****
Later that afternoon, Leonie and Nick had their meeting with Hickok and Quigley. Leonie swept into the room in a sapphire blue silk suit and matching shoes, refused coffee and settled into the proffered chair as if she was doing them a favor to visit.
Nick, on the other hand, asked for a soft drink and then slumped in his seat.
To start things off, Margaret Hickok asked. “How’s your foot, Nick?”
Nick wasn’t expecting that. “Ankle, actually. Coming along fine, thanks. I’ve been off my crutches awhile now and recently shed the boot.”
“Good to hear,” Quigley, replied. “Although, one might suggest that your accident was, excuse the pun, a lucky break.”
“Lucky?” Nick replied, remembering all too well how he’d used that line on Reese when he’d tried to rationalize his actions in bringing her to the show.
“It forced the show into a different format and paired you temporarily with Chef Reese Dunbar, although we understand she’s no longer with the production.”
So much for the off chance these network bigwigs were unaware of Reese’s departure. Nick waited to hear how Leonie would skate over this one.
Leonie touched her diamond pendant. “That’s right. Ms. Dunbar helped us through a rough patch, but she soon discovered that being in front of the camera wasn’t her thing.”
“Really?” Hickok commented. “Judging from her independent piece on the Internet, I’d say being in front of the camera is exactly her niche. You have caught that short Internet video of her that recently went viral, haven’t you?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Yes, we’ve both seen it,” Nick put in. “She seems to have a real knack for comedy.”
Quigley leaned forward, tenting his hands. “That’s what we thought. And if we pick up your show, we want to be assured Reese Dunbar will be back on it full time as co-host.”
Nick stood. A second perfect opening. And this time, nothing was going to stop him. “Even if you could entice Reese into returning to the show, you’ve got another problem. Me.” He raced ahead before Leonie could stop him. “I can’t cook. Everything I’ve done on camera has been carefully rehearsed with my aunt in private before we taped.”
Hickok’s mouth opened. Quigley couldn’t respond either.
Nick responded for them. “This farce has gone on too long. You don’t want me under false pretenses. So let me make it easy for you. I’m no longer part of the deal. I’m quitting the show as of this moment.”
As he marched out the door, Leonie way behind him in his wake, he felt better than he had in days. His feet barely hit the carpet.
“Nick! Wait!” Leonie called, her progress impeded by her high heels. “Are you out of your mind?” she whispered when she caught up with him at the elevator. “You just spoiled the deal of the century.”
“They wanted Reese. She’s no longer part of the package. They wanted two
chefs
. Even if they can talk Reese into coming back, the lie can’t go on. So why continue the cat and mouse game with the network and everyone else?”
“They just
think
they want Reese Dunbar. I was about to change their minds, but you cut me short.”
“Maybe under other circumstances you could have sold them on you as host. But that Internet piece is fresh in their minds. All they can think of is Reese.” Hell, all he could think of was Reese.
Leonie continued to pout, her chin jutting out, lips pressed together, as the elevator descended to ground level. When they emerged onto the street, she grabbed his hand and pulled him off to a small alcove where there was less pedestrian traffic. “I can’t believe you’re doing this, Nick. I finally get the call I’ve been waiting for and you throw away the opportunity.”
Nick closed his eyes and drew in a breath. Reese, Dave and Jasper’s words ran through is head. “Does she own your soul forever?” “Don’t enable her to keep making the same mistake.” “Stand up to her.”
Rather than lash out at her and finally let her have it, though, he held his anger in check. Instead, he gently grabbed her forearms, leaned in and said, “Leonie, you know I love you. But you’ve got to get over this fixation on going network.”
Her eyes went wide and her hand pulled away, going for her neck. “What?”
“You had a very good life with your catering business until you decided you wanted to produce a television show. Since then, you’ve been so obsessed with making it a hit, that you’ve lost your perspective.”
“Of course, it’s the main focus of my life. But I haven’t lost my perspective.”
He continued to hold onto her, looking directly into her eyes. “You’ve turned me into someone I’m not and refused to let me live the life I want, thinking the network would notice the show through me.”
