Whitney in Charge (22 page)

“Man, I wish I hadn’t taken you hiking. Or that Jack hadn’t been the paramedic on the scene when you got hurt. I know Casey had wanted you two to date, but maybe if we’d had more time together before your fall, things might be different now.” Ben gave a small laugh. “I didn’t have enough time to charm you with my personality.”

Ben was wrong. Meeting Jack had been one of the best things to happen to her since Rob had died. Getting knocked unconscious had been a good thing because she might have put off going out on a date with Jack. But the timing wouldn’t have mattered. She was meant to fall in love with Jack.

Wait. Ben’s conversation forced her to think what Jack meant to her. The deep feelings were actually love. She was in love with Jack Hensley.

But what about Jack? She knew he cared for her, but did he love her too?

While Regan went to use the bathroom, Whitney tried to absorb how their talkative sister went mute on them during the taping of the pilot for their new show. In a soft voice she asked Shannon, “What happened to Regan? She was stiff and barely talked. I tried to get her involved in the conversation.”

“I know. What a surprise that she’d be the one to choke on the set.”

“We didn’t even have an audience. I guess the camera on her must have caused her to freeze up.” Whitney thought for a minute. “Maybe we should reshoot the pilot. What do you think?”

“That might help. I think she pulled us down a bit because we kept wondering what was wrong.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Regan leave the restroom. “Here she comes.”

Regan sat next to Shannon on the small sofa. She darted a curious glance at her sisters. “You both look guilty. I bet I know why. You were talking about my sad performance.”

Whitney nodded. “Was the seating a problem? We can make changes.”

Regan shook her head. “I liked being in the middle of you two.” Regan looked directly at Whitney. “And I’m the one who suggested you should be on the chair by yourself. I’m thinking when we have an audience, I’ll actually do better. I need people to feed off of and to see their reactions.”

“That’s true,” Shannon said. “You’re always the life of a party. You make people laugh and have a good time.”

Regan frowned. “I guess that’s one reason I clammed up because I started thinking our friends and family will expect me to be able to run my mouth without any problem. But what if I say something that ticks someone off in the audience or start getting hate mail?”

“I’m glad you told us your fears and I imagine we each have something we’re worried about.” Whitney smiled. “Since I feel I pushed us into this show, I’ll admit I’m a little afraid I might be uncomfortable with an audience. This is a big change for me being in front of the camera. I don’t want to blow this for us.”

Shannon shook her head. “You two are pathetic. Both of you will be awesome. I might be the boring one in the group. I can just hear my teenagers say that their Aunt Regan and Aunt Whitney are cool on TV. And then see them roll their eyes and ask me why I can’t be like their aunts.”

“I see Brandon and Caitlyn bragging to their friends how their mother is a TV celebrity.” Whitney smoothed her skirt. “We’re all having jitters. We can make adjustments as we go on and we’ll be fine.”

“I promise I’ll relax and we can do another pilot, but let’s face it, this isn’t New York City.” Regan leaned back on the sofa.

“You’re right. It’s a small local cable show. We’re intelligent women and we can do this.” Shannon sighed. “Just because I failed at my other businesses doesn’t mean this will be a flop.”

“If it’s okay with you two, I’ll get this pilot to Jerry so he can show it to the cable executives. We don’t need to do it over because he’s already given us the go ahead.” Whitney rose. “He’s anxious to get us on the air twice a week so Cora has more time with their daughters and even though her surgery was successful, he wants her to slow down.”

* * *

A month later on a lovely June day, Whitney watched the TV monitor in the dressing room and was impressed with what she saw. “Your college student’s doing a fantastic job of warming up the audience. I’m glad you recommended him.”

“He seemed to pick the right major. I think he’ll do well in broadcasting.” Shannon put her hand on Regan’s shoulder. “Could you stop moving around? I guess you’re antsy but you’re making me nervous.”

Regan gave a broad smile. “I’m excited about doing a show with my sisters. Can you blame me? I just wish Mom and Dad were here.”

Whitney hugged Regan, then Shannon. “It’s hard without them here, but we have each other.”

“I wish they were here too. But we probably wouldn’t be standing here waiting to go on our new talk show if Dad hadn’t died and Mom hadn’t gotten cancer and died.” Shannon looked at Whitney. “You’d still be in New York City.”

“Maybe not. After Rob was killed, I might have decided to move back home, but you could be right. I did love producing
The Bold News
.” She laughed. “Molly called to wish us luck. She still can’t believe I’m going to be in front of the camera instead of behind it.”

“You don’t mind not being producer or the show runner, do you?” Regan asked.

Whitney shook her head. “It was satisfying but I don’t miss it. I’m having fun deciding what will be on our show. I’m relieved we can control what we talk about and have so much input. Cora has a good staff. And I like this small and homey studio in Cornett.”

“We might need a bigger studio. Cora can’t believe we have this many friends and relatives. She said this is the largest audience they’ve ever had in the studio.” Shannon pointed to her halter dress with a slightly flared skirt. “Do I look okay in this?”

“You look gorgeous,” Regan said. “Your shoulders are shown off in the flattering dress cut.”

Whitney nodded. “I’m glad you decided to go with the blue one.”

“Hey Whit, when are you going skydiving?”

Shannon said, “That’s right. You said you might go if we did a business together.”

“You’ve been flying with Jack.” Regan fingered her silver necklace. “Now you can go skydiving for another adventure.”

“If someone had told me a few months ago, I’d enjoy flying, I’d never have believed them,” Whitney said. “Jack helped me get over my fear. Actually I’m going to skydive soon. Jack’s going with me.”

“We should get it taped to put on our show,” Shannon said in an excited voice.

“Sounds like Ben’s definitely out of the picture,” Regan said.

