“Cora, this is Dalton Feretti from World of Animals. I’m here with Mia and Vaughn, and we need to talk with you. Give us a call back in the next hour or so.”
Something happened with Blade and Hunter. He knows. They know.Cora was beside herself. She got in her car and replayed the message twice, trying to figure out if he sounded angry. She wiped her palms on her jeans. Forty-five minutes had passed since he left the message. What was he going to do to her? Have her arrested? Was Hugh Brannon implicated? Or Eli? She had to own up to it and take the fall. Everything was her doing. She swallowed hard and dialed the 212 number.
“Dalton Feretti.”
She summoned every ounce of Maggie in her system and spoke with a strong, clear voice. “Hi, Mr. Feretti, this is Cora Bellamy returning your call.”
“Cora, hello! I’ve got Mia and Vaughn here with me, let me put you on speaker. Can you hear us?”
“Yes, I can, hi, everyone.” Cora’s heartbeat slowed a measure. He sounded cheerful, so unless he was in the business of delivering mob-style ambush attacks, she was in the clear. Blade and Hunter were safely still in Middleburg.
Vaughn took the lead. “Cora, we have an interesting idea we’d like to run by you. We’re here at WOA corporate with Dalton today to brainstorm through some challenges withEveryday Dogs. We’ve had some surprising feedback on our rough cuts, as it turns out.”
Cora had no clue what he was implying. “Hm, interesting,” she said.
“Yeah, the show is a scripted-reality hybrid, and it seems that the scripted part is going fine, but the reality aspect, well, that needs some help.”
She still didn’t know what he meant, exactly, but she did pick up on the fact that no one had mentioned Brooke’s name.
Mia chimed in. “Some of the feedback is that we need to inject some ... what did they call it?”
“Q-score saver,” Dalton mumbled. “We need to make her more relatable.”
Mia cleared her throat. “We need to add another voice to the show to maximize the advertising synergies. To bring some warmth to the package. Brooke is really awesome at reading copy on camera and doing all of the scripted content like the interstitials before we go to commercials, but she ... um ... has a bit more of a challenge when it comes to interacting with the families. She’s just very ... how should I say it?”
“Formal,” Vaughn added. “She’s superb with the dogs, but corporate is getting a headmistress vibe when she’s working with people. We need some down-home warmth on the show as well.”
Everyone paused, and Cora held her breath.
“And we all agree thatyouare the warmth we need,” Mia said, breaking the silence.
“What?” Cora wasn’t sure she understood what they were telling her.
“You had such a way with Honey, Cora. You stood out from everyone. It was like you couldtalkto her, like, in her language, and she could talk back to you, and you could totally understand her. It was Dr. Doolittle stuff. And you were fun to watch. Very likable,” Mia went on.
“That’s such a nice compliment, thank you.” Cora tensed her body to try to stop the trembling.Are they saying what I think they’re saying?“So, um, how can I help?”
“Cora, we’re asking you to cohostEveryday Dogswith Brooke Keating. Would you be interested?” Vaughn said, speaking plainly for the first time in the conversation. “After some media training, of course.”
“Are you serious?”
“We are totally serious. What do you think?”
Cora took a breath and spoke the words that she’d known in her bones since Wade’s e-mail first appeared in her inbox.
“I would love to hostEveryday Dogs!”
FORTY-TWO
Fritz was waiting for Cora when she got home. He had taken to sleeping by the door again on the days when Maggie brought Josie to the theater with her. While he enjoyed the occasional respite from his boisterous sister, he clearly missed having her around.
They made it to the park in the golden hour before the rest of the world came home from work and took to the trails. Fritz’s tongue hung low, and as always Cora surveyed his body as they strolled to make sure he seemed comfortable. When the sun hit him just right she could see new white hairs hiding in the dark patches on his head.
Cora hadn’t told a soul about the call. She wanted to be alone with the news before letting the rest of her world in on it. Was she ready for the scrutiny? The haters, judges, bullies, and trolls who wanted to tear her down for the way she looked or the things she believed? Could she stand the relentless gaze of social media? Was she ready to make her quiet voice heard without hiding behind an anonymous blog and babbling French? And how could she possibly work for Dalton Feretti, knowing that she had essentially stolen his dogs?
She let all of the fear and doubt and anxiety run through her until the only thing she could hear echoing in her head was, “Yes. I can do it.”
Fritz slowed down behind her and finally came to a standstill with his nose magnetized to the ground. She walked a few paces ahead, turning her face into the sun to enjoy this feeling of confidence and peace before everything changed.
