me?"
Greg ran his fingers through his gray-brown hair and sighed, his hard, firm-jawed. face tense. "You're putting me on the spot," he muttered. "Can't you just let things rest for a while?"
"No!" she exploded, then calmed herself "I'm sorry, I think I know that it isn't your fault, you've always given me the assignments you thought I could handle. It's Rhy, isn,t it?,,
"He's taken You off foreign assignments," Greg affirmed.
Though Sallie had braced herself for something like that, to hear the words actually spoken and her suspicions confirmed was a worse blow than she had anticipated. She paled and visibly shrank in her seat. Taken off assignment! It was a deadly blow. All of the passion she'd offered to Rhy had been transferred to herjob when he walked out and through the years she'd learned that a satisfying job had enriched her life. She didn't doubt that a psychologist would tell her that her job was merely a substitute for what she really wanted, a man, and perhaps it had been at first. But she was no longer the same person she'd been seven years before; she was a mature, independent adult, and she felt as a musician rnight if his hands were crippled, as if her life had been blighted.
Through a throat thick with horror she murmured, 'Why?"
"I don't know why," Greg replied. "Look, honey, all I know is he took you off foreign assignment. You can still cover anything in the States and several things have come up but I kept you here because anyone could have covered the others and I wanted you available in case something more important developed. Maybe I was wrong. I was trying to do what was best for the magazine, but I know how you are about being in one place for too long. If anything comes up, regardless of what it is, do you want it? Just say the word and it's yours."
"It doesn't matter," she said wearily, and he frowned. Defeat wasn't something he expected from Sallie.
Then she looked up and her dark blue eyes were beginning to spark with anger. "On second thought, yes, I do want it. Anything! If you can keep me gone for six months straight, that will be fine, too. The only way I'm going to keep from killing Rhy is if I'm kept away from him. Was this supposed to be kept secret, that I'm off foreign assignment?"
"I wouldn't think so," Greg denied. "I just didn't tell you because I kept hoping I could keep you satisfied on other jobs, but nothing came up. Why?"
"Because I'm going to ask Rhy that same question," she said, and a feline smile curved her mouth at the thought of engaging in battle with her arrogant husband.
Greg leaned back in his chair and studied the suddenly glowing little face, alight with the anticipation of a struggle. For a minute he'd been worried about her, afraid that vibrant energy had been snuffed, but now he grinned in appreciation. Sallie came alive when the going was roughest and that was one of the characteristics that made her one of his best reporters. "Give it all you've got," he said gruffly. "I need you back in the field."
Amanda Meade, Rhy's secretary, smiled at Sallie when she entered. Amanda had also been the secretary of the former publisher and she knew all of the staff-, proof of her discretion was that no talk had circulated about Sallie's private interview with Rhy, for which Sallie was grateful. She didn't want any gossip starting about them or Rhy might take it into his head to jettison her entirely in order to halt the talk.
"Hi, Sallie," Amanda greeted her. "Is there anything I can help you with, or do you need to see the boss?"
"The boss, if he's available," Sallie replied. "He's available for the minute," Amanda confirmed, "but he's got a lunch date with Miss Williams at twelve, so he'll be leaving shortly."
"I won't be long," Sallie promised. "Ask if he'll see me."
Amanda buzzed the inner office on the private line and Sallie listened as she explained the reason for the interruption. After only a few seconds she hung up and smiled again. "Go
Greg ran his fingers through his gray-brown hair and sighed, his hard, firm-jawed. face tense. "You're putting me on the spot," he muttered. "Can't you just let things rest for a while?"
"No!" she exploded, then calmed herself "I'm sorry, I think I know that it isn't your fault, you've always given me the assignments you thought I could handle. It's Rhy, isn,t it?,,
"He's taken You off foreign assignments," Greg affirmed.
Though Sallie had braced herself for something like that, to hear the words actually spoken and her suspicions confirmed was a worse blow than she had anticipated. She paled and visibly shrank in her seat. Taken off assignment! It was a deadly blow. All of the passion she'd offered to Rhy had been transferred to herjob when he walked out and through the years she'd learned that a satisfying job had enriched her life. She didn't doubt that a psychologist would tell her that her job was merely a substitute for what she really wanted, a man, and perhaps it had been at first. But she was no longer the same person she'd been seven years before; she was a mature, independent adult, and she felt as a musician rnight if his hands were crippled, as if her life had been blighted.
Through a throat thick with horror she murmured, 'Why?"
"I don't know why," Greg replied. "Look, honey, all I know is he took you off foreign assignment. You can still cover anything in the States and several things have come up but I kept you here because anyone could have covered the others and I wanted you available in case something more important developed. Maybe I was wrong. I was trying to do what was best for the magazine, but I know how you are about being in one place for too long. If anything comes up, regardless of what it is, do you want it? Just say the word and it's yours."
"It doesn't matter," she said wearily, and he frowned. Defeat wasn't something he expected from Sallie.
Then she looked up and her dark blue eyes were beginning to spark with anger. "On second thought, yes, I do want it. Anything! If you can keep me gone for six months straight, that will be fine, too. The only way I'm going to keep from killing Rhy is if I'm kept away from him. Was this supposed to be kept secret, that I'm off foreign assignment?"
"I wouldn't think so," Greg denied. "I just didn't tell you because I kept hoping I could keep you satisfied on other jobs, but nothing came up. Why?"
"Because I'm going to ask Rhy that same question," she said, and a feline smile curved her mouth at the thought of engaging in battle with her arrogant husband.
Greg leaned back in his chair and studied the suddenly glowing little face, alight with the anticipation of a struggle. For a minute he'd been worried about her, afraid that vibrant energy had been snuffed, but now he grinned in appreciation. Sallie came alive when the going was roughest and that was one of the characteristics that made her one of his best reporters. "Give it all you've got," he said gruffly. "I need you back in the field."
Amanda Meade, Rhy's secretary, smiled at Sallie when she entered. Amanda had also been the secretary of the former publisher and she knew all of the staff-, proof of her discretion was that no talk had circulated about Sallie's private interview with Rhy, for which Sallie was grateful. She didn't want any gossip starting about them or Rhy might take it into his head to jettison her entirely in order to halt the talk.
"Hi, Sallie," Amanda greeted her. "Is there anything I can help you with, or do you need to see the boss?"
"The boss, if he's available," Sallie replied. "He's available for the minute," Amanda confirmed, "but he's got a lunch date with Miss Williams at twelve, so he'll be leaving shortly."
"I won't be long," Sallie promised. "Ask if he'll see me."
Amanda buzzed the inner office on the private line and Sallie listened as she explained the reason for the interruption. After only a few seconds she hung up and smiled again. "Go
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