Part 16 (1/2)
”No, it's not,” she agreed. ”But it seems to me that it's bad business for you to want to remove him.”
”It's my duty. He's going to ruin a magazine my father spent a lifetime building.”
Chelsea shook her head. ”You don't believe that. You're his brother and you know him well enough to know that he can excel at anything he sets his mind to. That's what really bugs you about him. You're jealous.”
Jerry caught himself frowning again and after a quick glance around the dance floor, he laughed shortly.
”Nonsense. Zach has made nothing of his life, so there's nothing for me to be jealous of.”
”Oh, baloney. I've got three brothers of my own, and I know all about sibling rivalry. I've never been able to please my stepfather. They please him whatever they do. I had a tough time dealing with that until I figured out that it was ruining my relations.h.i.+p with them. They're not bad kids and I was blaming them for something that was their father's problem.”
This time Jerry forgot to prevent the frown. ”It's not the same. He wasn't my stepfather.”
Chelsea met his eyes. ”That's got to make it even worse. At least mine had the excuse that I wasn't really his own child.”
They weren't dancing anymore, but Chelsea didn't think Jerry was aware of that. ”That's not what I mean,” he said. ”Zach's got no business printing the kind of articles you write. It's not the direction my father wanted the magazine to go in. It's my duty to ask the board to remove him.”
”But Zach agrees with you. He never wanted to print my articles. He's only doing it to honor the contract that Esme Sinclair had me sign.”
”Wait,” Jerry paused to run a hand through his hair. ”You're saying that Esme is the one who bought the articles from you?”
Chelsea nodded. ”But someone wants to stop the articles as much as you do. Someone tried to run Zach and me down. They've been making threatening phone calls and sending notes. Then my apartment was ransacked and this morning someone knifed Zach.”
”Zach was knifed?” Jerry asked, his frown deepening. ”You're not making this up?”
”He's got fourteen st.i.tches in his arm. Will that convince you? I can take you right over to him and you can count them.”
But Jerry wasn't listening to her. Chelsea could see that he was looking around the ballroom, searching for someone.
”Zach's right over there by the drink station,” she said.
”Mind if I cut in?” Daryl asked.
”Mmmm?” Jerry glanced at him.
”I'd like to dance with Chelsea,” Daryl said. ”The two of you have stopped. It seemed like a good time to ask.”
”Go ahead.” Jerry put a hand on Chelsea's arm. ”I want to thank you, Ms. Brockway. For setting me straight about Zach before I-I may have made a mistake. Please, excuse me.”
”Something's bothering him,” she said as Jerry moved past them and began to thread his way through the other couples on the floor. She had time to notice that he wasn't headed in Zach's direction before Daryl pulled her into his arms.
”Yeah, well from the daggers that your beau was sending his way, he's probably suffering from internal bleeding.”
ZACH FELT a little of his tension ease when Jerry walked off the dance floor. His parting from Chelsea had seemed amicable enough, but he didn't look happy now.
”I've had my reservations about you, but getting Ms. Brockway to sweet talk your brother is one smooth move.”
It took Zach a second to realize that the comment had been addressed to him and he turned to find Bill Anderson at his side.
”I can't take the credit for that. It was my aunt Miranda's doing,” Zach said.
Bill shrugged. ”My daddy used to say that the next best thing to having good ideas was surrounding yourself with people who would give them to you.”
For a moment Zach said nothing. Then he gave Anderson a brief nod. ”I'd say your daddy had a point.”
For a moment the two men merely studied each other. Finally, Bill said, ”I think I was wrong about you. I was sure after that first staff meeting that you were h.e.l.l-bent on taking the magazine off in a new direction without paying any attention to any of us. I figured when you finished your little experiment, you'd move on and leave the rest of us to pick up the pieces.”
”What makes you think you were wrong?”
”Because you're loyal and you're honest. You honored Ms. Brockway's contract when you can't have wanted to.”
Beyond Anderson's shoulder, Zach could see that Jerry had stopped to chat with Esme Sinclair.
”And you're sticking by her even though it can't be what you want for the magazine.”
”It might not matter what I want for Metropolitan after the board meets.”
Bill followed the direction of Zach's gaze. ”Don't underestimate Ms. Brockway's persuasive power. I changed my mind about resigning that first day because of her. And once Esme tells your brother about the sales figures on the latest issue, he'll most likely reconsider his plan to urge the board to accept your resignation.”
”What sales figures? The first issue under my tenure just hit the streets yesterday.”
Bill studied him for a minute. ”No one told you? Your first issue of Metropolitan is well on its way to selling out. I a.s.sumed Esme must have let you know by now. The distributors have been flooded with calls for more copies ever since Ms. Brockway's appearance on that TV talk show.”
”Did Esme tell you this?” Zach asked glancing beyond Bill's shoulder to check on Chelsea again. She was still dancing with Daryl.
”No. I took some calls yesterday afternoon after everyone had cleared out. I just figured she must have known because earlier calls would have been routed to her office. But not to worry. I contacted our printers, and they promised to s.h.i.+p everything they had to our distributors first thing Tuesday morning. The last s.h.i.+pments ought to be hitting the stores and newsstands just about the same time you finish up on Good Morning, New York. Another great idea by the way.”
”That one wasn't mine either,” Zach said in a wry tone.
Bill Anderson was chuckling when Zach saw Hal Davidson tap Daryl on the shoulder. ”You'll have to excuse me,” he said as he strode toward the dance floor. He saw Sam moving in from the other side of the dance floor, but he reached them first.
”My turn,” Zach said. Then before Hal Davidson had a chance to reply, he took Chelsea's hand in his and led her away.
”When you cut in, you're supposed to dance,” Chelsea muttered as they threaded their way between couples.
”I'm not dancing with you,” Zach said. ”I shouldn't even be close to you.”
She stopped then and faced him. ”Why not? I don't have cooties, you know.”
”You-” Zach stopped short and blinked. ”Cooties?”
”You know. They're little bugs that crawl all over you-they live in your hair, in your ears.” Before he could antic.i.p.ate it, she reached up and twisted his ear.
”Ouch!”
”Since you're not going to dance with me, I'm going to dance with Hal.”
”No, you're not.” Grabbing her hand again, he led her through one of the wide arched exits from the ballroom.
”Where are we going?” Chelsea asked.