“Boy, I sure can pick them,” she said to nobody in particular, and then devoted all her energy to not crying.

Mark stuck his head in the door. “Say, I just heard about Charlie’s wife. That’s a really bad break, Allie. Let me take out out to dinner.” He smiled at her, looking as gorgeous as ever, and she wanted him dead, too.

“Get out of here,” she snarled.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he said and escaped out the door.

Allie went back to her chair and thought about tomorrow. She had to think of a plan. Soon.


* * *

Charlie waited until Grady came into the booth during the news at quarter to two before he said anything to him.

“You look like hell,” Grady said when he saw him. “Take off, I’ll take it from here.”

“I can’t.” Charlie looked at him miserably. “I hate this. You have no idea how much I hate this.”

Grady blinked at him. “What’s wrong?”

Charlie sighed. “I know you give pot to cancer patients. In fact, a hell of a lot of Tuttle knows you give pot away. Grady, it’s all over.”

Grady pushed Sam’s basket to one side and sat down on the counter. “Oh.” Sam poked his head out, and Grady scratched him behind his ears. “Well, that depends. Are you going to turn me in?”

Charlie shook his head. “No, you’re going to turn yourself in. That should work in your favor. With your dad’s lawyers-”

“My dad will disown me,” Grady said, but he didn’t seem too upset at the thought. “What can I do to convince you this isn’t the best way to do this?”

“Anything,” Charlie said fervently. “You have no idea how much I want to be convinced. But this is going to blow any minute, Grady. Too many people know. You’re a lot better off doing this yourself than waiting until they come for you.”

Grady sat looking lost in thought for a moment. Then he met Charlie’s eyes. “Can I have some time?”

“All you want,” Charlie said. “But don’t take too long. You’ll lose the only advantage you have.”

“How did you find out?” Grady asked him as he got up to go-”

“The rumors. Your crop out in back. The chemo. The cookies and stuff. It finally all came together.” Charlie shook his head. “I’m really sorry, Grady. I know you were doing it for a good reason.”

“Which is why I don’t want to stop.” Grady sat down in the chair. “Let me think about this and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Great,” Charlie said. “Something else to look forward to.”


* * *

The next morning, Allie still hadn’t thought of a plan, even after talking the whole mess over with Joe.

“There’s a mandatory prison sentence for possession,” he told her. “And Bill isn’t going to be much help once he finds out Grady’s been getting his mother stoned.”

“That’s a stupid law,” Allie said. “The stuff is medicinal, for heaven’s sake.”

Then Joe opened the paper, said, “Oh, hell,” and handed it to her.

There was a picture of Charlie putting Miranda on the bus, captioned Local DJ Abandons Pregnant Wife. Allie stared at it grimly. She was furious with Charlie, but he didn’t deserve this.

Then she had a new thought. How had the photographer known to be at the bus station? Somebody had tipped off the paper. Somebody at WBBB.

This one they couldn’t blame on the mayor. She got dressed and went into the station early.

Allie was standing outside the booth when Mark came out at ten.

“Allie!” He all but ran over Lisa to get to her. “What a great surprise!”

“I decided to take you up on that lunch offer.” Allie told him. “You free now?”

“We have a conference after every show,” Lisa put in. “Sometimes they last a long time.”

“Not today.” Mark took Allie’s arm. “Well skip it today.”

“But Mark,” Lisa said.

“Forget it.” Mark steered Allie toward the lobby. “This is just great. I’ve got a lot I want to tell you.”

“Good,” Allie said. “There’s a lot I want to hear.”


* * *

“It just hasn’t been the same without you,” Mark began when they were seated at the Settle Inn. “I’ve been-”

“You’ve been busy,” Allie said. “That was you who played all those tricks on Charlie, wiping the tapes, stealing his promos, making the prank calls.”

“Well…” Mark seemed at a loss. “I may have gone too far, but it was all-”

“And then you gave the story about Charlie’s wife to the paper. That was a good one.” Allie tried to keep her voice noncommittal.

He looked at her warily. “I might have mentioned it.”

“Why?”

“Well, Lisa called me and told me about it, and I thought that the people of Tuttle should know what kind of guy he is.” Mark shifted in his chair. “You know, leaving his wife pregnant and all. I thought you should know, too. He’s not the kind of guy for you, Allie.”

