by Amy Patrick
“Oh Janet.” I scooted forward in my chair to reach across her desktop for her hand. She took mine and squeezed it hard. “What did you want to ask me? I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Well, actually, I’d like to help you. Your contract is up in less than a month, and I’m not sure if you’ve been looking elsewhere, but obviously we’d like to keep you.” She paused. “I want you to take over anchoring the weeknights with Dan after I step down.”
“Oh. Wow.” Not what I’d been expecting.
“Small-town life isn’t for everyone, but you have local ties, you know the community, and the viewers love you on the weekends. The overnight ratings have been great for the past few months. If you would like to stay, weeknights would give you a much higher salary and some good security. I don’t know who Mr. Aubrey will hire to replace me as news director, but while I’m still here, I could draw up a guaranteed contract that would give you as long as five years before they could even think of replacing you. And I’m sure they wouldn’t want to after that. Chances are you could stay as long as you like—make a career out of it if you wanted to. As I said, I’ve anchored here for twenty-five years, and you know Terry at WTVA has been on for thirty-five years. This market likes familiar faces. It could be a very nice life for you, if you wanted it.”
“Wow,” I repeated. “This is kind of a shock—it’s so sudden. Thank you. Really, thank you so much. Can I… could I think about it and get back to you?”
“Sure. Of course. Give it some thought. And listen, I’m not telling anybody else yet about my diagnosis, so keep it close until I can make some sort of announcement, okay?”
“Of course. Thank you. Again. And… well, I’m so sorry about the cancer coming back. I know you’re gonna be fine.”
We hugged each other. “You’re right, I will.” Janet patted my back in a comforting way. “Okay, time to get yourself to Oxford. Go make some news.”
Aric was walking by as I left her office. “Hey—I’m putting the gear into the car. Want to meet me out there in five?” he asked.
“Sure.” I was still in a daze. “Be right there.”
Janet had certainly given me something to consider. Because of my insecure foot-dragging I had only three weeks left on my contract and no other job offers—well, maybe the WKRN thing would turn out to be something, wherever it was. The main anchor job here would certainly solve my financial issues. I could afford a place with more than two rooms, cover my own bills and car payment, and basically be a giant oarfish in a goldfish tank. There’s a country song that says “everyone dies famous in a small town.” A few years as main anchor around here, and I would be the most famous of the famous, like Dan-n-Janet.
But a five year contract? It seemed so long. It would be safe. I would be comfortable. I would be very close to my family. And to Hale.
And I’d get to watch Aric finish his contract here then take off for a new place, new people. A new girl.
I opened the station’s back door to see he’d pulled the car around and had it ready and waiting for me. I missed a step and nearly tumbled down the whole set of concrete stairs, barely grabbing onto the iron handrail in time. Man, I did not quite have all my Lego pieces together here—the news of Janet’s cancer returning had me shell-shocked. My emotions felt as fragile as a minute-old soap bubble. I managed to make it down the stairs in one piece and climbed into the car, thinking of Janet’s teenaged daughters, of poor Dan. Of how everyone would react when she announced it to the station staff.
“How was your morning?” Aric asked, blissfully unaware of the impending bombshell from our boss. He’d tuned the satellite radio to a techno station. The feathery female vocalist contrasted oddly with the song’s driving beat. Irritating.
“Good. Busy.” I pulled out my phone to do a search for WKRN, trying to distract myself from the raw emotions churning in my gut.
Aric put the car into drive. “Me, too. I’m so psyched we both have tonight off. We could stay up in Oxford after our live shots and go out to eat on the Square, maybe go to a club or something afterwards. Want to?”
“Sounds good,” I replied absentmindedly as my search yielded results. “Nashville. It’s in Nashville. You’re not gonna believe this.” I turned to Aric. “I had a message on my desk phone from the news director at WKRN in Nashville. I didn’t even send them my reel.”
He beamed at me, then checked traffic before pulling the car out onto the road from the station’s lot. “Awesome. I knew they’d love you. See? And you thought you weren’t ready,” he chided.
“What?” His meaning took a minute to register, then my confusion turned to disbelief. “You sent them my reel.”
He threw a guilty grin my way as he drove. “Well, you weren’t going to do it. And you’re running out of time to follow that big-market dream, Diane Sawyer.” He glanced at me again, and his smile dropped. “What’s the matter?”
It might have been the after-shock of Janet’s offer and the weight of her heavy secret, or maybe it was the fact that Aric had just unexpectedly stepped into the Dad/Hale role of deciding my future for me, but I was instantly furious.
“I can’t believe you did that. I told you I would contact them when and if I felt ready. He’s probably not even interested. He’s probably only calling as a favor to your friend… Han Solo, or whatever his name is.”
“Sky Walker. Are you mad?” He gave an incredulous laugh. “You got a call from a news director in a top-thirty market. Most people would kill for that. I’d kill for that.”
“Well then maybe you should go work there. I never said I wanted the job in the first place. I can’t believe you went behind my back and sent my reel. I never should have showed it to you.”
“I was trying to help you. We worked on our reels together for a reason, Heidi. Better jobs—that’s what we’ve been doing this whole time. What did you think was going to come of it?”
