It Will Always Be You (Starlight Walk Series #1)

It Will Always Be You

By

L.C. Zingera

Starlight Walk Series #1

Each book in the
Starlight Walk Series is a complete story with no cliffhangers. The main
characters from each book will often make appearances as secondary characters
in future books.

Book Description

It Will Always Be You

(Starlight Walk Series #1)

When Regan
Jordan and her best friend Elsie acquired tickets to their all-time favorite TV
talk show ‘The Lundquist Hour’ on their summer vacation to Madison City, they
had no idea it would be a life-changing event.

When special
guest, Broadway legend and music superstar Loretta Lindstrom unexpectedly
leaves the show early, host Thorndike Lundquist must find a way to fill the
remainder of the hour. With his well-known easygoing charm he turns to the
audience, filling the remaining time by taking heartfelt pleas from those
seeking either a lost love or their birth parents, and some aspiring talent.

Regan, at
Elsie’s urging gets up to sing. She has been compared by friends and family to
Loretta, for years. Though she has never taken any of it seriously; she’s a
receptionist, singing is something she does for fun. But Regan’s tribute to
Loretta is amazing, and Vance, Thorne’s producer, knows the viewing audience
will want to see more of her.

Regan, who is
sweet, but also very headstrong and independent, becomes an overnight
sensation. With the help of Thorne and her long-time idol and new friend
Loretta Lindstrom, she embarks upon a journey to stardom. Regan finds herself
falling for the handsome talk show host, but though he is kind, Thorne is also
domineering…

Copyright 2012 by L.C. Zingera
.

No part of this
book may be reproduced without
the
written consent of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction.
Any
resemblance to persons living or dead
is
purely coincidental.

Chapter One

Regan Jordan
slowly opened one eye, peering around the unfamiliar room as the morning sun
seeped through a chink in the otherwise tightly closed curtains to cascade over
her features. She was alone, in an unfamiliar bed. Tossing away the last
vestiges of sleep, she sat up. She was on vacation! She hugged her knees before
happily throwing herself back against the pillows of her scrumptiously soft
hotel bed. The next two weeks were hers to do as she pleased. On the nightstand
sat the two dreamed of tickets to
The Lundquist Hour
, her favorite TV
show of all time. They had not been easy to get, despite the fact the show
offered free tickets to all its tapings. But this one was special, this one had
her favorite star of stage and screen, Loretta Lindstrom, as today’s special
guest. And maybe if they were lucky, Loretta would sing for them. People often
said that she—Regan, sounded just like her, they were wrong of course, no one could
sing like Loretta, but even to be compared...the door burst open and in sprang
Elsie, her best friend and traveling companion. Elsie never did anything
quietly or slowly. She was like an excited, over-caffeinated jumping bean. She
been out for a run while Regan was sleeping in, hopefully she’d burned off a
little energy.

“You’re up!
Great! I’m starved. Let’s go out for breakfast...no wait, you’re not dressed!”
Elsie rolled her eyes, “Let’s order room service.”

“You order room
service while I shower and dress,” chuckled Regan. One thing Elsie was never
lacking in was enthusiasm. That’s why she was the perfect friend to spend this
much awaited vacation with. She was chipper, fun, easygoing, and a complete
optimist.

Regan whipped
off into the bathroom, for a long warm shower as Elsie picked up the phone,
grinning as she imagined what decadent culinary delights Elsie would order up
for breakfast. Elsie’s sweet tooth was legendary! They’d saved and penny
pinched for this vacation for so long, they planned to enjoy it to the fullest.

A delicious
aroma filled the air as Regan returned to the bedroom. Elsie sat at the small
dining table, staring at the breakfast spread with childlike delight.

“Fresh
strawberries, cream, warm croissants with butter and boysenberry preserves,
cafe latte, some extra espresso on the side…orange juice, and a small tray of
assorted chocolates. I restrained myself!” she grinned up at her friend.

Regan’s stomach
rumbled loudly. “Not by much!” She sat down eagerly picking up a juicy strawberry
in one hand and a croissant in the other. “That’s what I like about you, Elsie,
you know just how far to go. Though honestly… I’m not sure you need the extra
espresso!”

Elsie grinned.
She was not plump, just nicely curved. She liked to eat and managed to exercise
frequently enough not to have to worry too much about it. Fortunately, in her
enthusiasm she usually carried Regan along to the gym with her. She really
should have been a cheerleader or a work-out coach.

