Time and motion and gravity all ceased. Zack stood anchored in place, just looking at the production assistant. “What . . . what do you mean?”
“Come on . . . they must be paying you, too.”
Mountains on all sides of him collapsed, burying him in the garbage of three straight months. They were paying Zoey? To give the show the appearance that the two of them were an item? He shut his eyes for a few seconds and then blinked them open. It wasn’t possible.
The guy was still talking, but like earlier with William Gaines, Zack couldn’t hear him. Suddenly he pictured a number of times when he had seen Zoey talking to Meier or Gaines. Was it really possible? He jogged down the hallway never feeling the floor, searching every doorway for Zoey until he found her in a dressing room that had Gaines’s name on it. She was alone, still in her black dress and boots, curled up in an oversized armchair, sobbing.
“Look at me.” Zack didn’t yell. His shock was too great. “Zoey, look at me.”
“It isn’t true.” She spun around to face him, her feet hitting the floor. “I was standing around the corner. I heard what he told you.” Her face was red, her eyes swollen. “You can’t believe that.”
“What am I supposed to think?”
She stared at him, clearly trying to find control. Sorrow and fear colored her expression, but they didn’t come close to the more obvious emotion consuming her. An emotion that could only be defined as guilt. “I’ve hated keeping this from you, Zack.” She breathed fast, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything.”
Zack sank into the chair across from her. Whatever she had to say, he needed to be seated. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure he’d survive it. “Go ahead.” He held his head in his hands for several seconds before looking up at her again. “Talk to me.”
“I . . . didn’t want . . . to go along.”
“Are they paying you? I need to know that first.” His voice was louder, meaner than before. He had to force himself to find calm. He stood and closed the door and then returned to his spot across from her. “Tell me if they’re paying you.”
“No.” She shook her head fast and sharp. “No, I would never take money to . . . to be your friend, Zack. Never.” She hung her head and panic seemed to grab hold of her. Her breaths came even faster and she stood, panic frozen in her face. “I . . . I can’t breathe. Zack . . . help . . . me.”
His instincts took over and he came to her. With the compassion that once defined him, he held her and stroked her back. “Zoey, shhh. It’s okay. Breathe out. You’re okay.”
“I can’t . . . catch . . . my breath.”
He held her for several minutes until he felt the muscles along her spine relax. Finally she took a step back and covered her face, her tears flowing once again. When she sat down and lowered her hands, he could see that she was going to be okay. She was broken, but she was breathing.
“I didn’t . . . take money.” She shook her head, her eyes imploring him. “Please believe me.”
“Did they offer it?”
“Only as a joke.”
As a joke? Zack turned and paced to the opposite wall of the small room. He stayed there, trying to keep some sense of sanity. “Are you serious?” He turned and stared at her. “Who did that?”
“Gaines. But he was kidding.”
“So what . . . what did they promise you instead?” He knew there was something. He could sense it in her panic.
“They said . . . I had a better chance of staying on the show if—” She looked down at her lap.
“Say it. Come on, Zoey.” He walked closer, willing her to speak.
She looked up, her swollen eyes locked on his. “I had a better chance if I stayed near you. If people thought we . . . were an item.” Tears fell on her cheeks, but this time she didn’t look away. “I’m sorry.”
There it was, the whole story out in the open. The producers hadn’t only worked to find an angle, they had created one. With promises of fame, Zoey had played her part. Zack dropped to his seat and faced her, just stared at her. “I lost Reese for that? So you could fake your feelings for me?”
“I wasn’t faking it.” She looked horrified. “I am in love with you, Zack. Sure, I’m your friend, but that’s not all I feel.” She stood and threw her hands in the air. “I’m not that good an actress. Not for any amount of fame.”
Zack wanted her out of his sight. A memory flashed in his mind. The winter he was sixteen and working at the back of his family’s horse farm when a snowstorm came through. He needed to secure the stables, but by the time he did, the storm was a full-fledged blizzard. When he tried to make it back to the house, snow was flying in every direction. Zack had fallen to the ground, no longer sure which way was up. If his father hadn’t found him, he might’ve died out there.
