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world, live, on-air situations? Doubtful. What she did have was youth on her side, and Annie couldn t
compete with that.
Her brain spun, imagining that horrible meeting where she d be told she d been totally replaced by
Chelsea, who would be the new on-air girl for all the regular season events. Or maybe they d send Annie
down to the touring pro division, or to cover local rodeos rather than the pros.
To hell with that. She d keep her pride and walk. With the money she d saved, she could pursue that
Masters Degree she d always promised herself she d get. Then maybe she d go teach communications at a
college somewhere. Though picturing an entire college class full of bubbly bimbos wanting to be weather
girls or whatever job they could get on air twisted Annie s gut even more.
Annie drew in a breath. She hoped that would calm her and quiet her imaginings careening through
her head about the end of her career as she knew it.
So, what s on the agenda for today? Besides Chelsea&
We d like you to throw together a piece on the death of Luke Carpenter s father.
That stopped Annie s self-pitying right in its track. Nothing like the cold dose of reality to put things
in perspective. Um, okay.
Yeah, I want to really play it up. It s a great story
She frowned. A great story?
Yeah, the dedication of a rider completing his final ride in the short go before flying to his dying
father s side to say goodbye.
Annie s gaze narrowed. He didn t know about his father until after he d finished his short-go ride.
And they drove home, he didn t fly.
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Cat Johnson
Her boss dismissed the details with a wave of a hand. Whatever. You handle the details, but make it
good. The viewers eat up personal stories like this one. They get the blood and sweat in every ride. Today
we get to take advantage of the tears too.
Heartless bastard. Annie felt her jaw clenching again. I ll work on it.
I want it on air today. We ll run it during the intermission.
Today. Annie swallowed away her anger. She d like to see the new Annie, AKA Chelsea, throw
together a spot in mere hours and get it on air. In spite of Joe s calculating coldness, Annie would make this
something that both the network and more importantly, Luke, would be proud to have aired. No way
Chelsea could do that.
She blew out a breath. Okay, well I better get going on this then.
Her boss nodded. Great. I look forward to seeing it.
Then he rose from his seat and pulled his cell phone out. Joe left the room and Annie assumed she
was dismissed. She turned to her cameraman, who d been fiddling with one of his lights the whole time.
Carl, you available to help me with this?
Of course. Whatever you need.
The list of what she needed running in her head was too long to mention. Thanks. I guess we d better
get to work.
You ve already got the script in your head, don t you? Carl grinned at her.
He knew her too well. She shrugged. Kind of. A rough draft anyway.
Carl shook his head. That s why I love working with you. Nothing throws you. Just get it done, no
matter what.
That wasn t exactly true. Chelsea had thrown her. Hell, Luke had thrown Annie too. Her feelings for
him. That night of sex she would never forget. And the sight of Lilly s hands all over him in the church
pew, not to mention the killer looks Lilly had been shooting Annie when she d seen her with Luke.
Speaking of Luke. Annie reached into her bag for her cell. I better get a hold of Luke and give him a
heads up about this story. Things should be settled down now that the funeral is over.
How was that anyway?
She frowned at Carl. How was what? The funeral?
Yeah. I had a side job. There was no way I could have made it, as much as I would have liked to
have been there.
Annie would never forget that funeral. She remembered one of the toughest men she knew shaking in
her arms. There was a really nice turn out for Mr. Carpenter. There wasn t a seat left in the church for the
service. I was happy to see that, for Luke s family s sake.
Yeah, he was a good man, Charles Carpenter. You never think of champions like that ever dying.
Especially not so young.
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