In appearance
they were total opposites. Elsie kept her sandy blonde hair short while Regan’s
soft brown hair was long. Elsie was petite at five feet two, Regan, though only
five feet six, appeared to tower over her tiny friend. Elsie’s eyes were brown,
and Regan’s blue. But they did have one thing in common besides their generous
but well-toned curves—a very healthy love of good food.

“We have all the
major food groups here,” Elsie informed her cheerfully, tucking into their
feast. When Regan gave her a doubtful look she counted on her small fingers,
“Dairy, fruit, carbohydrates…and caffeine.” She gave her a mischievous grin.

“We’re
practically health nuts,” Regan observed dryly.

***

Thorndike
Lundquist paced the long hallway of his TV production studio and slipped the
cell phone back into his inside pocket. Of all the days for anything to go
wrong, this was positively the worst. Lighting problems, staff shortages, and
difficult stars. Murphy’s law seemed to be modus operandi for the day. Even the
weather seemed to be changing along with the mood in the studio. The day had
started out fine and sunny and taken a sudden downturn around noon into drizzle
and gloom.

“Mr.
Lundquist...Miss Lindstrom is here...” Jenny, the young Girl Friday stepped
back a couple of paces at the furious look on his face. Quickly he forced a
smile, if there was one thing he would not do, it was kill the messenger
because he didn’t like the message.

“She’s not meant
to be here for another hour at least.”

“Yes, sir, but
she says she has a full schedule and wants to ‘get on with it’.”

That didn’t
sound promising. He felt his spine stiffen with irritation as he walked slowly
toward the green room.

“Oh, there you
are!” Loretta Lindstrom, A-list star and songbird extraordinaire turned away
from the window handing him the leash to her wheezing pug.

Unsure what she
expected him to do with it, he took it. The pug sat looking up at him
expectantly with its bulbous brown eyes, pink tongue lolling sideways. “Someone
needs to walk him.”

“We’re a little
short staffed,” he murmured. He’d heard good things and very bad things about
this woman. She had the voice of an angel and apparently the personality of a
termagant. The dog though, was a sweet looking thing. He called Jenny, his Girl
Friday back in.

“Jenny, if you
could just take and walk…” He raised his eyebrows in question.

“Rugly,” Loretta
supplied.

Rugly looked
hopefully up at Jenny, who immediately began crooning baby talk to him as he
waddled after her down the hall, his small claws clicking as he went.

“Let’s get on
with it then.”

“Sorry, Miss
Lindstrom, but we don’t go on the air for another two hours.”

“You tape the
show!” she reminded him vehemently. “Your audience is already here, your
pre-show warm up guys are out there right now!”

“Yes, but we go
live to Chicago.”

“As if rerunning
the damn thing an hour later would kill you!” she spat. “Your audience will be
half bored to tears by then! They’re fresh now...and so am I!”

“Is there a
problem? Are you unwell?”

“Do I look
unwell?”

Thorne knew
better than to answer that.

“I hate live
TV,” she admitted abruptly.

Thorne bit back
the obvious question—why had she agreed to do his show if she didn’t want to?
She was world famous, she could be on any TV show, anytime she chose. Any host
would boot off any less important star to showcase Loretta Lindstrom. She must
really want to be here. He was number one in his time slot.

“Is there
anything I can do to make you more comfortable while you wait, Miss Lindstrom?”
he asked politely.

“Yes. Get out.”

Thorne left the
room without another word, just as Jenny returned with Rugly, her eyebrows rose
at his ominous expression. “I’ll see you in my office in five minutes,” he said
quietly.

***

Thorne breathed
deeply, assuming his usual calm poise as the studio lights went up, and with
cameras rolling, the live show was on the air. The audience were especially
loud today, their enthusiasm for the chance of seeing the infamous Miss
Lindstrom was deafening.

“Well, good
afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I don’t need to ask what the excitement I sense
in the air is about!” he addressed the audience with his usual charismatic
smile and good humor. The crowd roared in anticipation. “So without further
ado, let me introduce our honored guest—Miss Loretta Lindstrom!”

He turned
applauding along with the audience as the spotlight fell on the side entrance,
his heart skipped a couple of beats as they waited; it was the show’s policy to
have every male guest escorted on and off stage by two lovely hostesses, and
every female guest by two tuxedo clad handsome males. She wasn’t there.

