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Tomorrow would come soon enough. Tomorrow, she’d compound her lies by wearing Evan’s ring in public.
* * *
Evan left Deke and Tiffany to a morning horseback ride under the capable care of a Big Blue ranch hand, while he headed into town. Angie’s decision to fly to the Cheyenne office had been unexpected and abrupt. Evan wasn’t a fool. If something wasn’t seriously wrong, she would have waited until after the wedding.
He still had plenty of people he could trust at Lassiter Media. He was going to sleuth around, see what he could find out. There were a lot of nuances and complexities to the expansion he’d managed while he was CEO. He hadn’t explained them to anyone, because he was ticked off when he left. But he didn’t want Angie walking into a hornet’s nest.
He parked the borrowed ranch pickup truck in the historic district, pocketing the keys in his blue jeans as he headed for the reception area of the red brick, six-story Lassiter Media building. In contrast to the exterior, the inside of Lassiter Media looked like it belonged in L.A., with chrome and glass, plenty of light and television screens showing the fare of the various Lassiter Media networks.
“Evan.” The receptionist greeted him with a wide smile.
Clarissa was in her mid-thirties, friendly and down to earth, and she had a knack for keeping the entire building organized. If Evan had stayed, he’d have made her his personal assistant in the Cheyenne office.
“Morning, Clarissa,” he offered as he approached the high counter.
“Are you looking for Angelica?” Clarissa gave him a wink. “I saw the rock was back on her finger.”
“It is,” Evan acknowledged. “But, no. I’m sure she has everything under control in the boardroom. I was wondering if Max was around.”
Clarissa picked up her phone and punched a few buttons. “He should be in his office. But if he’s not, I can page him. Will you be in town long?”
“Just a few days.” It was a guess on his part.
“Max?” she said into the receiver. “Evan’s here to see you.” She paused and a smile grew on her face. “Yes, that Evan. You didn’t see Angelica? The wedding’s back on.”
Evan kept a smile pasted on his face, knowing there’d be no stopping the gossip mill now. Next thing, there’d be speculation on a new wedding date.
“I know,” said Clarissa, nodding at whatever Max had said. “You want to go on up?” she asked Evan.
“I was thinking we’d step out for a coffee.”
“Can you come down?” she asked Max. “He wants to do coffee.” She paused again. “Okay.” Then she hung up the phone.
“He’s coming right down. We’ve missed you, boss.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
“Any chance you’ll come back?”
Evan shook his head. “That’s not in the cards. I’m working with a couple of old friends on some deals in L.A.”
“But you’ll visit Cheyenne. You’ll come to town when Angelica does.”
“I hope so.”
“When’s the wedding? It’ll be at Big Blue, right? I’m dusting off my dress and rewrapping the gift.”
Evan wished he could tell her to return the gift. He hoped she hadn’t spent much on it.
The elevator door whooshed open, and Max Truger appeared. Barely into his thirties, he was director of integrated content at LBS, but he generally had his finger on the pulse of Noah’s priorities in family programming.
“Welcome back,” Max said, reaching out to shake Evan’s hand.
“I’m not back. Not at Lassiter, anyway. Have time for coffee?”
“You bet.” Max turned to Clarissa. “Can you bump my ten o’clock?”
“Sure thing.”
“I don’t want to mess up your day,” said Evan.
“It’s an internal meeting. No problem.” Max turned for the door. “The Shorthorn Grill?”
“Sounds good.” Evan would enjoy the walk.
They exited through the wide front door, onto a sidewalk lined with well-preserved, historic buildings. The mid-morning traffic was light, but several pickup trucks sped by, along with a shiny, vintage red Cadillac that belonged to a famous local rancher.
“So, what’s going on?” asked Max, watching Evan with an astute expression. The two had worked closely together, and Max knew more than most about Evan’s relationship with Angie.
“I wanted to ask you the same question. Something up with Noah?”
