The Price of Fame - KJ1 (17 page)

“Uh-huh.” Kate rolled her eyes at Jay’s sarcasm. “In that case, smarty pants, you can be the one to play with him, I’ll just come along for the entertainment.”

Fred led the way to the atrium door that opened onto a two-tiered wooden deck. In front of the deck was an expanse of lawn that stretched nearly as far as a major league baseball park; the entire thing was fenced in with privacy fencing. “My God, Kate, I didn’t notice this before. It’s incredible, it’s so big.”

“Coming from someone who lives in the middle of the city where there are no lawns, and who grew up in the desert, I suppose I should take that with a grain of salt.”

Jay bumped her with her hip. Fred, meanwhile, was waiting none too patiently, pacing back and forth in front of the pair, and eagerly pointing his nose to the spot where he had dropped the ball at their feet. His mistress made the first throw most of the way to the back fence, while moving to step off the deck onto the lawn.

“Nice arm, there, ace. So, from this I take it she not only plays tennis, but she plays softball, too.”

“Oh, brilliant deduction, my dear Watson,” Kate intoned in an awful British accent, adding, “the governor always tells me I’m the best left-handed shortstop he’s ever seen. I always answer that I’m the
only
left-handed shortstop he’s ever seen.”

“You know the governor that well?”

“We’ve had some ‘friendly’ games of basketball in his driveway and we’ve played softball on opposite teams. And occasionally we have some fascinating conversations about politics and religion. He’s a very bright guy, very interesting to debate.”

By this time Jay’s mouth was hanging open. “Kate, you knew I was writing an in-depth piece on him. Why didn’t you tell me you knew him so well and share your insight?”

Kate shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t want to influence you in any way.

Like I told you before, I love your work.” At this she looked directly into the emerald depths. “I thought your piece would be better if you had a chance to make your own judgments.” More quietly, she finished, “You didn’t need me to write a great story; I can’t wait to read it.”

Jay’s face blushed an appealing shade of pink at the compliment. At that moment, 73 pounds of furball was headed directly for her at a dead run. Her eyes opened wide.

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Kate laughed, “Um, Jay, you’d better spread your legs in a hurry.”

That earned her a fully raised eyebrow, but the younger woman complied, which was a good thing, because right about then Fred flew into the space she had made for him, his tail wagging vigorously.

Still chuckling, Kate instructed, “If you scratch his haunches, he’ll march in place for you, it’s his favorite thing to do.” And sure enough, Fred was true to form.

“All we need now is a John Philip Sousa march,” Jay muttered under her breath, laughing at the dog’s antics. He finished going all the way through her legs then, and came back around, depositing the ball at her feet and staring at it. Reaching down, she grabbed the soggy sphere, and launched it almost as far as his mistress had before her.

“Ah, a fellow ball player, I do believe.”

“Mmm-hmm, I play in a league in Central Park in the summer.”

“What position do you play? No, wait, let me guess.” She pretended to size her friend up. “I’m fairly confident that it’s not first base.”

“Wise ass.”

“So I’m told. Let’s see,” Kate scratched her chin. “You look quick enough to be an outfielder.”

“Nope.” Jay was enjoying the flustered look on her friend’s face.

“No?”

“Right.”

“Hmm, well, you’ve obviously got a good arm; third base?”

Jay made a sound like a buzzer. “Oh for two there, Stretch.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t play the outfield and you don’t play first or third.” She looked at her companion sideways. “Are you sure?”

The emerald eyes sparkled with amusement. “Positive. You’ll never get it, woman, so why don’t you just give up?”

“No, no, one more shot, I still have one strike coming to me. You play shortstop, too?”

“Ooh, I’m sorry, you lose!” But she didn’t sound sorry at all.

“Well,” Kate said exasperatedly, “aren’t you going to tell me?”

“Oh, okay, since you can’t seem to figure it out yourself...I’m a catcher.” Jay looked up guilelessly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, at your size?”

“Yes.” Jay straightened up to appear as big as possible. “Size isn’t everything, you know, you’ve never seen me block the plate!”

“That, I’d love to see.”

