That Weekend...

by Jennifer Mckenzie

  Jake exhaled and he was suddenly glad he’d had the walk home to clear his head. He was going to need all his wits about him for this conversation. “What’s going on, Dad?”

  “I heard about the show. You okay?”

  Jake’s hope that he could have one night to grieve, to figure out his next step before admitting to his failure, died a hurried death. He was going to kill Rachel. She knew how he felt about this and she’d gone and tattled to Dad anyway. “Fine. You?”

  Jake couldn’t imagine being any less fine, but he wasn’t about to show his dad that weakness.

  There was a pause while his dad cleared his throat. Jake could picture him tugging the silver hair at his temples. “I thought we could talk. I could help.”

  “I’ve got it handled.” His dad was so quick to jump to the rescue, so sure that Jake was incapable of rescuing himself. “Don’t worry. I won’t be leaning on you for anything.”

  His father didn’t respond, just exhaled softly and said, “Your mother misses you, you know.”

  “So she tells me.” Jake drummed his fingers on his knee and wished he hadn’t answered the phone after all. Dealing with the tag-team worry twins would have been better than this. “Did she put you up to this?”

  “Oh. Well.” There was a bit of blustering on the other end of the phone. “Yes, she did.”

  “Tell her I’m fine. There’s nothing to be concerned about.” If he didn’t count the small fact that his travel-show dream was over and he’d been fooled by someone he’d started to fall for. “I should go, Dad.”

  “You know I’m here if you need advice or help.”

  “Mom put you up to saying that, too?”

  “No, but she would have if she’d thought of it.” Chuck laughed. “But I’d like to help, if you’ll let me.”

  “I’m good, Dad.” Because he sure as hell didn’t need advice from his father. “It’s been a long day. I should go.”

  “Why won’t you talk to me?”

  Jake didn’t want to get into this now. Maybe not ever. Couldn’t they just go on living with this uncomfortable distance between them? “Nothing. I told you. I’m just tired.”

  “It’s not nothing. I’m not stupid, Jake.” He exhaled loudly. “What happened? I know we haven’t been close, but what did I do to turn you away from me? From us? You moved halfway across the country.”

  “I needed a change.”

  “It was more than that. You were barely speaking to me before you left.”

  That was true. Jake hadn’t been able to. Every time he’d looked at his father, his throat had clogged up, filled with those old fears that waited until he was at his most vulnerable to get him.

  It might have been different if they’d been close. But they weren’t. They hadn’t been since Jake was a teenager and had completed his first and only internship at his dad’s production company. That Jake had been a sixteen-year-old more interested in convincing his father to hold a staff summer barbecue bash and hitting on the other interns had been a grave disappointment to his father. Jake had continued the trend ever since.

  “I was busy packing,” he lied.

  “You had time for your mother and your sister.”

  “They supported my move,” Jake pointed out.

  “Just because I mentioned that you could have started up your travel show more easily from Toronto doesn’t mean I didn’t support you.”

  If it had only been that. But it wasn’t. It never was. And Jake was tired of it. He didn’t want to dance around the truth anymore. “It wasn’t just that, Dad. You’ve never supported me. You told me to study engineering. You didn’t hire me for your company. And you acted like my life blowing up in Toronto was expected.”

  “Nothing in Toronto blew up. You had a relationship that didn’t work out and you decided you needed to throw away everything you had.”

  Jake couldn’t believe his dad was ignoring the crux of the matter. “You didn’t want me to join the industry.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You didn’t have to.” It had been clear in every action. Jake stood and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He twisted off the cap and took a long chug, but the burning feeling in his stomach remained. “But don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.” Eventually.

  “You think I don’t support you?”

  Hadn’t he just said that? He tipped the water into his mouth again, draining half the bottle.

  “Of course I support you. I wanted you to go into engineering because I thought you’d like it. You certainly showed no interest in working at my company after that internship. Your mother made me promise I wouldn’t try to force you into it, so I didn’t.”

  “What about after I got my degree? You didn’t even hint that there would be a position available at your company.”

  “I didn’t think you wanted it. You’d been pretty clear that you were looking to make your own way.”

  “I thought that’s what you wanted me to do.” There was no way this animosity was just some miscommunication. “You always talked about making it on your own. Not having anyone’s help. What was I supposed to think?”

  “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

  “Well, now you do.” Not that it mattered. Jake had tried to keep his career separate from his father’s to prove to everyone that he was capable regardless of his surname. In the end, all his hard work hadn’t mattered. “As it turns out, you were right to keep me away from your precious company. I would have just messed it up.”

  “You wouldn’t have messed it up.” Silence and probably some hair pulling. Finally, “Is it so bad to be my son?”

  “No, Dad, it’s not. That’s not it. I needed to prove that I could do it on my own.”

