Home had never felt so good. I walked across the living room, running my hand over the sofa, gently touching the lamp, relishing the sanctity and safety of my abode.
“Everything looks intact,” Jay said, coming in from the kitchen. He’d wanted me to wait in the car while he checked out the house just to make sure everything was fine. But I’d been so anxious to get inside that I’d followed him anyway.
Jay grabbed the remote and flipped our big-screen TV on. It was almost noon and he wanted to see what the news was reporting on us.
We both stood and watched as the noon newscasters recapped all that had happened. I was so grateful to be done with this mess that I didn’t even care that the anchor was talking about Jay’s “alleged affair with the deceased.”
“You know there’s no way Vonda killed herself,” I said when the news story went off.
“We both know that, but I guess when you’re powerful like the senator, you can get a death report to say whatever you need it to say,” Jay replied. “All I know is, I don’t care about the details and I don’t care to know the details. The bottom line is a suicide means we’re off the hook.”
Bradley was definitely a powerful man. Just that fast, he’d been able to make this go away. No, he was definitely not someone I ever wanted to cross, but I knew my business with Bradley Bell wasn’t quite over yet.
“I can’t believe we were able to get him to cooperate just like that,” I said.
“Yeah, but we know he was desperate to keep that information from coming out.”
“Do you think he’ll still move forward with his plans now that he knows people know?”
Jay shook his head. “I’m not sure. But men like that think they’re unstoppable. So he may just be arrogant enough to move forward like nothing ever happened.”
I didn’t know how I would stop it, but I knew I couldn’t let that happen.
Jay let out a long sigh, then glanced around the room, like he, too, was relishing being there. He’d been staying at a friend’s condo and I could tell by his expression that he missed our home.
Finally, he said, “Well, I guess I’ll go start getting some more of my stuff together. I know you wanted me gone as soon as we got back.”
I hesitated as I stared at him, a mixture of emotions running through me. “You don’t have to go right now. It’s been a long few days. You can get your stuff tomorrow. And honestly, I… I don’t want to be here alone just yet.”
His eyes roamed up and down my body and his face bore an expression that almost looked like one of love. I shook that thought off. If anything, that was nothing but lust. After all, we’d been through a lot. “Nah, as much as I would love to stay, it’s probably best.”
I nodded, pained by his words. As Jay headed upstairs, I made my way into the kitchen to pour a glass of pinot grigio. Yes, it was still early, but after the week I’d had, I felt like I deserved a glass of my favorite wine, no matter the time.
Holding my wineglass, I made my way back into the living room, once again savoring my surroundings. I wondered if this place would feel the same when Jay left for good. My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing cell phone.
“Hello,” I said, answering it.
“Shannon!” Nicole exclaimed. “Girl, I saw the news. You just don’t know how happy I am.”
“Not half as happy as me.” I sighed.
We made some more small talk, and of course Nicole pushed for details on the New Orleans situation. But the last thing I felt like doing was rehashing everything right now.
“Okay, I’m going to give you some time to pull yourself together,” Nicole said, giving in after begging for details for a fifth time. “Besides, I was calling because Riley wants to see you and Jay pronto.”
Riley was the radio station manager and he was the most anal-retentive man we knew. He was probably reeling that Jay and I hadn’t bothered to make contact with him over the past few days. It was bad enough Jay and I had been off the air for over a month. I knew Riley was furious about everything.
“Dang, we’ve barely had time to process anything,” I said. “Can he give us time to recover?”
“He’s heading out of town in the morning, so he said it was imperative that you guys come in and see him or you, and I quote, ‘may find yourselves without a job.’ ”
I rolled my eyes. That was an empty threat. With all the money we made for that station, Jay and I weren’t going anywhere unless we wanted to go. Unfortunately, little did Riley know, but our show might very well be on its way to ending permanently. Still, I decided we did owe him a conversation.
“All right. I’ll get Jay and we’ll be there shortly.” I gulped down the rest of my wine, then went upstairs to get my husband.