“Merv Griffin hates reality shows where people lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead,” Regan informed Roscoe.
“How do you know that?”
“I read his book. I wish you had.”
“Lawsuit! Lawsuit!” people started to scream.
Kimberly whipped out her cell phone, no longer playing the part of an ingenue. “I’ve got a front-page story! Hold the presses!”
Erene slumped in her chair. Kimberly was a reporter. Erene had been afraid of that from the moment Roscoe told her that a young couple showed up at the balloon field the morning after Erene answered her phone with “Roscoe, I told you. The balloon pilot will be ready to take you up tomorrow morning.” She was afraid that it had been a reporter on the other end. Oh, well, maybe she’d write a good story. But everyone was screaming about lawsuits. Erene ran over to Roscoe and whispered in his ear.
“Attention,” Roscoe cried. “My trusted adviser, Erene, has made a wonderful suggestion. If you all promise to forgive me and not do anything silly like press charges, I will give all of you who worked on the shows from the very beginning and now feel cheated $100,000 each for your pain and suffering. Honestly, I just wanted to create a fun show. I only wanted to make people laugh….”
Suddenly the room was silent.
“I’ll take it,” Pilot Pete shouted.
“I’ll take it.”
“I’ll take it.”
And around the room they went.
Pete, Grandma, her boyfriend, Noel, Neil, Aunt Agony, Uncle Heartburn, Vicky, Chip, and Danny all said they’d take the money.
“I’ll take it,” Bubbles cried.
“You and Sam tried to ruin our show!” Danny challenged.
“We only wrote a few letters. That was it. Besides, Sam did a great job for you.”
“What about the oil on the floor? And the platform collapsing?”
“The platform wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Leo admitted. “It was old. We should have gotten rid of it a long time ago.”
“Sam did put the oil on the floor. But then he wiped it up!” Bubbles insisted.
“He didn’t do a very thorough job,” Regan chimed in. “Because I slipped on it a couple of hours after Barney did.”
Barney jumped up. “I saw oil on the floor, so I staged that fall.”
“Good job, Barney,” Roscoe applauded. “Honest, everyone. I just thought you’d be happy to be involved with a reality show that would end up with a lot of publicity. I still might make you famous. Heck, I was outsmarted by that little couple Jake and Kimberly. I thought they were newlyweds. It turns out they’re reporters. You’ll be reading about this whole thing very soon.”
“Next week’s edition of Worldly Wickedness,” Kimberly stated proudly. “It hits the stands on Monday.”
“It’s clear that the actors and crews will accept your offer,” Danny told Roscoe. “But Regan should get the money, too.”
“Regan Reilly saved my life!” Agony cried. “If I had been killed, Heartburn would have sued you for hundreds of millions.”
Heartburn nodded vehemently.
Regan started to protest. “Danny—”
“Regan Reilly gets a hundred thousand, too,” Roscoe announced. “And I hope her mother will agree to have lunch with my dear Kitty. Kitty loves your books.”
“I’d be happy to,” Nora called out.
“Will you take the money, Regan?” Roscoe asked.
“If you insist.”
“I do. Good. Now we’re bringing in food and drinks and at eight o’clock we can watch my show as it is broadcast over Hot Air Cable. That’s about an hour and a half from now. I’m telling you, it’s really good. I think you’ll all be pleasantly surprised.”
There was a spontaneous round of applause. Roscoe looked thrilled.
Regan felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was amazed to see Jack. He looked better than ever.
“That’s some shiner you’ve got there.” He tenderly touched the skin around her eye.
“Well, you’re certainly a sight for sore eyes,” Regan teased. “There’s been a lot of excitement today.”
“I heard.”
“I was about to leave to meet you in Los Angeles,” Regan said softly.
“When I found out about the balloon mishap this morning, I flew straight here. I wanted to get to you before anything else happened.”
“How did you know?”
“I have my ways. Will you come outside with me for a minute?”
“Sure.”
Jack waved a quick hello to a beaming Luke and Nora as Regan followed him out the door. “We’ll be back soon,” he promised.
Jack grabbed Regan’s hand and started running with her toward the field. “We have to hurry before it gets too dark.”
“Where are we going?” In the distance Regan could see the Balloon Channel balloon inflated and ready to fly. “Jack!”
“We won’t be gone long.”
“I think that one balloon ride this morning filled my quota for today very nicely.”
“This time it will be different, I promise. Just you, me, and the pilot.”
The ground crew helped Regan and Jack into the basket. Moments later they were floating in the air. The pilot seemed very busy, concentrating on his tasks.
The sky was gorgeous, streaked with red and orange and gold.
Jack and Regan were standing with their arms around each other, staring out at the beauty before them. Jack turned to Regan. “Miss Reilly.”
“Yes, Mr. Reilly.”
“You take me out of this world.”
Regan smiled. “You do the same for me.”
“That’s why I thought that this would be an appropriate place to ask you a certain question.”
Regan waited. Her heart skipped a beat.
“Regan, will you marry me?”