His bemused tone and casual dismissal of my feelings on the matter had set my temper on fire, and there wasn’t a ladder truck in sight. “What did I think? What I thought was we were building some kind of relationship here, some kind of trust. I can’t believe you would go and do something so… so huge without even telling me.”
“Because you would’ve said no.”
“You bet I would’ve said no. And you know what? I’m not even going to call that guy back. Maybe I will sign a new contract here.” I folded my arms across my chest and stared out the window. I needed to cool down. I’d reached the point where I’d started saying things I didn’t even mean.
Thank goodness someone chose that moment to call me. The phone was already in my hand, and hearing the ringtone, I looked down at the screen. It was Hale. That was odd. He never called me during work, but you can bet I was going to answer this call. Ha. Make Mr. Know-it-All Aric sweat it out a little.
I put an extra dose of enthusiasm into my voice as I hit the button to answer. “Hi. How are you, Hale?”
Aric tensed beside me as he continued to drive.
“Hey there.” Hale’s familiar voice was as comforting as my sheepskin-lined slippers. “Listen, I know it’s short notice, but I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner tonight? We didn’t really get to finish talking at your parents’ house, and that probably wasn’t the best place anyway to say everything that needs to be said.”
I darted a glance in Aric’s direction. “You’re right, and dinner tonight sounds lovely.”
Aric’s hands clenched the steering wheel in a most satisfying way, causing the muscles in his forearms to stand out in sharp relief. God, I loved those arms. Kind of made me regret I’d be spending tonight pissing him off instead of wrapped up in them. But I continued. He couldn’t tell me what to do with my life, or my dinner plans.
“Tell you what—I’m going to be in Oxford doing a story and live shot for the six, but I’ll be free right after the show. Want to drive up and meet me and we can just eat there? Maybe somewhere on the Square?”
&nbs
p; “Sounds great. I’ll call you when I get to town—should be around six-thirty, okay?” Hale said.
“Perfect. Looking forward to it.” I hit the end-call button and slipped the phone into my purse then sat looking straight ahead at the highway, legs crossed, hands primly clasped on my knee. In my peripheral vision Aric was staring at me. And staring. And—
“I’m having dinner with Hale tonight,” I finally blurted.
“I heard.” The words sounded like they’d been through a food processor.
I tried not to be defensive, keeping my tone matter-of-fact. “We have some things to discuss.”
A harsh exhale preceded Aric’s reply. “I thought you already discussed things. I thought he understood it was over.”
He was angry. Goody. So was I.
“Well, we were together for years, Aric. I think I owe it to him to let him say everything he wants to say, give him full closure.”
Under his breath he muttered, “That’d better be all you give him.”
“What?” I was absolutely floored to hear him sound so possessive, as if a few weeks’ worth of booty calls and one family dinner entitled him to decide the kind of interaction I could have with Hale or any other guy for that matter. It wasn’t like we were married or even engaged.
After a long, bruised silence Aric responded, “Okay. Fine. I’ll wait around in Oxford while you have your talk with Farmer Hale, and after he gets his closure, I’ll drive you home.”
This was becoming more ridiculous by the minute. Did I have some kind of latent fetish for controlling men like my father? The thought was no less than terrifying. “I had no idea you were such a control freak,” I said.
He shot a bitter look over at me. If he gripped the steering wheel any harder, the leather coating was going to start smoking, but his voice was calm and measured. “I’m not a control freak, Heidi. I’m just not thrilled about the idea of my girlfriend going out for a cozy dinner with her ex. Who’s still in love with her.”
“I seem to remember we discussed this and agreed we’re not calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. We’re just seeing where this goes.”
“As I recall, you handed that proclamation down from the mountain engraved on stone tablets, and I agreed because you left me no other choice.” He took a deep breath, started to speak and stopped, then started again. “And I believe that all changed the minute you told me you wanted to be with me and I made love to you. To make it clear, so there’s no miscommunication this time—I don’t want you to go out with him, and I really don’t want you riding home with him tonight.”
“Well.” I paused, debating over whether to laugh or slug him while he was driving. No. Physical abuse was never justified, even when the party in question was being completely unreasonable. “Thank you for so explicitly stating what you want.” I sounded like a fed-up teacher confronting the class clown. “But I’ve already told him ‘yes,’ and I’m going. Hale and I dated for four years. I think I can manage a meal in a public place and an hour-long drive together without jumping his bones. Not that you’d have any right to say anything if I did, since you’re so anxious to ship me off to Nashville.”
He didn’t answer, but kept driving and remained silent until we’d arrived in Oxford and he’d parked. Then he turned to me and stared.
Still defiant, I tried to hold his gaze, but the flash-broiling of my skin distracted me. The interior of the car seemed to heat up in seconds, as if we were sitting in a microwave, though the autumn day was cool.
When he finally spoke, Aric’s tone was dipped in molten steel. “Was it just sex for you, Heidi? If that’s all it was, then you’re absolutely right. We don’t owe each other anything.” Then he opened the door and got out of the car. I thought he was going to stalk away, but he leaned back into the doorway and pinned me with a hard look. “Have a nice dinner.” He said it in the same way you might tell someone to have a nice life.
