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“We’d be offering you a three-year contract,” Tam said. “There are conditions, of course. We do have an out if it doesn’t go well.”

Evelyn opened her folder and slid me an already designed ad with me behind the news desk, taken during the days I’d filled in. “Welcome, Skyler Ruiz,” I said, reading the caption out loud. “The Sky’s the Limit.”

I thought about the billboards along the highway of Carrie and Rory, and how they’d have to come down now. That made me sad. And now they wanted my face to go up in her place? At any other juncture, I wouldn’t have hesitated. But the Carrie factor was real. The particular circumstances made all this feel…off. Garish. Exaggerated. This was Carrie’s job, and I wantedherbehind the desk, as much as I wanted it for myself.

“I’m sorry. I just…am trying to work through the implications.” I slid the ad back, trying to process. Tam and Evelyn exchanged a look that said this wasn’t going the way they’d anticipated.

“Why don’t we go over the offer?” Tam asked with a knowing smile. He signaled Ted, and the presentation began. The money was insanely good, a large leap from what I’d been making and enough to change my entire lifestyle. The vacation package was generous, the benefits impressive. They’d even included a nice stipend for clothes, hair, and nails. I was overwhelmed, and my head swam.

“Would I be done with reporting?” I actually liked being out in the field, ear to the ground, hunting down stories with Ty. It’s what made me get out of bed in the morning.

“There’s no reason you couldn’t still contribute features here and there. Just like Carrie.”

It wasn’t the same, but hadn’t the anchor spot always been my ultimate goal?

An hour later, Kristin found me pensive in the break room, sitting with an untouched cup of coffee. “I wondered how you’d take today’s news. Doing okay? You look a little less excited than I’d hoped.”

“No, I am. Trust me. A little part of me wondered when I filled in if I’d have a future behind the desk at KTMW. I let myself dream a little.” We were alone, and I felt like I could speak freely. “But now it’s here, and it feels so different than I imagined it would. Mainly because there’s Carrie to consider, and this is not the way I wanted it all to go down. It was one thing when she lost her spot, but it’s another now that it’s been offered to me. That’s Carrie’s chair.Her job.”

“I get that it’s not easy. But here’s the thing. Don’t for a second feel guilty about this,” Kristin said. “Whether or not you go into that chair doesn’t change the fact that the station is moving on from Carrie. Do you want it to go to someone else, on principle? That doesn’t make anything better, and you’d regret it one day when your career isn’t where it could have been.” She shrugged, sad but professional in her demeanor. “It’s just part of this business, unfortunately.”

“The part I hate.”

Kristin sighed. “We all do. But Caroline McNamara is a damn pro in this industry. She will see this for what it is. Trust me.” I’d avoided Carrie and our area of the newsroom since talking to Tam. I wasn’t ready to tell her until I had a firm grasp of the situation, and I was nowhere close.

Kristin was right, of course, but as professional as Carrie was, she was also hurt and mourning the loss of her job and identity. I’d been sleeping over most every night and had witnessed the changes in her firsthand. She was quieter, pensive, and would stare off into space for long stretches until she noticed I was watching and then—caught—forced herself to brighten.

“You doing okay?” I’d asked a few nights earlier. “You seem extra quiet.”

She shrugged. “Just feeling sad. Off. But nothing I can’t handle.” Her eyes had filled, and it hurt to watch. My face must have shown it. “Oh, stop. I’m gonna be fine. I just have to get through these last few days with my head up, try not to be fucking embarrassed when I read about myself online.”

“You will accomplish both.”

She softened. “I’m happy you’re here with me, though. This would be so much harder if I didn’t have you.”

I wrapped my arms around her on the couch, nuzzled her hair, letting it tickle my nose, and inhaled the wonderful scent of her lilac soap. “Well, you do, and you’re stuck with me.”

“A sentence I’m really quite good with.”

I was already at her place when she got home from the ten o’clock. I had to tell her about the offer. Putting it off was not an option. I made us a couple of spiced rum and Cokes and waited.

“For me?” she asked when she arrived home. “Bless you and your beautiful face. I could get used to this.” She accepted the glass and held it high in the air in thanks. “And hi.” She placed a kiss on my lips and exhaled. “Another day down. They found that little boy that went missing yesterday. He wanted to go camping, so he took himself.”

“I watched. Ambitious. And terrifying.”

“Crazy news day, though.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter, decompressing the way one does when they’re finally home and allowed to just breathe. “One change after the next, right up until air tonight. I’m exhausted, and my brain is more than scrambled.”

We clinked glasses. “You’ll be living the life of a woman with her evenings free in no time. Wild and fancy-free. Can you believe it? Think of all the late-night gardening you could get in.”

A small smile hit. “That part I’m actually looking forward to. Being home at night. At least in the temporary.”

We hadn’t talked about what she planned to do next with any sort of specificity, but maybe it was time. “Do you think you’ll want something with more of a nine-to-five schedule now? Or maybe just take some time off?”

She paused. “I’ve never really known a life like that. Sounds crazy to me. Daytime hours.” A pause. A thought must have hit. “It might be nice, though. I could cook dinner for us. Scallops and pasta. Watch sunsets together on occasion. Take walks down to the beach.”

“Do you know how nice that sounds?” I asked, melting. Like heaven on earth. Then I remembered my own news, which would derail all those plans, and my smile dimmed. I needed to tell her. I wasn’t sure how. At the thought, I felt my blood pressure rise. My palms itched.

Carrie quirked her head. “What’s that look? What’s on your mind?”

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