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“True,” Amy said. “It’s gotten out of hand.”
“But I don’t want to cause suffering,” Eleanor said. “I don’t want my heart hardened by hatred. I want to love and I want to spread goodness. I want to make the world a better place, not add to the misery. There’s enough misery as it is. I want to help my fellow humans.”
Sarah smiled proudly at her. “And that’s why Joseph loves you. Because he’s the same. Right, Amy?”
“Absolutely. You’re incredible. And he knows it.”
Eleanor felt her spirits soar. “Thank you. I like him, too. Under all that cocky charm.”
Sarah sipped her wine. “So what’s your plan to bring down Blair Robertson?”
Eleanor laughed at the prospect. “Oh god… I said that, didn’t I? I wonder if I’m really the woman for this job.”
“You’re the perfect woman for the job,” Sarah said. “We’re all able to do things we never expected when we have a little faith in ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes you need to go through those things in order to discover how strong you really are.”
“Yeah,” Amy said. She smiled pensively. “We’re all a work-in-progress, huh?”
The women exchanged tender smiles between them, and Eleanor suddenly realised that she could get along with small groups of women after all. There was no need to allow those girls from her past to dictate her future. She grinned at her new friends as the emotion from today welled up. She swallowed, but she was unable to stop the tears as they burst into the world, and she started to bawl her eyes out.
Sarah and Amy leapt up in a pincer movement, each sitting one on side of her. They wrapped their arms around her and hugged her until the tears were all cried out. Her throat trembled with a whimper, and she laughed, feeling purged. Her restrictive walls crumbled and her heart filled with gooey affection.
“Thank you,” she said with a shudder. “You don’t know how much your kindness means to me. It makes me want to be kind, too. So that’s what I’m going to do. But first, I have a news conglomerate to take down. So I guess I’d better get an early night!”
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning Eleanor woke up early in Joseph’s arms and dragged herself under the shower. It was still dark outside, and she felt half-dead, but it was toasty in Joseph’s apartment and she was glowing inside with love and excitement. Joseph made them a breakfast of waffles, bacon, and maple syrup to prepare them for their adventure to Nebraska, then he called his bandmates and told them he wouldn’t be coming to the studio today.
They held hands in the back of the cab as it took them to the airfield where Adam’s private jet was ready to fly to Omaha airport. It was so different to being at a regular airport where the public were shunted around like cattle. Here Eleanor was treated like a princess by the over-attentive ground staff who insisted on carrying her laptop bag and helping her ascend the wheeled staircase – which was manoeuvred next to the jet’s cabin-door on the back of a truck. Matthew was wealthy and well-connected, but she’d never experienced anything like this before.
She’d flown many times in a regular airplane, but the inside of the private jet was something else. Instead of the usual rows of seats, it was like a flying five-star hotel room, complete with luxury couches, a drinks cabinet, and even a king-sized bed. The thick carpet and arty wall décor seemed brand new, as if the interior had recently been given a refurbishment. Eleanor sank into a soft velvet couch and realised that Adam could probably afford to refurbish as often as he wanted: he was clearly a very wealthy man. And Joseph would be too, as soon as his royalty payments started to come through. He’d be set up for life. Somehow this realisation scared her. She didn’t want him for his money; she wanted him for his charms, his affection… for the fun they had together.
Joseph sat down next to her and she snuggled into his arms. Eleanor had always wanted to join the mile high club, and hopefully she would on the journey home. But for now, there was a lot at stake in Nebraska. Saving Ivan’s reputation was clearly Joseph’s motivation, but Eleanor’s mind was fixed on the bigger prize – bringing down News Scape from within.
Three hours after they’d taken off, they touched down in Omaha, and climbed into a taxi to take them to Weeping Waters. Omaha itself was much more hilly than Eleanor was expecting, but as the taxi took them out of the city, the wide road opened out ahead and the landscape transformed into the sweeping flat vistas of cornfields and scrublands that Eleanor associated with Nebraska. The fields seemed to roll all the way to the horizon on both sides, and the term ‘wild frontier’ sprang to mind. It was so different to New York. At one point during their journey, the driver had to negotiate around a herd of bulls coming along the road in the opposite direction. A couple of cowboys on buggies were guiding them, and the driver explained this was perfectly normal in these parts.
It was a cold day out here in the sticks, and the frost clung to the trees even at noon, making it look like a Christmas card. The beauty was breathtaking.
“I never realised winter could be so pretty,” Eleanor whispered.
Joseph squeezed her hand affectionately. “You’re not a huge winter fan, are you?”
She chuckled. “I definitely prefer the beach.”
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“Well, when this is all over, I’ll take you to our own private island. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.”
“As for me – I don’t care what season it is. As long as I’m with you… you make the sun come out.”
She grinned with joy. The gently flowing landscape was easy on the eye and it made her feel wide and open; as if she was part of the beauty of nature all around her. She felt relaxed and ‘at one’, as her tension and stress started to unwind. She turned to gaze into Joseph’s eyes, and they smiled at each other with affection.
The taxi pulled up outside Bob Crowe’s farm. It was a wooden colonial-style farmhouse, probably built a hundred years ago, and it looked peaceful and serene. It had been recently painted a warm olive green, and – as Eleanor made her way with Joseph up the long driveway – she saw that there was a porch with a swing chair, a Juliet balcony, and shutters for the windows. It was like stepping back in time, to an era before cars and skyscrapers. Eleanor realised the house was set in acres of lush green grass surrounded by trees. She imagined there would be a horse paddock out back.
Joseph knocked on the wooden door and they exchanged a look of anticipation, listening as the sweet sound of birdsong encircled them. There didn’t seem to be many cars passing through this way, which made it very peaceful, but also eerily secluded – depending on how you looked at it. After a few tense moments, the door was eased open and Bob Crowe peered out. He looked tired and weary. He was reasonably attractive, with receding brown hair and lines on his round face that gave away how hard he’d worked. Or possibly how hard life in prison had been. His nose seemed slightly too big for his face, but his smile was warm and welcoming. He was dressed in jeans and a padded lumberjack shirt, which made him look more relaxed than when he’d been pointing a gun at Blair Robertson – and at Eleanor. He suspiciously inspected the strangers at his door.
“You?” he whispered, as realisation dawned.
