A Thousand Miles

Part 28

JoLynn pulled open the door of her office building. Though every raw nerve still stung from her brief encounter with Shane at Truman's office, her mind swirled with all the details of finishing well here. Her first order of business, however, was to draft a resignation letter. Maybe Truman would accept it via email. The idea of walking into his office again made her stomach churn.

Mel stood beside her desk, her expression a tangled combination of worry and anger. Curtis rose to his feet, tapping the ashes from a cigarette into a convenience store coffee cup next to his keyboard.

"You're not supposed to smoke inside." JoLynn tried to smile after the half-hearted scolding, but she didn't have it in her.

"So?" Mel prompted.

JoLynn shrugged. "Want to help me pack my stuff?"

Mel—steady, stoic Mel—deflated on the spot, and tears welled in her eyes. "Seriously? Truman fired you?"

"I resigned."

"You resigned?" Curtis sounded stunned. "Why would you resign?"

"He wants Shane as the host. Not me. And not me and him together, either." JoLynn crossed to her desk and dropped her purse on the floor. "He offered to let me finish out my contract doing research and lining up the schedule. Not hosting. Not writing. And he wouldn't have offered a contract next year anyway. Why would he keep paying me for something that the three of you can do with no trouble?"

She dropped into her chair and tapped her computer back to life. "Better if I just go now. Shane's new contract starts in three weeks. I'll help finish the episodes we already have in production, but from here on out, Shane's in charge."

The words echoed in her mind, mingling with lingering images of the look on Shane's face when he told her he loved her. The surprise etched into his features that night made perfect sense now. He hadn't lied about his feelings, he had simply never expected to have them for her.

"What did Shane say about all this?"

JoLynn stared at Curtis. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you talked to him about it, right?"

"Why would I talk to him about it? What is there to say? He got what he wanted."

JoLynn opened her word processing program and stared at the glaring blank page on the screen. How to begin? Dear Sir? To whom it may concern? Maybe she should skip the greeting altogether and simply type, "I quit." She placed her fingers on the keyboard and waited for inspiration to fall.

"You think this is what he wanted?" Mel's question pierced her heart for no other reason than she had asked it of herself a thousand times last night. Could this really be what Shane had wanted? Could this really have been planned from the start? And then to hear from Truman that, in fact, it was. "It doesn't seem like something he would do. I know we all had our suspicions at first. And maybe you're a little less objective than us at the moment. But we know him. And doing this on purpose doesn't seem like him."

"No. It doesn't seem like him." JoLynn's voice was barely above a whisper. "But he has us all fooled, Mel. I asked Truman this morning, and he confirmed that, although there was no plan," she emphasized the word bitterly, "there was an understanding between him and Shane that the show would probably move this direction. Truman and Shane had talked about this before he ever met any of us. So, when he insisted that day in Lampasas that there was no plan, he didn't technically lie. But he didn't technically tell the truth either." She swallowed the ache forming in her throat. "He fooled us. Me most of all."

Mel sank into a chair, and Curtis lit another cigarette.

"Curtis..."

"Don't tell me not to smoke, JoLynn," he snapped. "If I don't smoke, I'm gonna throw something." Curtis grabbed his pack and lighter, stalked to the front door, and pushed his way outside.

The door eased closed behind him, but Curtis's fury was evident by the force of his pacing back and forth in front of the building. He'd never snapped at her like that. JoLynn watched him through the door. He'd probably never snapped at anyone.

"What are you going to do?" Mel asked.

JoLynn took a deep breath, then let it out on a sigh. "First, I'm going to type up my letter of resignation. Then, I'm going to help finish the episodes we have in production. After that, I'll pack up my things and head back to Odessa."

"What are Curtis and I going to do?"

JoLynn looked up from her keyboard. Mel seriously looked like she was about to cry. "The show's not cancelled. You still have jobs."

"I know." Mel swallowed hard and fell silent, leaving JoLynn to ponder how on earth to address her letter. A minute later she took a breath, like she was about to say something.

JoLynn glanced over.

"Do you remember my friend, Emily?"

JoLynn nodded. "From Southwestern?"

"She told me there's a position at her school for a journalism teacher and newspaper advisor."

JoLynn sat back in her chair.

"JoLynn, it's like my dream job. Teaching journalism and running a little school newspaper. That's what I always envisioned for myself back in college. And now with all this happening...with you leaving the show and Shane taking over...I think I might apply for it. Emily says they've had only a few applications, and no really good candidates, so I might as well throw mine in. Maybe all this is a sign. Maybe it's time for me to move on, too."

"How long have you known about this?"

Mel shrugged. "Emily texted me about it last month. I called her this morning to see if the position was still open. I didn't really give it any serious thought until yesterday. But the more I think about it..." Her voice trailed off to silence.

JoLynn nodded. She knew. Journalism was Mel's dream, just like Traveling Texas had been hers. And it was time she was free to pursue it. "So, while I work on my resignation, you can work on your resume."

"I actually got it ready yesterday." Mel grinned sheepishly. "I was waiting to send it until I heard what happened with Truman this morning."

The front door flew open and Curtis stalked back in, stopping in front of JoLynn's desk, his glance vacillated between the two women, finally settling on Mel. "Did you tell her?"

Mel nodded.

"Well then, I quit too."

"Curtis—"

"No, JoLynn. I quit."

"But what will happen to the show without you?"

"What'll happen to it without you? And Mel?" He rolled a chair over from his desk and slumped into it. It won't be the same. It won't be our show, even if I do stay on."

"But what will you do?" JoLynn asked. "I'm going back to Odessa to work with my dad. Mel has a good lead on a better job than this ever was. Where will you go?"

He shrugged, looked away and swallowed hard. Then his lips curved into half a smile. "I know some people."

JoLynn glanced at Mel who rolled her eyes. "You know some people?"

"Yeah." Curtis shrugged. "I know some people."

"What does that even mean?" Mel gave him a shove.

"It means I'll be fine." Curtis rolled his chair back to his desk. "But if you two go, I go, too."

JoLynn blinked away the sting of tears. Here was the show of loyalty she had longed for that first day with Shane. Curtis and Mel had become her family; her brother and sister, the ones she could count on for help and support in a crisis. And now this crisis would break them all up, sending them their separate ways, leaving Shane in charge with no crew. And, just like that, everything they'd worked together so hard for, everything they'd lived and breathed for was gone. And while their vision might continue on in some form, with a small grain of their original idea somewhere at the heart of it, this door had closed in a big way. And yet, peace prevailed. It was going to be OK.