Chapter 11
Scarlet opened the barn padlock and walked inside with Juliet. Her colleague’s eyes widened. “Wow. What a place.”
“Yeah. My grandfather didn’t do anything halfway. When he built on this property, he used the rooms for entertaining.”
“They’re big and beautiful. He must have done a lot of entertaining.”
“My grandfather was Henson Smith.”
“Seriously. The one who developed Go-Go Flash, the search engine?”
“He had no idea it would take off like it did.” She smiled at Daisy. “You’re set for clients here?”
“Yeah, they come from all over the city so it’s no hardship to come out a little further.”
“I’ll leave you to get setup.”
Juliet tugged on her arm. “Scarlet, thanks for doing this. You…haven’t warmed up the group, but we’d all like to change that.”
Her heart started to beat faster. “I’m a private person.”
“I know. But give us a shot?” She gestured to the barn. “Like this.”
“I’ll try.”
When she walked outside, she saw a dusty red pickup pulling up to the house. She walked over to where he stopped. A guy got out of his truck. His gait was easy as he strode toward her. “Hi, there,” he said, taking off his cowboy hat. “I’m Joe Larson. I moved next door.”
“Hello. I’m Scarlet Smith.”
He grinned, revealing his dimples. “Your parents liked Gone With the Wind?”
“Everybody asks that. But no, it’s a family name.”
He looked around. “What do you do here, Scarlet? It doesn’t seem like a working farm. Or a ranch.”
“Because it isn’t. I love space and I love these buildings. My grandfather knew that and left the property to me. How about you?”
“I’m a farmer. I raise tomatoes, peppers and leafy green lettuce. I squeaked out enough money to buy my place. We closed on it last month. So now we’re neighbors.”
Uh-oh. “I’m a pretty private person, Mr. Larson.” The second time she’d said that today.
“I get it. We won’t bother you.”
“We?”
Just then the car door opened and a little person got out. As he raced closer, she saw it was a child of about nine. He tipped his own miniature hat. “Seth Larson, ma’am. Happy to meet you.”
“You too, Seth.”
“Come on, boy.” He smiled at her. “We won’t take up any more of your time.”
They both turned and started off.
For a brief minute, she regretted shutting them down. Then she sighed. It was for the best. She was better off alone.
* * *
Daisy wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She couldn’t take two weeks off without touching her savings. Besides, she wanted to work. Needed to. She loved to help women be healthier and happier. Her nursing degree didn’t give her the satisfaction as much as her Harmony Healing practice.
Her son Liam was out with a friend and it was time to figure out her immediate future. The front bell rang. She crossed to the door and peeked out the window. Huh!
She whipped it open. “Scarlet, hi.”
“Hi. I hope I’m not intruding.”
“You’re not at all. Come in.”
Scarlet stepped inside and Daisy led her to the living space. “This condo is lovely. I adore Palladian windows and high ceilings.”
“Me, too. When I divorced, I got a big settlement and bought this place. Too bad it wasn’t a bit bigger.”
“It seems pretty spacious.”
“Not enough to hold my women’s health group. Sit down.”
Scarlet sat on one of the two herring boned couches. “That’s why I came. I just left Juliet at my place. I live on my grandfather’s farm. It has this big barn with two rooms. She’s using one for the two weeks the collective’s closed. You can use the other.”
“Seriously?”
“I understand your reaction. Juliet told me I’ve been aloof since we opened the collective, but I’m a private person.”
“There’s nothing wrong with private.”
“Yeah,” Scarlet added, “but you’re all friends, except for Heath, maybe.”
“In any case, I appreciate your offer. I’m going to take you up on it.”
“So, Finn can practice at his house. And he offered Oliver his reiki room. They’re going to work around schedules. The four of us are square for this space.”
“Yeah.”
“And Heath?”
“Ha!” Daisy shook her head. “There are all kinds of conference rooms at his snazzy practice downtown. He’s set.”
She held Scarlet’s gaze. “Do you think our clients will come back to the collective when it’s cleared in a couple of weeks?”
“I hope so. As long as we have alternative spaces, which we do, to treat them for two weeks.”
Daisy smiled. “Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure. Would you like to come out and see the space now? It’s not very far away.”
“I would. Let me get my things. I’ll text my son on the way out.”
“You have a son?”
“Yeah, Liam. He’s a teenager which by definition is a handful.”
“I hear you. I’ll drive and drop you back off here.”
“Scarlet, where will you practice?”
“My office is huge in the farmhouse. And I don’t need a lot of space. So three of us will be out there.”
“That’s nice. Let’s go.”
* * *
When Elise showed up at the film site for a second reshoot, the set was ready for a scene at her house. And Max Price was waiting for her. “This is a hell of a thing.”
“I guess. I wonder what happened.”
“Nobody knows.”
She turned to see John behind her. The usually calm director’s face was tight. “I’m so angry about this.”
Elise squeezed his arm. “You should be.”
“Let’s get started. This is an easy little scene. You and Max are estranged and we get to see how you’re handling things. It’s from the middle of the film.”
Elise sat down on the cushiony couch. She leafed through a magazine. Her phone rang. “Hello…Hi Mom…No, I’m fine. Just sad. We were together a long time.”
Pounding on her front door. “Mom, I’ll call you back.” Sighing she got up. Opened the door and Max stormed in.
They played the scene out, this time avoiding the shadows that had come over the room when they first shot it.