  “You didn’t need to move to Vancouver to do that.”

  “Actually, I did. You’re a well-known guy in Toronto, Dad. There were a lot of people who felt that I got where I was because of your name.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I never asked anyone to do you or me any favors. Everything you had here, you earned.”

  “Did I?” He’d always been so careful to keep his distance, not to use those connections, but he’d still heard the whispers. There was no way to prove it to himself if he stayed in Toronto in the industry where his father was a giant. At least in Vancouver, when people heard his name, they didn’t immediately follow up with, “Any relation to Chuck?”

  “Absolutely. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.”

  Jake shrugged. It didn’t really matter any longer.

  All he’d wanted was to carve out a little bit of success. It didn’t have to be as grandiose as his father’s or even Harvey’s, but it would be something that was his, that no one could say he’d been handed because he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. “What about the cushy job you set up for me with your old buddy Frank Forgione.” Jake paused. “And don’t tell me you didn’t. I know you asked him to hire me as a favor.”

  “Sure I did. You graduated top of your class. You think I asked him as a favor to me? No, I told him as a favor to him. He was lucky to get you.”

  The words eased some of Jake’s hurt. Chuck Durham didn’t do flattery or any of that faux charm that permeated the industry. If he said something, he meant it.

  “I know this probably isn’t the right time, but you’ve got me fired up here. I’m sorry for the way things have worked out, but I’m glad, too.”

  Jake laughed quietly. “Gee, tha
nks, Dad.” Trust his father to finally be on his side and to insult him while getting there.

  “Hear me out. I hadn’t dared to think about this before, but now I am. What would you think about coming to work for me?”

  A pity job? Jake would rather starve. But he didn’t get the chance to tell his father that. The old man was already talking again.

  “I don’t want you to answer right now. I know there are some things going on over there besides the travel show. You’ve got to finish your contract with Harvey, and Rachel thinks you’ve got a girlfriend. I should warn you, your mother is going to want to know all about that.”

  Jake had skipped the whole Ava portion of the evening in his account to his father. It was bad enough that they’d all seen the Claudia debacle play out. He didn’t know if he could tell them that it had happened again. “There’s no one,” he said. Because as of an hour ago, it was true.

  “No matter. It’s still a big decision to move back.” A small pause. “I didn’t say much when you told us you were moving out there because I wouldn’t have liked my old man getting his nose in my business, and I hope you appreciate that I tried not to do that to you. But I’m doing it now. Come back home.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  AVA COULDN’T BELIEVE Jake had left town without saying anything to her. And this wasn’t just a short jaunt to clear his head, either—he’d gone all the way back to Toronto. Permanently.

  She sniffed in an effort to hold back the hurt. She was in Jilly’s “office” getting her makeup done for tonight’s show and Jilly would kill her if she ruined it. Jilly had already chewed her out for having red eyes and made Ava put on an ice mask for ten minutes before administering eye drops. It made her eyes look better, but did nothing to heal the ache in her heart.

  It wasn’t as though Jake had up and left without a word to anyone. She could have handled that. Instead, he’d finished out his contract, and on his last day—from what she’d heard around the break room—made time to visit the rest of the staff to personally introduce his replacement, a pretty brunette named Hanna Compton. But for her? The woman he’d actually been involved with? Not even a whisper.

  Granted, she’d done her best to avoid him at every turn. Including calling in sick on that last day. But there had been plenty of days before that, and if he’d really wanted to see her, he’d have found a way. He knew where she lived, he knew her favorite coffee spots and he knew her work schedule. It wouldn’t have been that hard.

  She sniffed again. If he’d had any feelings for her at all, he’d have tried. He’d have made some sort of effort instead of sneaking off as though they’d had nothing more than a one-night stand that he forgot.

  She exhaled slowly, carefully, trying to get that smooth, even flow that was supposed to center your chi and calm your nerves. Not that Ava had ever been one for yoga. She wasn’t bendy enough and too competitive. The one time she’d tried, she’d hated not being able to slide into the poses like the other people in the class. Also, the overheated room and smell of sweat had made her feel nauseated.

  But she blew out another breath anyway. Fine. She was fine. If Jake wasn’t going to show even the slightest concern for her, she would happily return the favor. She would never think about him again. Unless it was to imagine him crawling on his knees toward her, begging for forgiveness. After which, she would pretend to give it some thought before putting one gorgeous high-heeled shoe on his forehead—because a moment like that called for a gorgeous shoe—and kicking him away. Then she would strut off, while he watched with tears in his eyes, and she would go on to succeed in every aspect of life. The end.

  “Are you thinking about him?”

  “What?” Ava blinked. Jilly was no longer sweeping powder across Ava’s face in long, wide strokes but was pointing the bronzing brush at her.

