The consultants believe that the best approach is to bring in some young blood.”

The words young blood chill me.

I think of myself as a warrior. I’ve been to hell and back with the death of my family and then my husband. I’ve battled to build my career and sacrificed a personal life to be where I am today. But the one thing I can’t fight is time. I’m going to age. And apparently I already am.

But none of this matters. Nothing matters but ratings, stats, and demographics.

“Do you have any young blood in mind?” I ask, crossing one leg over the other under the hem of my bronze St. John skirt. I’d already changed for the Larry King Live interview and was just about to leave Horizon Broadcasting for the CNN studio in Hollywood when Glenn called me into his office.

“Shelby Patterson,” he says.

“Shelby?” My voice comes out strangled. I not only trained Shelby, I helped develop the weekend show for her because I thought she had so much promise. I was right. And they wonder why successful women are afraid to mentor younger women.

“Her weekend show has strong numbers,” he continues, “particularly with the younger viewers, demographics you desperately need.”

Desperately.

Young blood.

He and I are both wordsmiths, and these are not good words. This is not a good conversation. I’m in trouble.

My heart races and I press a hand to my lower rib cage as if I could slow the mad beating. Max, my agent, should be here. Max, my agent, should be defending me, protecting me. This is my career. My life. God knows I don’t have a life outside America Tonight. No husband, no kids, no hobbies or free time. Everything I have, everything I am, is invested in this show. “How good are Shelby’s numbers compared to mine?”

“She’s outperforming you by nearly twenty percent.”

Oh. Stunned, I suck in a quick, sharp breath. Those are unforgivable numbers in any business, but here, in the delicate world of television market share, that’s pretty much a catastrophe.

“We think the solution is to bring Shelby onto the weekday show and make Manuel the sole host for the weekend show. You and Shelby would be co-anchors, like Mary Hart and Mark Steines on Entertainment Tonight.” Glenn gets up from behind his desk and walks around to sit in the gray chair next to me. “Nothing’s been done yet. I just wanted to get a feel for your reaction before it became formal.”

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I feel as if I’m on a plane that’s going down and I can’t stop it. Can’t exit.

But I can escape this. I can survive. I just have to focus.