Heart in the Field (21 page)

           
“No. When I got married the first
time, I lost track of Angela. Then we met one day in a department store. The
Bay, I think it was, and we went for a quick coffee. But she didn’t say much
about anything. In fact, I thought she was very vague.”

           
Serena frowned. “That’s strange.
Angela was always pretty real.”

           
“You call corresponding with a
prisoner real? Personally, I thought it was sick. Anyway, I knew her before you
did, so I’m privy to lots of stuff about her you never knew.”

           
“Like what?” Nick asked.

           
“Oh, we went to high school
together. She was always a little rough around the edges, and my mom didn’t
really like her very much.
My mom being from a sort of
upper-class background.
Angela’s dad drank a lot and caused problems at
home. Max, her twin brother, was like his father, but all the girls went mad
for him. Angela went for guys similar to her brother. I thought university
would straighten her out. But it didn’t. She fell in love with a prisoner, of
all things and that sort of did it for me with Angela.”

           
Rita turned to Serena. “Do you
remember his name?”

           
Serena said, “Lawson Thomson.”

           
“Unusual name,” Nick mused.
“Distinguished for a criminal.
Is it his real name?”

           
Rita glanced at Serena. “I don’t
think I even knew his name before.”

           
“I wrote it down because the case
interested me.”

           
“She’s always been a journalist at
heart,” Rita told Nick. “She doesn’t believe me, but I think it runs in the
blood. You have a father like hers and it’s bound to be there inside you, isn’t
it?”

           
“I believe so,” Nick said.

           
Serena saw that he was amused by
Rita’s comments, but she wasn’t about to bring her father into this. All right,
so she did over-compensate for her background. She knew that. She didn’t want
anyone to think that Stuart Redding Brown’s daughter was a wimp. She wished she
didn’t come from such preeminent journalistic lineage. And sometimes she wished
she’d ignored her calling and gone into a different career.

           
The lunch continued without any more
mention of Angela until they were out on the street.

           
“If you do get to see Angela,” Rita
said, “say hello for me.”

           
“I will,” Serena told her.

           
“And it’s been great meeting you,
Nick. I’ll watch your series from now on.”

           
“Series?”
Nick remarked as they walked away from Rita.

           
“Well, you know, she’s one of the
masses.” Serena spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

           
He looked at her. “I don’t think
that way.”

           
“I thought you might.”

           
“Well, for your information, I
don’t. And that’s hardly the way I’d describe Rita. She’s got some fiery
activist blood in her veins.”

           
“That’s very true.”

           
“
Which makes me
quite eager to meet Angela.
The three of you together must have been
quite a trio.”

           
“We got along.
Sort
of.
We had some good discussions, late into the night sometimes. It made
university a lot of fun.”

           
“I bet.” He grinned. “It gives you
another angle.”

           
She liked being with him when they
chatted this way. “Is that good?”

           
“Excellent. I can imagine you
getting all het up and excited over an issue and losing your cool.”

           
“I don’t lose my cool that often.”

           
He gave her a sideways glance. “You
did last night.”

           
“Wouldn’t you have?”

           
“Yes. Anyway, the reason for your
concern last night was this story, which gives us a problem.
How
to find Angela.”

           
“Her brother would be my first
contact.”

           
“The twin?
Okay.
Do you know where he is?”

           
“Yes. He’s on the streets around
Yonge
and College.”

           
“Homeless?”

           
She nodded.

           
“Great friends you have, Serena.
Angela could be on the streets as well.”

           
“If she is, then everything will tie
in together with
City Streets
.”

           
“True. Okay. Let’s go look for the
brother.”

           
Serena walked with Nick through the
afternoon crowds until they reached the area that Max Turner inhabited. This
time Serena saw him. He was wearing the same battered straw hat she’d seen him
in the first time.

           
Serena felt Nick touch her elbow, as
if he wanted to prevent her from running over to Max, and the tilt to her
stomach at his touch made her realize that she would never be able to lose her
reaction to him. He’d always be with her, even if they never made love. “That’s
him. He looks like his sister. But I never realized they were twins before. It
sort of explains a lot.”

           
“Like what,” Nick asked.

           
“Oh, the reason she was so upset
when Max went to prison and why she visited him all the time. Twins are close.
And her parents had split up, her father remarried or something. Her mother
moved away. They were a completely estranged family except for Max and Angela.”

           
Nick let go of her elbow to throw
some change into the cardboard box at Max’s feet and asked if he was Max
Turner.

           
“Yup.”
The
man didn’t move from his position on the sidewalk against the wall. He held his
guitar and strummed a few chords. Then he glanced up at Serena and frowned.
“Don’t I know you?”

           
“I’m Serena Brown.
A friend of Angela’s.”

