Chapter 30
30
Michelle didn’t realize how far away she left her car. When she rode up, it felt like only a few minutes, walking down seemed to take forever. As soon as she saw her Jeep, she pulled out her fob and opened the door. She rolled down her window when the man stood up.
“Ms. Conroy, correct?”
“Yes.”
He looked at his watch and marked something on the clipboard.
“Would you like this back?” She held out the lanyard.
“You won’t be joining us again?”
She swallowed. “I doubt it.”
“I’ll keep it for you, just in case then.”
Her lips tilted into a polite smile. “Thank you.”
She pressed her home button in the GPS, rolled up her window, and pulled away from one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen. She took a deep breath, knowing she had three hours to dissect her thoughts and feelings. What a day.
The sun was setting, and the autumn sky was full of brilliant colors. She stretched and twisted to relieve her back muscles. Laying everything on the kitchen counter, she quickly sent Jackie a text: Home. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. I’m bushed.
Next came the text to her children: Home. Beautiful day. I’ll tell you all about it on Sunday.
Keith had explicitly said to call, but she wondered if a text would suffice. He’d call her when he got the text and would be upset. Why poke the bear? She’d seen a side of him today that told her he wouldn’t like it. As she went to call him, three pings sounded on her phone. She looked at it to see all the children confirming they’d be at her house on Sunday. Even as she smiled, it faded immediately. This phone call could be the end of what she thought she wanted. There was only one way to find out. She pressed his number.
“Michelle,” a husky breath answered the phone. It sounded more like relief than anger.
“Hi,” she softly said. “I’m home.”
“I’ve been watching the clock. I even talked to the security guy at the gate. He told me what time you left. I thought you would’ve been home before now.”
“I was, but I had to text Jackie and my children and answer the call of nature. I didn’t stop once on the way home.”
“You’re right. Sorry. I was concerned with the way you left today.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I should have handled it better. I wasn’t prepared for it, is all.”
“I wish Steve would’ve been there. You could’ve talked to him.”
“Who’s Steve?”
“Diane’s husband.”
“Oh.”
“She’s married. He’s learned to handle watching these scenes. In fact, he prefers to be there when she’s shooting them. I guess in some way he feels that he can control the scene, make sure she’s respected, be her safety net or something. I don’t know, but he handles them well. She was nervous because he couldn’t be there today.”
“You could have warned me about your costar. And when you told me you met her, you never said that she’s the beautiful, talented Diane Gardner.”
He laughed. “I did, didn’t I?”
“I do believe you described her as a ‘solid actress.’ Are you kidding me? How many Academy Awards has she won?”
“I have no clue.”
Michelle took a calming breath. “Did it go well?”
“After a bit.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I walked around, trying to calm down. Once I did, I went to wardrobe.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know. We’ll work through it.”
She internally smiled when he used the word “we.” She cleared her throat. “If it was a love scene, wouldn’t you disrobe?”
He chuckled. “I put on a flesh colored, low rise pair of compression shorts. At my age, they aren’t going to show my naked ass on the big screen. There would be a butt double.” He sobered. “Yes, her breasts were bare, but she had on a low-rise flesh colored G-string. With fifteen people in the room, it was anything but romantic. Once I could visualize your face on Diane, we got the shot in two takes.”
Michelle covered her mouth, humiliated. “Again, Keith, I’m so sorry.”
“You aren’t in the business. You aren’t used to how this works. We’ll figure it out. All I ask is that you stay to finish the discussion next time, don’t walk away. That was why I couldn’t focus. All I could think about was fixing this with you. Trying to make you understand. As soon as I knew what scene we were shooting for the trailer, I went looking for you. I wanted to explain and offer for you to go on a walk or something. I knew if I kept you away from the scene, we could talk about it, and I could explain everything. But by the time I found you, you’d already put two and two together and were looking for the quickest way out. I saw it in your eyes. You were going to leave without talking to me, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Damn it, Michelle. You’re going to have to meet me halfway on this, or at least somewhere closer to the middle.”
“What if I can’t?”
“You can. I know you can. Once we spend more time together, just us. I’ll introduce you to Diane and Steve. Maybe we can go to dinner or something. You’ll see that it’s just a job. No feelings, no connection, no affection, no arousal, unlike with you. If knowing all that and the scene still moves you, then we must be damn good actors, right?”
Unlike with you . Those three words floated through her mind repeatedly. “Right,” she said in a faraway voice.
“Michelle?”
“Yes?”
“Are you still listening to me?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I can hear your mind working from here. What are you thinking about?”
“Unlike with you.”
“Why are you thinking about those words?”
“All the things you said.”
“Feelings. Yes, I have feelings for you that are growing every day. Connection, from the first time our eyes met in that coffee shop. Affection, from the moment I held you on that dance floor. Arousal from the moment my lips touched yours for the first time.”
Tears ran down her face, and she was grateful they were not on a video chat. “Oh, Keith...”
“You said you were angry about me being with another woman. That tells me you have feelings too.”
“I do.”
“Then we’ve got to work this out.”
“We will.”
“You gave your name tag to the security guard and told him you doubted you’d be back. That doesn’t sound like you’re willing to put in any effort.”
“I thought you would be so angry with me that you wouldn’t want to see me again.”
A groan came through the phone. “Are your children coming to dinner Sunday night?”
“Yes.”
“I want to be there.”
“What? Keith, you’re filming Sunday.”
“It’s a scene at sunrise with the horse, no one else. I’ll leave right after we finish. I should be at your house by mid-afternoon. That gives us plenty of time if the horse doesn’t want to cooperate. Text me the address.”
“But . . .”
“No buts, Michelle.” Frustration laced his voice. “I’m coming. I’m going to meet your children. I’m going to tell them that I’m crazy about their mother. Now, give me the damn address!” He huffed. “Please,” he all but whispered.
A soft sob left her as she typed the address and gate code. “You’ll need the code for the security gate.”
“Are you crying? Do you really not want me to be there?”
“No, it’s that I never thought I’d meet someone again who’d want to be with me or understand me the way Bill did. He knew when to push me and when to let me have my way. It seems that you have that knack too.”
“I’m trying. God knows I’m trying.” A heavy sigh came through the line. “I want to hold you right now. I don’t want you to be upset. I’m not angry, but I don’t take no for an answer when I know something is right. And at the moment, I believe that you are right... for me.”
“What does Chip think? After today, he must see me as a distraction.”
“I don’t care what he thinks.”
“Yes, you do. Or at least you should.”
He exhaled. “You’re right. He was frustrated with me and said you were a disruption on the set. Everything from people asking who you were and why you were there to my display and subsequent irritation.”
“I didn’t mean to cause any issues.”
“You didn’t, Michelle. That’s just it. In this industry, everyone tries to know everyone else’s business. I swear it’s to see who can leak the juiciest gossip, but you and I aren’t gossip.” A pause stretched between them. “All my scenes went perfectly today until the end. Had that scene not been added, none of this would have happened. It would have been a perfect day. As it is, people are nosy, and I was trying to protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting.”
“Until you process your feelings about my job, you do. And I want to do that for you.”
“Maybe it’s best that I don’t go to your movie locations right now. Plus, I’m not ready for people to find out who I am, anyway. I like being the unknown woman.”
“Then you’ll stay unknown . . . for now.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s late, and I need to go. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Keith.”
“G’night.”