A Perfect Distraction(88)

She turned, her eyes widening. “You’re backing off?”

“You have too much at stake for me to try to railroad you.”

She thought for a few moments. “All right. Give it your best shot.”

Relief rushed through him. It was a start. “Thank you.”

His mind was already turning over a list of who to contact first. The journalists who covered the Cats. The big guys like Dreger and McKenzie at TSN, whose stories would be retweeted, as well as the key hockey bloggers.

Maggie’s voice, barely above a whisper, interrupted his thoughts. “If it doesn’t work...” Her words faded, as if she didn’t want to finish the sentence.

She didn’t need to.

“It will. I’ll make sure of it. Trust me one more time.”

But as the limo pulled to a stop, doubts danced at the edges of his brain. Maggie’s future, Emily’s future—hell, his own future—was in his hands. What if he couldn’t fix this? What if he was too late? How could he live with himself if he failed someone he cared about again?

* * *

“CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S due. Jake’s lived up to his promise.”

Jenny shot a triumphant look at Tracy, making Maggie smile.

The women were meeting for lunch at Tracy’s house, having decided Maggie should lie low until they’d seen the full extent of the coverage of the gala-evening fiasco. Jenny had brought takeout and was spreading containers across the kitchen table while Maggie laid out plates and cutlery and Tracy made hot drinks to ward off the chill of the gray day.

Maggie wasn’t sure she could eat anything. She was trying to put on a cheerful front, though her stomach had been in knots for the past couple of days. Her nerves were pretty much shot. She’d barely slept and she jumped whenever the phone rang.

Every time she turned around, she was assailed by stories of that night. She and Jake had been plastered over every magazine, website and chat show. While most of the stories had focused on Jake, they’d all included a particularly unflattering picture of Maggie, with Tony sprawled at her feet.

It hadn’t helped that she and Jake hadn’t seen each other at all since that night. They’d opted for a low profile, too. Though they’d spoken often on the phone, it wasn’t the same as being with him. Aside from missing him, she’d come to realize how much of a presence he’d become in her life. How much she enjoyed that presence.

Jenny took the cover off a plastic salad bowl and split the contents between three plates. “Jake’s done everything he can to deflect attention from Maggie.”

“I give him kudos for punching out that tosser, Tony.” Tracy held her hands up in mock surrender. “Jake’s certainly put himself about, appearing on podcasts, talk radio and phone-conference roundtables with journalists.”

Jake’s determination to fix the problem, along with the huge personal sacrifice he was making for her and Emily, had melted Maggie’s heart. Other than Tracy, no one had ever cared enough for her to put their reputation, their soul, on the line. Not her parents, not her so-called friends back home and certainly not Lee.

Tracy interrupted Maggie’s thoughts, calling her and Jenny to sit and eat.

Jenny stabbed her grilled chicken breast with relish. “I hear the Cats told Tony that they appreciate his support, but his money isn’t worth that kind of behavior.”

Maggie nodded. “Not only did the team stand behind Jake one hundred percent, they also stood up for me. Tony backed down pretty quickly.”

“Rumor has it Tony tried to switch allegiance to the other hockey teams in the area, but they wanted nothing to do with him.” Tracy grinned. “That’ll teach him.”

Maggie pushed her food around her plate. “Why do I feel like it’s been too easy? That trouble’s waiting round the corner, ready to ambush me?”

“Past experience,” Tracy said softly. “You haven’t had an easy ride of it, sis. If anyone has earned the right to be cynical about the media, it’s you.”

“Perhaps I deserved it. I used to chase column inches myself.” Maggie laid her fork down, giving up all pretense of trying to eat.

“Maybe in the early days, but not during your divorce. It still infuriates me how Lee’s behavior was downplayed, just because he was a well-known football star.” Her sister jabbed a carrot stick into the bowl of hummus.

“This time, everyone’s on your side.” Jenny sent her a reassuring look. “I know we still haven’t seen what’s in the weeklies, but the coverage has been favorable elsewhere. Jake’s indignation over Tony trying to paw you played well on all the gossip sites.”