Lynn Ames
the financial resources it would take to do so. Frankly, she was too tired to think clearly about what she wanted to be when she grew up.
She checked her watch: it was close to 11:00 p.m. Friday night in Albany.
Peter should be back from his dinner with Jay by now.
She called him, getting him on the second ring.
“Hey, Technowiz.”
“Hi yourself.”
“How was your dinner with the most lovely woman in the world?”
She couldn’t help the smile the mere thought of Jay brought to her lips.
“Well, I enjoyed it. She, on the other hand, barely ate a bite.”
“Why, did you cook it?”
“Very funny, string bean. No, I brought takeout Chinese, which she said she loved, then managed to push around her plate for the better part of an hour.”
“Hmm. That doesn’t sound like the Jay I know. That woman can eat more than most NFL linemen. I never understood where she put it all.”
“It’s not good, my friend. She looks drawn and tired and emotionally distressed. It’s odd, really, I would have expected her to be more angry and insistent on getting answers from me. All she wants to know is when you’re coming home.”
Tears tracked silently down chiseled cheekbones. Peter knew nothing of Jay’s background, and therefore couldn’t understand what Kate knew: Jay wouldn’t push this because, deep down inside, she expected the worst and thought she deserved it. It was what she had always gotten.
There hadn’t really been enough time for Kate to establish a trustworthy track record. By disappearing, she had unleashed all of Jay’s doubts and insecurities.
Kate knew a moment of uncertainty.
Was
she doing the right thing by staying away? There was silence on the line for several moments. “Did she make out okay in Jacksonville?”
“Yeah, said she got some great human-interest stuff and a few minutes with President Reagan. Said he was very charismatic.”
“Mmm. I know; I’ve met him, too. Lousy politics, but an engaging man.”
“That’s pretty much what she said.”
“Did she, um, say anything about finding anything in the house?”
“No, but I did notice a profusion of roses in vases everywhere I turned. You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, now would you?”
“Me? Nah, not a romantic bone in my body.” She knew Jay was a very private person and probably wouldn’t have shared the information about the flowers and the comic books, but it was worth asking.
254
The Price of Fame
Anything that told Kate that her lover knew how she felt would have helped soothe the pain a bit.
Peter snorted. “Where are you and where are you heading next?”
“I’m still at Mesa Verde. I’ll head out first thing in the morning and point myself in the direction of Sedona. I’ll probably make some side trips along the way, so I’m not really sure how long it will take me or where I’ll detour to, but I’ll call you when I settle for the night.”
“Okay. Kate, I called Barbara when I got home tonight and asked her to stop by and see Jay tomorrow night.”
“Why?” There was a note of alarm in her voice. “Is she sick?”
“Heartsick, to be sure. And if she keeps going the way she is, she’ll be physically sick soon enough.” He gave her a minute to compose herself before continuing gently, “I just thought maybe Barbara could get her to talk a little. Right now she’s trying hard to bottle everything up inside, and I’m afraid of what will happen when she lets it all go.”
“You’re a good man and a better friend, Peter. Thank you for taking such good care of her. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“I know she means the world to you, Kate. And that means she means the world to me, too, and I know Barbara feels the same way.”
“Thanks, friend, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Will you talk to Barbara after she sees Jay?”
“Yes, we made arrangements to talk. I figured you’d want a second opinion tomorrow night.”
“Yeah. Thanks, buddy.” Kate would wait and see what Barbara had to say before deciding whether or not she needed to change strategy.
“You’re welcome, Kate. Hey, take care of yourself now, you hear?”
“Bye, Peter.”
“See ya, babe.”
Kate spent Saturday driving through parts of the Navajo and Hopi reservations, stopping often to talk to the Native American craftsmen who were selling their wares along the side of the road. Unable to resist, she purchased a beautifully woven Navajo blanket for Jay, as well as an intricately carved silver bracelet from a Hopi woman who had engaged her in conversation.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance to give these
to you, love, but it makes me feel better to be doing something for you,
so...
