CHAPTER NINE
Eight weeks to Christmas Eve
Cat, with the network’s blessing and sense of urgency, mobilized an army in less time than it took most people to pack for vacation. By morning she had a small camera crew rolling through Merry scouting locations and shooting cleanup. She had PAs calling local news stations looking for any flood footage the show could use.
Cat shoved the first story editor on location out the door with a preliminary list of interviewees and the task of figuring out which stories would be followed on the five-episode arc.
The first of the RVs the cast and crew would be staying in were setting up camp in the side parking lot of the grocery store. Noah had signed the permits himself, which Cat considered a personal victory. He’d been a tougher nut to crack than she thought. Though why a city manager would balk at having a TV show with deep pockets finance most of a town’s rebuilding budget was an unpredictably stupid move.
She’d enjoyed making him squirm with the adorably verbose April. No man who loved his daughter could say no to a little face calling him a hero. Cat 1-Noah 0.
She only hoped he’d crawl off to lick his wounds and leave her the hell alone for the rest of the shoot. They had eight weeks to craft the story, rebuild a town, and air the finale live on Christmas Eve. If Noah knew what was good for him and his town, he’d stay out of her way. But there was nothing Cat loved more than a good challenge.
She let the RV door slam behind her as she stepped down onto the asphalt of the parking lot. Her list was eighteen miles long, and she was going to start knocking items off it.
“Hey there, Madam Producer.”
Cat spun around.
“Well, if it isn’t my gorgeous and deeply talented sister-in-law!” She grabbed Paige for a hard hug.
“For now, I’m your gorgeous and deeply talented director.”
Cat pushed her back a step. “No! The network said they were sending Martinez!”
Paige pushed her short dark waves out of her face. “They were until I volunteered my time for free.”
Cat felt tears prick at her eyes. “You didn’t. You noble shithead!”
Paige nodded, grinning wider. “It’s a good cause, and my next project doesn’t ramp up until January.”
“You didn’t have to, but I’m so damn glad you did,” Cat said, clearing the emotion that lodged in her throat. “What about Gannon and Gabby?”
“We’re a mobile family,” the deep raspy voice, as familiar as her own, announced over her shoulder.
“Shut the front door!” Cat launched herself at her brother. Gannon King, handsome as a devil and prickly as a cactus, was dressed for work in worn jeans and boots that should have seen the inside of a trash bin months ago. He wore a Kings Construction fleece and a ball cap. He hugged her back, hard.
“Gotta make sure my idiot sister doesn’t go floundering through any more floods.”
Cat snorted and punched him in the chest. “Like you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
“And you would have been just as pissed at me for not inviting you.”
He had a point.
“Where’s Gabby?” A devastated town and TV set was no place for her niece.
“We called in a favor,” Paige said. “Your parents flew back from Florida. We’re renting a place about ten miles from here—I’m not sharing an RV with our daughter and my in-laws. They’re ecstatic about the grandparenting emergency.”
“Mom and Dad are here?”
“Mom left strict orders for you to carve out an hour for dinner tonight,” Gannon warned her.
Angela King was a pushover as an Italian grandmother, but no one said no to her when it came to food. “I’ve got a lot going on here, but I’ll do my best,” Cat sighed, mentally rearranging her evening.
Gannon eyed the activity around them. “I’ll mention that it would be really helpful if she brought dinner here tonight.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Got something you’ll appreciate even more than dinner.” Gannon jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Brought a couple of reinforcements with us.”
He’d brought her a crew. Men she’d known for half her life who had stuck with them after their grandfather’s death when payroll had been late and jobs scarce. They whistled their patented “Cat call” that one of the jokers had invented years ago to entertain her when she was a kid. She opened her arms to them.
“What the hell are you jokers doing here?” Her budget was cringing, but having a Kings crew already familiar with the world of reality TV? It would be worth it.
“They’re volunteering too,” Gannon said, scratching the back of his head.
“The fuck they are,” Cat said succinctly.
“They’re going to swap out with the rest of the guys. Three days on set, three days back home.”
“I can’t ask them to do that,” Cat argued.
“It’s done. Besides, banner year for Kings Construction,” Gannon reminded her. “Word may have leaked about those bonuses we decided on.”
