Facing the Music (Rosewood 1)

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes, it was.”

“Do you think she’ll be around town for a while or is she headed back to California right away?”

“My guess is, she’ll be in the air by midnight.” Never to return. Because he was an idiot.

Clark nodded. “I suppose she has to go promote that new song she debuted tonight. It was fantastic.”

Blake hadn’t heard a new song. He’d missed the last part of her set because of Lydia. “Sure was,” he lied, heading back into the building. And then a thought stopped him and he turned around. “Hey Clark? I’ve got some pictures I think you’d be interested in running in the Sunday paper. A big headline grabber.”

“Really?” he said. “I don’t get many big headlines around here. I was thankful for the concert so I’d have something for the front page tomorrow.”

Blake nodded. The concert and how much money it raised would undoubtedly be front and center, but the scandal he was about to hand over was front page material as well, just beneath the fold. “I’ve got them in my office. If you’ll meet me out front in about twenty minutes, I’ll get them to you.”

“Sure thing. Say, Blake, what are they pictures of?” Clark asked.

Blake thought for a moment before he answered. “Last week’s parade.” That was true enough.

Clark frowned. “I already did a story on the parade in last Sunday’s edition.”

Blake smiled and shook his head. “I guarantee you didn’t do a story on this aspect of the parade!”

“Wait a second,” Clark said. “Are you talking about the same picture from the slideshow?”

“What slideshow?” It seemed like he’d missed more than just a few of Ivy’s songs.

“The one during the encore; didn’t you see it? They were flashing through pictures of you and Ivy together. Some were back in high school and college, and some were more recent, including one from the parade. It went by kinda quickly, but it looked like . . .”

Blake was intrigued. “It looked like what?”

“It looked like Lydia Whittaker was throwing something in the street. I was thinking maybe that was what spooked the horse. A streak of luck that someone would have taken a shot at that exact moment. I wish I could get my hands on it to see if I really saw what I think I saw.”

That was an interesting development for certain. “I can probably help you with that. I didn’t see the slideshow, but I’m pretty sure they’re the same picture.”

“Great!” Clark beamed. “Say, you don’t know who slipped that picture into the slideshow, do you?”

Blake shook his head. He sure didn’t. But he would be damn interested in finding out. “I’ll meet you out front in a little bit. I’ve got to take care of a few things first.”

With that, he disappeared back into the high school, his sights set on tracking down Lydia. He had been too concerned with chasing Ivy to give Lydia a piece of his mind before, but now his calendar was wide open. He rounded the corner to his office. He moved aggressively down the hallway despite the fact that every step echoed pain as surely as the tile hall echoed each sound.

He threw open the door to his office. Blake wasn’t surprised to find Lydia, still in a state of undress, sitting on his desk. Bending down, he picked up her pink dress from the floor and threw it at her. No wonder she’d been all dressed up tonight. She was on the hunt.

“Put on some damn clothes before someone else sees you in here.”

With a pout, Lydia slid from the desk and pulled the dress over her head. “Blake—” she started, but he wasn’t about to listen to anything she had to say.

“Can it, Lydia. This is done. No apologies, no excuses. Get out of my office.”

“But Blake,” she cried, fat crocodile tears gathering in her eyes, “you have to understand—I had to do this to protect you. She would just embarrass you again! I couldn’t bear to see you go through all that a second time.”

Blake chuckled bitterly. “So kind of you to have only my welfare in mind. It couldn’t possibly be because your greedy, social-climbing ass was determined to catch a Chamberlain, right?”

Lydia flinched at his coarse words. “How could you say that??

?

He could only shake his head. “Are you so delusional, Lydia, that you would think just because Ivy was gone you would have your opportunity back?”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms and tilting her pert little nose in the air. “I’m over you, Blake Chamberlain.”