That was how he felt now. No longer sure which way was up and in desperate need of rescue by his Father.
Zoey must’ve seen what he was feeling because she didn’t wait around for his next words. She stood and ran from the room and down the hall. He waited until he could no longer hear her boots on the floor before he slowly left Gaines’s dressing room. He had failed his God and his family, and he had absolutely failed his girl. He had no idea what the full consequences would be, but one thing was certain.
His eyes were open now.
One way or another he was headed back home to start rebuilding what he’d lost. He walked slowly down the hallway, and as he struggled to grasp which way was up, he remembered something. Chandra was praying for him. Chandra and his parents and his siblings, the kids back home at church. Even Reese. Reese, who would leave for London tomorrow. She was praying because that’s the sort of girl she was. No matter how he’d hurt her, she would pray for him. And with all those prayers, he could hope for only one thing.
That his trip back home might come sooner than any of them expected.
THE EPISODE WAS mercifully over. Reese felt like she could breathe for the first time in an hour.
Grandpa Dan turned off the TV. “I don’t recognize him.” He leaned on his cane and looked at Reese. “I have no words.”
None of them did. “It’s okay.” Reese couldn’t think of anything else to say. “It was my choice to be here tonight.”
She had to watch the show with them this one last time. Her flight to London was scheduled to leave tomorrow night. Once she landed, she would stay in an apartment at the horse facility and spend a few weeks getting to know the instructors and students. Then she’d begin teaching. In her spare time she would tour the city and get familiar with the underground. Her life ahead gave her hope in the darkest hours. God wasn’t finished with her.
But she couldn’t leave life here without this night. All day she had prayed for God to show her if she was wrong. If leaving Zack wasn’t part of the Lord’s plans, then she needed to know now. Before her plane took off. She imagined Zack singing something with a faith message and admitting to America that he’d made mistakes leading up to this point. She even wondered if maybe he would talk about missing her and his home back in Kentucky.
Instead . . . well, instead Zack’s performances had only shredded what was left of her heart. The guy singing on the TV screen wasn’t remotely like the one she’d kissed good-bye three months ago. He acted different and looked different and dressed different. And when he and Zoey sang their love song, Zack’s dad nearly turned off the TV in the middle of the performance.
Reese’s shock had held off her tears. But now she could feel the dam in her heart breaking. She needed to leave, needed to get home and finish packing. So she could cry in private. She stood. “I need to go.”
“I’m sorry.” Dara came to her and the two hugged. “Please . . . keep praying for him.” She looked deep into Reese’s eyes. “This isn’t him. You know that.”
Reese nodded. Of course it wasn’t him. The fame, the overnight success, had done to Zack what it did to nearly everyone in his position. It had changed him. No matter what
promises Zack had made back at the beginning. She smiled at Zack’s mother. “I’ll miss you.” Tears stung her eyes. She wanted one thing—to feel the plane lifting off the ground, taking her to a new life far from this one.
Reese hugged Zack’s dad and Duke and AJ. The girl was sick again. She struggled to make it down the stairs, let alone to the stable. “You get better, okay?”
“Okay.” AJ took a step back. “We’ll go riding again when you get back.”
“We will.” This was the hardest part. Reese never imagined she’d say good-bye to these people. They were like her own family. “I’ll see you next year.”
AJ nodded and moved across the room to her mom. The two of them held on to each other, the sadness like a wave pulling them under the surface of all that once was.
Reese said good-bye to Grandpa Dan last. Here was the man who had promised Grandma Lucy that he’d take care of her. The man who had prayed for her and been certain when Zack brought her home that God had meant them for each other. Not anymore. He took her in his arms and held her the way her own father might. When they drew back, Reese saw tears on his cheeks. “I’ll pray for you. Every day.” His voice was scratchy beneath the obvious weight of his sorrow. “I promised your grandmother, and I’ll keep my promise.” He kissed her forehead. “God has good plans for you, Reese. Go find your life.” He stopped, gathering his composure. “Don’t forget us.”
