Then she and Jay made their way midway up the aisle and chose seats on the end of a row, barely sitting down before Joey’s father approached them from the front of the church. “Ms. Kyle, I know it’s short notice and a lot to ask, but we’d be greatly flattered if you would say a few words about our Joey. He was so taken with you and so excited to meet you. It was all he talked about the last two days of his life.” Tears coursed down the man’s cheeks.
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Kate didn’t know what to say, the request caught her so far off guard.
Her eyes welled up with tears, also. Quietly, she said, “I’d be honored.
Thank you so much for asking me.”
Seemingly pleased and satisfied, the man went back to his seat, his head bent close to his wife’s. She looked back at the dark-haired angel and smiled. The anchorwoman smiled sadly in return.
As the service began, the writer noticed that her friend’s breathing had changed. She chanced a glance upward and saw that Kate was struggling with her emotions. Without hesitation, Jay reached out and slid her hand into the larger one resting next to her on the seat where no one else could see. God, it was getting harder and harder to keep from touching the remarkable woman. She got a squeeze of the hand in return and a quick look of gratitude.
When it was her turn to speak, Kate straightened to her full height and made her way gracefully to the altar. A buzz of recognition went through the crowd of mourners, but Kate noticed none of it. She had not known what she would say until the moment she looked out across the sea of faces.
“I look at you all today, united in your grief and sadness for the loss of a small boy who had his whole life in front of him, and I share your pain. I only got a chance to know Joey for a brief moment in his young life, and even in that short time, I knew there was something special about him. He had a light: a vibrant curiosity about the world around him. Lying there, trapped under the rubble, we spoke of baseball and his favorite teams. He showed no fear, just bravery and maturity well beyond his years. We here on Earth may have been robbed of his presence, but I know that his spirit and courage will live on for me as an example to be followed for the rest of my life. I hope he has touched you all in a similar way. I know that I am a richer person for having had the opportunity to meet him. Good rest, Joey; thank you.”
As the regal woman made her way back down the aisle, she searched for a pair of shining emerald eyes. What she found there was a haven of compassion and understanding in a world that made no sense. When she was seated again, Jay leaned close and whispered, “That was beautiful. I can’t think of a better tribute to such a special young man. I’m sure you brought many people comfort with your words.”
Kate could only nod a thank you, unable to speak around the lump in her throat and unwilling to lose her composure there. Sensing that, her companion said nothing further.
They were almost to the car when Joey’s parents stopped them. “We just wanted to say thank you one more time,” the mother said, tears blinding her vision. Reaching out, she grasped Kate in a hug. “What you 117
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said about our Joey was so true, and so beautiful. He will always live in our hearts.”
“Mine too,” the blue-eyed woman said as she pulled back a little.
“I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope you find peace.”
“God bless you, Ms. Kyle,” the father said, as he put his arm around his wife and led her away. “We’ll never forget you.”
Ducking quickly into the driver’s seat before her emotions could get the best of her, Kate drove around the corner and down several side streets before pulling over in a small, deserted alleyway. “I’m sorry,” she said to Jay, “I just need a minute.” She would never have allowed herself to let down her guard in front of anyone else, but with the wonderful, gentle soul sitting beside her, it was different. She felt safe. She bowed her head against the steering wheel, tears running down her cheeks.
Jay moved the center console and scooted over closer to her friend, running a hand up and down her back in a comforting motion, just trying to be there for her. After a few minutes, Kate straightened up and gave her passenger a watery smile. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“Anytime, Kate. I’m glad I could be here for you.”
“Me too.” And with that, she started the car again and drove them to the station.
Settling herself in front of her word processor, Kate began writing the introduction to her special. She had explained to Jay apologetically that she would be tied up for several hours putting together the verbal part of the one-hour show. After that, the writer could join her, Gene, and one of the editors as they combed through the mountains of taped material that would yield the pictures to go with the words.
The process fascinated Jay. In the meantime, she had made an appointment with Gene to go through old footage of the anchorwoman’s stories. She wanted to get a better feel for her subject’s reporting style; she was also curious to see if that style had changed and evolved over the five years that Kate had been a broadcast journalist. And, of course, the thought of spending two or three hours watching that gorgeous woman on tape didn’t bother her a bit.
By 2:30 p.m., satisfied with what she had written, Kate went in search of Jay. She found her holed up in one of the back editing rooms with Gene looking at a story she had done four years earlier about the discovery of toxic waste contamination at a local manufacturing plant.
She groaned as she looked at herself on the screen.
“If you two are quite finished, can we get started on some real business here?” Kate smiled into the somewhat bloodshot emerald eyes that met her blue ones.
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“Ready when you are, boss,” Gene said. Grabbing the editor, the three of them moved down the hall to one of the new, spacious, state-of-the-art editing rooms.
The anchorwoman handed each of them a copy of the script so that they could get a sense of what she had in mind, and so that they could all be looking for the pictures that would tell the story as much, or more, than the words could. Gene, who had shot all of the footage they would be using, proved to have a phenomenal memory when it came to finding specific shots and the interviews Kate had indicated she wanted to use.
Jay was mesmerized watching the journalist and the cameraman work together to make the words come to life. It was as if they had a language all their own; the reporter seemed to know exactly what they had on tape, and the talented cameraman knew where to find it. Each piece of footage was clocked for time, so that they would know if they had enough to cover the words in the script.
Once they had all the footage they thought they would need, Kate put on a set of headphones, sat down in front of the microphone that hung down from the ceiling, and laid down her voice on tape. In those spots where an interview was to be put in, she paused, indicating the correct interview to be slotted, and counting down from five to one. She explained to Jay that the countdown was so that the editor would know where to insert the interview and wouldn’t have to worry about running over, or stepping on, the anchorwoman’s words. The countdown would be deleted in the editing process.
