“What? Why today? Give me some time to talk it over with them.”
“No time, Harley,” he insisted. “Summer already contacted them, but the mother is refusing to talk to anyone but you. People have been calling the station, and we set up a fund at the bank for people to donate to her cause. We need to get the story out there so they stop calling the station.”
“Mitch, I can’t just rush something together—”
“Just hurry back.” He hung up so quickly, Harley fought the urge to scream at the phone in her hand.
“Probs Harl?” Kenny muttered.
“Talk much?” She lashed out at him before she measured her words, and with a quick sigh, she stared over at him in the driver’s seat. “Sorry, Kenny. I don’t know, possibly. Mitch wants us to hurry the governor’s interview and rush back.”
“Figures.”
“Why is that?”
“You know, we finally get the good story and can’t even enjoy it. At least you had the Bauer interview this morning. Summer’s shakin’ in her boots, I bet.”
“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” Harley informed him. “Summer doesn’t wear boots. Always kitten heels.”
“There’s the sassy Miss Laine. Where ya been hidin’?”
“Behind a giant wall of self-loathing,” she acknowledged with a bit of a scowl. “Anyway, forget that. The pensions they’re talking about today are a real problem. I’m vaguely aware that I should care, but now I’m worried about Kelsey. How did Summer find her contact information? I didn’t even give her last name.”
“You mean that girl you talked about this morning?” Kenny wondered, glancing at his passenger. “Oh, that’s easy. One of the gals said the teenager called you the other day, and they still had her phone number on the message books.”
“Why did everyone know about this but me?” she responded angrily.
“Um, because you were busy hobnobbing about Bauer, and then reading up on your pension stuff. No biggie, you said you wanted to help her, right? Well, people’s helping her now, just like you wanted.”
“But this isn’t what I wanted,” she complained. “I want to help her myself, not enlist a faceless mob. This just feels weird.”
“Then give her your liver.”
“Excuse me?!” Not quite believing what he just said, Harley stared at him, open-mouthed and eyes wide.
“They said she was looking for a living donor, right? You’re alive, ain’t ya?”
“Regina, I am so sorry,” Harley let out in a rush as the door opened to her. “If I had ever wanted to do a story about you all, which I’m not sure I would have, honestly, this absolutely is not the way I would have gone about it.”
“You meant well,” Regina stated as she wrapped an arm around Harley. “Anyway, your station set up the fund at the bank, and it’s already blessed us so much more than we could have imagined. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Just say you’re not angry with me,” Harley pleaded. “I wish I could go back in time. I’d change everything I said.”
“Oh, don’t fret so much. Come on, Kelsey’s just checking on the ‘help Kelsey meet Zac Efron’ webpage.”
Even with the somber mood in which she had shrouded herself, that statement made Harley laugh out loud. She stepped over to the computer, where Kelsey sat in her pajamas staring at the aforementioned website.
“Hey, Harley. Looks like the movement is gaining some traction, although part of me hopes it fails. What would I say to Zac Efron, really? I would probably pass out with fright.”
“Or he would call you ‘baby girl’ and you would burst of sheer excitement,” Harley teased. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
That one-word answer from Kelsey told Harley more than enough. She had learned in their short acquaintance that Kelsey’s attitude was pensive and cautious when she wasn’t feeling well, and bubbly and talkative when she felt better. That day obviously wasn’t a banner day health-wise for the teenager.
“I can tell my boss that we can’t do the interview,” Harley suggested. “It’s okay, really. There’s been so much going on today already…”
“No, it’s alright,” Kelsey insisted, rising to her feet. “Can I get dressed first?”
“Yes, of course,” Harley told her with a sigh. As she watched Kelsey shuffle away, she lowered herself to the couch. “I really am sorry, Regina. I never meant to ambush you like this. That’s why I told Kenny to give me a few minutes.”
“Kenny?” Regina attempted to clarify.
“My cameraman.” Gazing at the Christmas tree with its blinking lights, Harley swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Anything,” Regina assured her as she sat beside her on the couch. Harley hesitated, feeling her heart beating a bit erratically.
“Well, I…” she began, then reassessed. “Could you tell me…if someone wanted to find out if they would qualify as a donor for Kelsey…?” Harley nervously licked her lips, fighting her jittery emotions.
“I doubt if Kelsey would be comfortable taking that kind of stance in an interview,” Regina quickly stated.
“Oh,” Harley said with a slight flinch. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that. It’s just that if I was a match…if I am a match, I mean, would you take me? Do you think Kelsey would take me?”
Placing her fist against her mouth, Regina focused sad eyes on Harley and stared at her for a moment. Then, without a word, she removed her fist and placed her hand over Harley’s arm, squeezing it gently. The two sat silently regarding one another until they heard Kelsey’s bedroom door open, and the teenager emerged wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt with black lace detailing.
“Thank you,” Regina whispered. “Thank you, Harley. You’ve been such a Godsend to us.”
“Do I look appropriate?” Kelsey wanted to know as she sank between her mother and Harley on the couch.
“Like a million bucks,” Harley acknowledged with a sigh. “Should I get Kenny?”
