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The Home They Built

Page 18

by Shannon Stacey


  “We’ll need you to sign some paperwork,” Duncan continued, giving her something to focus on.

  “You can send it to my lawyer and she’ll look it over,” she said in a firm tone. “What about my crew?”

  “They’re being informed separately right now.”

  “You could have let me tell them myself.” Not that it would have been easy, but it would have been the right thing to do.

  “Ms. Landsperger’s being offered a position as Toni’s assistant because hers isn’t working out.” Toni was a great person and had a very popular baking show, so it would be a great job for Eryn, and wouldn’t involve travel. “The rest of your crew will be snapped up just as quickly, we imagine.”

  The other two men nodded, and Anna bit back a comment about Duncan speaking for them as if they were some kind of collective. “That’s good news.”

  With some of the anxiety for the rest of the Relic Rehab team eased, Anna’s mind turned to the other person with something—or even the most—to lose in this fiasco. “What about Tess Weaver?”

  She wasn’t surprised when Duncan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. This had probably been quite the headache for them, but she cared a lot more about Tess than she did about the network. Especially now.

  “Mrs. Weaver very deliberately defrauded the Relic Rehab production team and she went to some effort to do it, as well. She didn’t simply misunderstand the necessary qualifications or overstate the inn’s historical significance. She fabricated everything with the express purpose of getting a free renovation for her home.”

  There wasn’t a lot Anna could say in Tess’s defense since that was exactly what she’d done. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try. “She’s an elderly woman who needed help and she went too far.”

  Elderly was definitely a stretch when it came to Tess, who was living proof of the adage that age was just a number, but the collective didn’t know that. They didn’t know her. But Anna did and she knew that, no matter what shenanigans the woman dragged her family into, she was all heart.

  Duncan gave her a skeptical look, which was mirrored by the collective. “The woman who pulled off—or rather almost pulled off—this elaborate scheme was certainly capable of reading the documents she signed, which clearly laid out the criteria for selection and the penalties for...this sort of thing.”

  “I think compassion—”

  “We’re not in the business of compassion, Anna. We’re in the business of making money.”

  And they made that money with a network devoted to feel-good home and family programming, but she knew it was futile to appeal to his sense of humanity. If she was going to have an impact, she had to hit him in the wallet.

  “Do you have a number?”

  Duncan blinked. “A number?”

  “Have you calculated the damages caused by Mrs. Weaver?” When he started to open his mouth, she held up her hand to stop him. “And I’m not talking about some number you pulled out of thin air. I’m talking about actual damages. Production costs and supplies.”

  “It’s not really any of your concern at this point.”

  “The number, Duncan.” She lifted her chin. “Right now you think you have all the power, but I’m the face of Relic Rehab. You’re the invisible man behind the curtain. The audience is mine, so you can see that it’s in everybody’s best interest that we part amicably. In order for that to happen, I need to see that number.”

  He sifted through the papers on his desk and then handed her a sheet of calculations some intern must have written up for him. After scanning the list to make sure nothing that would be a reach had been added, she looked at the bottom line.

  It wasn’t as bad as she’d feared, so she might be able to get Tess out of this after all. She pretended to go through the list again, item by item, to give herself time to get her thoughts together.

  “The total seems reasonable,” she said, handing the paper back to him. “Now I want you to think of another figure. What the network’s lawyers charge by the hour.”

  Duncan actually laughed—a mirthless, smug sound that grated on Anna’s nerves. “A woman who can’t afford to update her kitchen certainly can’t afford to fend off our suit, never mind countersue.”

  “No, she can’t.” Anna smiled, folding her hands in her lap. “But I can.”

  The collective let out a sound of masculine disapproval, which didn’t faze Anna at all. After a few seconds, Duncan leaned forward and folded his hands on his desk. A power move that also didn’t faze Anna. “I think you’ll find you don’t have any legal standing in this matter, Anna.”

  “And I think you’ll find I don’t care, Duncan.” His eyes widened, but she made sure she kept her expression neutral. “If you don’t simply write off the Bayview Inn expenditures as a loss and leave Mrs. Weaver alone, I’m going to take you to court. I’ll fight my firing. I’ll fight the papers you want me to sign. I’ll demand an audit and then fight over every penny. I’ll fight over the brand. Intellectual property. Residuals. I’ll wage a very public war, doing the talk show circuit to tell my heartwarming story of finding my birth mother and brother, but how it’s tarnished because this network fired me and is trying to take everything a nice old lady owns. You may have facts. But you know how I play with audiences. It’s why you brought me here.”

  Duncan leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed. “You won’t win.”

  “Maybe I will and maybe I won’t. But you and I both know a legal battle with me will cost you more than what a couple months of lost shooting time will.”

  If there had been a clock on the wall, quite a few seconds would have ticked off before one of the other collective members leaned over and wrote something on the blotter in front of Duncan.

