Page 76 of At the Heart of It
“You’re also a human.” Amy put a hand on Kate’s arm. “And my friend. And I’m asking how you’re feeling.”
The kindness in Amy’s eyes made Kate take a deep breath before responding. “Yeah. I’m fine. I mean—you tell me. Do you think I’m acting unusual?”
“You’ve avoided eye contact with Jonah, but you’ve been doing that from the start,” Amy said. “I doubt Viv has noticed.”
“I’m glad. And I’m glad tomorrow’s filming schedule has them in different places. I just—” She stopped herself, not entirely sure what she’d been ready to say. How much she wanted to admit. “I don’t want to mess things up.”
“And you haven’t. Everything’s fine. If you want to know the truth, I’m glad you did it.”
Kate frowned. “Why? So we can drag my skeletons out of the closet if there’s a ratings slump?”
“No, hon. Because you needed to get laid.”
She sighed and glanced at the closed door. Shaking her head, she looked back at Amy. “Could I have possibly chosen a worse person to scratch that particular itch?”
“You tell me,” Amy said. “From the look on your face this morning, I’m guessing he wasn’t that bad.”
Kate felt heat creep into her cheeks, but she couldn’t resist smiling a little. “That isn’t what I meant.”
“I know.” Amy flashed her a smile. “Look, it’s not like they have any claim on each other. Even if she found out?—”
“She can never find out!” Kate felt the blood drain from her face. “Can you imagine how unprofessional that would look?”
“Relax, Kate. I’m just saying, they’re divorced. They’ve been divorced for a year. That means neither of them has any say in who the other sleeps with.”
“I know that. In theory.” She sighed, trying to think of how to explain this. “It’s just—she’s been this constant presence in my life, getting me through all the toughest stuff. And now I’m repaying her by sleeping with her ex-husband?”
“She’s a professional colleague, Kate. Not your girlfriend. Not even your shrink.”
“Well, you’re my professional colleague, too.”
Amy laughed. “A professional colleague who loaned you a dress to get laid in. And if I had an ex-husband, you could borrow him, too.”
“You’re a good friend, Amy.”
Amy grinned and gave her another squeeze. Then she glanced down at the buzzing two-way radio on her hip. “Looks like they’re about to break for the day.”
As if on cue, the door pushed open and Kate and Amy sprung apart like two teenagers caught kissing. Viv floated into the hallway with her shimmery orange silk top billowing behind her. She wore black velvet pants that fit like a second skin, and dainty red boots that laced up the back. The second she spotted Kate and Amy, she beamed.
“We did it!” She clasped each of them by a shoulder, practically radiating joy. “We had a major breakthrough in there just now.”
“That’s wonderful!” Kate kicked herself for missing it, but at least it was on tape. She’d see it later. “So they decided to save the marriage?”
“It was beautiful,” Viv gushed. “Sam confessed to Elena that his greatest fear is losing her, so he’s been pushing her away to test her. And Elena explained how that was bringing up all these memories of her father leaving when she was six, and the way her mother used to—well, you’ll see it all when you watch the tape.”
“Congratulations,” Amy said. “Sounds like a job well done.”
“Thanks.” Viv closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the ceiling. The gesture would have seemed weird from anyone else, but from Viv, it looked like a prayer. “It feels so incredible to be part of something like that. To know I played a role in someone deciding to fight for a marriage instead of throwing in the towel.”
The wistfulness in Viv’s voice left Kate wondering how many clients she’d had just throw in the towel. It had to feel good to get the hard-earned happily-ever-after. Kate studied Viv, hoping the cameras had done their job capturing this exact look from the doctor. If they had, viewers were going to eat it up.
Viv opened her eyes again and sighed. “Do you think you got the footage we needed?”
“We had four cameras in there,” Kate said. “I was looking over Pete’s shoulder and saw some of the shots he was getting. It’s safe to say you nailed it.”
“The network guys are happy so far,” Amy said. “They love the rough clips we sent yesterday.”
“Good,” Viv said. “I’m so glad. It’s wonderful when all the pieces fall together like this. It’s like it was meant to be.”