  “Him. McJerk Face. I thought we agreed you weren’t to give him the time of day.”

  “I’m not.” But even she could hear the lame, slightly whiny note in her voice. “I’m not,” she repeated more firmly. She was not about to have this conversation. She was due on set in twenty minutes, as Danica had been out sick the past few days, and she wasn’t going out there with a sad-clown face, which was how thinking about Jake made her feel.

  “Oh, Ava...” Jilly sighed and returned to powdering. “You so are.”

  Since there was zero point in denying it, Ava didn’t. It had been a month since the fight in her apartment, three weeks since her cast had come off and two weeks since Jake had officially left the station. She was doing her best to move past him. It was just hard when every corner she turned, every camera she saw, reminded him of her.

  Why had he overlooked her again? And so easily? Didn’t he think she was good enough? She was a good host. No, she was a great host. So what was the problem? Was she too cheerful? Too blonde? Too old?

  “This isn’t healthy, you know,” Jilly said, frowning as she dusted an extra layer across Ava’s forehead and nose. “You haven’t been out in weeks.”

  “I haven’t felt like it,” Ava said. She just didn’t have the energy to gear herself up for a night out on the town. Instead, her evenings consisted of putting on her favorite pair of soft sweatpants and curling up in the front of the television. Or doing the exercises her sadistic physiotherapist insisted were necessary to make sure she regained a full range of motion in her wrist.

  Everything else was a bother that she just couldn’t deal with.

  She’d even managed to avoid dinner with her mother during her time of mourning, which only proved the depth of her exhaustion. Never before had she put up with a long-winded lecture about family and priorities just so that she didn’t have to leave her apartment.

  “Want to come out tonight?”

  “No,” Ava said. It was the same answer she’d given Jilly every Friday for the past month. She caught her friend’s worried expression. “I’m just tired,” she explained. “It’s been a lot of work covering for Danica and filming my stories, too.”

  Jilly made a rude snorting sound. “You keep telling yourself that.” She finished with the powder and eyed Ava’s face. Seeing something she obviously didn’t like, she grabbed a different brush and the blusher. “When’s the last time you left the apartment for something other than work? I swear, if you tell me you’re thinking of getting a cat, I’m staging an intervention.”

  “I’m not getting a cat.” Even if she had been checking out the adoption page of the local SPCA recently. They were so sweet with their cuddly little faces and she had a good home—she could save a life.

  If she was going to be a caricature, sitting home alone with a TV dinner and no one to share it with, she might as well play up the spinster stereotype for all it was worth. Plus, a cat could be a boon companion. A cat wouldn’t tell her that she wasn’t good enough to host or believe that she’d only been with Jake so she could get the job on his travel show.

  She was glad when Jilly finished with her makeup and she could escape to the bright lights of the studio. Even if it was only for a half hour, it was time during which she was so focused on the job that no thoughts of Jake could sneak through her defenses.

  * * *

  SHE WAS JUST BUTTONING up her coat to make her getaway for another weekend of burning excitement, when Hanna Compton, the new executive producer, stuck her head in Ava’s office. “Got a minute?”

  Ava’s fingers stilled on the buttons, but she nodded. “Of course.”

  Jake h
ad mentioned that Hanna was a friend, and she’d heard from other sources that they’d actually known each other for years. Made it sort of hard to like the leggy brunette, but Ava was trying. She knew she shouldn’t take out her feelings about the old producer on the new producer.

  She took her coat off, but brought it and her purse with her to Hanna’s office with hopes this wouldn’t take long.

  Although Hanna had only been at the station a couple of weeks, she’d already made her presence felt both in and out of the studio. Ava saw that her office was no exception. The awful plastic brown couch was gone, replaced by a pair of art deco chairs in gray suede. The color reminded Ava of Jake’s eyes, so she looked instead at the tasteful prints adorning the newly painted walls.

  Hanna sat in one of the chairs and motioned for Ava to do the same. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

  Suddenly, Ava wasn’t noticing how much more comfortable Hanna’s chairs were than Jake’s monstrosity of a couch. She gripped the handle of her purse and felt a trickle of sweat begin to work its way down her spine. Exactly what was this meeting about?

  She tried not to think about the fact that it was Friday, the classic time to fire someone. Surely they weren’t going to let her go. With Danica out, they needed her. Even without Danica, they needed her.

  But it was foolish to think that Jake and Hanna wouldn’t have talked. Of course they had. They would have discussed the staff Hanna was inheriting in-depth. Which made her wonder exactly what Jake had told his old friend.

  Ava cleared her throat. “I hope this isn’t because you’re displeased with my performance.” Because that would be totally unfair. No one else at the station was juggling two full-time jobs, and Ava planned to point that out if necessary. Also, she was willing to consider Botox.