She drove through Shiprock, New Mexico and Monument Valley in Arizona, her mind easily conjuring all those old westerns in which that exact scenery had provided the backdrop for countless hours of melodrama. She stopped briefly as the shadows grew long on Saturday at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. She didn’t want to linger long there; it was too populated with tourists and she didn’t want to take a chance on 255
Lynn Ames
being recognized, although as rough as she knew she looked, she doubted anyone would know who she was.
She found a small motel on US 89 south of the canyon, where she stopped for the night. After waiting until she was sure Barbara and Peter would have talked already, she made her nightly phone call, this time getting her friend on the first ring.
“Well, what’s the word?”
“Hello to you too, sunshine.”
“Have you talked to Barbara?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And she agrees with me that Jay is seriously depressed and missing you like crazy. She’s not eating, not sleeping, and even Fred knows something is wrong; he follows her everywhere, tries to give her his favorite stuffed toys to cheer her up, and puts his head on her lap when she sits down.”
“I’m glad he’s there for her.”
Damn,
should
I go back?
“Me too. She told me she tried to sit down and write the memorial service story today but couldn’t focus. So she took Fred and went to Kaaterskill Falls for a hike.”
Kate’s breathing caught as she envisioned her lover sitting alone in the spot where they had shared their first picnic and their budding romance. There was a sharp pain in her chest where her heart used to be.
Oh, love,
she thought,
it must have been so hard for you, being there by
yourself.
Peter continued, “She said she’s going to write the story tomorrow, stay at the house tomorrow night, and then travel to the city Monday morning.”
“Have you seen anything?” Kate had asked Peter each night whether or not he’d spotted any stories about her or seen anyone anywhere near Jay.
“Still not a word since the TV coverage the day the news release came out.”
No, I won’t go back now. This way at least I know she’s still safe
from scrutiny, if not happy. Her future is what’s important; she can get
over me.
Kate thought about that first bit of news coverage; that had been hard, each of the local news stations reporting that Kate had departed abruptly following some “adverse” publicity. To their credit, the competition had shown some class and hadn’t trashed her. She was grateful for their respect.
“I think the reporter and photographers who hounded me must have been from the tabloids, probably the
Globe
and the
Enquirer
. Can you 256
The Price of Fame
figure out when they publish? I guess we know the
Enquirer
comes out on Tuesday. How about the
Globe
?”
“I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow when I talk to you.”
“Okay. Night, Peter.”
“Bye, Kate.”
On Sunday she stopped at the Wupatki National Monument to hike the area and investigate some well-preserved and diverse ruins before moving on to Flagstaff and the Kaibab National Forest, where she explored a number of hiking trails. She thought about stopping there for the night, but decided it was too early and ventured instead on a side trip to the Walnut Canyon National Monument. There she found a beautiful canyon with more unique ruins and a clear stream at the base. Finally drained of her manic energy, she returned to Flagstaff to find yet another small motel for the night.
Her conversation with Peter was brief. He relayed that he was taking Jay to the train station early in the morning, and that she had told him to tell Kate that she loved her and missed her and wished that she were coming home. He also told the ex-anchorwoman that the upcoming week’s edition of the
Globe
was due to hit newsstands Monday morning, as in the next day.
Kate informed him that she was in a town big enough to have a newsstand, and that she would check out the story first thing and call him right away to discuss it. They rang off.
Peter dropped Jay at the train station Monday morning in plenty of time for her to make the 6:00 a.m. express to New York. She smiled sadly when she thought,
Ah, Kate, it’s easy to be on time when there are
no distractions in the house.
Since she had some extra time to kill, she wandered into the newsstand. She browsed the magazines briefly before her eyes fell on the front page of the
Globe
. She snatched up a copy and threw some change on the counter just as her train was being called.