Tears stung Regan’s eyes. “Yes, yes, I will marry you.”
Jack reached into his pocket, pulled out a brilliant diamond ring, and slipped it on her finger. “I love you, Regan Reilly. I want to be with you all my life.”
“I love you, too.”
Jack leaned down and kissed her as the balloon floated gently across the sky.
Down below, Nora and Luke were staring up. This time Nora had a huge smile on her face. “I bet he’s popped the question by now,” she said.
“Maybe they can have a quickie wedding right here in Vegas,” Luke suggested wryly.
“Bite your tongue.” Nora laughed. “Regan and I are going to have a grand time planning this wedding.”
“The world had better watch out,” Luke drawled, “for the two Mrs. Reillys.”
69
W hen Regan and Jack stepped back inside the auditorium, everyone was holding a glass of champagne. Nora and Luke walked over and handed glasses to them.
“We’re so happy.” Nora kissed Regan and hugged Jack.
“Word travels fast,” Regan commented.
“Jack called your father’s cell phone this morning to ask for your hand,” Nora explained.
“This morning?”
“Right after we left the balloon field. We told him what happened.”
“Talk about timing.” Regan laughed.
“That’s when I decided to come straight to Vegas,” Jack explained, his arm tightening around Regan. “Before I somehow lost you.”
Roscoe jumped up on the stage. “A toast to Regan and Jake Reilly.”
“Jack Reilly,” Regan called out.
“Oh, that’s right. Jake’s the whippersnapper reporter.” Roscoe held out his glass. “To Regan and Jack Reilly. Many years of happiness.”
“Hear! Hear!” everyone toasted.
“Two minutes till showtime. Everyone find your seat,” Roscoe instructed.
Danny and Honey hurried over to Regan and Jack. They looked like a couple again. Danny had his hand on Honey’s back, and she was smiling from ear to ear.
They both congratulated Regan effusively.
&nb
sp; As Danny shook Jack’s hand, Honey turned to Regan. “Thank you, Regan,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“I think you know.”
Regan smiled. “I hope you and Danny will come to the wedding.”
“Regan, I would love that.”
“Sit down, everybody!” Roscoe cried.
The two couples took seats in the front row. Luke and Nora were sitting with Maddy and Shep one row behind them. Maddy was softening toward Honey. The makeovers had really improved Danny’s show. The caring way Honey ran onstage to calm Agony made her think that maybe she wouldn’t make such a bad daughter-in-law after all. And now that Regan Reilly was definitely out of the running, Maddy decided she’d better be nice to Honey. It was obvious Danny cared about her.
The lights went down, and everyone waited quietly. The screen lit up, and there was Roscoe’s smiling face. “Welcome to Roscoe’s Reality Show where nothing is as it seems.”
That’s for sure, Regan muttered.
For the next forty-five minutes they watched as the two groups struggled with their shows. Elsa didn’t really win at the slots. It was a ruse. “James” had actually won a number of comedy awards. He said that playing the role of a bad actor was more difficult than he had imagined. Elsa had played several femmes fatales onstage in Britain. It was the first time Barney had used crying to define a character.
If Suzette only knew this was a ruse, Regan thought, she’d have pushed everyone out of the balloon. She’s probably in a jail cell in Albuquerque right now, hanging off the bars.
In the end, Roscoe’s show was funny and clever. The scenes of Bubbles almost losing it with James were priceless. Elsa rolling around on the floor with the slot machine woman had everyone laughing. Regan even laughed at the scene where she and Barney had breakfast together. The expressions on her face were priceless. When the lights went up and people applauded, Roscoe stood. “There’s one more thing—we’ve decided that the Balloon Channel needs you. So Danny and Bubbles, I’m hiring you both to continue producing your shows. Come to my office at nine A.M. tomorrow to sign your contracts.”
Pilot Pete jumped in the air. “The curse is broken,” he cried. “I’m in a pilot that made it to the small screen!”
“James” stood. “Unfortunately you’re going to have to replace me.”
Pete slapped him on the back. “That’s okay, Sir Linsley. Maybe you can do a guest shot when you come back to town.”
“Jolly good.”
Danny was beaming. So were his parents. They were thrilled that he’d have a steady job.
“We’ll be on television all the time,” Agony joyfully proclaimed.
“You all seem so much happier than when I said I’d give you each a hundred thousand dollars. Does that mean I don’t have to pay it?” Roscoe teased.
“No!” they all yelled and laughed. “Pay up!”
Roscoe laughed and waved his hands at them. He was having the time of his life. Maybe the television station would make him a big shot after all. “Well, I’m so glad I’ll be working with you all. Regan”—he glanced down at her in the front row—“can we convince you and Jack to be part of our team?”
Regan smiled and shook her head. “Thank you, but we have other plans.”
Contents
Acknowledgments
Monday, October 6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Tuesday, October 7
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Wednesday, October 8
61
62
Thursday, October 9
63
64
65
Friday, October 10
66
67
68
69
Popped Page 22
