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She glanced at her watch. “I have to go. I have an interview coming up in a few days, and I should probably get my head in the right frame of mind.”
She rose and he followed her to the door. “Thank you for coming, sweetie. It was so wonderful seeing you.”
“It was nice seeing you too.”
She gave him a quick hug and left. The next few days were going to determine the course of her life, good or bad.
ChapterForty-Three
Grady’s last obligation to Reese was to attend the interview with her. It was the first time she’d seen him since their bust-up at his condo. They’d decided to meet at the TV studio, and when she saw him talking to John and Marnie, her heart skipped. She missed him so damn much, but she had to wait for her moment to talk to him.
“Great, you’re here,” John said. “They are going to get you into makeup, then we’ll chat one last time. No pressure, but this is a live interview. Just remember what we did in prep, and you’ll be fine.”
She wanted to talk to Grady, but the crew led her away. While she sat in the makeup chair, she rehearsed her answers, trying to stay calm. This was her last shot at redemption, especially with Semple’s final piece coming out the next day. She needed to nail the interview, and if that wasn’t bad enough, she needed to make amends with Grady too.
“All done here. Good luck,” the makeup artist said without much enthusiasm.
Reese was taken back the studio area where she met up with John and Marnie. Grady was gone.
“Where’s Grady?”
“He said he needed to step out. He should be back shortly.”
She tried to keep her nerves in check. The interview was a ten-minute segment, short for what she needed to say, but it would have to do. She was going to be on the most-watched afternoon talk show in the country, and while the visibility would be good, she couldn’t mess up. And wondering where Grady had gone and if he would be back was messing her up. A lot.
The show’s producer came out to give Reese information on camera placement, where she would sit, how long the segment would go, and then asked her if she had any questions. She didn’t. He then led her to her seat onstage. Within minutes, Kasey Belmont took the stage, too, and shook Reese’s hand.
“Pleasure to have you here. Thanks for agreeing to do the interview.”
The producer gave them both last-minute details, and while Reese was listening, she glanced around to see if Grady had resurfaced. Relief swept over her when she saw him standing next to John and looking her way; but he didn’t smile, and her heart ached.
Reese took a breath, and the interview began. Kasey started by thanking Reese, and after a quick salutation, she jumped right in.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a few months for you, hasn’t it,” Kasey said.
“You can say that again,” Reese said with a soft smile. She’d been warned not to look smug.
“Let’s dive right in. The texts. The emails. What was going on?”
“Yeah, that was a dark time for me. I was at an age when hormones are raging, and you’re trying to find yourself in the world, and I had a bully. The attacks on me were relentless. I know the texts and emails I sent look bad. I said some truly horrible things to Jen. But Kasey, if I could take it all back, I would in a heartbeat. Fifteen-year-old me and the person I am today are two different people. I’ve grown up a lot. I would never say or do anything like that now. I know I hurt Jennifer’s feelings, and I apologize for that. I was insensitive and unkind. It was wrong.”
“Ms. Brennan has claimed you had her kicked off the national team.”
“No. I had no power over any decisions made by the team. At the time, Cam and I weren’t even the top pairs team in the country. And Jennifer skated singles. I didn’t even know she had quit the national team until I stopped seeing her around the rink.”
“What do you say to her claims that you had a hand in her skating academy being unsuccessful?”
“I’d heard about her skating academy, but I had no idea if it was going well or not. I haven’t seen Jen since she left our program ten years ago. Our lives have gone in different directions. I’ve been focused on my athletic-wear brand and life after skating.”
“You say you’ve grown up a lot since then. How do you respond to the apology call you made?”
Reese groaned. “That was definitely not a great moment for me. My business was in trouble, I’d broken up with my boyfriend, and I was frustrated that people weren’t seeing the full picture. I know that sounds like a lot of excuses, but the stress was overwhelming. I hadn’t been able to produce my evidence at that point, so when the conversation veered off, I tried to defend myself, and I did it poorly. And I’m not here to attack Jen or question her motives. If she believes something to be true, who am I to say she’s wrong?”
“You mention the end of a relationship. It wasn’t long after that when you began dating Grady Radcliffe. I’m sure you’re aware of theLowdownblog?”
“I am.”
“The blog suggested that you and Grady were faking the relationship to help you both rehabilitate your images.”
