No Wife Required!

“Rob—” The exciting man seated next to her called to his producer. “Why don’t we take a poll on that issue first?”

She decided Max was trying to smother a laugh, which relieved her nervousness a little.

“Let’s find out if our listeners agree with her. If they do, we’ll pass the information along to Lon. To think I believed myself to be the only one in the doghouse with Lorraine.

“She wants to talk about football and romance. I have a feeling we’re in for a provocative half hour. Lorraine—” His eyes impaled her. “The audience is as curious as I am to know why you’ve chosen those two particular topics as a lead-in for tonight’s show.”

Lacey had to give Max Jarvis full marks for diplomacy. She’d been waiting for him to make a cutting remark about the fact that she hadn’t published a book or distinguished herself in any way to merit being a guest on his show.

But he didn’t use those kinds of tactics. As far as she could see, he was open, fair, honest, decent, and he definitely lived up to her image of The Voice.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Last week you sided with dozens of men callers who complained about the large number of women who waste their time going to romantic movies and reading romance novels. You said, and I quote, ‘The story lines are boring and repetitious because all the two people ever do is fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after.’”

He grinned. “I did say that.”

She schooled her features not to let his charisma disturb her train of thought. “The same point could be made that men waste their time watching soccer or football. The plays are repetitious and boring, and everyone knows either side A or side B is going to win. At least in a romance, everyone goes home happy after the game is over.”

His eyes were dancing. “That’s true. And my producer is signaling me that all the lines are lit up, anxious to jump in. You’re on the line, Anna.”

It was difficult, if not impossible, to remain irritated with him. Later he conceded defeat with such good-natured humor, when he asked her to stay the last hour of the Heart Talk segment, Lacey agreed.

Unfortunately she didn’t realize until too late that she’d been lured into a trap. The second he opened up the last hour, he went for the jugular.

“I know our loyal listening audience has been hoping to hear more about your painful story, Lorraine. For those of you who weren’t tuned in last week, I opened up my show with a statistic about the large percentage of women making up today’s workforce outside the home.

“When I asked why more women weren’t at home while their husbands faced the cruel working world, Lorraine gave us a very sobering response, then hung up before we could explore her story in-depth.”

He stared her down. “With a week to think about it, are you now prepared to tell us if you were the betrayed wife or girlfriend of the man who hurt you? There are thousands of sympathetic listeners out there who want to know.”

Lacey’s gaze darted to the opal ring on his finger. “I might be persuaded to discuss my story if you were willing to let your listeners in on your marital status first,” she challenged. “You never talk about a wife and family. Does that mean you’re not married?”

The brilliant blue of his eyes intensified. “I make it a policy never to discuss my personal life over the air.”

“Don’t you think that’s rather hypocritical when you’ve just asked me to reveal something extremely personal?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Why do you want to know if I’m married or not, Lorraine?”

She sucked in her breath. “I imagine everyone who listens to your show wants to know.”

“I find that a little hard to believe since I have no curiosity about the marital status of my callers.” His voice mocked. “That’s the beauty of Radio Talk. We block out the unimportant and tune in to real issues affecting lives.”

“Your marital status is a real issue as far as I’m concerned since it might explain your viewpoint on dozens of subjects in which you and I have a tendency to disagree.”

“Name one.”

“Living together. If you’re not married, then I can see why you sided with last week’s guest. If you are married, then I don’t imagine your wife is too happy with some of your opinions.”

“I wonder if my other callers are as curious as you are. Let’s go to the Utah county line. Hi, Nancy. You’re on Heart Talk with Max Jarvis.”

“How are you doing, Max?”

“I’m terrific, Nancy. Now is the chance to get in on this illuminating discussion.”

“Say, you know Lorraine has a point. I figure you’re happily married, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked that question about what ever happened to the woman who stayed at home while her hubby went off to bring home the bacon.”

Lacey watched his face, but his expression gave nothing away.

“Are you married, Nancy?”

“You bet ya. Forty years, to the same man.”

“Did you stay at home all that time?”

“Nope. He was a truck driver, but we couldn’t make ends meet so I drove a school bus nearly all that time to help pay the bills.” She paused. “Lorraine? Are you there?”

“Yes, Nancy.” Lacey spoke into the mike. “I’m listening.”

“Good, honey. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I can tell you’re in pain. To be honest with you, I guess I’ll never know if my hubby ever played around with another woman or not. But if I had found out, I probably couldn’t have changed anything, not with six kids.

“You sound pretty young. If your husband did step out on you, he’ll probably do it again and again. If you don’t have kids yet, then I say leave him if you haven’t already, and find a job that will take care of you. Good luck, honey.” The older woman sounded totally sincere.

“Thank you, Nancy,” Lacey murmured quietly.

“All right,” Max interjected. “Let’s go to one of our local lines. Hello, Stan. You’re on Heart Talk. Have you got something you want to say to Lorraine?”

“That’s right. Lorraine? Your voice is sexy as hell and you’re probably in your early twenties. I bet you’re a real looker and single. What’s your take on that, Max?”

Max flicked her a probing glance that made her heart turn over. “As my producer said earlier, if this were a television show, Lorraine would have no problem in the looks department. That’s as much as I can legally reveal.”

“Okay, Lorraine. Then let’s face it, there are a lot of married men out there who would like to get to know you, but the huge majority will never act on that desire.

“If you’re single, it’s a given that a small percentage of married men will lie to get what they want. But don’t blame all of us.

“If you’re married, then it sounds to me like your husband is a fool for straying so far from home, unless you’ve got something going on behind the scenes while he’s out there earning money to support both of you.”

“Single or married, I would never do that to a man with whom I was having a relationship. I’d break up with him first!” she countered indignantly.

“Unfortunately, statistics don’t lie and there are husbands who go home to their wives, only to find them involved with someone else,” Max inserted so swiftly, Lacey wondered if his remarks were rooted in personal experience.

“It happened to my brother,” Stan muttered.

“Thanks for the input, Stan. I’m sorry we don’t have more time to talk, but the phone lines are jammed with callers and I have to go to commercial. We’ll be right back.”

For the rest of the hour, people continued to call in with all kinds of advice for her, and the time was gone before she knew it. The talk show host for the six-to-nine segment had already come into the booth to get ready.

Lacey removed her earphones and rose to her feet, picking up her briefcase to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going in such a big hurry?” Max stood in the corridor outside the booth door, larger than life, blocking her exit. “After winning the poll on every issue hands down, the least you can do is have a drink with me on the way home so I’ll feel a little better.”