Despite how it might seem, this wasn’t an act of revenge. In some ways I feel sorrier for you than anyone else. He took so much from you, maybe you didn’t have anything left to give to me.
Nina
I don’t expect to ever hear a reply from either one of them. But I realize in both cases, these were things I needed to say.
Life isn’t a fairy tale. I know that now. There won’t always be a tidy resolution. Wrongs won’t always be righted. Some things might be left open-ended. But I think it’s time, for the very first time, to take control of my own story.
Happy endings aren’t just handed to you, after all. Not in the best stories, anyway. Sometimes you have to fight for them, to really earn your happily ever after.
I pull up Lyle’s number and send him a quick message:I know I destroyed the show. But I think I might know a way to save it ...
Chapter 43
Wes
By the time I make it up to Knoxville, it’s already midmorning the next day. As usual, the paperwork and processing for the arrest took much longer than they make it seem like in the movies. God, I wish real life was more like the movies sometimes. For so many reasons. Lack of paperwork being close to the very top.
Nina texted me the address of the hotel and the room number she’s staying in, so I know she’s okay. But until I see her again, hold her in my arms, I’m uneasy and restless. I speed way faster than I should in the lumberjack truck that I “borrowed” from set (what? I’ll give it back) and make pretty decent time, if I do say so myself.
The one consolation I had for how far away Nina has been from me this whole time is that she’s also been far away from her family. I doubt any of them would do anything to her now that Aaron’s been arrested, but sometimes people don’t always respond rationally. Still, I’ve hated the thought of her being up here all alone.
So imagine my surprise when I near the hotel room and hear voices—multiple voices—sounding from inside.
Nina. I raise my hand to pound on the door, positive that I’m going to find the Miller family chewing Nina out for airing Aaron’s dirty laundry, or worse. “Open up!”
Instead, when the door opens, I see Nina waiting for me. Just Nina. She must read the worry on my face because she smiles and nods at me. It’s a certain, sure nod, like I’m the one who’s just been through a life-changing, distressing incident and need to be reassured. “Everything’s okay. Come inside ...”
Too confused to do anything else, I follow her into the hotel room—where I find Lyle, Sienna Diaz, and Raquel Ezra waiting for us.
Seeing any of these people again was not on my bingo card for the foreseeable future, but Nina looks totally unfazed. Almost as if ...
Ah, okay. Yep. Took me a moment, but I caught up eventually. Nina planned this entire thing, obviously. But why?
Nina takes my hand, which I squeeze gratefully, as she ushers me into the room. “You remember Nate R., whose real name is Wes. Say hi, Wes.”
“Hi, Wes.” My smartass mouth can’t help but make a joke, even as I’m still completely baffled as to what is going on.
After everyone takes their respective seats, Sienna is the first to speak. “We were happy to get your text,” she tells Nina.
Nina texted them? When? I’m really out of the loop here. I’d sort of assumed Nina and I would be personae non gratae with anyone fromMountain Manafter basically demolishing their show. I’d even worried there might be a lawsuit.
“And we’re very intrigued by your proposition,” Raquel adds.
I really need to get out of the dark here. I don’t like being the only person in the room who doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m usually the keeper of the secrets, not the person who has information withheld from him—and let me tell you, having tasted my own medicine, I am not a fan. “Anyone want to catch me up on what’s going on here?”
Sienna’s gaze is decidedly less warm as she looks over at me. “Ah, yes. The FBI agent who assured us he wouldn’t destroy our show, then went on to—what was it he did again, Rae?”
“Destroyed our show,” Raquel deadpans.
Ah, there’s that hostility I was worried about. Reserved entirely for me. How fun. I clear my throat. “For the record, I would like to apologize for declaring my love for someone who wasn’t one of your contestants. In public. On camera.”
Raquel looked unimpressed by the apology. “Would you actually take any of it back?”
“No,” I tell her honestly.
“Then don’t apologize for it.”
Fair enough. I look at Sienna, who shrugs. “Honestly, if we still wanted to make the show work, we could make it work. Declaring your love for the wrong person, revealing a secret double identity—that could all be reality TV gold, if that’s still what we were interested in pursuing.”