“You’re on, wise ass; this summer.” As the words escaped her lips, Jay realized she had just assumed that the two of them would have an ongoing relationship.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when Kate said,

“I can’t wait.”

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Making their way back into the house, Kate asked her guest whether she wanted to shower before or after breakfast.

“I’m famished, if you can stand the smell of me a little longer, I’d opt for food before cleanliness.”

“You’re on. What do you say to the house special: cinnamon French toast and a side of bacon.”

“I’d say it sounds like Heaven.”

“Coming right up.”

After a few minutes during which the hostess concentrated on mixing up the batter and starting the bacon to cook, Jay spoke. “Kate, I know it’s none of my business, but I’m worried about your safety. And before you say anything, I’m willing to bet that he isn’t the first nutcase to bother you.”

Kate was about to give a glib reply when she snuck a peek at her friend’s face. Jay seemed disturbed. For some reason, Kate didn’t want to be the source of even the slightest worry for her. “I tell you what,” she said at length. “I’ll give my friend Peter a call right now, he’s a security expert. He’s been bugging me for a while now to install a state-of-the-art security system here at the house. I’ll let him come over today and go to town, if he has the time and the inclination. Okay?”

“Yeah.” Jay brightened perceptibly.

In truth, her lack of security had been the cause of one of the only fights Kate and Peter had ever had. He was appalled that she wouldn’t take him up on his offer to put in a motion-sensitive detection system that he had specially designed. As recognizable as she was, she was a sitting target for just about any fanatic with the will to find her. She had always rejected his offer, not wanting to admit that she might be vulnerable.

After that morning it would be hard to argue that he hadn’t been right; she had just been kidding herself. Still, she might not have given in except for the fact that she wanted to make sure that Jay would be safe in her house. That was enough to make her pick up the phone.

The two women were showered, dressed, and on their way to the station to pick up Gene, Phil, and the station car with the equipment.

They had a bunch more interviews lined up for late that morning and early that afternoon before Kate had to be in the newsroom to get ready for the 6:00 broadcast.

Into the comfortable silence, Jay said, “I’m glad your friend agreed to come over to put in the system today; I don’t want to have to worry about you. Not that installing security in your home will prevent everything, but at least it will cut down on the chances of something terrible happening.”

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“If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Jay looked over to see if she was being tweaked, but the blue of her companion’s eyes revealed only sincerity. She smiled in return.

“By the way, if it’s okay with you, I told Peter that in return for doing the work today, we would take him out to dinner on my break tonight. I really want you to meet him; he’s a neat guy and one of my best friends. I trust him with my life. If I were ever in trouble, he’s the man I’d call.”

“I can’t wait to meet him.” Jay had the distinct feeling that her friend didn’t bestow her trust lightly; she was curious about the kind of man that could inspire that feeling in Kate.

The day had been flying by. The anchorwoman and her crew had conducted six more interviews by the time 3:00 rolled around, and the still photographer for
Time
had shown up in time to take some pictures of the last interview. At the moment they were all headed back to the station—the writer so that she could conduct some interviews of her subject’s colleagues, and Kate so that she could prepare for the 6:00

newscast. The next day, she explained to Jay, she would attend the funeral of the little boy who had passed away Monday, and then spend the bulk of the day in the editing booth, putting together the special that would air Thursday night in prime time.

The news director had agreed to allow the
Time
photographer to take pictures of Kate on the set during the early newscast, provided the shots included the station logo in the background, of course. He also snapped some film of her in an editing booth, pointing out some footage on the screen to an editor that she wanted included in one of her stories.

As soon as Kate stepped off the set following “the six,” as they called it, she collected Jay and pushed her out the side door to the parking lot.

“C’mon, Scoop, or we’ll be late for our dinner date.”

“Scoop? Did you just call me Scoop? Nobody calls me Scoop,” the small blonde mock-growled as she hurried to catch up to her long-legged companion.

Kate hadn’t seen Jay in hours, since she was caught up in getting ready for the broadcast and the writer had been busy digging up dirt on her. The anchorwoman was surprised to realize just how much she had missed her friend in that short time. “Look’s like I just did. Whatcha gonna do about it, short stuff?”

