TRACE CLIMBED INTO the truck and Delainey followed. He knew Delainey needed to go see her father, but he didn’t know how to convince her to do so. She was digging in her heels pretty hard and he couldn’t say he didn’t understand, even if she didn’t think he did. The truth was, everything that Delainey had said was true. Harlan had been a terrible father to his children, but Trace also knew that Harlan had done the best that he could have, given the circumstances.
And now Harlan was sick? Trace knew a thing or two about abrupt goodbyes. There was never enough time when it came to losing a loved one. And he knew that if Delainey didn’t say her piece to her father, she would live with the regret forever. However, it wasn’t his place to tell her how to live her life, even if she was screwing it up. All he could do was offer his advice, and if she didn’t want to listen he had to let it go.
“How far will we have to hike from the main road to get to the location?” she asked, seemingly back to business as she scribbled notes in her notepad, her father forgotten. “I have a small crew, but they’re definitely not used to hiking. We might have to take some liberty with the location if it turns out to be prohibitive for the crew. I’m not too worried though. We can fake it. The terrain is similar enough that no one is going to point a finger and say, ‘Hey, that’s not where that happened!’”
“It might’ve been better to hire a crew from Anchorage. At least they’d have a better idea of what the terrain is like,” Trace said. Was she going to ignore the fact that her father was in the hospital as if it was no big deal? Trace slanted his gaze at her, troubled. “The city boys you flew in aren’t cut out for the Alaskan wilderness. Those yahoos are more accustomed to midmorning lattes and lunchtime pedicures than tromping through rough brush and rocky terrain. We’ll end up having to save them from breaking their fool necks.”
“Don’t worry about my crew. I’ve got it handled. I’m more concerned about the weather holding. I can’t afford to be losing shooting days because of snow or rain.”
“Can’t control Mother Nature. Last time I checked she ran by her schedule and no one else’s.”
“More’s the pity. Location shooting is such a nightmare. It’s almost as bad as shooting with kids or animals. Anything that can and will go wrong usually does. At least that’s been my experience.”
“I know this isn’t your first gig, but how many have you done before this one?” he asked.
“This is my fifth production. Well, fifth production where I’m completely in charge. I’ve been an associate producer on a number of other shows. You might have heard of a few.... Did you catch Vertical Blind? I think you would’ve enjoyed that one. It was about rock climbers. It was a challenge to shoot but I was so proud of it.” She paused, a subtle, pained frown following. “Ultimately it didn’t test as well as I’d hoped. I think if the network had given it a little more time we could have had a hit on our hands. Some shows aren’t quick flares of success, but rather a slow burn. Unfortunately, the network disagreed and yanked it after only four episodes aired.”
“What happens when a show fails?”
“Depends. In my case, it was one failure too many. Unfortunately, Hollywood is an unforgiving town and the people who hold the money even more so. It’s been rough. I had a bunch of other ideas but no one wanted to hear them. It wasn’t until your name popped up that anyone even remembered who I was.”
He frowned. “And you like this place? Sounds like a hellhole.”
“Yes, I like it,” she said, bristling a little, then she clarified. “Well, I don’t like the backstabbing and the double-talk and the politics, but I enjoy creating something from start to finish and seeing it succeed. I can’t draw, I can’t sing, but I’m a good producer. If it’s true that everyone has one talent where they can really shine...this one is mine.”
Trace heard the desperate pride in her voice, as if she were clinging to that one single thing about her that was worth talking about, and sadness followed. If she based her value solely on the successes that other people deemed good or bad, by his estimation that seemed a recipe for a lifetime of misery. It wasn’t that he felt the way he lived his life was better, but at least he didn’t live and die by the expectations or the opinions of others. “Why did Vertical Blind fail?”
She shrugged. “Who knows? Bad time slot, wrong demographic, plain bad luck...take your pick. In the end excuses don’t matter—all that matters is results. And Vertical Blind didn’t measure up. But this show we’re shooting here, it’s going to be amazing. I just know it. I have a feeling that this is going to make you a star.”
“I don’t want to be a star,” Trace reminded her quietly. “I want to live my life the way I always have. I don’t think being a star would allow me to do that.” He valued his privacy, and from what he knew about celebrities, they didn’t have any. The thought of having his private business splashed on the television for all to see was akin to standing in front of the high school marching band in nothing but his underwear. He didn’t understand why Delainey would want anything close to that. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The reasons I’m doing this job haven’t changed. After the pilot’s shot and finished, I’m not interested in seeing it go on to make a full series.”
“Your feelings might change when you see it all cut together,” she said with confidence. “I think once you see what a good job I can do, you’ll change your mind.”
He hated to burst her bubble but he had to set her straight. “I won’t. It’s not a reflection of how well you do your job. It’s that I have no interest in pursuing that lifestyle.”
“You could be a household name,” she protested with open consternation. “A job like this could make you a very wealthy man. You’d never have to worry about money again.”
“I don’t worry about money now because I don’t have expenses I can’t afford. And I don’t want to be a household name. People have been talking about the Sinclairs for long enough. I don’t need to give them more to gossip about.”
Delainey’s expression dimmed and she fell quiet. After a moment she said, “I know. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you want. And it’s not something you would ever seek out. But I need this. Without it, I might as well stay here in Alaska because I’m through in L.A. No one will take my calls, no one wants to hear my pitches and I’m dangerously close to losing my condo. The fact is, Trace, I’m on the verge of losing everything, and that’s why this pilot has to be successful. I know I’m asking a lot, but I don’t have a choice.”