           
The frown deepened.
“Yeah?”

           
“I went to university with her. You
and I met a couple of times at parties.”

           
“Okay. I think I remember. Do you
want me or Angela?”

           
“I’d like to get back in touch with
Angela.”

           
He shrugged. “She comes here
sometimes to see me.”

           
Serena felt excitement rise inside
her. She wasn’t going to lose this story. She’d show Nick she was as good as
any journalist he’d met.
“Any particular day?”

           
He pushed back his hat with his hand
so it perched on his dark curls and she saw the good looking man he could be.
“No. She just appears sometimes. I don’t do days or time.”

           
Serena noticed Nick smile at this.
“Where does she live?” she asked.

           
“Somewhere in the
country near Niagara Falls.
I can’t help you more than that. I’ve never been there. She’s married.”

           
“She got married.” Serena’s relief
that Angela wasn’t on the streets was evident in her voice. “That’s great,
Max.” But she also wondered why Angela didn’t help out her brother. Surely
Angela could have him stay with her to enable him to find a job. She was aware
that a fixed address was necessary to find employment.

           
“Who did she marry?”

           
He scrunched his forehead. “I don’t
know his name.”

           
Serena squatted to Max’s level. “You
don’t know who your sister married?”

           
“Nope.”

           
Serena felt Nick’s hand press down
on her shoulder. She wasn’t quite sure what the pressure meant. “Do you know
when she got married?”

           
Max’s dark eyes met hers. “I don’t
remember. I just know, she said she got married and she moved down to Niagara Falls. She
doesn’t tell me much. She buys me lunch and gives me money.”

           
“But she doesn’t offer for you to go
and live with her?”

           
“No. And I don’t want to. I like it
here.”

           
Sure you do. “Okay, Max. Thanks.”
She rose to her feet.

           
Nick put a twenty in the box this
time. “
Thanks,
Max.”

           
“He does know who she married,” Nick
said as they walked back to Steel.

           
Serena had to pace herself at quite
a clip to keep up with him. “Not necessarily. He could have forgotten. He’s not
in great shape. At least I’ve got an idea where she lives.
Except
she might have changed her name.”

           
“A lot of women don’t these days, so
you might be in luck. Anyhow, we can use Max for
City Streets
. There is
a lot of desperation in that man’s eyes.”

           
Serena stopped suddenly. “I might
need Max in my story.”

           
Nick reached for her hand and made
her walk beside him once more. “You mentioned yourself we need continuity, and
Max will give us a continuing character.”

           
Serena felt as if she were attached
to a rope as Nick led her through the rushing late lunch crowds with a firm
grip on her hand. “Turn our program into a soap opera, why don’t you?”

           
“You mentioned tying in subject
matter with each program.”

           
“Only if Angela
was in the same predicament as her brother, which she’s not.”

           
“No. She’s married and that might be
a problem for you. She might not want to talk about an ex-lover.”

           
“I don’t think he was a lover. What
can you do with a guy who is in prison?”

           
“He might have got out.”

           
“You’re intent on thinking everyone
gets out, aren’t you?”

           
“Yes.
Because guys
do get out.
Unless they’re really gruesome murderers.
From all accounts this man’s case sounded a bit iffy.”

           
Serena tried to unclasp her fingers
from his but he gripped them firmly. “You don’t think I should do this, do
you?”

           
“I’m not saying that. But you’re very
emotionally attached to the story and you could be disappointed.”

           
“If it doesn’t go, it doesn’t go. I
won’t mind.”

           
“I’m not so sure about that. I think
you really want to prove something with this story.”

           
She did. She wanted to prove to Nick
she was worthy of being Stuart Redding Brown’s daughter. But she wasn’t going
to tell him that.

           
Nick glanced at her. “Rita’s right.
You have more of your father in you than you care to admit.”

           
“What’s my father got to do with any
of this?”

           
“Your father has everything to do
with everything you are. Rita said it all.”

           
“Why are we making this personal?”

           
“Because this story of yours is
personal, and it’s making you touchy about it.”

           
They came to a red light and had to
stop walking to let the traffic pass. They stood side by side, hand in hand on
the curb. Serena was breathing hard. She wanted to lash out at Nick with her
hands and words, while at the same time she wanted him to hold her in his arms
the way he had last Monday evening after the elevator got stuck.

Chapter Twelve

“We’ll go to
Studio Three and look at the work you did with John now,” Nick said as they
walked into the Steel
Tower.

           
Serena groaned. “Can’t you leave
work for a few hours? I want to go home. I haven’t been there all week.
Pascal’s likely thinking I’ve deserted him. And I have no more changes of
clothes left.”

           
“Okay, go home, but we have to work
sometime over the weekend.”

           
“Not tonight, Napoleon. I’m bushed.
Sorry.”

