Page 70 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘I’m happy for you, Beck. You deserve some good in your life after all the shit you’ve been through, but Brinkley is important if we want to keep the agency going.’

He paused and I didn’t like the dark look that crossed his face.

‘I got a phone call today from an old friend who recently left Mercury Advertising in Knoxville. He told me they’re also pitching a jingle to Brinkley.’

‘Fuck.’ I tore my hands through my hair. ‘This can’t be happening. That was our ace in the hole.’

His mouth went grim. ‘You know the stakes. If we can’t bring in this account, things will have to change. Do you get what I’m saying?’

Get my head screwed on straight or our partnership was in jeopardy.

‘This will be the best pitch Teddy Ray has ever seen. We’ll add a new idea. I just need time to go back through the research again.’

‘That’s what I like to hear. After we get this account, you’ll have plenty of time for your girl. Hell, I’ll even give you a vacation so you can spend as much time with her and the house as you need.’

The house. My head spun and I grabbed the Brinkley file off my desk.

I thumbed through the pages and pulled out a single sheet of paper and handed it to Pete. It was a newspaper article from last year heralding how Brinkley had taken a condemned building in a small town in southern Mississippi and turned it into one of their highest-earning restaurants.

‘What if I ask Torran if there’s a property available in Ivy Falls that we could pitch to Teddy Ray? Even get her to draw up a preliminary design?’

Pete paused. Tented his hands in front of him. He looked at the article and then back at me. ‘I think it’s a good idea. Talk to her and see what she says.’

That pool of dread in my stomach began to subside. ‘If she agrees, we can sweeten the idea by telling Teddy Ray about the show being filmed for Hearth and Home. How it could bring more visibility to the Brinkley brand.’

‘But didn’t you say it was a pilot? Don’t those things need approval before being picked up?’

‘You don’t know Torran and her partner, Manny. They are incredible at what they do. The show is definitely getting picked up.’

‘Good.’ He moved to the doorway and then turned to look at me. ‘You’ve always worked your ass off, Beck. But there’s a time for work and a time for play. You need both if you’re going to have a decent life.’ He scrubbed a hand over the dark whiskers on his chin. ‘I’ve spent way too much time chasing the next career goal. Thinking I needed to be richer. More accomplished. It’s gotten me a nice ride and a decent house, but a lot of ex-girlfriends. Be smart. Don’t screw things up the way I have. You’ll regret it.’

Every once in a while I’d catch Pete in a quiet moment staring at the family photos on our art director’s desk. A sad smile lifting his lips when the head account executive’s kids came in to join her for lunch. He’d told me about his rough childhood with his single mom and brother, but he’d never outright said he’d wanted a family. But now, watching the steady line of his shoulders fall, it was clear he’d been hiding a lot behind his steely façade.

He walked out the door with little Bogie trotting behind him.

All the air went out of my lungs as I crashed into my chair.

I did need balance and that would come after we scored the Brinkley account. The key was convincing Torran and Manny that this would be good for their business. It could also prove to Torran that I was serious about earning back her trust. That no matter how slow she wanted to take things between us, I was never leaving her side again.

Chapter Thirty

TORRAN

Me and Paint, We’re Practically Synonymous These Days.

Piper jerked the paint roller over her head in short, rough strokes. ‘Am I doing this right?’

‘Here, let me help.’ I guided her roller up and down in long swaths. ‘If you want to get the color on evenly, you need to drag the roller from ceiling to floor. It takes a little bit longer but the color goes on better if you use this approach.’

Piper’s shoulders shifted up and down underneath her black tank top. She was painfully thin, but color flushed her cheeks and a wide smile lifted her lips. There’d been a few wobbly moments over the last week, but her eyes were clear and her attention to detail was painfully accurate.

When the camera crew arrived yesterday, she stood back and watched with intensity. During a break she asked Maggie, our gaffer, about the lighting set up in one of the bedrooms. How she lit the shots in the kitchen as we loaded in the appliances and then the custom quartz countertops.

Today the crew spent most of the day trailing me as I discussed how I was using a bone-colored paint to add more light to the house. How one wall in the dining room was getting an antique wallpaper with a deep rust and sage green floral pattern that would become the focal point of the space. In between painting breaks, Piper snuck out of the room to watch the crew film each portion of the slowly transforming house.

‘Tell me about the audition in New York,’ I said, picking up a roller and going to work beside her.

‘It’s for a small part on a soap opera. My agent says if I do a good job it could become a recurring role.’