Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Zach

I'm surprised Ellie hasn't texted me back, but then I remember she's at the lodge having breakfast with my nemesis. I know Yolanda will do her best to get Ellie to turn against me, but after the wonderful time we had last night, I hope she stays firm in her belief that I'm telling the truth.

After pouring myself a cup of coffee from the breakfast station, I peruse the buffet of offerings. I grab a blueberry muffin before sitting down in the stands and watching the team warm up.

Ever since my skating career ended, I've done my best to stay far away from all things hockey. Not because I've lost my love for the game, but to protect myself from my past dream resurrecting against my will.

The guys are a hoot to watch. Some players like Dan and Dawson already know each other from playing on the same team, while others have a natural competitive vibe due to playing on opposing NHL teams. The newer guys particularly seem to be out for blood until Coach Strickland hollers, "No cheap shots! You knuckleheads are on the same team now."

I feel a pull toward the ice in the worst way. After Ellie made me put on skates the other night, I thought I could handle being so close to the game, but that doesn't seem to be the case. While ice skating with a two-year-old is technically still skating, it's about as similar to hockey as dancing on the moon.

Troy glides over toward me. "You want to be out here, don't you?"

"Obviously," I tell him. "But unlike you, I can't just play around without breaking teeth."

Ignoring my cranky jab, my brother says, "You were a great player, Zach. It sucks that you got benched."

"Don't placate me," I hiss.

He laughs. "Quit being such a baby and get out here so we can get some pictures for the press."

Standing up slowly, I tell him, "I'll walk around and stand behind the team. I'm not going onto the ice."

"You came out the other night."

"I'm not in the mood to argue with you, Troy. You either want me in the pictures or you don't." I don't have to remind him that the only reason I'm here is to make sure there's a lot of press coverage for his event.

My brother rolls his eyes. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Then he points toward the goal. "Meet us over there."

My phone rings as he skates away. Hoping it's Ellie, I don't bother checking caller ID before answering. "Good morning."

"Zach, it's Anthony Jenkins, from Fame."

Shoot. "Hey Tony, what's up?"

"I hoped I would have heard from you by now. Did you get the message I left with your assistant?"

"I did. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to return your call." The truth is I've been so annoyed by the way Fame has been handling the situation with Yolanda, that in my head, we've already parted ways.

"I wanted to let you know that we've decided to cut ties with Yolanda," he says. "We've learned some things about her that we find concerning."

"Oh? What have you learned?" Maybe that she's a lying she-wolf bent on world domination?

He clears his throat loudly before saying, "According to her agent, the stakes have been raised for her to get her own show. It used to be any semi-attractive person with vocal cords could be a talk show host, but nowadays the slots are rare."

"We all knew she wanted her own show and was willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to get it. What's changed?"

"All we knew was that she needed to be able to secure big names," Tony says. "But now she's looking to create a major scandal."

I roll my eyes. "Isn't that what she's been doing all this time?"

"There's more to it than that."

I stop my progression toward the team and lean against the boards. "Is she telling everyone I'm an alien come to Earth to prepare it for takeover?" Sarcasm drips from my words.

"She's pregnant."

My knees nearly buckle. "Excuse me?"

"We have a confidential source who works at a fertility clinic in Beverly Hills. A lot of our clients who don't want the world to know they're having trouble conceiving use them."

"And?"

"Yolanda had an IVF transfer two weeks before her first date with you."

I feel simultaneously feverishly hot and icy cold. It's like my nervous system can't keep up and all pistons have decided to fire at once. "She had in vitro right before our first date." I'm hoping that by repeating him, my brain will absorb the information.

"Which can only mean one thing," Tony says.

"She's been planning to pin a baby on me since the start of this charade."

"Exactly. "

"While that's horrific," I tell him, "All it will take is a DNA test to show I'm not the father."

"That's old school thinking, Zach."

"How do you figure? If I'm not the dad, I'm not the dad. End of story."

"Don't you remember the Sharman Feliz case from two years ago?"

"I'm a busy man, Tony. I don't hang around the house watching Court TV." I know Tony isn't the bad guy here, but it's hard not to sound annoyed, especially as his firm has done nothing to help me out until now.

"Sharman was the woman who accused the Spokane Snow's goalie Hondo Hudson of getting her pregnant."

"The world is full of opportunists, Tony." I say this knowing he's already fully aware of that. Heck, he's probably representing half of them.

"True, but while the DNA test showed Hondo wasn't the father, Sharman had a slew of supporters who claimed he paid off the doctor to say it wasn't him."

I exhale loudly. "He doesn't have to pay her child support, so what's the problem?"

"He may not have to pay child support, but he is paying. He's lost all his corporate sponsors, and the Snow is trading him down."

"So, you're saying the truth doesn't matter and all a person needs to damn another is the right kind of press?"

"Or the wrong kind of press. And being that Yolanda is press, she can spin this story any way she wants."

I run a hand roughly through my hair. "Has she told anyone about the pregnancy?"

"Not yet."

"But she obviously will."

Tony says, "We think she's going to do it while she's up there in Maple Falls, where she's got you both figuratively and literally cornered. "

"What if I came back to California?"

"She'd use it to her benefit to tell the world that as soon as you found out about the baby, you ran."

I start pacing back and forth like a caged bear. "What if I leave before she tells anyone? If I come back now, it'll be her word against mine that I know anything."

Tony is quiet for a beat before saying, "She's already got public opinion on her side." He's quiet for a minute before adding, "Come back today and don't tell anyone you're leaving."

"I've got to tell my brother. But other than him, I won't say a word."

"Don't tell anyone , Zach. I'm going to talk to Yolanda and see if I can guide her into announcing this while she thinks you're still there in Maple Falls."

Now I'm confused. "I thought you said you were canceling her contract?"

"Yolanda doesn't know that yet. And while PR people are notoriously hired to clean up unsavory messes, I don't like my firm being associated with creating them."

I think about Ellie again and wonder what Yolanda is telling her. I'm seriously starting to get nervous that she hasn't returned my text. "So, you're going to play both sides?"

"Yes, but the only way it will work is if you drive to the airport and get on your plane and come home without telling anyone."

It feels wrong to leave town without giving Ellie or Troy a heads up, but Tony might be the only person I know who can turn this storm around before it decimates my life.

"I have team pictures and a couple of interviews, but I'll leave for the airport right after that. I'll be in LA by this afternoon." I quickly text my pilot to let her know that I need her.

Tony says, "Go to your beach house and hole up there. I'll be in touch tonight."

I have to trust that between me and Yolanda, I'm the person Tony wants to keep happy. If there's one thing you can count on in Hollywood, it's that people always like to back the winner. As disgusting as it sounds, being that I have the most money, I'm the perceived winner in this dog race.