Allie fought down the urge to reach across the table and strangle him. “Oh? And what kind of guy is?”

Mark took a deep breath. “Well, me.” He held up his hand to stop her protest. “I know I made a mistake when I broke up with you, but believe me, I know it now. I was stupid. You want me to come crawling back, I will. Whatever you say.”

Allie shook her head at him in disgusted amazement. “And what about Lisa? She’s been working her butt off for you.”

“Lisa’s a child.” Mark settled back in his chair. “A lovely child, but still a child. The experience I’ve given her will look good on her resume-”

“Oh, you want me back as a producer.” Allie nodded. “I misunderstood.”

“No, no! I want you back completely.” Mark leaned forward. “I think we should get married.”

“Married.” Allie nodded. “Married. You’re going to go back across the street and tell Lisa that you’re dumping her as your producer and your girlfriend to marry me.”

“Absolutely.” Mark beamed at her. “I’m a big enough man to admit my mistakes.”

“You’re a dweeb.” Allie stood up. “If you do anything else to sabotage Charlie’s show, I will tell Bill and insist that he fire you. I mean it. Stay away from Charlie. And while you’re at it, stay away from me.”

“Allie!” Mark stood up to follow her.

“No.” Allie put out her hand to stop him. “I can’t believe you pulled this stuff just to save your career. What did you think you were doing?”

Mark blinked at her. “What you taught me to do. Make the show the best.”

“I never taught you to sabotage other shows to do it,” Allie said, appalled, but she knew he was right. The entire time she’d been with him, the show had been everything. She’d just forgotten to teach him morals before she’d left. “There’s more to life than radio, Mark.”

“Not to my life,” he said, and she felt sorry for him because he was right again.

“Go make up with Lisa,” she told him. “You’re going to need her.”


* * *

“Harry told me you had lunch with Mark today,” Charlie said when she walked into the booth at ten.

“Harry told you right.” Allie handed him the notes and the promos.

“Have a good time?”

“He asked me to marry him.” Allie turned and walked out of the booth to the production table.

“He what?” Charlie snapped over the headset.

“He offered me the prime-time producing slot, too,” Allie said through her mike. “The news is almost over. Stand by.”

“Screw the news,” Charlie said. “Did you say yes?”

Allie glared at him. “What possible difference could it make to you since you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“None,” Charlie said. “Did you say yes?”

“No,” Allie said. “I said no.”

“Could we stop fighting and talk about this?” Charlie asked her once his heart was out of his throat.

“Why?” Allie looked at him miserably. “Nothing’s changed. I told him to stop sabotaging your show, but I don’t know why I bothered. You’re leaving tomorrow. You’re turning Grady in. It’s all over, anyway.”

Charlie looked at her just as miserably and said, “All right. Whatever you want.” The news went off and he moved up the mike slide and said, “Good evening, Tuttle. You’re with Charlie All Night-”

Allie took off her headphones. He could do the broadcast without her by now. It wasn’t as if it mattered. It was his last show. He was going to be gone in another twenty-four hours and then she could put her life back together without him. She could hardly wait.

They did the rest of the show with silence between them, Charlie just playing music. The worst was when he did a Paul Anka double play for Sam-“Puppy Love” and “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”-and patted the puppy on his own shoulder until Sam gave up and went to sleep. She loved him so much then, she hurt with it. He only stopped to talk once, this time about the use of marijuana in treating the nausea associated with chemotherapy. He made a good persuasive argument, and Allie knew he was doing it for Grady’s sake, to prepare the way for Grady’s defense, but it wasn’t enough.

He was still going to turn Grady in.

She stayed until Grady showed up at quarter to two to take over the booth.

“Grady, I’m sorry,” she told him when he came in. “If there’s anything I can do…”

Grady shook his head. “Nope. I got myself into this. I’m ready.”

“Oh, Grady,” Allie said, but he’d already gone into the booth with Charlie.

Charlie plugged the news cassette in and she watched them as he gave Grady the chair and then leaned on the side of the booth to talk to him. Charlie looked like death, exhaustion and unhappiness making him haggard. For a moment, she relented because she loved him.

Then she went in to try one last time to convince him.