“Let’s fight about this later,” Cat decided. She had too much other shit on her plate
“Where we startin’, Cat?” Flynn, Gannon’s best friend and favorite foreman, demanded, tossing his hammer in the air and catching it neatly in his tool belt.
She crossed to him.
“Geez, Flynn. How many hours wasted on job sites did it take you to master that?” Cat asked, slapping the man on the shoulder.
His grin was quick. “Your brother bet me a burger and a beer I couldn’t get it before the end of a workday.” He patted his belly in satisfaction. “That burger was worth the bruises.”
“Well, gentlemen, why don’t you go grab yourselves some coffee and donuts and get ready for a briefing? We’re gonna start with either demo or park cleanup. So, I hope you brought your muscles.”
They flexed for her, as she knew they would, flannel and Henleys stretched over both muscles and beer guts. Cat laughed. Surrounded by family, she suddenly felt like she was home.
--------
Cat rapped her knuckles on Noah’s open door and braced herself for a fight. “Got a minute?”
He looked up from his desk, shrugged. “Does it matter if I do? Or are you just going to drag a kindergarten class in here to cry until I give you whatever you want?”
“Try to not be an ass for five minutes, and I’ll get out of your hair,” Cat suggested, walking in and sat in one of his visitor chairs without an invitation.
“What can I do for you today, Lucifer?” Noah asked, folding his hands on his desk.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to insult me,” Cat warned him. “We’re going to need a headquarters. The RV park at the ShopRight isn’t going to cut it. For one, we need heat. For two we’re going to need all the other comforts of home: electricity, internet, bathrooms.”
“And you want me to build you what? A five-star hotel with conference space?”
God, he pissed her off. And sooner or later she was going to have to teach Noah what the consequences were when he poked the bear.
“I’m thinking more along the lines of the old high school. It’s empty and, from what the locals tell me, has more than enough space for what we need.”
“It also costs the town astronomical amounts of money in terms of heating and electricity,” Noah said.
“We’re prepared to rent it for the duration of the shoot,” Cat said coolly. She named a figure and had the satisfaction of seeing surprise flash across his face before he frowned again.
“I’d have to check with the town council.”
Cat dropped her head against the back of her chair and stared up at the ceiling. “Matters of public facility rental are deemed the responsibility of the city manager, and unless the title painted on your door is a joke, you’re the stubborn jackass who gives the okay.”
“If you’re looking for me to commit wholeheartedly to selling out my town for the sake of ratings, you might as well hold your damn breath because it’s not going to happen.”
Cat stood and rested her fingertips on his desk.
“I’ve had just about enough of your holier than thou attitude—”
“Excuse my interruption.”
Cat flopped back down in her chair. “Noah Yates, this is Paige King, director of the Selling Out of Merry—working title of course. Paige, this is Noah, stubborn ass.”
She ignored Paige’s sharp look in her direction. She’d dealt with Paige and Gannon sniping at each other for a year before they decided to play nice. She figured Paige wouldn’t mind being on the other side for once.
“Noah, it’s great to see you again. I was with the show two years ago when we were here for the Hai family, and your community really made an impression on all of us. My husband had to turn away volunteers for his crew.”
Cat watched Noah shift uncomfortably in his seat. “Uh, thanks. Please. Sit.” He gestured toward the other empty chair.
Cat rolled her eyes at the suddenly solicitous bastard.
“Oh, I can’t stay, and neither can Cat.” Paige glared in her direction until Cat rose from the chair and crossed her arms. “What I’d like to do is invite you to our briefing. We’re sitting down with your county’s emergency services chief and waste management to get everyone on the same page. We don’t want to be stepping on any toes while we’re here, and we’d like to fill any gaps you have in the cleanup process so we can begin renovations immediately. I know you’ve probably got a full calendar dealing with the city end of things, but if you can spare an hour, I think we’ll all be better prepared and have a clearer idea of what our roles are.”
“I’d appreciate that, Mrs. King.”
Cat glared at him. “I was going to invite him to the meeting,” she muttered to Paige.
“Of course, you were,” Paige grinned. “Gannon was looking for you. He went through the Hais’ house and has a preliminary list of concerns. Can you go track him down ASAP?”
Cat shot Noah one last dirty look. He met her scowl for scowl. “I’ll see you outside,” she told Paige and strode out.