Page 11 of Jason
Devlin shook his head.
A little more than two weeks ago, the family had gathered to celebrate Aunt Claire’s sixtieth birthday.Jason had had a work crisis in the middle of it—the sound editor was leaving for another gig without notice—so Jason had been a little preoccupied, and had spent most of the night on the terrace on his phone.He didn’t know what had happened to spark Aunt Claire, but when he stepped back inside, Aunt Claire had changed clothes and was standing in the door with a suitcase at her feet.Jason didn’t hear all what she said, but he could see she and Uncle Graham were at odds, and as he moved into the room, he heard her say, “I’m done putting my life on hold.I've been by your side, in your shadow for way too long.I've kept your secret, even when I knew I shouldn't.It's too much.I can't do it anymore."
Jason wasn’t sure what happened next, because his phone had started to ring, and he’d stepped out on the terrace to silence it.When he stepped back in, Aunt Claire was gone and Uncle Graham was telling everyone she was just trying to get through a milestone birthday.
They’d all stood in shock for a long moment, and then everyone was talking at once.Phillip was laughing like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
Well, it was more than facing a milestone birthday, apparently, because that had been a couple weeks ago, and she was still gone.The only thing any of them knew was that she was in Paris.Jason had reached out a few times, but she never responded to his texts or calls.
“So is anyone going to talk to her?”Jason asked Devlin.
“Not right now,” he said.“Dad won’t go talk to her, and that’s whoneedsto go.Right now, she just wants a little space.”
“From us,” Jason said.
“From everything,” Devlin said.He tossed the mail back onto the counter.“How long are you going to be around?”
“A couple of weeks.”That’s what he hoped.He was going to try and manage the Darien crisis from here.The Netflix brass predictably wanted the issue resolved as soon as possible, especially with Emmy nominations coming up in a couple of months.They’d invested a considerable amount of money in a For Your Consideration campaign plan to garner someBad Intentionsnominations.Something like this could definitely derail a carefully planned campaign.
“Good morning.”
Devlin and Jason turned toward the door as Uncle Graham strolled into the kitchen.He was nattily dressed, in slim khaki slacks and a crisp white collared shirt.
“Hi, Uncle Graham,” Jason said.
“Hey, Dad,” Devlin said.“Back to Boston today?”
“Leaving just as soon as I speak to Mother.I need to get out of here, though.The weather is supposed to turn.”
“It is?”Jason had really hoped to finish some of the location work today.He was falling behind schedule—a schedule that was all out of whack after just a few days without Mallory to helm it.
“Batten down the hatches, Jase!”Devlin said, and playfully clapped Jason on the shoulder.“It’s supposed to be a big one.”He said goodbye to them both and left with a hearty, “See you at the Vault!”
When Devlin had left, Graham braced his hands against the bar and leaned forward slightly and settled a fatherly gaze of concern on Jason.His uncle had adopted this habit when Jason’s own father and mother had been killed in a plane crash, and he and his brothers had been taken in by their aunt and uncle.Seven boys under one roof.Seven distinct personalities.No wonder Jason felt like he’d bled into the wallpaper.
“So you’ve got a bit of a problem,” Uncle Graham said.
Jason shook his head.“If you’re talking about Darien Simmons, I fired him.My assistant should be here this afternoon and we’ll start the process of getting someone new on board.”
“I’m glad you took action quickly, but that hasn’t stopped the tabloids from calling the Blackthorne press office and asking for comment.”
“What?”Jason asked reflexively.He’d specifically told Marlene, the Blackthorne Entertainment publicist, to get out in front of it and shield Blackthorne Enterprises.“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.Wearegetting ahead of it, Uncle Graham.We’ll recast as soon as possible.”
Uncle Graham nodded.He walked to the fridge, opened it, and took out a bottle of Perrier.“By the way, I saw the first episode of your show.”
There had been so much going on with the Southern Maine Sailing Invitational last week that no one had mentioned Jason’s show.He felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach, the same knot he always got before someone passed judgment on his work.“What’d you think?”
“Pretty good,” Uncle Graham said.“It certainly held my interest.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly enthusiastic praise.But it wasn’t damning praise, either, and Jason would take it.“It’s getting some good buzz.”
“Good.I wondered about that.I happened to see a review that called itPulp Fictionfor millennials.Whatever that means.”
Fantastic.Jason hadn’t seen that one yet.There was nothing he enjoyed quite like hearing a new bad review.“We’re sitting at 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and that’s pretty remarkable for a new series—”
“I have confidence in you, Jason.I just want you to make sure none of this is going to come back on the Blackthorne name.”
“I know,” Jason said tightly.