“She’s bringing boys?” Kelsey glanced at her mom.
“Cameraman,” Regina told her with a smile.
“Please, Mitch, wait to run it,” Harley begged, standing in front of his desk with her hands folded together.
“Why would I want to do that?” he asked, rising to his feet and squinting his eyes as he faced her across his desk. “We need to go with the story, because we’ve been getting calls. I don’t need my staff running interference for some kid.”
“I’m not asking you to run interference, I’m just asking for a little time to make the story right.”
Stepping around his desk, Mitch placed his hand on Harley’s shoulder, giving it a fatherly squeeze.
“I don’t understand why you’re fighting this. The piece makes you look like a saint.”
“It shouldn’t be about me at all. It should be about Kelsey. Please… With everything that’s happened today, can’t you give me this one favor?”
“Are you kidding? You want me to make it less flattering to you, when that’s the last thing I want. You’re suddenly a celebrity with the national exposure and the governor today, so we need to capitalize on your spotlight while we can.”
“To Kelsey’s detriment?”
Anger surged through her veins, and she felt the prick of hot tears stinging her eyes. Vowing not to let them fall, she squeezed her hands into fists at her side.
“The story won’t hurt the kid, and you know it.”
As Mitch stepped out of the room, Harley felt the weight of the world come down on her shoulders.
It was nearly nine o’clock when Harley drove her car past Tiny’s, locating a parking spot and then strolling toward the front of the restaurant in her boyfriend jeans and her black pea coat. She had taken the time to go home and strip off all her makeup, even though she might run into Ryan, and she wrapped her hair into a loose knot at the back of her neck.
Rather than his usual spot on the park bench, Harley spotted D
uke just inside the window sitting at a table meant for two, where his companion was Tiny. She stood near the curb for a moment and watched them conversing with one another, wishing she could be a fly on the wall. She certainly didn’t feel like being Harley Laine that evening, but it seemed unavoidable.
Crossing over to the door, she pulled it open and stepped inside, allowing the smell of fried food to waft over her senses. She quickly settled at a two-top in the corner and concentrated on pulling her coat off and straightening it along the back of her chair so she wouldn’t have to glance around the room. When she finally looked up, she met Duke’s gaze as he waved her over and motioned to a chair next to him. Bracing her heart for a possible emotional onslaught, she retrieved her coat and stepped over to the table, sitting at the edge of the table between Tiny and Duke.
“Hello there, little lady,” Tiny stated softly. “I sure was worried about you last week. I was glad when Ryan came in here and said you was okay, ‘cause I was ‘bout to go make some noise at that hospital.”
“Thank you for not making noise,” Harley told him solemnly. “I was embarrassed enough as it was.”
“What can I get you tonight, hon?” Tiny placed his large hand on her shoulder, and she attempted to smile.
“You know, I’m not really that hungry. Thank you, though.”
“I think you’re right, Duke,” Tiny said. “She does seem sad. We need to cheer her up a bit.”
Patting her on the back, Tiny rose from his chair and stepped away toward the kitchen. Harley reluctantly turned her eyes to Duke, and he shook his head as he gave her a slight grin.
“I don’t suppose you saw the news today?” Harley wondered, staring at the table.
“I was busy and wasn’t by a television,” he assured her. “But, nowadays people don’t even need the television, with all the phones with the gadgets and other nonsense.”
“So you did see it,” she surmised.
“No, but Ryan’s sister called him about it.” He paused and she took the opportunity to glance up at his face. “You don’t seem pleased.”
“Oh, Duke,” she muttered with a sigh, folding her arms across the table and dropping her head against them. He placed his hand against her back and let it rest there without saying a word while she took a moment and tried to steady herself.
“Harley,” she heard behind her, and she knew immediately it was Ryan. Straightening, she rose to her feet slowly and turned to face him. He seemed taller than she remembered, and broader somehow although she knew it wasn’t possible. Reluctantly drawing her face to his eyes, she unwittingly held her breath.
“Popular lady,” he stated simply, and then he glanced around at the others in the dining room. “I have a minute, if you want to talk.”
“Okay,” she squeezed out, not bothering to move after she stood. His fingers gripped her elbow, pressing her forward as he drew her through the kitchen entrance and into a storage closet, flicking the light on overhead. She glanced around at the small space, imagining that it would be a good location to commit a murder and hide a body.
“Look, I know what you’re going to say, and before you even get started, I’m sorry,” Harley offered. “I completely understand why you’re angry with me, but I had no idea your mom was going to do that—”
“Can you just give me five seconds?” Turning his body away from her, he placed his hands on the back of his head and linked his fingers together, staring at a wall of brooms.
“Right,” she whispered, leaning back and knocking over a spray bottle of some type of cleaner. Bending over to set it aright, she raised to a standing position at the same time he turned to face her.
“I’m not going to pretend that I wasn’t a little angry, okay? I’m handling things…maybe not in the best way possible, and definitely less than perfect, but we were doing okay. I’m not a charity case.”
Harley nearly flinched at the extent to which his words startled her. “What are you talking about?”
“The thing at the bank,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “There was already over five thousand dollars in there by the time my mom called to talk to me about it.”
