I squinted at him. His hair was too perfect tonight, slicked back like a Ken doll. “Why haven’t you said anything?”
He shrugged and looked off into the distance, adjusting his cuff links. “Romance. Touchy subject. Not my territory.”
I ignored the stupid take. “Tell me what you know, or I will kill you right here.”
He sighed. “The show is called The Secret Sauce, and it’s a local take on food and wine and shit. Carrie’s hosting and acts as a tour guide. They shot the pilot this weekend at that new seafood restaurant, The Ark. Something like that.”
“You know a lot.”
“I pay attention when people talk.”
Interesting that they’d strategically not been talking around me. I felt myself get excited and then shut it the hell down. Even if Carrie was back in town, so what? It didn’t necessarily mean that she was back for any reason other than she didn’t like the weather up there. No. I would not let this affect me the way it had the potential to. I also needed to prepare myself for the very real possibility that she was dating. She had every right to be. Did I drive by that billboard one more time on my way home? Maybe it was twice. But I had time to spare, and it meant nothing. She did look beautiful up there, though. Her hair was a lot more like her everyday look, different from her news hairstyles, softer with the wavy curls I knew were natural. Pretty.
My phone hadn’t so much as pinged with a text from her, though, so there was really nothing for me to battle anyway. It was up to me to just live my life and remember to breathe. That’s all I had to do.
* * *
It got harder when, like a ghost, Caroline McNamara walked through our newsroom that following Thursday, causing my world to skid to a stop like a needle on a scratched record. My lips parted as I watched her walk down the hallway across from my desk. What in the hell was happening?
I didn’t delay. “What the hell is happening?” I asked Carlos, spinning around in my chair to face his desk, three over.
He followed my gaze and his eyebrows shot up. “Oh, right, right. Her new food show is partnering with our parent company. An offshoot.”
“Get out. Sylvan is a producer?”
“That’s what I heard. That gives them access to resources here. My guess is they’re shooting some sort of promo spot this afternoon.”
Hence her presence, which was clearly felt by all. There were waves, hugs, excited exclamations. I stood as she approached my desk wearing white pants and a white denim jacket over a strappy pink top. Whoever had styled her for the shoot had hit it out of the park.
“Hey, Skyler,” she said. I easily picked up on her trepidation. Couldn’t blame her.
I smiled warmly to let her know I was fine with her presence. No big deal. Just Thursday. A Thursday that turned my world on its head. “I heard someone has a new show.”
She nodded. “I imagine that’s unexpected, huh?”
“You could say that.” It was the most conservative answer I could come up with.
“Hey, Carrie. We’re ready for you.” It was that Sherry woman, one of the producers.
Carrie glanced over her shoulder. “I better go.”
As she turned, I had to ask. “Um, who’s anchoring the Seattle news tonight?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Got me. My last day was Friday.”
“How?” It wasn’t my most eloquent of sentences. I’d have to work on my prose.
“I had a sixty-day opt out written into my contract. No questions asked. And I exercised it.” A pause. “The bigger question is why.”
“Okay. Why?”
“You,” she said simply, with the softest smile ever. Everything in me went still.
“Carrie, you ready?” Sherry asked.
She snapped out of it, widening her eyes. “Yes, coming. Bye, Skyler.” And she was off, stalking away briskly, leaving me stunned and at a loss.
Huh.
Maybe she wasn’t dating anyone after all. And what was I supposed to do with this exactly?
“What in the world just happened there?” Carlos asked, sidling up next to me with his hands in his pockets.
“You saw that, too, huh?” My gaze was still trained on the hallway.
“Everyone saw it.”
I looked around the normally bustling newsroom that had gone noticeably quiet. Lots of eyes were trained directly on me. I offered them a shoo sign. “Nothing to see here, folks.”
Mila raised an eyebrow at me in amused challenge and answered her phone. Devante whistled his way back to his office, and Kristin smothered a smile as she approached my desk.
“Want to go over the running order?”
“I do.”
And just like that, I went back to work. But the ground beneath my feet felt changed with Carrie in town. The sun landed differently on my skin. At first, I found it all a little exhilarating, but that quickly shifted to annoyance at her ability to waltz in and out of my orbit whenever she wanted and still have a noticeable effect. In my mind, she didn’t deserve that kind of power, and I wanted to snatch it away. In fact, I would.
“Oh, I saw a billboard of your girlfr—I mean, Carrie,” Grace said. “From the news.” I’d come over for dinner, and Grace, who was supposed to be heading out for a date with Bobby, had announced she’d be joining us for cheeseburgers and truffle fries instead.
“I know. I saw it, too.” I shrugged. “Apparently, she’s back in town to host a new show. No big deal.”
I saw Emory and Sarah exchange a glance over the sizzling pan. I planned to call them on it later. Assure them that I was steady on my feet.
“That’s so great. Do you think you’ll get back together?” Grace asked unabashedly.
I stared at her, forgetting momentarily the ask-you-anything quality of teenagers. “No. I don’t think that’s very likely.”
“Oh.” She seemed confused. “Really? Why? I thought it was a geography issue or something.”
“Yes, but it goes a little deeper.” I decided to change the subject. “Anyway, what happened to your date?”
With a tilt of her head, she signaled me to follow her, likely out of earshot of the moms. Once we were a safe distance away on the couch, she leveled with me in a quiet voice. “Bobby and I had a fight. It’s prob over between us. It’s whatever.”
“Oh no. Why? What was the fight about?”
“They got all weird when I mentioned that my feelings were getting stronger.”