“And that’s just what happened, Nick. It was all there waiting for me to grab hold of today, and you chose that moment to walk out on me. You couldn’t have hurt me more if you’d thrust a carving knife in my chest.” Her eyes had gone greener with the mist of tears now filling them, and her voice had assumed a petulant tone.
She wasn’t going down without a fight. She’d resorted to her trademark tactics, guilt and tears. Despite her claim that he’d wounded her, he was going to have to thrust the so-called knife in deeper to get her attention.
“You, you, you. That’s not the woman who agreed to raise a little six-year-old all those years ago, even though she had no idea how to be a mother. That woman wouldn’t have made me put my life on hold and conned me into sticking around because she wanted to go network.”
His words made her stiffen and pull away from his hold. “I-I did this for you, Nick. I gave you a platform for your talent when that stupid cop show fired you.”
“I can’t deny that this cooking show came along when I needed to get back on my feet. But don’t put this on me. You wanted the show for you. I’m not sure why your catering business wasn’t enough, I can only guess that it may have had something to do with that rat Davenport and him having his own cooking show on the network.”
He saw her flinch as the words came out, but she quickly regained her composure as she stood a little straighter, sniffed, and looked away from him. “Where did you get such a ridiculous notion?” Though her voice held a haughty tone, her words came out tentatively. He’d struck a nerve.
“What’s
ridiculous
is your drive to go network. It only began to make sense to me when I realized that it must be your injured pride attempting to show that fool what he’d thrown away by competing with him on his own playing field.”
She continued to divert her gaze from his, but her hand once again went to her neck.
“I should have been telling you what a bad idea this was all along. Instead, I fought it subversively, even bringing in Reese as my replacement.”
“Replacement?”
“I got the insane notion that I could help us both by bringing her on board. Funny, huh? Instead, Reese’s presence sent you into a jealous rage.”
Leonie’s face had gone translucent under her perfectly applied make-up. A vein stood out on her slim neck. “I guess you meant well, even though that woman was not the answer.”
Nick surveyed the area around them. This discussion had gotten far too personal for others to overhear. But they were lucky. Passersby on the sidewalk in front of them were dashing by without a glance.
“Actually, Reese
was
the answer, whether you admit it or not. When she started co-hosting with me, I finally began to enjoy the role. She made doing the show fun.”
Leonie sniffed, as if holding off the tears. “Something I apparently was unable to do.”
“She treated me like an equal, Leonie. At least until she discovered I couldn’t cook.”
In the process of another sniff, Leonie stopped mid-way, jerking her head up. “How about that for shockers?” Nick threw at her. “You couldn’t scare her off, but all I had to do was lie, and she was out of there like a shot.”
“She knows?” Leonie repeated, her voice having gone soft.
“That’s why I told those network folks back there. Before Reese or somebody else tells them for us.”
“You did that to help me?”
He shut his eyes tight in frustration. Would she ever get it?
“No, dear aunt. If you benefit from my confession, fine. But I did it for me to salvage as much of my reputation as I’m able. Even though you’re the one who put me in this untenable position, I let you talk me into it. That ends now. I am no longer enabling you to pursue this unhealthy vendetta.”
She stared at him, a look of confusion in her eyes. “Vendetta?”
“Whatever demons have been driving you, your hurt or humiliation over being jilted for a younger woman or whatever, it’s time to get over them and move on. I meant what I said up there. I’m leaving. You want to co-host the show with someone else and convince the network you can replicate what Reese and I had, go right ahead. But you’re fooling yourself.” He broke contact with the restraining hand she’d laid on his arm and headed off.
“Nick! Nick, you can’t do this to me,” she called to his departing back.
Oh, yes I can
. He kept walking.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Seth called Jasper while he and Reese rode the train back to Connecticut. Reese wasn’t able to talk yet, plus she was worried about how Jasper would take the news. She’d let him and her whole family down. They’d only lost the momentum of one network’s interest in her project, but she was afraid the accompanying disappointment was going to sap everyone’s energy and spirit. Including hers.
