He would make sure to be there for her every step of the way.
“I guess I need to apologize,” Douglas said several days later, when Win was back on her feet again and the worst of her shock had worn off. “I was full of myself when I got here. Worried about how to get a chance to stay; I didn’t even think about you. Can’t believe I was trying to convince you to go home to your folks.”
“You couldn’t have known what my parents were like,” Win said. She’d decided not to worry about the past anymore. As much as learning the truth about her kidnapping had hurt, she’d decided it was the kind of cut that lopped off everything that was rotten and left only what was pure.
Her parents could never fool her again, and now she knew where her real family was: right here in Base Camp.
She could love Angus unconditionally, no guilt about leaving California behind. She could give herself totally to the community without worrying about Manners Corp or the Manners Foundation.
None of that had anything to do with her.
“What’s going to happen to them—your parents, I mean?” Douglas asked. He was on the mend, too. The bullet had grazed him but hadn’t done any lasting damage.
They were standing near Angus’s tiny house, which was almost complete. Another sunny day had dawned, and all the men and women who’d grown up around here kept talking about the unusual spring they were having.
“I don’t know,” Win said. “And honestly, I don’t care. There’ll be a scandal. Maybe there’ll be charges against my parents—and Brian Wells, of course. Maybe Dad will drop out of his reelection race. Maybe he won’t. Maybe they’ll spend a bunch of money and it will all go away. Nobody’s shocked by anything politicians do anymore, right?” She knew that sounded cynical, but it was true. “I’m just… tired. Of all of it. The guilt, the shame, the feeling like I’m doing something wrong when I choose to be with the man I love. That’s not what family should be about, you know?”
He nodded. “It shouldn’t be about trying to get ahead, either. Wish I’d never come here.” He stopped. “No, that’s not right. I’m glad I came here and got to know all of you. I’m glad I had my shot to be in America and get on TV.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I could accomplish a lot if someone would give me a break. I don’t know how to find that break, though.”
Win thought about that. “I do.”
“You do?” Douglas cocked his head.
“Come on; let’s go talk to Renata.”
They found the director in the manor, sitting at the kitchen table with Avery and Eve.
“So it’s going to be years before we do a feature film?” Avery was asking when they walked in.
“All I’m saying—” Eve broke off when she spotted them. “Hi, Win. Hi, Douglas. Everything okay?”
Win hoped everyone would stop asking her that question soon. She was shaky, hurt to the core, still thoroughly shocked by who her parents had turned out to be, but she refused to let any of it consume a minute more of her life. “We’re fine. Everything okay here?”
“We’re just trying to figure out a path to profitability for our film production company.” Eve sighed. “Isn’t going to be easy.”
“We have to do the retrospective first,” Renata said in a tone that told Win she’d said this several times before. “Fulsom didn’t have to give that project to us; he’s got a production crew right here.”
“I know,” Avery said, but she didn’t seem too happy.
“The retrospective is what I wanted to talk to you about. What do you think about Douglas being the narrator for the project?” Win asked, clapping Douglas on the back. “People will be interested to know more about him; you could thread his story into Base Camp’s story, mix some new information with the old stories, something like that.”
“You ever narrated anything before?” Renata asked.
“No, but I’m a fast learner,” Douglas said.
“And he’s got a nice voice, just like Angus,” Win pointed out.
“Let me think about that,” Renata said. “You want to stay in the United States, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“I think once he’s done the narration, it’ll be time to put him and Fulsom together,” Win said. “Seems like Fulsom might make use of him.”
“I think you’re right. No promises,” Renata cautioned. Douglas had lit up at the prospect of meeting the billionaire. “But Fulsom’s got his fingers in a lot of pies.”
“Thank you.” Douglas squeezed Win. “You’re the best.”
“Remember that when Angus and I ask you to babysit,” Win said.
“Dinner at the Russells’ tonight,” Eve put in. “We’re heading over at six.”
“Yum.” Dinners at the Russells’ were always delicious affairs. “Dancing, too?”
“You know it.”
Win’s heart lifted, and for the first time since she’d been nearly kidnapped, she had the feeling that things might turn out all right.
“I can’t wait.”
Chapter Fourteen
‡
“My thirty days are up tonight,” Angus told Boone as everyone gathered to head to the Russells’ house. Maud and James Russell were an older couple who lived close by. They were wealthy enough to indulge all their dreams and after years of attending Regency reenactments had decided to live as if they were in that era full time. They were delighted with the men and women of Base Camp, and James loved to squire everyone around in his barouche, even though the manor now possessed two carriages. Never happier than when entertaining, the couple issued frequent invitations to dinners, dances and other get-togethers, which Angus mostly enjoyed.
He wasn’t sure how he’d get through this evening, though, knowing at the end of it he’d be free to pursue Win again. The last month had been one of the longest of his life, the last couple of days excruciatingly