“In what way?”
“He’s meeting with Angie?”
“You’re jealous of Noah? The man’s pushing sixty.”
“Of course not. What’s the matter with you?”
Max shrugged as he walked. “You’re the guy asking questions.”
“I got the impression something was off between them. A business something. Good grief, man. Jealous of Noah?”
This time Max grinned. “Well, we’re all getting used to having her at the helm. It’s funny. You moved into the big chair with barely a ripple whereas Angelica seems to be floundering.”
“Floundering how? She understands every facet of the organization.”
“I agree.”
“She was all but running it before J.D. died She’s smart. She’s prepared. You all know she has J.D.’s blessing.”
Max was quiet for a moment as they crossed an intersection. “Maybe it’s the way she got here.”
“You mean the way she tried to fight the will and teamed up with Jack Reed.”
“I suppose. Or maybe we just geared up to follow you, and then bam, the world changed around us, and now we’re all scrambling.”
“She’s going to do a great job,” said Evan.
“I know she will. I have faith in her. But leadership’s a tricky thing.”
“How do you mean?”
They rounded a corner, making their way past one of the colorful eight-foot-tall cowboy-boot sculptures that dotted the city.
“When she seems to be going off in a risky direction, I’m not sure some of the older guys want to follow.” Max held up his palms. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m the integrated media guy. I’m all for going off in new directions.”
“What do you mean, risky?” This was certainly news to Evan. Angie was stubborn, sure. But Lassiter Media was her life. He couldn’t imagine she’d take risks with it.
“I’m talking about commissioning programming from non-Lassiter producers.”
“You mean Conrad Norville?”
“According to Noah, it started with Conrad Norville, but now she’s talking about making American versions of the top-rated affiliate programs.”
Evan gave a laugh of comprehension. “She’s eroding the powerbase of the existing Lassiter producers.”
“And funding their competition. Like I said, I’m all for taking new directions. Heck, I think we should do a web-only series next summer. There’s nobody internal who can produce that, so I’d be looking outside. But she’s stepped into a minefield. Noah’s not the only one who’ll fight her.”
“Who’s on her side?”
“You mean, besides the British and Australian affiliates who’ll get the licensing fees?”
“Yes. I mean, who’s on her side in America.”
“Me. And I assume, you? And, why haven’t you guys talked about this?”
“I don’t work at Lassiter anymore.”
“But you’re marrying the woman. Warn her. And why are you coming to me to—?” Max stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to face Evan. “How is it that you don’t know about this?”
Evan considered lying. Then he considered telling the truth. Neither was a realistic option. “It’s complicated.”
“Yeah. You said that. Complicated how?”
“You know what the family’s been through.”
Max thought for a moment. “But you’re engaged again.”
“She took back my ring.”
“Have you set a date?”
“No.”
Max watched Evan closely. “Is it better if I don’t ask questions?”
“Yes.”
Max gave a sharp nod. “I’m on her side, Evan. But I’m a director, and they’re vice presidents.”
“So, she’s stepped into a hornet’s nest?”
“Worse than that. She’s busy breeding the hornets.”
Seven
Angelica’s day had been mentally exhausting. It was going to be harder than she’d expected to get the vice presidents on board. She could order them to commission non-Lassiter content, but that approach would be doomed to failure. It was hard enough to develop a successful television series, without having senior executives going reluctantly or half-heartedly into the effort.
It was dark when she parked her car in front of the house at Big Blue. She’d managed to put Evan out of her mind for most of the day. But now that she was home, memories of him were back, full blown in her mind.
She gripped the steering wheel for a long minute, willing away the sound of his voice, the tingle of his touch, the scent of his skin. They’d given into temptation last night, and she regretted it.
Though, in the light of day, she had realized the slipup was probably natural. Their relationship had ended so abruptly that there were bound to be lingering sexual urges. But that was all it had been. And it left her feeling hollow.
