Her tone was light, but Kendall could read the guilt in her boss’s eyes. “What did you do to my story?”
“You didn’t expect the piece you submitted to be broadcast, did you? I threw you a bone with Silver Creek so you’d agree to It’s Raining Men. Ratings have been dropping and we needed the boost the promotion gave us. I needed it. You were supposed to take a few shots of the new trees, get a couple people to talk about rebuilding their lives after the fire. All that business about the GoldStar development wasn’t part of the deal, so we took it out.”
“But it’s the real story. The truth. GoldStar has done a lot of damage over the years, Liz. I worked hard to gain the trust of the people involved in those previous land deals and to convince them to share their stories on camera.”
“Don’t be naïve,” Liz snapped. “Bob and Eric Bishop have been friends since college. He was never going to let it run unedited. What does it matter? You’ve got the New York job. Denver’s just one more notch on your belt. Along with the scientist, I gather.”
“Shut up,” Kendall hissed. “Don’t bring Ty into this. Not like that. He risked his reputation to help me expose GoldStar and his father. We can’t ignore the way they have duped innocent people all these years.”
Liz shook her head. “Let it go. It’s old news, Kendall, and not part of your assignment.” She stepped forward and took Kendall by the shoulder, her nails digging hard through layers of fabric until they pinched skin. “You may not see it now, but no story and no man are worth risking everything you’ve worked for. This story will ruin you if you let it.”
Kendall shook free from the other woman’s grasp as the tears she’d been fighting finally fell. “You don’t get it, Liz. It already has.”
Ty heard the door to his outer office open and shut. He sprang to his feet and took one step around the desk before slouching back down in his chair. He knew it wasn’t Kendall. After what she’d done, he shouldn’t want to see her anyway.
But he did. The way she’d smiled at him last night hurt the most. Even though she’d stuck a knife deep in his back, to see her eyes light up and a grin spread across her face when she first saw him had almost made him forget the betrayal.
Almost.
He closed his eyes while his fingers massaged his temples. His head had been throbbing from the time he’d left Kendall to the moment he woke this morning. The fact that he’d slept like shit hadn’t helped.
The smell of hot coffee coaxed his eyes open.
“Morning, boss,” Jenny said as she put a steaming cup and a brown paper sack on his desk. She slid into her usual chair and sipped at her own cup. “So how’d it go with your girlfriend and all the rich and wanna-be-famous people last night? I’ve been watching her on television lately. The stick up her ass seems to be dislodging a bit.”
He reached for the bag. “She’s not my girlfriend,” he muttered around a mouthful of breakfast burrito.
“Trouble in paradise?”
He wiped his mouth across the back of his sleeve. “She sold me out to my dad and flushed the work we were doing to expose GoldStar down the toilet.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s plain evil.”
He took a drink of coffee and tried to make his voice casual. “Other than looking like an idiot again in front of my parents, it’s no big deal. Better I found out what she was like now before things got serious.”
“Not serious. Right. That reminds me. We got a call Friday from Sally Hendricks. You were there in the morning?”
“I planted her front garden bed. It felt good to do the work myself. What’s the problem?”
“She wants to know who Ken is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The petunias you planted spell out the name Ken. Poor thing was sick with worry that she was outing you. You know anyone named Ken?”
“Shit.”
“About sums it up.” Jenny smiled sweetly. “So save that crap about no big deal for someone else.”
“It’s over, Jenny.” He pushed a stack of papers across the desk. “And just when it was about to get interesting.”
“What are those?”
“The real plans for Silver Creek, not the crap GoldStar is pitching to Kendall’s sweet old lady.”
Jenny almost fell off her chair as she scrambled forward to get a better look. “Where did you get them?”
“His office. My sister let me in over the weekend.”
“Did she know what you were looking for?”
He nodded. “I promised her she wouldn’t be implicated. I think Clare saw a scandal as her best chance to escape from under the family’s thumb. Channel 8 wasn’t willing to run the story, but someone has to be interested in the truth. Now that I have proof, I won’t stop until I expose GoldStar.”
“What happens when your dad finds out? He’ll know it was you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Jenny whistled low. “This is going to start an epic battle within your family. I thought you were trying to avoid fighting with him again. Isn’t that what you keep telling me and anyone else who will listen?”
He saw the concern in her eyes. From decades of being friends and years of working together, she knew him all too well. He turned to the window, staring at the view of the small park behind the building.
He’d renovated the small scrap of land shortly after purchasing the office. During that time he’d worked sunrise to nightfall to keep his body so exhausted that his mind couldn’t analyze just how his life had gone so wrong. He was back in that same place, but this time he wasn’t going to run.
“I guess it’s about time I pull my head out of the sand.”
Jenny laughed softly. “Is that where it’s been? I kind of thought you had it lodged—”
“I get your point.” He chuckled. Jenny always knew how to lighten his mood. “And you’re right. I’ve stood by for too long and let GoldStar get away with destroying land that people care about. I don’t know if the woman with the Silver Creek acreage will find another buyer willing to pay as much, but she deserves to know the truth about the plan for her property.”
