He would cross that fiery gully when he came to it.
“Here you go,” she said as she waltzed back into the room.She was practically vibrating with happiness.
“Thanks.”
She plopped down in the chair opposite him.“Where shall we start?”
“Kathryn Lancaster said yes?”How he managed to say her name without choking on it, he wasn’t sure.The truth was, he loved his mother.He just didn’t like what she did and how she used people for her own advancement.Then again, his mom had been in the industry for a long time, and she knew that the only way to get anywhere in the cutthroat world she inhabited was to slip through the gaps, no matter how slim they were, and use any tactic to get what she wanted.Especially after she’d been stabbed in the back by someone she’d thought was her friend.
As a young kid he’d loved the notoriety of being Kathryn Lancaster’s child.Then the shine had tarnished when he worked out it was a world he didn’t want to inhabit.And here he was, about to be dragged back into it.
“Well, um, not quite.”Tilly picked up a pen and twirled it around her fingers.
Oh no, this isn’t good.
“What do you mean ‘not quite’?”There was no need for him to ask the question.He was pretty sure he knew the answer to it anyway.
“I haven’t actually emailed her office yet.”
Zach blew out a breath—it was worse than he thought.Most celebrities didn’t bother with in-person appearance requests unless they got something out of it.His mother could possibly do a segment on it for her show, but really, what did Marietta have to offer a talk show host from California in terms of show content?He had no idea.He hadn’t been in town long enough to think what could draw his mother to participate in Tilly’s event.
“I see.And do you have a backup celebrity if she can’t make it?”
Tilly chewed her bottom lip and her gaze slid away from his.
“You haven’t got anyone, have you?”he asked.
“No.”
“Right.So I guess that’s the first thing on the list—lock in a celebrity.That’s the drawcard for you, isn’t it?Someone big who will appeal to the judges?”
“Yes.We need it.”
“You don’t think your idea stands on its own?That the people of Marietta won’t get involved with the project if there’s not someone like Kathryn Lancaster involved?ThatMariettaitself isn’t enough to have the judges believing that your event is worthy of the win?”
Tilly tapped the top of her pen on the notepad in front of her with fierce concentration, contemplating his words.“It’s not that.It’s just I looked at the past winners and they’ve all had something spectacular that made them stand out.And yes, some even had big stars involved.I need this to be a success for everyone in Marietta.”
There was a hint of desperation in her voice, and it wasn’t the first time he’d heard it when she was talking about her idea.
Why was the town’s good opinion so important to her?
He wanted to tell her that it didn’t matter what the town thought of her.He thought she was pretty fantastic.
Yet, he couldn’t do that because that would mean he cared, and he couldn’t let himself.She was too sweet to drag into the harshness of celebrity status.If he was going to survive this proximity to her and work with her constantly on this project, he needed to maintain some distance between them.
“We’ll do whatever we can to make that happen, but I think you may have to accept the fact that getting someone as big as Kathryn Lancaster, or anyone with the same pull power as her, might be too big of a task.We don’t have a lot of time.I remember you saying when we had dinner that you didn’t want a ‘no name,’ but you might have to reconsider that idea.”
Tilly looked defeated.She’d stopped tapping the pen.The corners of her lips turned down, and the excitement and happiness that had been present in her hazel eyes had now dimmed, as if a light had been turned out.
God, he was an ass.He didn’t have to be so brutal with her.
All it would take would be one message to his mom, and she’d help out.
Sometimes his conscience annoyed the heck out of him.It would solve all of Tilly’s problems, but he had a feeling she wanted to do this herself.Her need to succeed suggested she wanted to do it on her own, without any outside influences.
Or maybe that was his hope because if that was the case, then he wouldn’t have to make the call that would turn his world upside down.Have him face the woman who’d birthed him and, as selfish as it was, he just wasn’t ready to do that.Ready to face her again.The wounds from her previous actions were still too raw.
Zach wanted a peaceful life.A life where he could do his job and, if he saved people, it wasn’t made into a nationwide spectacle where everyone stopped him in the street and the other people who’d also been involved had been shunned as if they were evil.