And those were the last words we said to each other all day aside from technical directions during the story shoots and the live shot. Uncomfortable to say the least.
As the day went on and I cooled down, I reflected on our argument, cringing at parts of it. My parts, mostly. How bitchy I must have seemed. He had no idea about Janet’s illness, or the disconcerting offer she’d made me right before I’d gotten into the car with him. Not only must my responses have seemed overblown, but they were totally out of left field.
Ready to make up and move past it, I looked for opportunities to apologize and reconnect, but between our two stories, we were jamming all day long. And I’d never seen Aric so… unavailable.
At one point during a rare lull in the action, I’d actually started. “Listen, Aric, I—”
“Let’s just work, okay?” he’d said in a dull tone, not even looking at me.
And—like that—I was angry with him again. I mean, yes, we’d fought and yes, I’d been bitchy, but couples fought all the time. Why was he taking this so far? I certainly wasn’t going to find out as long as he was acting like a male deer locking horns with another buck.
Aric held onto the silent scowl all day and right through the newscast. When Hale came to pick me up afterward outside the basketball arena, his friendly face was a welcome break from Aric’s withering gaze.
He lowered his window as the car rolled to a stop. “Hey there, beautiful.”
“Hi.” I walked toward Hale’s car, but stopped. I looked back at the live truck. Aric was nowhere in sight, probably helping Tony break down the equipment. I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye to him. I held up a finger to Hale. “I’ll be right there.”
Aric couldn’t have already headed back to the news car, could he? He’d stay and help Tony. Unless he was desperate to get out of there. To get away from me. I walked back toward the truck, and as I rounded the corner someone grabbed my arm and crowded me up against the side of the tall vehicle—oh, it was Aric.
“I’m glad you came back. There’s something I want to say before you run off for a date with your ex.”
And then he was kissing me. Hard. Hot. Crushing in the best possible way. All the tension of the day’s angry impasse was expressed in the way I kissed him back, all the I’m sorry and I didn’t mean it and what was I so mad about again?
The taste of him, the feel of his arms around me, his body pressing against mine was unspeakably good after the horrific stress of this day. After the way I’d stupidly pushed him away. It was euphoric to be surrounded by him. His sweet, imploring kiss erased all my arguments, proved the absurdity of my self-deception. I was crazy for this guy. And I would definitely be crazy to walk away from him and get into Hale’s car after this.
Aric lifted his mouth, keeping his forehead pressed to mine, his strong body still pinning me against the side of the live truck. His breathing was heavy. He sounded like he was fighting for air when he spoke. “Whatever he says to you tonight—whatever it is he wants—remember… I want you more.”
I sucked in a breath, my heart slamming against my chest wall. Before I could respond, he kissed me again, a shorter more aggressive kiss that had me squirming to get closer to him.
When he pulled away, I tried to reassure him, tangling my fingers in his hair as we stared at each other, our faces only inches apart. “It’s okay. You have nothing to worry about. Hale just wants the chance to say a proper goodbye.”
“I don’t buy it,” Aric shook his head. “No guy in his right mind would let you go without a fight.”
“Aric… he already has let me go. I’ll call you later, okay? I won’t be late.” Why was I doing this again?
Aric stepped back and released me, rubbing his thumb along his bottom lip and looking at me with eyes that reminded me of some large, wounded animal. “Heidi… you’ve been so worried someone would break your heart again.” A long pause. “Did it ever occur to you I might be worried about the same thing? That you were going to break my heart?”
I stared at him, struck silent with shock. I slo
wly shook my head back and forth.
“Do you think I’m not scared, too? My father’s told me all my life that commitment leads to misery, but I’m willing to take a chance. With you. To believe in what I feel instead of what I’ve been told. I love you. I’m in love with you. And I was wrong to act the way I did today. I just want you so damn much. I want you to be mine. Mine.” Aric paused as if questioning his resolve. And then he looked me straight in the eye. “I will let you go if that’s what’s best for you, if being with him makes you happier than being with me. But I don’t think it will. I think we belong together.” He gave a quick shake of his head and let out a sharp breath as I stepped toward him. “You should go. He’s waiting.”
He turned and strode off in the direction of the news car.
Wow. My breath came out in a long whoosh. “Aric?” I called after him, but he kept his head down and didn’t stop.
I had all the inspiration I needed to make it an early night with Hale. Maybe he’d settle for fast-food drive-thru? How much did we really have left to talk about anyway?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Date with Disaster
Hale and I sat at a cozy table for two near the front windows of City Grocery, an upscale eatery on Oxford’s charming town square. A candle flickered on the linen-covered table between us, adding to the intimate atmosphere.
“I’m so glad you were able to see me tonight.” Hale cleared his throat and flicked his gaze from my face to my hands to the table and back to my eyes.
“Sure,” I said, studying his face. He wasn’t acting quite… normal. Well, I was a bit nervous, too. I’d never done the relationship post-mortem thing, having only one other relationship in the rear-view, and God knew there’d been no closure on that one. It was so much better to end things this way, civilly and sanely. “I’m glad you called. I think it’s a great idea for us to talk things over.”