47. Archer
Chapter forty-seven
Archer
Present
S potlights move across the studio, highlighting the audience gathered for the Stud Finders episode. Assistants stand off to the side holding massive white applause and laughter signs, switching off when either emotional reaction is needed from the crowd.
When Gideon told me the new contract was for a reality dating show, I wanted to tell him no. I didn’t work my butt off running my construction company and hardware stores to host a dating game. But after reading through the benefits package and deal memo, I realized the money from this gig could help me fund the workshop I wanted to open. Surprisingly, networks will pay more money for a reality show where interior designers and carpenters try to work together without falling in love than they do for people looking to bless a friend with a redone bathroom.
You and Tilly could’ve been the poster children for this show.
“Cut,” the producer yells, drawing my attention to the wings of the stage.
The contestants begin to filter out, but two remain off to the side quarreling over their vision for the project. Bliss Calloway, an interior decorator for some large hotel chain, was paired up with Canon Martin, an easygoing small-town carpenter, and they’ve done nothing but bicker. It reminds me of how Tilly and I would get over certain things pertaining to the bakery.
My chest constricts when I think about her putting the finishing touches on the bakery case we made love against, filling the shelves she tried—and failed—to put together. Her opening is in a few days, and I wish I could see the line that’s going to form around the corner.
She’s going to be successful, and she deserves everything she has coming her way.
I know it with every fiber of my being.
If only she knew I’d give anything to be back there with her, rooting her on and watching her make her dreams come true.
But you can, my conscience reminds me.
I crack my knuckles and push away the thoughts. Even if I could fly out tomorrow, she wouldn’t want me there. And I don’t blame her. She was worried she wasn’t enough to make me stay, that I was going to leave her like everyone else did, and that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I proved her right, and now I’m where I was meant to be, miserable but successful.
“Archer,” Gideon calls from the wings of the stage.
I shove my hands in my pockets and head his way, stopping momentarily to say hello to one of the producers. Gideon smiles like a Cheshire Cat as I approach.
“They love you,” he exclaims.
“Who?” I ask.
His hand clamps onto my shoulder and he leans in. “The network. See that woman over there?” He points to a redhead in a pink business suit talking with the director. “That’s Allie Marin, the network CEO.”
I shrug, but my insides are twisting with curiosity. “Okay, and? ”
“She thinks you’re charismatic,” he says, accentuating the word. “Wants you to be our new Ty Pennington.”
The comparison steals the air from my lungs. Ty was the reason I became a carpenter, why I started a construction business. Extreme Home Makeover made me want to be able to change the lives of the people around me by making their dream houses come alive. Being compared to him is the highest compliment I could’ve received.
“What does that mean for me?” I ask.
“I assume you’ll be pulled into another contract meeting to see what shows you’ll be able to participate in.”
His words fill me with unbridled ambition, renewing my hopes that people will no longer associate me with the Wilson surgeons, but with my career as a staple on the home improvement network circuit.
“Wow, that’s amazing.” I drag a hand down my beard, stunned into silence.
“You might want to get an agent to handle this stuff, maybe think about buying another house here for when you’re shooting.”
The mention of buying another house gives me pause. “What do you mean for when I’m shooting?”
He laughs. “Well, you know how these things go.”
I don’t.
“Humor me,” I say.
“You’ll shoot this show and be required to be here for any re-shoot necessary, but you’ll be able to go back home once this contract is finished. Assuming you’re going to get picked up for a second season of Stud Finders or another show, then you’d come back to the studios to shoot on another schedule.”
In my rush to get to Knoxville in time for shooting, I never once thought about what happens after the show ends. Normally I’d think through everything, read every line of the contract, twice, make sure all my ducks were in a row, but I was so hellbent on getting as far away from the mistakes I made, from Tilly, I didn’t do my due diligence in asking the important questions. Thankfully, I haven’t found an apartment yet, and the network is paying for my hotel and food expenses while I’m here, so I haven’t had to worry about that.
I was thrown into the lion’s den when I got here, and immediately started shooting the next day. I didn’t have time to think about anything but retaining all the important information about where I was supposed to be at what time, and who not to look directly in the eye when I spoke to them.
Gideon walks away, prattling on as I absentmindedly toy with the chip in my pocket. Its presence used to soothe my nerves, but recently all it’s done is remind me of the woman it took away from me. The woman I made feel like she wasn’t enough for me to stay because I thought my stupid brother was telling me she deserved better.
I pull it out of my pocket and stare down at it. I close my eyes, wistfully imagining Sebastian is right beside me. But he’s not. And the chip in my hand is nothing but a reminder of all the loss I’ve experienced. The truth of that statement hits me directly in my chest and I stumble backward.
I collapse into a chair, resting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I gave up everything I had, everything I could’ve had with Tilly, love, marriage, a family, because of this stupid chip.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I slip it out and see Shantel’s name on the screen.
Shantel: Can you come home soon?
As if the universe had a front seat to my breakdown, I reread the words with a sense of peace.
Home .
Where Tilly is.
I pocket my phone without answering Shantel. There’s no point in responding to her until I know if what I’m thinking about doing is possible. With a renewed spirit, I walk up to Gideon. “My shots are done for the day, and you don’t need me tomorrow, right?”
He nods, gaze focused on something through the camera lens. I see him catching a spat between Bliss and Canon, and even I can see the sexual chemistry sparking between them.
“The next two days are all day shoots for the contestants at the house. You’re back on Thursday for the next elimination.”
I stifle the urge to jump into the air and instead clap him on the back. “Great, I’m going to grab my stuff and head out then.”
He mumbles an approval and waves me off, zooming in on the fiery couple at the table saw. Within seconds, I cue up all available flights back to San Antonio. If I can get a flight out tonight or tomorrow morning, I’ll be able to be there for her opening day.
During the cab ride, I find a five a.m. flight out of Knoxville tomorrow morning that arrives at nine am. My fingers have never tapped a screen as quickly as they did buying the ticket back home.
I empty my pockets and place the poker chip beside my wallet on the sink top before undressing for a shower. My stomach hardens when I think about continuing to let it make decisions for me when it’s done nothing but bring me heartache. Sebastian will always be a part of me, but I don’t need his chip to make my decisions anymore. I feel confident in the path I’m taking by going home to grovel and ask Tilly to take me back.
I’ll attend the opening day of Tilly’s bakery and convince her that I’m not going to leave until we figure out a way to move forward together. Until I convince her she’s my beginning and my end, the one I want to spend my life with, the woman I want to be the mother of my kids and the matriarch of our family. A family that accepts, forgives, and encourages one another.
Tomorrow my new life begins.