prisoner got away, her parents would take her into their bed and let her sleep between them. Those had been such wonderful times. She doubted she would ever know the joy of sharing a bed with the man she loved and the fruit of their union. David hadn’t even wanted to talk about upcoming weekends, and making plans for the future certainly wasn’t an option anymore.
Her stomach grumbled, and she abandoned her musings to go inside and see what Andrea had brewing in the kitchen. There was no point in thinking about David. They’d blown whatever chance they might have had together. And since her meeting with the Star Media rep, he seemed convinced she was the devil incarnate. Besides, it didn’t matter anymore. He’d never returned any of her feelings anyway.
She foraged through her purse for her house keys. Drats. They were nowhere in sight. She tried the door, and it opened with a soft click. Andrea’s voice resonated from the kitchen. She spoke in a soft childlike manner. It was the kind of appeasing tone a woman uses to ask for forgiveness. Who on earth would she be talking to that way? Unless the poor dear had finally let grief get the better of her, and she was talking to her deceased husband. Leigh shuddered.
She walked down the hallway, the sweet aromas of roasted garlic, onions, and nutmeg drawing her closer. “Helloooo?” she sang out loud and clear; concerned she might be interrupting something. No answer. She poked her head around the corner and peeked into the large kitchen. Zeus, no doubt having heard her creep up, wagged his tail, got up, and shook his head from side to side, rattling the tags on his collar.
“You promised you would sit still until Leigh gets home,” Andrea said to the dog, waving her index finger at him. “Sit!” The dog obeyed and seemed to smile at Leigh. Andrea gave him a tentative pat on the head. The look on her face was a mixture of fear and delight. “Good boy.”
“Well, looks like you’ve made yourself a new friend.” The dog’s happy tail swept the floor behind him.
Startled, Andrea dropped the spoon she’d been holding. Zeus, pounced on it and barked, seemingly thrilled with the turn of events. “Oh no you don’t. Put that down.” She turned. “Hi, sweetheart.” She smiled in the German shepherd’s direction. “Zeus and I have been getting acquainted. I got the recipe for his favorite snack from Mrs. Deery, and he’s been keeping me company while I make it.”
“You’re cooking for the dog?” Leigh’s laughter bubbled to the surface. “I think I need to take lessons from you, my furry friend.” Zeus licked the spoon clean and dropped it at her feet.
She rubbed his head and scratched him behind the ears. He groaned and submitted to her ministrations, lying on the floor and showing her his belly. “Some big nasty guard dog, you are.”
Andrea giggled, and Leigh’s heart filled with warmth. To think she could have had an ally in her stepmother all those years. Instead she’d shut her out and walled herself in her solitude.
Andrea scooped some of the doggy slop into a bowl and put it down by the back door. “Ready for tomorrow?” she asked, pulling out their dinner plates.
Leigh’s heart sank as she thought of the road that lay ahead. “I still have to run a few figures tonight
to make sure it will work. Then I’ll be ready.”
• • •
Leigh walked through the newspaper’s front doors and waved her building pass at George, the night security guard. The old man barely looked up from the bluish glow of the All In The Family rerun he watched on a small black-and-white monitor. Some security system.
The stale atmosphere of the building caught in her throat, drying it out almost immediately. The air conditioning was off — no doubt, another one of David’s cost-saving measures.
She’d been pacing for a good hour when she’d finally decided to head back to the office. She needed to check some employee anniversary dates and to go over the numbers one more time before the morning meeting.
Except for a few desk lamps casting a yellowish glow, the Bull Pen was dark. She walked to her office, respectful of the silence. She liked being at the paper after hours. It was a different place. The tungsten light of the old-fashioned street lamps seeped in through the front windows, their warm glow altered by the occasional passing car’s headlights. And, other than the rare phone call, automatically channeled to the answering service after four rings, the place was completely silent. She scanned the room, double-checking the corner office at the far right of the space. No sign of David. Or of anyone else, for that matter. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Only a few more days, and she’d be able to go back to Manhattan in all good conscience. Grief and defeat tore at her heart. After everything she’d been through, the thought of going back to her old Arts and Entertainment beat didn’t stir anything but feelings of disappointment. She turned her computer on and lit the small lamp next to it. Leaning back into her chair, she kicked off her shoes and picked up a stack of reports in a dark blue folder. At least she’d go back knowing she’d done everything she could for The Sun’s employees.
Motion at the other end of the Bull Pen caught her attention.
She could have sworn she saw a dark silhouette steal by one of the windows. Only a few people had after hours access to the newsroom, and David was one of them. “David? Is that you?” She stopped writing and listened to the newsroom’s nocturnal sounds. Her computer’s cooling fan whirred steadily in tandem with the distant grumbling of the printing press in the basement. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. She stood up, stretched and looked out the door.
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