Chapter 13 #3
“We don’t know where the photo originated. It was, of course, the first thing I looked for. We’ve hired someone to trace not only where the photo came from, but the timing of it. Unfortunately, so far no luck.”
Sawyer found that peculiar. Typically, these types of pictures were sold to tabloid editors who wanted nothing more than to take credit for scooping their competition. It’s how they sold newspapers.
“Well, do you want to contact this expert and see what he can do with a copy?” he asked. “It seems to me that if you can prove the photo is a fake you can clear Gina’s name.”
“I wish it was that simple. And since when have you taken a personal interest in one of my clients?”
Sawyer could hear the smile in his mother’s voice. Wendy Dalton knew her son all too well. He didn’t ever get involved with his parents’ clients. Most of the time, they were insipid celebrities or unscrupulous corporations that no self-respecting journalist would have anything to do with.
“She’s my neighbor, thanks to you, and we’ve become friends.” Friends with benefits.
“Well, as I’ve explained to Gina, it is going to take more than proving a photograph is fake to resurrect her once-thriving career. Reporters are like sharks, dear. They circle when they taste blood in the water. You of all people should know that.”
“What about Gina’s ChefAid job? Wouldn’t it go a long way to persuading them to keep her on as their brand ambassador?”
“These are all things your father and I are working on.”
Sawyer pressed, “At least the expert opinion that the photo is a fake might convince Candace Clay that her husband didn’t cheat on her.”
“I’m not so sure the photo even matters,” his mother said. “It appears Candace was speaking to a divorce lawyer before the news of Gina and Danny hit the World Wide Web.”
“What? That’s bizarre, don’t you think?”
“Not particularly. Half of California is getting divorced. Why should the Clays’ marital problems surprise me?”
“The timing, for one thing. The whole world believes that Danny did his wife wrong. And here she was planning to divorce him all along. You don’t see anything strange in that?”
“For all we know, Danny’s been having affairs on his wife for years. She was fed up with it, planning to leave him, then boom. Another affair. This one extremely public with a television rival.”
“Rival?” That’s not the way Gina described her and Candace’s relationship. To hear it from her, there was no ill will between them until now. “Were they competitive?”
“Not according to Gina,” his mother said. “But Gina is young, beautiful, and at the height of her career. Of course, she didn’t see Candace as a professional threat. But who knows how Candace saw Gina?”
“How’d you find out about Candace talking to a divorce lawyer?” That was confidential stuff. A lawyer could be disbarred for divulging those kinds of privileged conversations between a client.
“Just like you, I have my sources.”
“Reliable sources?”
His mother chuckled. “Very reliable. You think I’d be where I am today if they weren’t reliable? Would you like to text me the contact information for your photo expert?”
“Sure. What else do you have up your sleeve? Last I looked, Gina only has three weeks to persuade the ChefAid people she’s not a home-wrecker.”
“You sound very concerned, darling.” She was laughing at him.
“Don’t read anything into, Mom. We’re trying to run a ranch here, not to mention a new business. We can’t do that if we have to batten down the hatches because we’re being overrun by reporters from TMZ, now can we?”
“You sure that’s it? For a second there, I got the impression that you were worried about Gina.”
“You’re clearly delusional, Mom.”
She laughed. “Whatever you say, dear.”
He told her about the butcher shop idea and asked her about marketing plans.
“It’s a fabulous strategy, Sawyer. And nowadays you can do so much with social media. The ranch should have its own Twitter account, a Facebook page, and of course you should be posting lots of pictures of Dry Creek life on Instagram. Show the world what happy cows you have.”
“I think the California Milk Advisory Board has already gone the happy cow route.”
“Yes, and look how well it worked for them. What I’m trying to tell you, Sawyer, is that you don’t need an expensive marketing firm. At least not at first. You can start spreading the word online.”
As if he had time to be screwing around on Twitter. He could barely fit his writing into the day. But maybe they could hire someone, a kid even. “I’ll talk to Jace and Cash about it.”
“What’s going on with the ranch next door? Last time we talked, you said there was a for sale sign up.”
Sawyer sighed. “It sounds like Mitch Reynolds will probably buy the place and turn it into a hellhole. One of those golf-course communities for retirees.”
“That would be a shame.” Although Sawyer’s mother was an urbanite to her core, she understood how much the ranch meant to him, Jace, and Cash and the importance of preserving Grandpa Dalton’s way of life. Tough to do when your neighbor is a gated community of tract homes.
“Yep. Nothing we can do about it.” He turned up the air-conditioner. The loft felt like a furnace today.
“Let me talk to your father about it. But I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Yep, they were all sorry. It was the end of an era.