Finally she
appeared, a slight frozen smile touching the corners of her lips, the two young
men escorting her looked both awestruck and half-terrified. This was going to
be one hell of a show if her performance in the green room had been anything to
go by. He knew she’d stayed just to avoid a messy lawsuit that reneging on her
agreement would ultimately bring, and judging by her expression she wasn’t
going to make it easy on him.

The crowd didn’t
seem to notice anything amiss, and when she turned to face them, it was with a
broad smile and a regal bow that was anything but humble. Finally they were
seated.

“Thank you for
agreeing to be here today, Loretta,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have
missed it for the world!” she said sweetly, but her eyes held a different
message.
Or at least, the half million dollars it might have cost me to get
out of it you jerk!

Thorne knew he’d
accurately read her expression, and hurried on to his first question.

Soon, he found
himself wondering why he hadn’t become an architect as his parents had
advocated. Working in his own office, designing buildings, even wrestling with
building codes and difficult contractors sounded like a lot more fun, and less
stressful than what he was going through right now. He’d loved his career until
now. Funny how one profoundly difficult female could change his perception of
his entire career. Their confrontation in the green room had been something
else, he’d returned later to go over some of the questions with her, but she’d
been irate. While he’d met spoiled stars before, they had never been
malevolent, but this lady, well, she was no lady. And now each and every
question was answered in monosyllables. Perhaps it was time to wrest control of
the situation.

Enough.

Thorne’s eyes
met hers, and in them he could see the light of victory, she hadn’t wanted to
stay, she hated him, and was doing her best to make this the most difficult
interview of his life. He’d gone through an hour’s worth of questions in less
than ten minutes.

Finally he
stood, with a slight signal to the male assistants, who, though bewildered at
being summoned before the first commercial break, obediently stepped forward to
perform their assigned role. They stood one on each side of her chair. Loretta
looked up at them in surprise, the interview wasn’t over yet, or was it?

“Ladies and
gentlemen,
though it pains me to bring this interview to a close, I’m
afraid I must.”

Thorne turned
holding out a firm hand to the bewildered star who merely stared at it, her
puzzled expression plastered across every monitor in the studio. “Despite her
heroic efforts to continue this interview, Miss Lindstrom arrived here today
suffering the agonies of an intense migraine, it is evident even now—great
actress though she is—that she is having trouble speaking to us. But as she
informed me in the green room, she would not wish to disappoint you for the
world!” This brought a resounding round of applause from the grateful audience,
who rose to their feet in appreciation. “But now, with our heartfelt thanks, I
feel we should send this great lady on her way, her doctor is at this moment
awaiting her at her home.”

Reluctantly
Loretta placed her hand in his, rising to her feet as the two solicitous young
men escorted her from the stage.

Vance, Thorne’s
producer was motioning wildly from the sidelines as the crowd continued to
applaud until Loretta was finally out of sight. Sweet satisfaction coursed through
him, making him momentarily euphoric as he announced that they were going to
commercial break.

“Are you mad?”
Vance spat out, his eyes bulging in a vague impression of Loretta’s pug, as
Thorne stepped off to the side to confer with the aggrieved executive.

“No,” Thorne
grinned, “But I would’ve been, to try to continue that interview!”

“You’re the one
who insisted on going live! If you thought there was a problem we could have
taped…” Vance ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “You have two minutes
to come up with a way to fill the rest of your show, or we’ll all be on
unemployment!”

Thorne grinned.
“I already have.” With a quick backward glance at the stunned producer, Thorne
walked back out to greet the audience. They had almost fifty minutes of live TV
left to fill. Fortunately while his alert conscious mind had been dealing with
the quietly hostile Miss Lindstrom, his active mind had also been working up a
plan to deal with her, and fill the rest of the hour. He knew if there was one
thing an audience enjoyed—it was participation.

“Welcome back!”
He smiled warmly at the crowd and turned toward the TV cameras, “As you know,
we had intended to dedicate this hour to Miss Loretta Lindstrom, but as she is
indisposed, we have chosen to focus our attention on you, our audience. To show
you how much we appreciate your unfailing support of
The Lundquist Hour
over the years, we would like to dedicate the rest of the time available today
to you.” A startled gasp ran through the crowd. “This is your opportunity, if
you have been seeking a lost loved one, wish to apologize for a misdeed to
someone in your life, or perhaps…propose?” He laughed lightly and the audience
laughed with him, heads automatically turning to the few couples in their
midst. “Or, if you have a special talent that you would like to share with us,
speak now!”