A Thousand Miles

Part 10

The closing credits started, and Shane finally glanced from the screen to JoLynn, who sat in an armchair adjacent to the sofa. She smiled and stretched, then reached for the remote and turned the television off, her slow nod giving him the impression that she was satisfied with what they'd just seen.

As if the gesture were contagious, he nodded, too. This sense of being pleased with himself wasn't new. He'd written plenty of articles that he thought would probably sell, and he'd been proud each time he'd seen his name in print.

But this was different. Sure he was proud of himself and the work he'd done on this episode. But he was proud of Curtis and Mel and JoLynn, too. He'd never collaborated with anyone before. Maybe he'd spent too many years working alone, because this sense of satisfaction on behalf of the whole group effort was uniquely satisfying.

"Not too shabby, huh?" Curtis leaned across the space between his chair and the sofa, gave him a jab in the shoulder, then stood.

"Not bad." Shane only picked out a few spots he might go back and tweak if he could.

"Well, I'll see y'all Monday." Curtis grabbed his keys from the coffee table, and Mel rose to follow him out.

"See you Monday." JoLynn stood and gathered dishes strewn across end tables and the coffee table.

Shane felt a frown rise as the door closed behind Curtis and Mel. "So, we're not going to talk about the show? Critique it? Decide how to make it better?"

"This episode's done." JoLynn spoke over her shoulder as she crossed the short distance to her tiny kitchen. "We don't get to do it over. What would be the point? You want a refill on your tea?"

"Um...I..." He didn't expect everyone to get up and clear out the moment the show ended. Even less had he expected this implied invitation for him to stay. Nearly three weeks of working together on the show had encouraged an end to her hostility. The truce held. But he wouldn't say they were friends just yet, no matter how much he might like them to be. "Yeah. Sure."

He picked up his glass, stood and crossed to the breakfast bar that divided the kitchen from the living room. JoLynn took it, filled it, and handed it back.

"So, this is usually how the process goes?" He sat on a bar stool.

"Well," she drawled with a little shrug, then put the pitcher of tea into the fridge. "It's not usually quite so hectic. Not so many late nights editing. The Suburban breaking down put us a whole day behind schedule, and that was a pretty full week for us to begin with."

"It's kind of nice, though. To see it all come together like it did."

JoLynn studied him for a long moment. Her expression clouded in a way that reminded him again that he was the outsider here. Seeing all the details come together wasn't new to her. She, Curtis and Mel had been doing this for years. They were the team. He was the outsider. Always the outsider.

Finally she nodded, turned on the tap and started washing the dishes.

"So this week's schedule has been more normal?"

Her hands looked graceful even washing dishes. Although it'd be less trouble to use the dishwasher. A quick glance around told him she didn't have one. Come to think of it, this whole apartment was far less posh than he would have expected.

"There really isn't a normal schedule. It just all depends on what we're covering and when it is. Like this week. We'll be spending most of the week at the Lampasas Spring Ho! Festival. Most of the activities won't start until Friday, but there are some things that go on earlier in the week that we won't want to miss."