           
Nick had to admit she looked tired.
Her hair was blown by the wind from their hurried race down

           
“Thank you very much.” She walked to
the stair entrance. “I have to get my things, and I’m off.”

           
Nick watched the heavy door close on
her. Then, with his hands shoved deeply in his pockets, he left the Steel Tower.
He walked briskly to the parking lot, trying to ignore the voice inside him
that said he was in love with Serena. He must be if leaving her, even for a
couple of days, was agony.

           
He climbed into his car and drove to
his parents’ place. But as he sat in the car by the curb he realized he wasn’t
up to arguing with them today, so he continued on until he was home. He didn’t
think the car engine sounded too great but he didn’t feel like dealing with it
right now either. He went up to his apartment, flung himself, still in his
jacket, down on the sofa and picked up the remote control for the TV.

           
He surfed his way through a lot of
late afternoon TV programs that meant nothing to him. He’d been away from North America too long to know the programs and he’d
never watched afternoon TV anyway. He clicked around to Steel and caught
Juliette in her newscast. She was a sexy lady, he decided, and he should have
gone for her. But how could he do that when he was falling in love with Serena?
It was Serena he’d wanted from the word go.

           
He snapped off the TV. Hell, he
couldn’t spend the weekend messing around like this. He felt like he was
wasting his life. He got up, ripped off his jacket, and started his computer.
He began to work on his Stuart Redding Brown documentary, but he couldn’t stop
thinking about Serena. He quit the script and played Spider Solitaire.

           
Now what was he doing, shuffling a
virtual deck of cards? He had loads of work to do at Steel.
So get down there, Nick. Go watch John’s footage alone.
You don’t need Serena. She’s only a distraction in the dark anyway.
He walked over to Steel. As he entered the building, he
realized that he was getting used to the buzz and activity in the place. And he
really wasn’t unhappy about being here.

           
He found Studio Three empty and
searched the shelves for the
City Streets
videos. He was part way through one of John’s boring
interviews when Paul came in.

           
Paul pulled up a chair and sat
backward on it beside him. “I thought you’d vetoed this stuff.”

           
“Nah.
We’re
going to try and improve on it for next week.”

           
“I’m sure we can improve on it. John
never liked to rock too many boats.”

           
“Well, I do.”

           
Paul gripped the back of the chair
with his hands. “I know you think you’ve rocked my boat because of your
treatment of
Lise
.”

           
“What treatment? We dated a couple
of times. That’s all.”

           
“Okay. Calm down. I know that now.
She told me the truth. I think because she’s getting married soon.”

           
“That’s great. Congratulate her for
me.”

           
With
Lise
out of the way between them, Nick was able to work better with Paul. They
arranged to go out on Saturday and shoot some more film. Nick was pleased. It
kept his weekend busy.

•

           
Serena thought she was going to have
a peaceful weekend at home, but she ended up pacing around most of the time and
feeling pretty sorry for herself. She did do some heavy duty gardening on
Sunday afternoon, which made her feel better, but she missed Nick when she
wasn’t with him. As she dug and hoed the soil she envisioned him dating someone
else this weekend.

           
Monday was a bright, sunny morning
and she got to Toronto
quickly. She rushed into the tower, ran up the stairs until she was puffing
badly, and went into the office suite. The blinds in the boardroom were pulled
and Paul, Nick, Cam and Don were watching TV.
Serena didn’t bother going to her office first. She went to stand behind the
men. She noticed that they were watching material that had some resemblance to
the original
City Streets
.

           
Nick glanced at her. “Paul and I
worked on this over the weekend.”

           
Serena felt a mixture of relief that
he hadn’t been with another woman and anger that he’d gone ahead without her.
After all he’d said on Friday about working together and helping her. “That’s
nice.” She walked out of the boardroom.

           
She stormed around in her office.
Damn him. If he wasn’t trying to get into bed, he was undermining her working
ability. She couldn’t live like this much longer. She’d go mad.

           
She heard footsteps and expected it
to be Nick who came into her office, but it was Don.

           
“Why aren’t you joining us, Serena?”

           
“Because he’s gone
ahead and done our work without me.
He keeps saying we’re supposed to be
a team, but he goes off and does what he wants to do anyway.”

           
“He had time on the weekend. He told
me on Sunday that you wanted the weekend off.”

           
“I did.”

           
“Well, then.”

           
“Don’t
well then
me, Don.
It’s your fault we have that guy in the first place.” Serena plunged her hands
on to her hips. She’d worn a nice blue wool suit today, with a long jacket and
chunky-heeled black shoes, and her hair was upswept. She didn’t know who she
had meant to impress.

           
To her surprise, Don chuckled. “He’s
really got to you. I admire him for that.”

