Read Online Charade by Sandra Brown - Free Book Online Page B

elemental impetus. Recently, she'd taken many long walks along the shore. She'd spent hours gazing out over the waves, weighing her options, searching for answers in the surging surf. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. "Nothing, thanks." She returned to the deep easy chair where she'd cast off an afghan when she'd heard the approach of his car. On the end table beside her were a cup of herbal tea and a high-intensity reading lamp focused on her lap. Dean sat across from her. "What's that?" "Rough drafts for scripts. Each writer on staff submitted an idea as to the fate of Laura Madison. They're all very good, and very sad. Rather than knocking her off, I urged them to hire another actress to continue the part." She sighed and ran her fingers through her unruly curls. "But they're adamant about writing her out." "There isn't another actress alive who could play that role," Dean said. "You've ruined it for anybody else. Meryl Streep couldn't handle it. You are Laura Madison." She recognized in his features signs of frustration and anxiety that would be invisible to anyone who didn't know him well. She was responsible for his unhappiness, and that bothered her tremendously. "Well, it's official, isn't it?" he said. "Entertainment Tonight broke the story yesterday. You're leaving Passages. Effective when your contract runs out, shortly after the first of the year, I understand." She nodded, but said nothing. The wind buffeted the glass walls as though trying to snuff out the candles on the mantel. She threaded the fringe of the afghan through her fingers. When she looked up, Dean was gazing out the window, his expression as turbulent as the surf. "How much did Bill Webster factor in to your decision?" She was slow to respond. "WWSA is his television station." "That's not what I'm asking." "If you're implying that our relationship is anything other than professional, you couldn't be more wrong. I have flaws, Dean, but lying isn't one of them. If anything, I'm too honest for my own good.
    Furthermore, Bill is very happily married to a woman who is as attractive and charming as he." His features remained taut. "In a desperate attempt to understand why you're turning your back on your career, everything you've worked for, I've looked at your decision from every angle. Naturally it occurred to me that a romance might factor in." "It doesn't," she said emphatically. "The Websters have six children. They also had a daughter who died several years ago. She was their firstborn. They took her death very hard. "I haven't been entirely happy with my life for a long while. But it wasn't until Bill told me about his daughter--this was about six months ago--that I knew I had to make a fresh start. Life's too precious to waste a single day. "That evening, Bill and I had a very earnest and honest talk about the loss of their daughter, and before I realized it, I was telling him about my childhood. I told him how it felt to be orphaned, to become a ward of the state, to be shunted between foster homes, never quite fitting in. "That turned the conversation to an enormously successful program that he'd seen implemented in several major cities, where children who need adoptive parents are featured during the news broadcasts. He expressed an interest in beginning one at WWSA as a community service. That's when I began to see a new start for myself. "I didn't mean to shut you out, Dean. Countless times, I wanted to bounce the idea off you, but I knew you couldn't be objective. Nor could you grasp my reasons for wanting--needing--to do this." She laughed softly. "I'm not sure I grasp them myself. But I feel them. Intensely. I wrestled with them, tried to evade them, but they got their hooks in me and wouldn't let go. The more I thought about the outreach this program could have, the more excited I became. "I thought back to all the times I was rejected for adoption because of my age, my sex, my medical history. Even my red hair was a