When Kate was satisfied with her delivery and speed, the editor gave a listen and indicated that the quality was fine, explaining to the writer that the reporter’s voice had been recorded on audio channel one. The interviews and ambient sound would be laid down on audio channel two, and the two tapes would be melded together into one master audiotape, which would then be matched with the video images.
With the anchorwoman’s initial part of the process complete, she left to deliver the 6:00 news. Jay chose to stay with the cameraman and editor, sitting transfixed for the next hour as they took the selected images and matched them to the words from the script to tell a compelling story.
By the time Kate returned from the set, the preliminary draft of the special was ready. She suggested that they order dinner in and watch while they ate. Everyone agreed, the pizza order was placed, and the viewing began. Every so often, she would make the editor stop the tape and make a comment, or suggest a small change or the addition or deletion of a piece of video. Two hours and two large pizzas later, everyone was satisfied with the finished product.
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The special included footage taken from home movies of Joey at his last birthday party and again at a little league game the previous summer.
Then the scene shifted to the eight-year-old trapped under the rubble of the explosion and his parents at his funeral just that morning. Finally, an image of Joey’s parents standing together, strong in their faith, delivered the message that their son would live on in their hearts and the hearts of many others as a beacon of courage and bravery. Similar segments with other victims and families drove home the theme of the triumph of the human spirit over terror.
When the last credit rolled and silence filled the room, Kate turned to Gene and the editor expectantly. “Well, what did you think?”
The cameraman weighed in first. “I think it was edgy and powerful.
Fast in the places it needed to be, and slower and more subdued where it had to be. I like the pacing.”
The editor agreed. “You know, everyone is expecting a rehash of what happened; the who, what, where, when, and how. Anybody could have done that. What you did here is far more potent; it gets past the mechanics and material issues and into the emotional stuff. I love that.”
Kate merely listened to the comments, processing the information.
Finally, she turned to the person whose opinion mattered most to her.
“Jay, what about you?”
The writer was surprised to be asked as she had planned only to stay in the background and observe, but she was pleased beyond words that Kate wanted to know what she thought. “Well, I can’t speak to the technical aspects of the piece like these guys can. But as a viewer my gut reaction is that it’s alternately the most depressing and uplifting story imaginable. Watching it, I felt the helplessness and hopelessness of the moment. And then, I was so moved and inspired by the ability of these victims and their families to bounce back and take something positive from the most devastating of horrors. In the end I was left with a warm, powerful feeling inside my heart about the strength of the human spirit.
Wow.”
Kate simply nodded when Jay was done talking, but a slight blush was creeping up her neck. She couldn’t have asked for a better reaction.
Turning to the cameraman and the editor, she said, “Great work, folks, thanks for making it so good. I think that’s a wrap.” Then she took the master dub and walked down the hall to hand it to the news director.
An hour and a half later, shortly before she was getting ready to go on the air, her boss appeared at her desk. Without preamble he said, “Nice job, Kate, that showed great vision. I loved it.”
Shocked by the compliment, which was rare at best coming from the news director, Kate mumbled her appreciation and thanked him again for giving her the next day off. Then he was gone, and she was off to the set.
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Jay decided to go with her to get one more look at Kate at work, although she wasn’t foolish enough to think that it was anything other than a personal desire to be close to the amazing woman for as long as she could be.
At midnight they were once again walking through the front door of the house, both of them beyond exhaustion and barely able to hold their heads up. Kate turned to Jay, saying, “I’ve got some ideas what we could do tomorrow, but I’m also flexible if you’ve got something else in mind.”
“Try me,” Jay said as she stripped off her suit jacket.
“Okay, I thought maybe we could skip the workout and run in the morning. You could sleep in a little longer, and then we could go hiking instead for part of the day; there are some beautiful trails in the Catskill Mountains that I’d love to show you. We could pack lunch and have a picnic, take our time, then come back here, shower, and relax a little before I take you out for a fabulous dinner at a wonderful place I know.”
The blonde sighed with pleasure. “That sounds fantastic. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do. The only drawback is that I didn’t think to bring my hiking boots with me.”
“That’s okay, the hike isn’t too terribly difficult. You could do it in your sneakers, or we could stop and I could buy you a new pair of hiking boots if you’d be more comfortable.”
“No, no,” Jay replied, “my sneakers will be just fine.”
“Great then, that’s settled. There’s no rush to get going in the morning, so whenever you wake up is perfect.”
At that the writer smiled, and the two walked up the stairs together.
“I’m glad you liked the documentary, Jay.”
Emerald eyes looked up to meet dark blue. “I thought it was incredible, Kate. I was moved to tears; you did a magnificent job with it.”
“Thanks.” They had reached the top of the landing. “I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well, Princess.”
“You, too, Stretch.”
Two hours later Jay was sleeping soundly, dreaming of lying in the taller woman’s arms. This was a recurring dream for her, one she’d been having off and on since their first real encounter on the ski slope. It always brought a smile to her face.
So caught up in the dream was she that it took her several moments to register the sensation of her hand being tossed up into the air. At first, she thought it was part of the dream. Shortly, however, a whine made it clear something else was going on. Finally, as more of her senses awakened, 121
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she figured out that Fred was trying to get her attention. The canine was pushing his nose under her hand and throwing it up into the air in an effort to wake her.
As her brain began to kick in, Jay registered the dog’s agitation. He was poking his nose at her and tugging at her clothing. In the several nights she had spent in Kate’s home, the faithful companion had never left his mistress’ side at night. Jay sat up quickly.