  Hope shot a burst of adrenaline through Anna, but she didn’t let it show. For all she knew, the note said to tell her to go hell. But she didn’t think so. If they were going to stay the predetermined course of firing Anna and suing Tess, the other guy wouldn’t have intruded on the process.

  “I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Duncan said, with real regret in his voice. “We loved Relic Rehab.”

  “I’m sorry it’s come to this, too. I loved being here.” Anna cleared her throat and then made a what-are-you-gonna-do gesture with her hands. “But it doesn’t change where we are now. And it doesn’t change my position on the matter.”

  “You’ve made your position very clear.” Steepling his hands in front of his mouth, Duncan stared down at the handwritten note for so long the silence grew awkward, and then back at her. “I think we’ll be able to come to an agreement.”

  Anna had spent too many years on camera to allow the relief to show, but on the inside she was melting right off the chair and into a boneless, relieved puddle on the floor. “I’m glad to hear it. I’d like to have a final answer on this, in writing, by noon tomorrow.”

  Her nerves could only take so much. And she was sure every member of the Weaver family was losing sleep over the matter, too. She’d like to be able to put Tess’s mind at ease as soon as possible.

  And Finn’s. She knew he’d be tying himself in knots on his grandmother’s behalf. And maybe he was losing sleep missing Anna, too. She sure as hell was. Between Finn and Tess and her job, she wasn’t sure she’d slept more than a few restless hours each night since it all fell apart.

  “I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning,” he said before rising to his feet to signal the meeting was over. There was nothing left to say, so Anna stood and forced herself to shake his hand when he extended it. “I really am sorry it came to this, Anna.”

  “Me, too.” Tears welled up in her eyes, but she was able to blink them back. “I’ve really loved making Relic Rehab.”

  “As did we. Good luck with your future endeavors.”

  She made it as far as the elevator before a tear slid down her chee
k, and she rested her head against the back wall.

  Once she had the document from Duncan that kept Tess and her home safe, she would call the Weaver house and give them the good news. She couldn’t imagine the stress they were under and she wanted to ease that, but she knew lawyers and she wouldn’t tell them until she had it in writing.

  Tonight, she’d have that glass of wine and start thinking about what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Finn. Start a family. Get a dog. But he’d made his feelings very clear.

  He hadn’t even said goodbye.

  No matter what happens, I want you to try to keep what you and Finn feel for each other separate from this mess. I know it might take a little time, but you need to forgive each other.

  The promise she hadn’t quite made to Tess, despite her insistence she had, echoed through her mind.

  Anna had nothing to forgive. One of the things she loved about him was the way he loved his family with his whole heart. She couldn’t hold the lengths he’d gone to for Tess against him. Not after seeing them together for two months.

  But even if Duncan came through and Anna could tell them it was over and behind them, she wasn’t sure if Finn would ever be able to forgive her for the part she’d played.

  She had to accept that, no matter what her future held, it might not be shared with the man she loved.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Brady opened his front door looking as though he’d sleepwalked down the stairs from his bedroom. “It’s six thirty in the morning, Finn.”

  “I thought electricians were early risers. You guys can’t make fun of white-collar banker’s hours if you keep them, too.”

  “That might be true for an electrician who wasn’t up half the night with a cranky kid because his wife is a very early riser who has to help her mom open a bakery before opening her garage for business.”

  “Can I come in?”

  “You didn’t even bring coffee with you, man. I’m seriously rethinking this whole best friend thing right now.” But he turned and walked toward the kitchen without slamming the door in Finn’s face, so he took that as an invitation.

  Brady brewed himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table to sip it while Finn made himself one. Once they were both seated, Brady made an “okay, let’s hear it” gesture while continuing to drink.

  “I need Anna’s home address.”

  Brady’s eyebrows arched as he set down his mug. “If you don’t know where she lives, she probably didn’t think you needed to know.”

  “I know where she lives. The town, anyway. I just don’t have her street address. I guess sending Christmas cards hadn’t come up yet.”

  “Don’t be snarky to the man you dragged out of bed at an unreasonably early hour. Are you trying to send her flowers?”

  Finn snorted. “I’d have to send her an entire greenhouse just to put a dent in the apology I need to give her. I’d rather say what I need to say in person, so at least she can see that I mean it.”

  “What are you going to say?”

  He shrugged, staring down into his mug. “I don’t know exactly what yet. I know I want to tell her I love her. I know I want to tell her I’m sorry I was a total jerk when they canceled the renovation. And I know that’s going to be a mess for a while and probably a hard thing to have between us right now, but we can get past it. I just need to know where to find her.”

  “This is a fun predicament you’ve put me in. You’ve been my best friend since we started school. Anna’s my sister. And maybe I’ve only known her a couple of months, but...she’s my sister. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”

  “I just need her address. I figured if you don’t have it, maybe your mom does.”

  “And you think I’m going to give it to you? You broke Anna’s heart.”

  “I told you I want to fix that. I need to make things right with her, Brady. Even if she can’t forgive me, I don’t want the anger and fear I vented at her to be the way things end between us.”

