“Worth it for the network,” asked Michael, “or worth it for us?”
“Worth it forallof us.”She turned to Nick.“I guess you feel the same way?”
Nick’s face heated as the others scrutinized him.Of course, she’d assume he’d toe the Zorn party line.Sometimes, people didn’t credit him for having thoughts independent of his brothers, but he did.
Did he want this?
Whatdidhe want?Truth be told, he’d been considering it a lot lately, agonizing over it.
Frankly, the only thing he’d wanted for the last couple of months was a chance to escape.
He was proud of their contracting business, and would hate to leave it behind, but he loved working onHandymen.He’d always gotten more of a kick out of hosting the show than his brothers did.He was fascinated by what happened behind the scenes, and he loved that it allowed them to share best practices with a wider audience.Nick liked to think they’d helped a lot of people in their time, and he wasn’t ready to give that up.
He was only thirty-four years old and didn’t want to be tied down right now.He especially didn’t want to be tied down in Toronto.Although he loved living in the Big Smoke, it had grown more awkward for him since the fiasco with Kristy.
His ex-girlfriend, a TV morning-show host, had embarrassed him in a big way.She’d gotten drunk alone one night and had posted a video to her social media.In it, she’d gone on a rant about her ‘haters’, after someone had left a negative comment on one of her posts.
Unfortunately, she’d begun to ramble after that.Her rant had turned ugly for Nick when she’d exposed the fact that they were having trouble in the bedroom.Specifically, his recent issue with getting it up.
She’d even blurted out a hashtag and urged her followers to respond.
HashtagNicksDick.
The responses had been nothing short of vile.
Nick knew there was no reason for him to be ashamed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t embarrassed.Kristy had revealed some very awkward private moments, and in some ways, he was still reeling.
So, yeah.An escape would be good.
Besides, if ever there was a moment in his life that he should get out and experience new things, wasn’t this the time?
“Nick?”
“Actually, Lacey,” said Nick, “I think it does sound amazing.I’d love to take the show on the road.”
Two sets of scruffy jaws fell open.Nick took a couple of swigs of coffee.Only then did his brothers stop gawking at him.
“Really?”asked Eli.
“I’m not married, like you guys.There’s nothing keeping me here.”
Michael’s forehead furrowed.“You’re not still worried about that shitshow with Kristy, are you?You said things had died down.”
“They have.I just…I want more, you know?”Nick shook his head, unsure of how to articulate the feelings he’d been experiencing.“I’ve loved building the contracting business, and of course I’d always stay involved, but I’m ready for a change.”
“Are you sure?”asked Eli.“It would be a big step.”
“I’m sure.”He turned to Lacey.“I want to travel with the show.Like, tomorrow, if you want.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Nick,” she said.“And you don’t have to pack your bags yet.We have a couple of months.I just don’t know what the producers will say.”
“What do you mean?”asked Nick.
Lacey gnawed on her lip.“Well, I think they want the package deal.We’ve built our show on being theHandymen, plural.”
“Right.”
“Michael, Eli,” said Lacey, “I want you to think it over.I’m going to email you all some details.Talk to Emily.Talk to Bernie.See what they say.For all you know, they might want you to do it.Let’s see if we can make this work in some way, together.”