It might have been an easy little scene to John, but she was exhausted by the end. “That’s a wrap guys. Thanks for coming back in. Elise, can I see you in my trailer?”
“Sure.”
Once they were seated at a table and chairs, he said, “Something’s going on with you. You’re not well. What’s wrong?”
“I…” She was about to deny anything was amiss. But there was no reason to keep this from him anymore.
“Nothing’s wrong, John.” She grinned. “I’m pregnant.”
His eyebrows skyrocketed. “Wow, I never expected that.” He focused intently on her. “You must be glad. You told me about your struggle with infertility.”
“I’m elated.”
“Is the father happy?”
“Yes. It’s Finn McKenna.”
“I guessed.” He grasped her hand. “I’m happy for you.”
“I knew you would be. Not a lot of people know, and it’s early in the pregnancy so I don’t want to spread the word until the first three months are up.”
“I’ll keep it to myself.”
She followed John to the door and found Finn outside it.
“Hey, beautiful.” He was all smiles too, despite the horrific things going on at the collective.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hi, John.”
“Hey, Finn. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” John turned to Elise. “See you in a couple of days, Elise. Take care.”
“You told him?” Finn asked as they headed to his car.
“Yeah. He guessed something was going on. And he was worried about me.”
“That’s fine. A few people can know. Fiona’s next”
“Yeah. You finished with your clients early?”
“Uh-huh. The last one couldn’t make it. So I thought I’d surprise you and come early.”
“And a pleasant surprise it is. Let’s go.”
* * *
When they got inside the car, Finn leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. “Hi.”
“Hmmm. Hi.”
“How are you doing?”
“Great. Are you looking forward to telling your sister?”
“Yeah. Prepare yourself. She’s going to be mad at first because I didn’t call her right away. But she’s still suffering over Tim. He’s out of the house but I think they’ve talked a couple of times.”
“I hope they can work it out. I want everybody to be happy.”
“Like us.”
He kept his hand on her knee all the way to his twin’s house. They walked inside without knocking.
Two whirlwinds threw themselves at him, almost toppling him over. “Uncle Finn.”
“Uncle Finn.”
“Whoa, guys.”
“Will you take us to the park?”
“Maybe. Let’s me see what’s going on here.”
Joey pouted. “Daddy isn’t living here anymore.”
“Mom says he’s gone for a while,” Jason added.
“I know about that. How’s Mommy?”
“She cries after she sees him.” Jason again.
“Where is she?”
Joey gestured outside. “Makin’ some phone calls on the deck.”
“We’ll go see her.”
“Don’t forget about the park.”
“We’ll ask your mom about that, Joey.”
They found Fiona on the phone. “Yes, Rick. I can come for an interview any time this week. Thursday afternoon works for me.” She clicked off then swiveled around to see them behind her.
“Hey, buddy. Elise.” She set the phone down, stood and hugged them both.
“Hi, sweetie.” Finn angled his chin to the phone. “What’s going on with that?”
“There’s a fourth grade opening at my old school. I’m going in to interview for it.”
“You decided to go back to work?”
“I did. Let’s sit.”
They all settled under the umbrella table. The pool stretched below them and the trees rustled in a slight breeze.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Elise remarked. “Especially out here.”
“You guys can swim, if you want.”
“Maybe later. Fi, we have something to tell you. It’s good news.”
“I could use that.”
“Go ahead, honey,” he said to Elise.
“Fiona, I’m pregnant.”
She startled back and looked at Finn.
“She knows I told you about her infertility.”
“Then this is a miracle. Like with me.”
“It is.”
“How far along are you?”
“Only a few weeks.”
Finn said, “We’re both elated about this. It’s brought us closer.”
“So, what about your career, Elise?”
“I’m not scheduled for another film yet.”
“That’s unusual for an actor with your fame.”
“It is. But because I am popular, I get my pick of what I want to do next. I’ve been reading scripts.”
“Will you get another film while you’re pregnant?”
“I think so. Usually, they can shoot around it. But I was planning to take four months off filming anyway. I’ve been going non-stop and I need a break.”
“More so now.” Finn grinned at her. “What should we say to the twins?”
“I don’t know. Let me think about it.”
Elise took Fiona’s hand. “How are you doing?”
“I’m going forward, hence the job.”
“The boys said you’ve seen Tim.” This from Finn.
“Yeah. He wanted to discuss where we go from here.”
“What does he want?”
“Ironically, to come back.”
“Huh.” Finn watched her. “How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. When I agreed to see him, we met for lunch. Just to be together and not talk about what happened.”
“How’d it go?” Elise asked.
“Awful. He couldn’t leave this alone. He wants me to try to work through my anger and disappointment. But it’s hard. He’s not the man I thought he was.”
Finn grasped her hand. “I can see how you feel that way.”
“I’m worried about the boys in all this mess.”
“They seem sad.”
“They’re either that or they act out.”
“Do you want me to talk to them?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“They want to go the park. We could take them now,” Elise suggested.
“That would be a treat for them.”
Finn said, “We’ll get dinner afterward. You can have a break.”
“I have a call with my lawyer in fifteen minutes. I’m not sure what I should be doing now.”
He cupped her cheek. “I’m here for you, like always.”
“So am I,” Elise added. “You can count on us both.
“I’ve spoiled your news. You were so happy when you came in.”
“That hasn’t changed, Fiona. We’re still happy.”
“I hope so.”