She could hardly see through her own tears. “I won’t.” Once more she hugged him, and then she picked up her purse and said a final good-bye. She left without looking back. Zack Dylan and his world were behind her now. Every step put distance between them, the sort of distance she needed if she were going to find a new life apart from him. Her heart ached, because this wasn’t what she had wanted. She was leaving, but she still missed him. She climbed into her car and covered her face with her hands. The tears washed over her, tears for her shattered dreams and tears for the guy she loved. The one who no longer existed. Only one thought brought her comfort as she dried her face and started her car.
Tomorrow night at this time she would be boarding a plane to London.
chapter 27
The one o’clock meeting was for brass only. Samuel Meier kept the details hushed and invited only Gaines and the three judges. Chandra arrived at the same time as Kelly, and they swapped a look. Whatever was going on, it was serious. Only Samuel remained standing as they took seats around a small table.
Without any fanfare, the producer got started. “As you know, the ratings this season have been the best yet.” He had a number of documents in front of him and he sorted through them now. “Our ad rates have nearly doubled and everyone at the network is thrilled. We all know the reason—Zack Dylan and Zoey Davis have the talent and they give viewers a story they can’t resist.” He sighed. “We counted on both of them making it to the final. We were sure about it.” He stopped and stared at them, the lines on his face deeper than before. “Until last night.”
Chandra felt something strange in her heart, adrenaline maybe, or something almost divine. She held her breath while Samuel struggled with whatever he needed to say.
“Don’t tell me he got kicked off.” Cullen leaned his forearms on the table. “That’s insane. It was his best night.”
Samuel nodded, his lips locked in a frown. “I asked the accounting firm to do an audit. The results were the same. He’ll go tonight.”
Heaviness hung over the table. Chandra stared at her hands, trying to contain her joy. Zack had been kicked off? The idea was outlandish, impossible. But the truth remained. She had prayed for Zack, that he would make it out alive. And America had voted him off.
Kelly had to feel the same way—happy about this latest development. Not for the show but for Zack. Cullen was going on about how there had to be a mistake. “America will turn off their TV sets for good if the bloke gets kicked off.”
“Which is why”—Samuel dropped to his chair, picked up a small stack of papers, and handed them out—“this is our newest policy. Other shows do it. But tonight will be the first time it’s been done on Fifteen Minutes.”
“Ahhh, a judges’ save.” Cullen relaxed into his chair. “Perfect. I love it.”
“Yes.” Samuel smiled, fully in control. “We need Zack on this show. Ideally it’s him and Zoey Davis in the final. We could ride those ratings for another three seasons.”
Chandra couldn’t believe it. Why have a voting system if it came down to this sort of manipulation? “So we’ll vote tonight, is that how it’ll work?”
“Yes.” Samuel leveled his gaze at her, his eyes intense. The unspoken message was crystal-clear. “All of us are shocked about this. Cullen will lead with the announcement of a save. Zack will sing for his life. Then we’ll break for a commercial and the three of you will vote to keep him.” He shifted his attention to Kelly. “We’ll come back from the break and you’ll tell America the good news—Zack is safe for one more week.”
“And we’ll vote off three the next week, right?” Cullen chuckled. “It’s perfect.” He narrowed his eyes, his focus on Samuel. “What do you think happened?”
“Honestly?” Meier shook his head. “I’ve only seen this a few times, but I think until now he’s been too good. His loyal audience sees him as a nice boy. The token Christian. He sings a song about getting drunk and they stop voting.”
“Come on.” Cullen couldn’t have been more shocked. “No one’s that narrow-minded.”
Samuel frowned. “You’d be surprised.”
Kelly stood. “If that’s all, I need to call my dad. He’s expecting me.”
