less chance viewers will have to grow fond of her,” Keith continued.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You said the doctor’s given you a clean bill of health. Maybe you should think about coming back to work.”
“My leg’s in a cast! What do you suggest I do? Sit sideways on the set and stick it out behind the desk?”
“You wouldn’t have to do the entire thirty minutes on the set. You could sit in the newsroom and have the camera shoot a head shot. No one needs to see your cast.”
“And what about this?” She pulled her hair away from her face and turned her head so that her puffy, discolored cheek was in full view.
He didn’t try to hide his discomfort. “Makeup will take care of that,” he said weakly.
Her laugh was without humor. “I doubt it.”
“How do you know if you won’t try? Bob told me he sent a makeup artist to the hospital and you refused to talk to her.”
“What’s the point? I told you I’m not ready to go back to work. That’s why I asked for a leave of absence.”
“Eventually, you’ll be going back. Wouldn’t it make sense to have a professional come here and show you how to apply the makeup? That way, you can practice so by the time you’re ready to return, you’ll feel comfortable.”
From the way he was staring at her, Kristin couldn’t help but wonder if the practicing-at-home part wasn’t for his benefit. Did he want her to wear the makeup so he wouldn’t have to look at her scars? Not for the first time she had the feeling that he was repulsed by her swollen and bruised face.
She let the hair fall back across her cheek and angled her head to hide the scars. “Why are you pressuring me about this?”
“I’m not pressuring you,” he denied. “It’s just that I miss you at work, and in the hospital you told me you wanted to get back to the newsroom as soon as possible.”
That was before the bandages had been removed from her face and she had seen the damage.
“I’ve changed my mind. I need more time to get my strength back.”
“You told me a few minutes ago that you were feeling fins.”
“I am. I’m just not ready to return to work.”
“Your viewers will be disappointed.” Then he gave her his heart-stopping grin and said, “I’ll be disappointed.”
It didn’t stop Kristen’s heart for even a moment.
“Have you read KC’s column lately? Even she misses you,” he added.
KC was a gossip reporter who had followed their romance with a fervent passion, never missing an opportunity to mock the two of them in her biweekly newspaper column under a special subheading—“Amorous Anchors.”
“What she’s really missing are the opportunities to make fun of us,” Kristen said cynically.
“It’s true we’ve been a target of her offbeat humor, but we should feel flattered,” he said in a patronizing tone. “She says she gets a ton of calls from irate readers whenever she prints something unfavorable about us. I think that’s why she does it. She loves to be controversial.”
“You mean she loves to dig into people’s private lives,” Kristen pointed out.
“It’s all done in good humor.”
“You didn’t say that when she reported that you needed to get rid of some of your big hair.”
He automatically smoothed a hand over the side of his head. “She was right. I did have big hair when I arrived in Minneapolis. But the point is this. If KC misses the amorous anchors, the viewers do, too. They’ve come to expect that it’ll be the two of us doing the news. We’re the team they want to see. Just ask Bob.”
Kristen knew that Bob Yates as the news director had only one concern and that was ratings. If he thought another anchor could sustain those ratings, he wouldn’t care if Kristen ever returned from medical leave. The fact that Keith was over here encouraging her meant that so far Janey hadn’t done the job. That gave Kristen little comfort. Because if they were losing viewers, it meant another station was gaining them.
“You and I are like friends to many of those people who tune into Channel 12 each evening,” Keith continued. “They’re concerned about you just the way they’d be concerned for a friend who was injured. Just look at the stacks of mail over there.” He nodded toward the dining room.
Kristen knew what he said was true. In the five years she’d been at the station, she’d met many of the people who comprised their target audience. They were warm, friendly, caring members of a community she had grown to love.
“I’d like to say I could return next week, but...” She didn’t finish, knowing perfectly well that it would be a mistake to go back to work in her present condition. “I really don’t think I’m up to it.”
“You could always ease back into it. Actually, I’ve come up with a way for you to do just that.”
Suspicion began to creep into Kristen’s mind when she saw Keith’s eyes sparkling as if he had a great secret. “And what’s that?”
“I’ve talked Bob into giving me the okay to go ahead with a Profile in Courage.”
These profiles were special features the Channel 12 news team produced to highlight community members who had performed acts of extreme bravery. “So how do I fit in?”
“I want you to work with me.” He leaned forward, his face full of enthusiasm. “Guess who we’re going to profile.”
She gave him a blank look.
“Who is one of the most heroic men in the Twin Cities?”
Great. Now he was making it a guessing game. “I don’t know,” she said impatiently.
“It’s someone who’s important to both of us.”
Kristen couldn’t think of a single name.
“Tyler Brant,” he finally revealed.
“Tyler Brant?” she repeated, her heart skipping a beat. “Has he agreed to the interview?”
“Not yet, but I don’t foresee any problems in that area. Why would there be? We’re not doing an investigative report. We’re paying tribute to him. The viewers will love it!”
But would Tyler Brant? Kristen wondered. “He didn’t strike me as the kind who would want the attention.”
“Are you kidding? Every guy likes to be called a hero.”
“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully. She didn’t tell him that she had tried several times to contact Tyler only to be told he was unavailable. Even after she’d left her name and phone number, he hadn’t returned