“What happens when your dad comes after you?”
“Let him. I’m not going to roll over and play dead this time around.”
“Hallelujah!” Jenny’s whoop of delight split the air. “I knew you wouldn’t be a wuss all your life,” she said as she grabbed him in a bear hug.
“Is that a compliment?”
“As close to one as you’re going to get.” She stepped back and looked up at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to take the plans to Kendall?”
His smile vanished. “Positive.”
She nodded and plucked the papers off the desk and rolled them into a small cylinder, sliding them into one of the canvas totes leaning against the wall.
“Thanks, Jen.”
She chucked him lightly on the arm. “That’s what friends are for, buddy.”
He watched her disappear through the door of his office and listened until the front door shut. Then he sank back into his chair and clicked the mouse until the computer screen flashed on. He pulled up a proposal he’d be presenting later in the week. He’d learned the hard way that life goes on even when you want to stop the world and get off.
Kendall looked up at the soft knock on the office door. “Jenny, come on in.”
The redhead’s willowy frame filled the entrance. “I hope it’s ok I stopped by without calling.”
“It’s fine.” Kendall smiled, trying not to look as shocked as she felt. She’d almost fallen off her chair when Mary buzzed her and said Jenny Castelli was in the lobby asking to see her. She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got about a half hour before I need to start working on the early broadcast.”
“I brought a friend along.”
Kendall’s heart shot
to her throat at the same time her stomach took a nosedive toward her toes.
Jenny reached into the hallway and tugged. Owen Dalton gave a weak smile as he appeared in the entrance to the office. “Hi, Kendall,” he said with an apologetic wave.
“Owen,” she said, her heart still hammering in her chest. “Uh, nice to see you.”
Jenny smiled sweetly. “Expecting someone else?”
“Not at all.” So the claws were coming out. Well, she was due for a manicure so figured she could deal with a couple of chips.
Jenny approached her desk. “I have something for you. It’s from Ty.” Without waiting for a response, she pulled a roll of paper out of a plastic tube and threw it on the desk.
Kendall looked down at the blue markings that dotted the top sheet. “Are these plans?”
Jenny nodded. “For Silver Creek. The real deal. Not what Eric Bishop has been peddling to those people.”
Kendall waved to two chairs in front of her desk. “Maybe you should sit down.” She leafed through the pages, her breath catching. “How did he get these?” she whispered.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jenny said. “The important part is you have them now. What are you going to do about it?”
Kendall’s mouth opened and closed several times as she stared back and forth between Jenny and the plans. “I need time to think,” she stammered. The plans that were on her desk held no resemblance to the idyllic community GoldStar Development had laid out in its proposal to Helen Bradley. The neighborhood depicted in these sketches looked like the Silver Creek community’s worst nightmare. Houses were crammed on top of each other in plots no bigger than a quarter acre. There wasn’t a tree anywhere. It looked like one of the cookie-cutter subdivisions that could be built anywhere in America, not the rustic retreat detailed in the plans Helen had shown her.
“What’s there to think about?” Jenny’s voice was curt. “You can’t possibly go forward with the fluff piece on GoldStar in light of this.” She paused then added, “Although fluff is your specialty.”
Kendall narrowed her eyes at the redhead’s challenge. “Despite what Ty thinks, I didn’t know about the changes to the Silver Creek story.” She tried not to sound too guilty as she added, “But it’s set to air tomorrow night.”
“You’re going to give up? What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know what this will cost Ty? He risked everything to get these plans.”
Kendall’s head snapped up. “I never asked him . . . I never expected him to go this far to bring down his father.”
“Well, he did. And it’s likely his parents will never forgive him for it.”
“I’m sorry,” Kendall replied. “He deserves better.”
“He deserves better in a lot of areas,” the other woman agreed. She grabbed the stack of papers and tried to pull them from Kendall’s grasp. “If you’re not going to use this information to stop GoldStar, I’ll find somebody who will.”
Kendall thought about Helen Bradley and the other residents of Silver Creek, who loved their land. She thought about Ty, who had finally found the courage to fight his father to win. “If I mess with this story, my boss will ruin me.”
“Then let go of the damn plans,” Jenny spat out.
Owen straightened, looking like the last thing he wanted to do was mediate a scuffle between Jenny and Kendall. “If we could just take a minute.”
Jenny glared at him. “I told you she wouldn’t have the balls—”
“We’ll find another way,” Owen said gently.
Kendall held tight to the papers. “I can’t let this happen,” she whispered.
Jenny tugged harder. “Don’t make me fight you for them. I’m a lot tougher.”
Kendall released the papers so fast that Jenny’s hand flew up and the papers scattered across the floor on either side of the desk.
Kendall didn’t notice. She picked up her phone and hit several buttons. “Hi, Tom, it’s Kendall,” she said into the receiver. “Liz asked me to go over the Silver Creek story one last time before tomorrow’s broadcast.” She paused, then smiled. “Yes, I’m sure she knows about it—just a few continuity things to tweak. Could you book one of the editing rooms for me tonight? And tell Steve I need to borrow a camera this afternoon. Great, thanks.”