           
“What do you mean?”

           
“You’re taking everything
personally, which to me says that you have an emotional investment in Nick.”

           
“Emotional
investment?”

           
“You know what I mean, Serena.” He
chuckled again. “Now come and help us with this. We need another eye. I hope
you notice that Nick has preserved all your interviews. They were excellent.”

           
Despite this positive aspect, Serena
still spent the day feeling as if someone had wired her up and was pulling on
the wires. She had a splitting headache by evening, but she drove home and fell
into bed, trusting that by Thursday she’d be in better shape for the second
installment of
Neon Nights
.

           
Serena had to admit that, after
Nick’s hand had stirred the editing pot, the
City Streets
episode
had changed into a visual outpouring of humor and angst. Serena understood the
control Nick desired over his programs, but she also noticed that the
technicians weren’t too happy with his input. They thought they knew their
jobs. Well, they did, but Serena had to admit, Nick had an eye for direction, and
he had left in all her best work. Cam must
have noticed Nick’s talent as well, because he didn’t interfere, and Thursday
evening proved to be another popular show.

           
When they went out on Friday morning
with a crew, to put some finishing touches to another segment of
City Streets
, Serena
found it a relief to be going into the weekend knowing next Thursdays’
programming was just about ready to go.

           
After a street shoot with Max
Turner, they returned to the news van, and Fred drove back to Steel. Paul, who
sat next to Serena in the back, stuffed something into Serena’s jacket pocket.

           
“From Max,” he whispered. “You
know,
the street guitarist?”

           
Serena slipped her hand into her
pocket and pulled out a blank sealed envelope. “I know who.” She had the
feeling that whatever was inside the envelope was important, and she didn’t
want to see what it was in the crowded van, especially with Nick in the front
seat. Already he had turned his head slightly with curiosity. She pushed the
envelope into her purse.

           
But as soon as she was back in her
own office she slit open the envelope. There was a note inside.
Hi, Serena, Max told me you’d been in touch. If you want
to come down to visit, Saturday afternoons are good. Love, Angela.

           
Angela had written her phone number
at the bottom and Serena smiled broadly to herself as she reached for her phone
and punched out Angela’s number. If she could see Angela this Saturday her
story would be underway.

           
The phone rang twice, and then it
was picked up. “Hello.”

           
It was Angela’s voice. Serena
moistened her dry lips with her tongue. “Angela, Serena. Max gave me your
number. I’d love to see you.”

           
“Me too.
I
know
it’s
short notice but is tomorrow all right?

           
“Tomorrow is fine. Tell me where you
live.”

           
With directions to Angela’s house now
in her possession, Serena felt excited, and went into Nick’s office to brag
that she’d got her story. He was wearing black jeans and a white shirt that he
wore when they interviewed on the streets and Serena thought his features
appeared contained and irritated. Serena was getting tired of the distance he
seemed intent on putting between them, so she spoke in a positive upbeat
manner. “Max gave me Angela’s phone number. I’ve talked to her and I’m visiting
her tomorrow afternoon.”

           
She saw the glimmer of a smile on
his face. “That’s great. We’ll drive down together.”

           
“I thought going alone the first
time would be best.”

           
“Why? What did you hope to achieve?”

           
She pushed her hands into her
pockets. “I don’t know.
Maybe her confidence.”

           
“You’ll either get it or you won’t.
My presence won’t make much difference. Besides, we haven’t got all year to
work on one story. We’re under the gun to produce.”

           
“I know. Okay. Pick me up from my
house?”

           
“Fine.
Now
I’m going home for some rest.”

           
“And I’ve got some shopping to do.”
She had planned on shopping today. She hadn’t been near a clothes store in
months, and her wardrobe was beginning to feel empty.

           
He unhooked his jacket. “Have fun,
then.”

           
“I will.” Serena stood in his office
until she heard the door of the suite thud shut. Go shopping. Get out of here.
Take a break.

           
Serena purchased a pair of
exquisitely soft black leather pants, a bomber jacket to match, and a new white
silk blouse. She definitely had Nick in mind as she stared at her blonde and
black leather reflection in the changing room mirrors. Would he like this
vision of her? She tucked her hair up on her head and affected a sexy pose in
the mirror.
Why don’t you find out? Take
what you want.
Now.
While you have
the chance.
You might regret it forever if you don’t.

•

           
Nick parked the Steel News Van in
Serena’s driveway. Serena didn’t want this interference from him but she was
going to get it. He jumped from the van, slammed the door and walked under the
trellis. He felt the same excitement he’d experienced the night of Don’s party.
He’d been so cocky about his achievement of overcoming his childhood traumas
and becoming a hard-edged journalist. Serena had brought him down to basics. He
was so much in love with her he couldn’t think straight.