  “As her brother, I feel like it’s my job to say you should call her first and not just show up on her doorstep.”

  “But as my friend?” When Brady only shrugged, Finn sighed. “If she sends me to voice mail or answers and tells me not to come, I might give up. I love her, but I might not be strong enough to try again if she says she doesn’t want to talk to me.”

  They drank their coffees in silence for a few minutes. It stretched on so long that Finn was afraid his friend wasn’t actually going to give him Anna’s address. And he’d have to respect his friend’s decision, if that was the case. It would make it harder for him to find Anna, but he’d drive up and down every road in her town if he had to, looking for her name on a mailbox.

  “If it was anybody else, I wouldn’t do it,” Brady finally said. “But I’ve known you your whole life and I trust you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But,” Brady continued, “if she sees you and still doesn’t want to talk to you and tells you to go away, you better go away. I mean it, Finn. If you don’t respect what she tells you, no amount of friendship between us will keep me from finding you.”

  His friend was very serious, and it just made Finn respect him more. “If she tells me to leave, I’ll leave. I just feel like I’m only going to get one chance and over the phone just isn’t going to cut it.”

  An angry baby shout from upstairs made Brady sigh. “We’re going to be in trouble when he learns his first cuss words. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  It took Brady more than a minute, but Finn used the time to try to calm his nerves. He had a long ride in front of him, and this third cup of coffee probably hadn’t been a good idea. But he hadn’t wanted to wait. He wanted to see Anna now.

  When Brady walked back into the kitchen with his son in his arms and his phone in his hand, Finn pushed his coffee mug out of the way just in time for Parker to throw himself at him.

  “Hey, buddy,” he said, and he chuckled when Parker launched into a recitation of everything he had to tell his uncle Finn since the last time he’d seen him. Finn understood about three words of it, but he nodded and made appropriate sounds of appreciation while Brady made him breakfast.

  Once the kid was locked in his high chair with a sippy cup and a bowl of something that looked really unappetizing, Brady slid his phone across the table so Finn could see the information on the screen. He typed the address into his own phone with a hand that was shaking slightly.

  “You’re a mess,” Brady said as he took his phone back.

  “She’s the one,” Finn said quietly.

  “I really hope you can work it out. I like you two together.”

  “I like us together, too. I want that for the rest of my life.”

  * * *

  The deep rumble of a slow-moving Harley-Davidson engine cut through the action movie Anna had put on for background noise, and she felt the same pang of sadness, regret and heartache that got her every time Finn crossed her mind.

  There were other motorcycles in the neighborhood, of course. But she’d spoken to Tess not long ago, and ended up on speakerphone. As tears of relief were shed, she heard Joel and Alice’s voices, but she didn’t hear Finn.

  “I’ll have to tell Finn right away,” Tess had said toward the end of the call. “I don’t want him selling that death machine of his before I get a chance to talk to him.”

  “He’s not around?” Anna had asked, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible. She was shooting for polite interest, but even to her own ears, it sounded more like sad puppy dog.

  “He left hours ago,” Tess told her. “Fired that motorcycle up before anybody else was even out of bed. Don’t know where he went.”

  Maybe knowing that was why her heart beat faster in her chest as the rumble grew louder
. And then it stopped. In her driveway.

  She started shaking as emotions clamored for the top spot. Hope was winning, but she tried to keep it in check as she walked to the window.

  Finn was here. That was really him, leaning the heavy bike onto its kickstand. He took his helmet off and tousled his hair with one hand, which just made it stand up more. Her hand itched to smooth it for him, and she curled her hands into fists.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen for a few seconds before putting it back. And then she watched him take a long, deep breath before he started walking toward the door.

  Anna reached the door before he got a chance to knock, but he’d reached the top step so they were eye to eye when she opened it.

  “Anna.”

  That was all he said, but she could see in his eyes that he was feeling the same things she was. Regret. Hope. Anticipation. Fear. And that spark of joy she felt just from seeing him again.

  He opened his arms and she practically threw herself against his body. He was trembling, too, and she squeezed him with the side of her face pressed against his chest. His heart was racing and a tear slid down over her cheek as he pressed a long kiss to the top of her head.

  She had no idea how long they stood in her doorway, holding each other, but she didn’t care if anybody was watching.

  The words I love you were on the tip of her tongue, but some sensible voice in her head held them in check. No matter how good it felt to have his arms around her again, she didn’t know yet why he was here. Just because seeing her had made him emotional, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t walk away from her again.

  Maybe he wanted to plead his grandmother’s case in person. Since he’d left before she got the news from Duncan and he’d told her once before that he rarely took notice of his phone when he was on the bike, he probably didn’t know that issue had been resolved.

  “Come in,” she said finally, stepping out of his embrace.

  “I’m sorry to show up like this,” he said, his voice slightly rough. “I needed to see you and I wasn’t sure if I called if... I just needed to see you.”

 

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