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"She would have worked this hard on the project anyway." He wiped away the sweat on his brow. Definitely panic this time.
"Exactly. You didn't have to manipulate her to get her effort."
"I didn't manipulate her, I tweaked the situation." Jake couldn't help the defenses that flew from his lips, even as he knew he was the one in the wrong. Had anyone ever called him to account like this? Certainly his own mother hadn't, and no nanny had cared enough to try. It was damn uncomfortable, but he was also strangely touched that Jo was taking the time. It felt like something family would do, and his goals got even cloudier.
"Don't you try semantics with me, young man. I know bullshit when I smell it. Imagine how it feels to know that a person you've worked with has been scheming behind your back the entire time, knowing it could ruin your career and your financial stability. Now imagine how much worse that is coming from someone you're in a relationship with. You should have told her before you slept with her."
Heat flashed to his cheeks and he burned with mortification. Had Frankie told her mom they’d had sex? Was he blushing?Jesus. He ran a hand over his mouth, his beard rasping in the sudden silence. He glanced around then, grateful that most of the crew had taken refuge inside where it was air-conditioned. There was no one but Jo to witness his embarrassment. “I, uh, I didn’t mean to—”
Jo silenced him with a mom glare. Jake decided to shut up.
“Don’t finish that sentence. I hope you meant to, and I hope you treated her with respect. If you haven’t, you need to fix that.”
“How do I fix it if she won’t talk to me?”
"Well for starters you could apologize. And I don't mean this rambling defense of inexcusable behavior that you've just trotted out for me. I hope you've gotten that out of your system, so you don't spew that crap at her. The best apology is only three words long, but you have to mean them. I. Am. Sorry." Jo ticked off the words on her fingers. “Next, you need to back those words up with actions. She needs to see that she can trust you again. And it won't happen overnight. But I happen to know my daughter is pretty special. She is worth the work and the wait.”
Jake nodded and let those words roll around in his head, like the child's puzzle game with the silver balls. He tried to get his thoughts and dreams and plans to settle into those small, precarious holes, while Jo cracked open a soda. If he could hold his past, present, and future just right, he might still manage to win.
This woman who'd just read him the riot act was Frankie's role model. She might think she was more like her father, but Jake could see Jo in the way Frankie didn't back down and met every problem head-on. And Jo cared enough about the people in her life to have the difficult conversations that made things better. Frankie would be used to that. How on earth was he going to convince her to have one of those conversations with him? How could he show her he was sorry?
Jo pulled him from his musings with a firm grip on his shoulder. She stood in front of him now, and he met her eyes through his regret. The compassion he found there almost buckled his knees.
"In spite of all this, I think you could be good for each other. Play it straight, Jake. Apologize for what you did wrong, acknowledge your fault, and tell her how you'll change. That's what you do when you love someone."
He nodded, but his heart stuttered over that word.Love.Love? Did he love her? How could he know? He’d had precious little of that over the course of his life to compare this feeling to. He didn’t readily recognize the signs. He did know he’d never cared this much about another person’s reaction before. He needed to get himself straight before he tried again.
Frankie had told him to leave. He would do that, honor her wishes, and figure out how the hell to fix this. He lifted his head to thank Jo, but she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her gaze had shifted over his shoulder and softened.
"Ryland! We need to have a talk."
Dom. Great.He braced himself for more parental condemnation, but Jo surprised him.
"Dom, don't beat the boy up. He knows what he did is wrong and he's going to fix it."
Dom pulled up short, confused. "But…but… Did you know about the…?"
"Double pilot? Yep." Jo linked her arm through Dom's elbow and turned him away. "Come walk with me through the vines, Dom. I need to talk to you." Dom was still blustering, but he allowed her to lead him toward the gravel drive. She called back to Jake as they were about to turn the corner. "Don't mess this up, Ryland. I like having you around."
Her approval rested warm in his chest as he gathered his things and left.
* * *
Jake returnedto set Wednesday morning, no clearer on how to fix things but willing to try. After an enforced afternoon off, he was at least well rested and ready to get back to work on making the show a success. The best thing he could do right now was make an excellent show that proved Frankie's suspicions wrong.
He walked into the empty production trailer.
Maybe he could show her more footage. Surely then she could see that all of his maneuvering was for the good of the show. He hadn’t done anything she couldn’t handle. Hell, the fact that she was such a professional at handling these crises was going to work in their favor.
It was just business. Some shows needed more external molding than others. Maybe he could show her the story maps he used for each show. If anyone should understand the concept of following a blueprint, it should be Frankie! He usually kept his work close to the vest to maintain the aura of reality for the talent. But Frankie was more than that. He wanted her to be more than that. Maybe he could let her behind the curtain. Maybe he didn't have to be the man pulling levers all alone.
Rising from his desk with his still full mug of coffee gone cold, he went to find her. Maybe he could talk to her about his remaining planned conflict points for the final episode. Could she fake frustration? He had to try something. He couldn't lose her.
He strode past craft services, forgetting his excuse of a refill, and headed straight for the last spot on the filming schedule, the back bathroom, site of the tile massacre. On the way he pulled up the tile guy on his phone and called.
“Hi, Bill. It’s Jake on the Valenti project. I wanted to check the status of those replacement tiles.”
“Um, I’m not at liberty to give you that information.”