Her hand trembled as she hung up. What she was about to do amounted to career suicide. She thought about the years she’d worked to get to this point, the hours she’d devoted to her job, the life she’d sacrificed in the process. An image of Ty leading her through the forest drifted into her mind. Nothing was worth the pain she’d caused him.
Her ambition might have cost her his love, but she’d do anything to make sure that the work he’d done wasn’t in vain. She owed him at least that. Owed it to herself and to Helen Bradley and to the viewers who trusted her.
She turned to where Jenny and Owen were picking the papers up off the floor. “I don’t have much time.”
Jenny straightened. “You lost me.”
Kendall sighed. “I lost myself, too. Give me the plans, Jenny. I need to take back what’s left of me.”
The redhead clutched the papers tightly to her chest.
“Trust me,” Kendall said. “I’m going to drive down to see Helen Bradley. I want her reaction on camera when she first sees them. That should have the viewers up in arms against Eric Bishop.”
Jenny looked stunned. “You’re going to use these plans in the broadcast?”
“I’m going to do my best. If I can’t, I’ll make sure I get the information to someone who can expose GoldStar and help Helen.”
Owen sat back in his seat. “I think that’s where I come in.”
Kendall’s attention shifted to him. She’d wondered why he’d tagged along with Jenny. “You have an alternative solution?” she questioned, her smile hopeful.
He returned her smile with a self-deprecating grin. “What’s the use of having all this money, if you can’t use it to do the right thing?”
She glanced at Jenny, who, to her surprise, was watching Owen with what could only be described as a goofy grin. The redhead’s gaze switched to Kendall. Her eyes narrowed before she shrugged and shook her head. “What are you looking at?”
Kendall grinned. “Nothing. Owen, are you busy this afternoon?”
“I thought I might take a short ride into the mountains.”
She nodded. “Let’s get going.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kendall wrapped newspaper around the glass and tucked it into the box with the others in the set. “That’s the last of them,” she announced. She closed the box and taped it.
Sam’s blond head appeared around the corner of the living room. “Since you’re a devoted minimalist when it comes to decorating, I think we have things taken care of out here.”
“Very funny.”
“Chloe has double and triple wrapped the few things you do have so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Kendall checked her watch. “The movers are scheduled to come in two hours.” She looked at the open cabinet doors and empty shelves. Her life was packed into a couple dozen boxes scattered around her bare condominium.
Tomorrow she’d drive to Grady, Kansas, to visit her parents for a week before continuing to New York City. It was time to begin her new life. The life she’d wanted and worked so hard to achieve. She should be thrilled to her toes. She knew that. But Denver had begun to feel like home to her, especially in the past few months. She hadn’t expected it would be so hard to leave.
“Have you talked to him?”
She glanced up at Sam, pushed the cardboard box against the wall and stood. She didn’t pretend to misunderstand who her friend meant, though she wanted to. “No,” she said simply, bending down to retrieve the tape dispenser.
“Things have to be tense with his family,” Chloe said with a sigh. “I feel bad for
him.”
Sam snorted. “‘Tense’ might be the understatement of the year.”
It had been two weeks since Kendall and Owen had met with Helen Bradley. That eighty-year-old woman was one tough cookie. She’d been dead set on bringing down GoldStar when she’d found out what they had planned for her beloved forest. In private, she had a backbone of steel. On camera, she played the role of the pitiable, frail, and innocent old lady to perfection.
Kendall had taken her reworked story directly to Bob Cunningham. The station’s owner may have been a college buddy of Eric Bishop, but he was also a seasoned newshound. He saw the potential in ratings and publicity that breaking a story like Silver Creek would produce.
Through his private foundation, Owen had signed a deal to purchase the land around Silver Creek. Working with several state organizations, a conservation plan had been agreed upon that would integrate wildlife habitats with trail restoration and ranching interests in the area. Once the paperwork had been signed, Channel 8 aired the first of a three-part special on the Silver Creek community.
The initial segment covered the forest rejuvenation and included excerpts from the time Kendall and Ty had spent together in the burn area. Seeing his face on camera, watching the respect he had for the land reflected in his expression, had felt like a punch to her stomach.
One she probably deserved.
She worried that his father would find a way to ruin the landscaping business as punishment for Ty’s leaking the plans. What would Ty do then? Colorado was his home. She couldn’t imagine him starting over someplace else. There was no doubt Eric Bishop would be out for revenge.
The second part of the series had focused on Mrs. Bradley’s story—the reasons she needed to sell the land, GoldStar’s “too good to be true” proposal, and how the community would have been devastated if they’d learned the truth too late.
The final segment, which had aired two nights ago, included interviews with residents of other communities developed by GoldStar and the bogus promises that had been made in almost every instance. The station had been flooded with calls and e-mails from angry viewers eager to add their stories to the mix.
Kissing Mr. Right Page 21