“Ryan—”
“Don’t patronize me, Harley. I know you meant well, but you should have talked to me about it first. If you just wanted to help my family, then it’s nice of you, granted. And if you’re trying to free me up so I can take you out or something—”
“I cannot even believe you just said that!” Widening her eyes, she replicated his stance, placing her arms across her chest. “I had nothing to do with the account at the bank. I was on my way to Frankfort when people at the studio were setting that up. And where do you get off thinking I’m so desperate that I would go around setting up bank accounts just so I could get myself a lousy date?”
“Nobody called you desperate,” he answered with a sigh, dropping his hands into his pockets.
“You did,” she disagreed, grabbing the handle to the door.
“Wait a minute, what did you mean about my mom?” he asked as she opened the door, stepping into the hallway.
“Good night, Ryan,” was all she said as she walked back out into the dining room, stepping up to Duke’s table and grabbing her coat from the chair.
“Hey, where you think you’re going?” he asked, those intimidating gray eyes focused on her beneath his black baseball cap.
“I need some air. I’m sorry, Duke. Maybe I’ll see you next week.”
Flinging the coat over her shoulder, Harley threw the door open and stepped into the cold night, making it only a few paces before she stopped to shove her arms into her outer garment. She began to rifle through her pockets for her keys, and once she found them, she slumped onto the bench in front of the restaurant, placing her head in her hands.
I didn’t ask for any of this, she thought. This day should have been a culmination of so many things I’ve wanted, but instead I’m conflicted and worried.
“Mind if I sit down?” She glanced up to see Duke offering her a piece of chocolate, and she shook her head with a sad laugh. “You know, it’s probably not as bad as you think.”
“This time it is,” she stated without emotion.
“Because a fund was set up to help Ryan’s sister with her medical expenses?” he wondered. “I know his male ego might have been bruised momentarily, but he’ll get over it.”
“That’s what you think is bothering me?” Smiling, she glanced up at the sky. “If only that was it, Duke.”
“Well,” he said with a sigh as he sat beside her, “I can’t rightly help if I don’t know the problem.”
“I’m not sure you can help.” Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she pulled up the Channel Six website and easily located her story from earlier that evening, holding it out in front of Duke as he scratched his beard absently.
“Our own beloved Harley Laine spoke this morning during her interview with Trent Bauer about her chance meeting with a teenage girl at the hospital last week,” Denton intoned, looking newscaster perfect as usual. “Tonight, she brings you the rest of the story of the remarkable young lady and her struggle.”
“I never imagined something like this would happen to me, but since it has, it’s never occurred to me to handle it with anything but gratitude,” Kelsey stated on the tiny screen. “I’m not owed health, or even breath in my lungs, but I took them for granted for a long time. We all do, really.”
Harley’s voice could be heard coming through the phone as photos of Kelsey flickered across the screen. “Kelsey Andrews is seventeen years old, a beautiful young woman who schools everyone she meets in Scrabble, but while other girls her age are considering colleges and thinking about prom and graduation, Kelsey is wondering when she will receive a liver transplant.”
“The health problems started a couple years ago,” Regina explained, “but she’s only been on the transplant list a short time.”
“But for all the health problems, I have never met someone with a more
upbeat spirit,” Harley’s voice continued. “Despite her difficulties, her optimism and faith in the face of adversity shine brightly. Even though I only met her a week ago, my life has been changed by knowing this young woman.”
“Of course thinking about the past or the future aren’t going to get me anywhere, so I focus on the now,” Kelsey stated, looking demure and pretty on the camera despite the visible circles beneath her eyes. “We all have a purpose in this world, and I refuse to believe that mine is to sit around feeling sorry for myself and waiting to feel better. This is the life I’ve been given, and I’ve never wanted to live with regrets.”
“Kelsey’s always been such a bright, happy girl,” Regina added. “She refuses to let her circumstances define her.”
“Does this add a wrinkle to the type of future I imagined?” Kelsey continued. “Of course, but when was I in charge of my future anyway? I didn’t wake myself up this morning or remind myself to breathe through the night.”
“Ideally, what is the best thing that could happen right now for Kelsey?” Harley continued on the camera, sitting across from Regina and her daughter.
“Due to Kelsey’s placement on the transplant list, her ideal match is a living donor,” Regina stated, glancing at her daughter. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a good candidate right now.”
Harley watched as pictures of her speaking with Kelsey and Regina came on the screen, followed by her own voice. “But Kelsey doesn’t lose hope, and so she is an inspiration to everyone lucky enough to cross her path. In just a short week she has changed my own outlook. Where I would have looked at my unfortunate accident last Friday as a hindrance, I have come to consider it a blessing, simply because I now know Kelsey Andrews.”
Harley recognized the end of the video she crafted, but then the added part began playing—the part Kenny recorded while she was in Kelsey’s bedroom and the section Mitch repurposed onto the end of the interview.
“We have been so blessed by Harley this past week,” Regina stated, looking slightly teary. “We were talking a couple days ago about finding a living donor, and I said that it was difficult to ask someone to put their life on the line for your own.”
Crowned (Girls of Wonder Lane Book 2) Page 17