“Everyone has choices. It’s your perspective that needs changing.”
She looked at him sharply. “If you’re suggesting that I give up on my career, it’s not going to happen. And frankly, I’m tired of you giving me the same advice—quit your career. What if I told you to quit yours? How would you feel about that? I always supported you in your endeavors, but you couldn’t support me when I needed you. So I think you owe me this one.”
A hot retort danced on his tongue, but he held it back. Was she right? He hadn’t always been supportive and there had been times when he had plainly patronized her goals, and that didn’t make him feel very good. Certainly didn’t paint him in a very nice light. Maybe if he’d been less rigid in his perception of how their life should be she wouldn’t have left. But then again, maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. Delainey was consumed with ambition, and that part about her personality hadn’t changed.
“You know what the worst part about failure is?” she asked, surprising him with her question. “It’s that when you fail you are defined by that failure. People look at you differently, and then they don’t listen when you talk. Suddenly you have no value because you failed. My shows have not been successful, not because I didn’t do a good job in producing them but because of circumstance or things that were out of my control. However, there are no excuses that will change anyone’s perception, which is the reason no one will take a meeting with me and they laugh behind my back when I walk by.”
Trace hated the idea of Delainey being mocked, and an old sense of protectiveness rose up inside him before he could stop it. “Why do you put up with that crap?” he asked. “In the past you were never one to put up with bullying. Why do you do it now?”
“Because in the real world, schoolyard bullies grow up to be CEOs, and they’re the ones who make or break careers. So I have to swallow my pride and pretend not to hear the whispers and turn a blind eye to the snickering and tolerate the blatant disregard if I want to stay in this game. I will have a hit and I will succeed. I just have to bide my time and be patient. I knew the right project would come along. And it did, because here I am. This project is going to be successful.”
The conviction in her tone nearly had him agreeing with her, but that scared him. He didn’t want it to be a success. He wanted this whole mess to fade and go away so he didn’t have to go through this ever again. He wanted to go back to his life the way it was, quiet and secluded. He wanted to be able to go hunting when he felt like it and not have to constantly look over his shoulder for the paparazzi. Were there paparazzi in Alaska? He didn’t know but he had a feeling they were everywhere, kind of like cockroaches. But if by hoping the project failed that meant that Delainey would fail as well, he had a problem with that. He shouldn’t care—it was her business and her life—but they’d opened Pandora’s box by sharing time together again and sharing intimacies that they shouldn’t have. The box was open and the old need to protect and shelter her was too strong to ignore. Privately he bit back some swearwords. If Delainey needed this project to succeed, how could he not help her?
He exhaled long and deep as he pulled the truck off the side of the road and put it into Park. He took a moment to simply enjoy the sounds of the forest. He knew by taking this next step his life was never going to be the same, but Delainey needed him and he felt he couldn’t deny her. But first, he had something to say. “I’ll stop fighting you on this project and I’ll do what I can to make it successful. But you have to do one thing for me.” Her eyes lit up. She was prepared to give him anything until he said, “You need to settle this with your dad. We’ve all got problems and issues with our family, but they’re the only family we’ve got and when they’re gone, they’re gone. We don’t get do-overs and we don’t get a say when our time is up. If your dad is dying, you owe it to yourself and him to say your piece.”
“You’re one to talk,” Delainey said, scowling. “Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical? I don’t see you busting down your parents’ doors to work out your problems.”
“Totally different and don’t change the subject.”
“It’s not different,” she maintained stubbornly. “You just don’t want to talk about it.”
Trace bit back the immediate hot retort and choked it down, knowing it would only make things worse between them. “Let’s just say you’re right and I am avoiding a few situations with my parents, but you and I both know that my relationship with my parents is entirely different from what you had with your dad.”
Delainey couldn’t deny that and jerked a miserable nod, her argument deflating, revealing the pain beneath. “What am I supposed to say to him? That he was a miserable father and he doesn’t deserve the comfort of his children standing by his side as he dies? Don’t you think that’s kind of harsh?” Her eyes darkened, and when she looked away her whole body was vibrating with emotion. “I know I look like the bad guy in this. I know I sound like a selfish bitch for not wanting to go to his side. But there are just some things that I can’t forgive or forget. Those are just the facts, and I can’t change them.”
“What did he do that was so bad that you can’t forgive?” he asked, realizing for the first time that maybe he didn’t know the whole story between Delainey and her father. “Did he...hurt you in a sexual way?” He hated to ask but he needed to know. If Harlan Clarke had touched his daughter inappropriately, there was no way he was going to insist that she make peace with him.
“No, he never touched me in that way,” she answered with a slow shake of her head. “But he hurt me in plenty of other ways. Nothing was ever good enough, no matter how I tried. Everything I did was wrong. He never had a kind word and he never encouraged me. He made me feel like I was worthless, and it took me a long time to realize that he was wrong. I am worth something. He was the one who was worthless.”
Finished with the conversation, Delainey exited the truck and stalked away. Trace thought of his own father and how much he’d changed. Zed had gone from being a loving, caring father to a man who didn’t give a shit about anything or anyone as long as he had his marijuana. Whereas Harlan had realized too late that he’d wasted every opportunity to grow close to his children. Both fathers had wounded their children, and likely neither had the strength nor the knowledge to fix what he had broken.
Deep down, for all of her outward sophistication, Delainey was still that young girl searching for her father’s approval that she would likely never get. Even worse, she was only perpetuating the cycle by chasing after a dream populated with people who couldn’t care less about her. His heart hurt at the painful realization, but what could he do?
The bigger question was, should he even try?