Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“Stop it.”
“Just calling it like I see it.”
“You’re seeing things that aren’t there.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll remind you of this conversation at a later date.”
I threw up my hands. “Even if there was interest, he lives in LA. I live here in Richton. He’s famous and wealthy and lives an extravagant lifestyle of parties and premieres. He has women hanging all over him. I bake pies and am an accountant. I can’t recall the last date I was on. We couldn’t be more different.”
“Maybe he wants more.”
“Maybe I can’t give him that.”
She stood. “Okay, I’ll drop it. But sometimes, appearances are deceiving. You, of all people, should know that, Kassie. You learned it the hard way. Maybe Oliver needs quiet and one person more than he needs crowds and glory.”
“You are romanticizing something not there.”
“Okay,” she repeated. “I’m going to get a pad of paper and a pen. We need to write out our lists so I can order what we need.”
“Sounds good.”
She stopped and leaned over the edge of the table. “And just so I go on record? Oliver is a far better choice than Davis.”
“Why is that?” I asked dryly.
“A rock versus a player.”
“A rolling stone, you mean.”
“The stone only rolls until it finds home,” she replied tartly, leaving me speechless.
Then she flounced away.
Oliver
It was surprisingly enjoyable to be back on the ranch where I’d spent so many summers in my youth. I had gone to school with Brent and Sadie’s boys and had loved being on the ranch whenever I could. We walked around with one of the set decorators, listening to her vision, watching and admiring Davis’s focus and his own vision for the movie. He was thrilled at how much of the ranch worked for the story, with some of the interiors being shot elsewhere since the family didn’t want their lives totally uprooted. Much of the film was set outside or in the stables. The unused bunkhouse was the perfect place for my character, and most of my scenes would be shot there or the stable, as well as the outside scenes. A lot of the scenes for the two leads were being shot in another location that didn’t involve me.
In the stable, I visited with the horses, taking up Luke’s offer of going for a ride. It felt good to be in the saddle again, although I knew I’d be sore tomorrow. I trotted around the paddock, laughing as Mike, Luke’s brother, offered me his cowboy hat to shield my eyes from the sun. He opened the gate, and I urged Rusty toward the open field and let him fly. The sheer joy of the moment caught up to me, and I lifted the hat from my head, holding it aloft, feeling the wind whip my hair back as the vista around me opened up so many memories I’d allowed myself to forget. The feeling of freedom being on a horse brought. The scents and sounds of the fields and trees as they went past.
A sudden memory slammed into me. Kassie behind me, clutching my waist as we raced past the same fields, the sun high in the sky. Her breasts pressed against my back, her breath hot on my neck as she laughed in delight. How, not long after, I’d helped her from the horse and we wandered by the brook, eventually making love under the trees in the soft evening light, our bodies still learning the art of being together, our souls and hearts totally entwined.
I slowed my pace, stopping for a moment as the thoughts overwhelmed me. Leaving here had been easy. Leaving her had been the hardest thing I had ever done. And I knew in that moment, losing her was something I still hadn’t recovered from.
And if I was honest, I wasn’t sure I ever would.
“You looked like a natural.” Davis was enthusiastic when I returned. “I snapped some photos I think we can use. And this place is even better than I remembered.”
“How did you find it?” I asked, curious.
“Dumb luck. A friend was passing through and got lost. Found his way here to get directions. Sadie invited him in for coffee, and he asked if he could look around. Told her and Brent that he was from LA and knew I was looking for a place to shoot a movie. He sent me pictures. I flew out and knew this was the place. We worked it through from there.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I hear it’s a coincidence for you as well.”
“Yep.”
“Maybe more of a homecoming than you expected.”
I only grunted, pleased when he dropped the subject. I was glad I had held my temper. I liked Davis, and I doubted he was really interested in Kassie. He had his choice of women everywhere he went, and one small-town woman wouldn’t make any difference to him in the long run.