Page 110 of No More Heartbreakers

As we pulled up to the location of our shoot, I realized the perfect opportunity was about to present itself. I smiled, which Aric must have noticed from the corner of his eye, because he turned to me with a disgusted sigh.

“Do you have to look so happy?”

“Sorry,” I said. And that wasallI said until we reached our destination and Aric had set up the camera on a tripod.

“Do you mind if I knock out my stand-up first? I wrote something in the car.”

“Sure. Whatever,” he said.

I clipped on the microphone, and when Aric indicated he was rolling, looked into the camera lens and started my countdown as usual.

“Three, two, one… It was a case of crossed wires and miscommunication. A girl in love with a guy… accidentally getting engaged to another guy… for about five minutes. Would an apology fix things? Or had too much damage been done? We’ll continue to follow this developing story for you and bring you the latest tonight at ten.”

Aric’s head lifted from the viewfinder as the meaning of my words apparently hit him. He wore a look of disbelief as I continued my stand-up.

Now I looked directly at his beautiful, confused face instead of at the camera lens.

“Aric… I’m so, so sorry for the way I’ve kept you at a distance, and fought my feelings for you, and hurt you. I realize you sent my reel to Nashville because you want the best for me and because you believe in me. Because you don’t want me to have any regrets. You want me to follow my dreams even if it means sacrificing time with me.”

I took a step toward him. “I love you. I think you knew it long before I was ready to admit it. I love you, and I don’t want anyone but you. And if you’ll still have me, I’m asking you to give me another chance to be what I want to be more than anything else… your girlfriend.”

Aric stayed motionless beside the camera, its red record light still on.

My heart thudded painfully. Was it too late? Had I hurt him too deeply?

Suddenly he was in motion, moving toward me.

He grabbed my left hand and inspected my bare ring finger. With a hoarse sound he swept me up in a bone-crushing, soul-launching embrace and kissed me in a way that would push our newscast to at least a PG-13 rating if it were ever to make air.

Which it didn’t.

Some of the most important stories in life are meant to be seen by only two people.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Hire Him

“And that’s all the time we have today. Thanks for joining us for the News at Noon. I’m Heidi Haynes. We’ll see you tonight on Nashville News Two starting at five o’clock. Have a great day.”

After the newscast’s closing music, I gathered my scripts and left the set.

It had been a great show with no trace of nausea before, during, or after. I’d left that little issue behind in Georgia, along with so many other things.

“Hey Heidi—good show.” Chris, one of the studio cameramen, slipped off his headset and gave me a high five.

“Thanks, Chris. You, too.”

When I got back to the newsroom, Lori, the five p.m. producer, intercepted me. “Ken wants to see you in his office as soon as you get a chance.”

It was amazing how quickly I’d grown accustomed to these new faces. The job was pretty much the same though the studio and newsroom were much nicer and the staff was three times as large as the staff at WPVG.

I’d only been here for five months, but I knew my anchoring and reporting had already improved—enough couldn’t be said for the influence of working with people who were so much better than you.

And all my fears of moving to a big city and working in a big market had proved unfounded. I loved it all—the city, my new co-workers, the job.

The only thing missing in my life were the people I loved.

I talked to my family often. They’d given me a lovely send-off after the final performance ofThe Sound of Music. Our house was full of nuns, and children wearing smocks, and friends, and family, and love.

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