Seth tried to hand her the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
She shook her head, but Seth persisted, so at length, she relented.
“Do you know how few people get the chance to pitch directly to the network’s head of programming?” Jasper asked.
“Very few, very lucky people. But I just couldn’t agree to go back to that show. I hope you understand.”
“More than anyone else, my dear. But before we let this opportunity slip away from us completely, would you consider returning if things were different?”
“What kinds of things?”
“How about more money, more program input, and no Leonie?”
“Perhaps. But there’d still be Nick. And his lies. Why are you even asking, Jasper? It’s not going to happen. Nick and I aren’t going to happen. Besides, now that I’ve envisioned the possibility of having my own show, I don’t want to compromise.”
Silence on the other end of the line. At least Jasper wasn’t trying to talk her out her plans. Finally, he said, “I want to check out a few ideas today. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
He rang off before she had a chance to ask for clarification.
The following day, Reese and her mother tested a new version of lasagna. The boys had taken off for various dates and ball practice. And Elliott was on the road.
“This is fun,” her mother said, stirring flour into the ricotta cheese. “Like old times.”
“Only now it’s my list of ingredients instead of yours.”
“Is it helping take your mind off…yesterday?”
She let her mother assume she was working her way through the disappointment over the network meeting the day before. Which might have been the case, except for the calls she’d received earlier that morning. So far, she hadn’t told anyone else about them. She wanted to savor the news on her own awhile longer.
She bit back the smile that kept covering her studied frown. Her life had taken yet another turn, and she hadn’t yet decided what to do about it. The phone rang just as Reese started layering the pasta, so her mother answered. When she returned, it was to announce that Jasper was on his way.
“He wasn’t ready to give up yesterday. Said he wanted to try out a couple other ideas. I hope he hasn’t put himself out too much.”
“We should have just enough time to finish this dish and get it in the oven,” her mother observed. “Why don’t you do that and I’ll get the living room ready.”
Reese was still cleaning up her mess when the doorbell rang. She quickly wiped off the kitchen counter, stuck the last of the dirty utensils in the dishwasher and hung up her apron while her mother went to greet their guest.
She stopped in her tracks when she walked into the living room and found not only Jasper but also Leonie and Nick talking with her mother.
Jasper gestured for her to come closer. “Have a seat, Reese.”
She didn’t move. Actually, she couldn’t move. “I didn’t realize.”
“That Leonie and I would be coming?” Nick finished for her. “Yeah, well, twenty-four hours ago, I wouldn’t have agreed to be here. But Jasper’s come up with an idea he wants to share with you and your family,” he nodded to her mother, “that I think you should hear.”
Reese’s mother, intent on playing hostess, offered a hand to Leonie. “Maureen Grandquist, Ms. McCutcheon. I’m Reese’s mother.”
Her friendliness overwhelmed Leonie enough to simply take her hand and shake it briefly. “Nice to meet you.”
“And you’re Nick, of course,” her mother said, moving on to him. “You’re even better looking in person.”
“Uh, thanks,” Nick said, straightening.
“That said,” Jasper began again, “will you hear us out, Reese?”
She still stood there attempting to take in the surreal scene and breathe normally. Seeing Nick again pelted her resolve. Why couldn’t things be different so she could run into his arms and kiss him senseless? Her body still hadn’t accepted the fact that it wasn’t going to be his arms any longer. Instead, heat was already permeating her neck and fingers and all parts south.
She thrust her nails into the palms of her hands to bring herself back to reality and deal with the present. Leonie and Nick looked out of place in her parents’ living room making nice with her mother. “I trust you, Jasper.” As she said that, she looked directly at Nick. “So I’ll listen.” She went to perch near her mother, her legs still leaden but at least moving.
Jasper bit a lip, then shot her a genuine smile. “Here’s my take. The network has told you, Leonie and Nick that they’re interested in the show only if you and Nick continue the same format. You told them no. Nick told them no. Leonie told them she didn’t want you. Meanwhile, there’s this video burning up the Internet—for a very brief window of time—that has the network licking its chops to cash in on it.”