Chandra watched her colleague leave without waiting for permission. Was it a coincidence, her timing? Or was she as fed up as Chandra? Of course people hadn’t voted just for Zack. They’d voted for his faith and values. When he stopped being defined by them, the people stopped voting. Chandra wondered why Cullen and Samuel were so surprised.
She excused herself and found Kelly in the hallway. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Kelly’s eyes were soft, deep.
“How’s your dad?”
“He’s still . . . terminal.” Sorrow fell like a shadow over her face. “But he’s in remission. He might have longer than we thought.”
“Good.” Chandra had come to enjoy talking to Kelly. The changes in her fellow judge were dramatic. “What about Cal?”
“We’re trying. He and the kids moved in with me.” She leaned against the wall. “I mean, we’re not rushing to church or anything. But we need each other.” Kelly hesitated, thoughtful. “The last few weeks have taught me that.”
“Hmmm.” Chandra stared at her high heels for a long moment before lifting her eyes to Kelly. “About tonight . . . looks like it’ll be up to us.”
“Yeah.” Kelly stared out a distant window at the end of the room. “I liked Zack better at the beginning. Before everyone knew who he was.”
Chandra nodded. “Me, too.” She put her hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “Do me a favor?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Tonight . . . when it’s time to vote . . . don’t let anyone decide for you. Never mind the ratings. Fifteen Minutes will always be strong.”
“True.”
“They’ll ask you back.” Chandra lowered her voice, looking as deeply into Kelly’s heart as the woman would allow. “Vote with your gut. With your conscience.” She straightened. “A lot’s riding on our decision.”
Kelly nodded slowly. “I’ll keep it honest.” She took a step toward the dining hall. “I promise.”
Chandra stayed, thinking about her words. They were true. Zack’s future depended on tonight’s vote. Now that Chandra had started praying for him, she couldn’t stop. It wasn’t too late for Zack. Only the top four contestants toured after the show was over. Everyone else was on their own. Some were offered deals, others had to find their own way. Back to waiting tables or leading worship at their local church.
The judges each had a vote. She had no idea what Cullen and Kelly were goi
ng to do with theirs.
But she was absolutely sure how she would cast hers.
ZACK HAD BLOWN it. He knew as soon as he woke up that morning. Like always lately, he jumped on Twitter before he was fully awake. At first he thought someone was playing a joke, or maybe someone had hacked his account.
It took two minutes to figure out that wasn’t the problem.
He hadn’t checked last night, too exhausted from the drama with Chandra and then Zoey. Now he scanned back through his @s and realized the truth. The comments had turned sour right after his performance aired on the East Coast and they continued that way through the night and into the morning.
One after another they shouted at him, reminding him of the person he’d become. He read as many as he could stand.
What happened to @ZackDylan? I thought he was a Christian? #hypocrite
Figures. Everyone changes when they get famous. Even @ZackDylan. #toogoodtobetrue
Really? @ZackDylan singing a song about getting drunk on a beach? What a joke!
Not every tweet was negative. But the positive ones seemed focused on the wrong thing.
If you’re gonna show us your arms @Zack Dylan, take off the shirt. Give us what we want! #hotbody
Don’t you just know @ZackDylan is spending hours rehearsing with @songleader? Zoey Davis you’re a lucky girl. #jealous
He felt sick to his stomach. Some of the tweets were crass—more so than ever since he’d made it on the show. Zack winced as he read the next tweet on his feed.
Come find me @ZackDylan. The spot next to me in bed is all yours.
A few were so vulgar, with cussing and descriptive suggestions, that Zack skimmed over them. Others expressed outrage.
Anyone who votes for @ZackDylan after that performance doesn’t remember who he was at the beginning. #changed
Disappointed in you @ZackDylan. Who are you, anyway?
After ten minutes, Zack exited out of his account. He had known he was making a mistake last night even before he took the stage. Chandra’s warning, and then the whole twenty push-ups thing. Finding out about Zoey and the promise of fame from the producers had been the last straw.