“Ooh, aren’t we full of ourselves. Just don’t forget, the pen is mightier than the sword, and this Scoop hasn’t even put pen to paper about you yet. You’d do well to keep that in mind and be nice to me,”

Jay smirked.

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Lynn Ames

“Well, don’t I just feel suitably threatened. Why, I do believe my hands are shaking.” Kate held up her hand and wiggled it as though it were trembling in mock fear. In response, she got hip-checked into the car door.

“Hey, young lady, that was a little uncalled for.”

“Hardly,” Jay snorted as she settled herself in the passenger seat.

In ten minutes’ time, they were sitting at a table in a tavern on the outskirts of town near the State University. The smell of beer and burgers was almost overwhelming and co-eds were everywhere. Jay looked around and laughed, “Wow, Stretch, you take him to the nicest joints, don’t you?”

“I gave him his choice,” Kate answered defensively, as a shadow fell over the table and she felt herself lifted into an embrace from behind.

“That’s right, she did give me a choice...this place or McDonald’s.”

“Listen, if the two of you are going to gang up against me, you can just eat by yourselves.”

At that, the man came around the table, grasped Jay by the elbow with a gleam in his eye, and said, “Shall we?”

Jay played along and got up, grinning from ear to ear. “I believe we should.” She nodded her head at him.

“Wait a minute,” Kate interrupted, looking pointedly at Jay. “You haven’t even been introduced to this letch yet and you’d just go off with him? You floozy!”

Peter and Jay looked at each other mischievously. They each stuck their hands out at the same time.

“Peter.”

“Jay.”

“You ready to go?”

“Yep.”

“Just like that?” Kate exclaimed indignantly.

In unison, the writer and the security expert said, “Yep!”

And from there, dinner turned into a raucous affair. Peter regaled Jay with stories of his exploits with their friend, and Kate revealed some of Peter’s more embarrassing moments. It was obvious to Jay that the two shared a real affection for each other, almost like a brother and sister. She liked the older man right from the start. It was so clear how much he cared about Kate.

When Kate excused herself to go to the restroom, Jay turned to him urgently. “Will that security system that you installed today really keep her safe?”

The security expert looked at her appraisingly. He had taken a shine to her right from the beginning, which was most unusual for him. And, observing her with his good friend, it was as plain as day to him that 108

The Price of Fame

there was some serious chemistry at work there. The thought made him happy. Heck, if he couldn’t have the blue-eyed vixen, the petite spitfire would do just nicely for her.

At first, Peter had tried hard to get the anchorwoman to fall for him.

Finally, as delicately as she could, Kate had explained the facts of life to him. He had reddened, chuckled, and said, simply, “Ah, I get it now.”

And that had been the end of it, except for the endless jokes, asides, and friendly contests to pick out the prettiest women everywhere they went.

But deep down, Peter knew that his tall friend kept herself too far apart from the rest of the world. She was lonely and she didn’t even know it, which broke his heart. He could see, though, looking next to him at the pint-sized woman, that he wouldn’t have to worry too much longer.

“As long as she’s in the house and the alarm is set, she’ll be as safe as a babe in her mother’s arms.”

“Good, because what happened this morning scared the living daylights out of me for her.”

When Peter looked at her oddly, Jay said slowly, “She did tell you what happened, didn’t she?”

“No.”

“She was attacked this morning by a stalker. She didn’t mention that?”

“No.” Now he was angry.

Jay noticed the shift in mood and reached out to place a gentle hand on her new ally’s arm. “She’s fine, not even a scratch. The police caught him after his first pass at her. It must have slipped her mind.”

“I’ll just bet it did,” he said ominously. “It’s okay, Jay, she probably didn’t tell me because she knew I’d go down there and beat the tar out of the jerk.”

“That’s right,” a low, sexy voice rumbled from behind him.

“Geez, you sure know how to ruin a guy’s good time.”

“Yeah, I know, I feel so sorry for you. Listen, Technowiz, it’s not that I’m not having a great time, because I am, but we’ve got to run. Some of us have a job to do.” Kate winked at him. “Thanks again for taking care of the security system so quickly.”