Once onboard she picked her usual window seat in an isolated car and pulled the tabloid out of her briefcase. There were two pictures of Kate, the large one on the front apparently taken in Chicago the previous Wednesday, according to the caption. An old woman, identified only as
“Aunt Marie, a mother figure to the deposed anchorwoman,” was greeting her. They were loading her suitcase into the trunk of a large sedan. The second picture, which was on the inside cover along with an accompanying story, was of Kate at the airport in Albany awaiting her flight to Chicago. As always, she looked calm and regal. Jay touched the pictures, as if the gesture would bring her closer to her lover.
257
Lynn Ames
Then her eyes fell upon the story with the banner headline that read,
“Gorgeous Lesbian Anchorwoman Leaves a String of Broken Hearts
Across the Country.”
Jay groaned as she read,
“Sensational beauty and
now ex-anchorwoman Katherine Kyle abruptly disappeared from the
airwaves on Tuesday, the day photographs were published of her and a
mysterious blonde woman cavorting on a beach in the tiny tropical
paradise of St. John. The
Globe
caught up to Ms. Kyle as she fled her
hometown to lick her wounds with relatives in Chicago; she was quite
alone, the blonde nowhere in sight. Apparently, that is not unusual for
Kyle, as the
Globe’s
investigative journalists have uncovered a bevy of
broken hearts the statuesque siren has left behind all over the country.
“‘I was head over heels in love with her, but she was only interested
in a casual relationship, something superficial. I broke up with her
because I thought she was in love with someone else.’ So says a Vermont
forest ranger with whom Kyle had a two-year affair in the early 1980s.
Other women have told the
Globe
similar stories, painting the model-pretty ex-anchorwoman as a love ’em and leave ’em female Lothario
who has never settled down, preferring instead to ‘use ’em and lose ’em,’
as one poor victim of her considerable charms told the
Globe
. For now,
she remains secluded with elderly relatives in a Chicago
suburb, no
doubt planning her next conquest.”
Jay read the story over several times, her insecurities multiplying by the minute. She knew the forest ranger quoted had to be Jen, the EMT
who had treated her the night of the attack that Kate had interrupted. She had no idea who the other women the story quoted could be, nor could she figure out who the woman was in Chicago who obviously had picked Kate up at the airport.
Peter had said that Kate had seen the photographers and reporters and had managed to deceive them and lose them. What exactly did that mean? Who was this mysterious relative? Hadn’t Kate told her she didn’t have any living relatives, that Jay was her family now? Had she meant that, or was she just another in a long line of jilted lovers? Had she been played for a sucker?
Kate had seemed so sincere, so in love with her. Was she really, or was she just a great actress?
Parker, it’s the story of your life; if it seems
to be too good to be true, it probably is.
Jay started to get agitated. Why hadn’t Kate gotten in touch with her? She knew, according to Peter, that Jay was staying at the house; she could have called any time. And why wouldn’t she say where she was? Was she already off wooing some other unsuspecting potential lover? Jay’s overtired mind leapt to all kinds of conclusions.
By the time the train pulled into the station and she made her way to the apartment before heading to the office, she was in a full-blown rage.
258
The Price of Fame
She was exhausted and emotionally wrecked, and beyond feeling anything but pain and betrayal.
Kate ran to the nearest newsstand as soon as it opened at 5:00 a.m.
local time, knowing that it was two hours later at home and Peter would already have the story in his hands. She looked at the photographs and read the story quickly, then again more thoroughly, raising her eyebrows at the fact that they had managed to unearth Jen. And then built a pack of lies around a truth her ex-lover had told to make it more plausible.
Typical tabloid bullshit.
She sighed and chewed her lip. Either Jay would see the story on her own or Trish or some other helpful person would call it to her attention.
What would she think? Kate’s face was grim as she added up the likely conclusions that her sometimes-insecure lover might draw, if left to her own devices. She’d better talk to her.
Peter answered his office phone on the first ring. “Peter Enright.”