Whitney had another woman in mind for her neighbor. “If things don’t work out between Ben and Anna, I’m going to introduce Molly to Ben.”

Regan frowned. “I don’t see a long-distance relationship working for them.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you two that Molly’s thinking of visiting and moving here,” Whitney said. “She’s tired of big city life and might like to try a small town.”

Shannon raised her eyebrows. “Now that’s a surprise.”

“It’s almost time to go on, but I just want to tell you both something before the show starts. It means a lot to me that we’re doing this together.” On the verge of tears, she said, “And today’s the second anniversary of Rob’s death. I can’t think of another place I’d rather be.”

“I remembered but didn’t know whether to mention it.” Shannon squeezed her hand.

“Rob would be so proud of you, Whit.” Regan swallowed hard and placed her arm around her shoulders.

The floor manager signaled to them to enter. Whitney quickly left the dressing room and walked on the set. She waved to the audience. Regan and Shannon followed her, sitting on the sofa. After she sat on the cushioned chair, Whitney said, “Good morning. Welcome to
The Chick Gabfest Show
. We have fun topics for you this morning. Regan’s going to show you how to get a lot of flower arrangements out of one store bought bouquet. Believe me, she’s creative in making her home look chic with her stunning arrangements. And the best part is she spends very little money doing it.

Are you worried your children won’t get enough mental stimulation this summer? Well, that can be taken care of easily by reading. Shannon has a list of wonderful books for your children to enjoy. Also a librarian from the Cornett branch library is here today to give some tips on getting your kids to read while on summer vacation.

But before we get to the reading and flower arranging, we want to share how we decided on the name of our show. Growing up with two sisters was awesome and—”

Shannon interrupted with, “Not always. Not when your younger sisters borrowed your favorite clothing and forgot to return them.”

Regan grinned. “It was a compliment to your great taste. Besides we were in your room the most when we had our gabbing sessions.”

Shannon nodded. “That’s right and you went through my clothes to see what you could take.”

“We used to get together usually in Shannon’s bigger bedroom and gab about everything.” Whitney glanced at her sisters, then back to the camera. “Obviously, one topic was about clothes. Many times our mother joined us. I moved back to Cornett two years ago, and we resumed our special chatting times. Our mother was Diana Taylor and some of you might have had her as a teacher at Cornett High School, or knew her from church. She loved to talk. Since Regan first mentioned having chicks in the title, she should tell the rest of the title story.”

“Shannon, Whit and I were all feeling sad that Mom couldn’t help us with the title.” Regan pushed a lock of auburn hair away from her face. “And Whit said how she wished she’d thought of having a TV show before Mom died so she could help us with the title. She was creative that way. But she actually helped us because after I mentioned using chicks in the title, I said how I wished Mom could pop in like she used to and complain how she hadn’t been invited to our gabfest.”

Shannon nodded. “Mom loved gabbing with us. It was pretty neat we got input from Mom indirectly, and then Whitney suggested we use
The Chick Gabfest Show
.”

“Now for the fun part,” Whitney said. “We have great news for you. We’re having a contest to celebrate our new show. We’re giving away a wonderful three-night stay at a beautiful cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. There’s one catch. It’s only for chicks.”

Regan laughed. “It might be for the men in the chicks’ lives, too, when they are without the women for a few days.”

“That’s true. The men will have peace and quiet.” Whitney glanced at her paper, and then continued. “The winner can choose three girlfriends or sisters. All four can enjoy gabbing together in the smoky mountains. The cabin will accommodate four people. Also the package will include several gift cards to restaurants in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. You’ll have to drive your own vehicle, but we’ll cover the gas. Gatlinburg is about three hundred miles from Cornett. Shannon’s son Brandon did an awesome website for us with all the contest details. Shannon’s going to tell you more about the contest.” She turned away from the camera’s lens to look at her sister and said, “Shannon.”

“As Whitney said, the winner of the Gatlinburg Contest will receive three nights with restaurant and gas gift cards included. The contest won’t start until June twenty-sixth after we give the fourth question. There are four questions you need to answer correctly. The first question and answer will be given today and the rest during the next three days. We’ll have a form on the website to fill out completely with all the contest rules.” Shannon moved her gaze from the camera to Regan. “Regan has the first question and answer for you.”

Regan smiled at the audience. “The question for today is: What are the first names of the hosts of
The Chick Gabfest Show
? And of course, you just have to put Regan, Shannon and Whitney.”

“The order of our names doesn’t matter,” Shannon said.

“Sure it does. I don’t want to be in the middle.” Regan chuckled. “Actually Shannon’s right. Any order is acceptable.”

Whitney leaned forward. “We’ll have the winner on our show. After the trip to Gatlinburg, we’d like to have all four girlfriends or sisters on the show.”

“Be sure to watch on Thursday to get the second question and answer.” Shannon sipped her water.

After Shannon’s reminder to watch again on Thursday, Whitney said, “The website is just our name of the show and can be seen on the bottom of your screen. We have so many great memories of the Taylor women chatting together at all times of the day or night. We hope the winner and her girlfriends or female family members will make wonderful memories as a result of our Gatlinburg Contest.”

The rest of the show went smoothly with the librarian’s diverse display of books for a wide range of school age children, and Regan’s demonstration of making several flower arrangements.

When they were off the air, Whitney spoke loudly as she hugged her sisters, “We did it.”

Whitney watched Tim lift his wine glass in the air. Going to dinner to celebrate their first show was fun. She was glad she’d suggested it.

Tim said, “Cheers to the Taylor sisters for giving the women in Cornett something new to gab about.”

“Men can watch our show too,” Regan said. “Casey and David are going to be on sometime to tell how to have an escape plan in place in case of a home fire.”