Chapter 38 ZACHERY RIDES AWAY
Chapter 38
Z ACHERY R IDES A WAY
When the Christmas tea is over, I scavenge for leftovers in the overstuffed fridge downstairs. There’s everything my fitness trainer would hate: pie, cake, tiny sandwiches stuffed with mayonnaise mixtures and cheese.
I may have to take up firewood chopping to stay in shape. There isn’t a gym for fifty miles.
Speaking of axes, the one I buried in the wood out back is gone. There’s no telling if they know I did it, or if they think Kelsey gave it a go.
The kitchen smells of mixed perfumes and herbs. The ladies opted to go classic with hot tea even as temperatures pushed into the nineties. It’s officially June, and the kids are out of school. The events were timed to make it a celebration of the start of summer.
But I did some digging as the festivities came to a close. I’m no financial whiz, but I’ve heard my dad talking about banking my whole life. I understand profit and loss, assets and liabilities.
While the ladies did their tea drinking, I started adding up what I thought this week of fundraising was worth.
Five-dollar hayrides, kids free. Ten-dollar tickets to the dance, minus expenses, plus the baked goods donation jar and bar sales.
Unlike actual Christmas, when the tree sales are the bulk of the gig, the only retail items were ornaments and knickknacks. With my insider knowledge from Kelsey that Gina was the sole cashier and bored out of her mind, they couldn’t have taken in very much with that.
Needing to fundraise means they aren’t supporting the family, or that supporting the family makes them fall short on the business expenses.
Jack’s wife works at the school, which might cover their basics as a young couple. Gina has an apartment in town but no other job. Grandmama requires upkeep in her cottage. I’m not privy to where Randy lives, but his parents have a house.
There’s income from this homestead, but judging by the open availability for me to extend a second week, they don’t bring in huge amounts with it.
I’m not sure how this tree farm supports them all.
I sit at the table with a platter of sandwiches and pull out my phone. I wonder ...
I quickly pay for a real estate report on this property.
And there it is. A lien.
A big one.
One so large that it would take fifty weeks of fundraising like they just did to cover it.
I shove the platter aside.
This tree farm is doomed.
But what can I say about it?
Kelsey came upstairs all aglow that their grandmother liked her. They worked out a deal, she said. If Randy acts badly, Grandmama will set him straight.
Now I wonder—why would he act badly?
Footsteps race down the stairs. “Zachery? Zach! Where are you?” She sounds frantic.
I stand up, knocking the chair back. “Kelsey?” I rush through the swinging door.
Kelsey’s at the bottom of the stairs, holding her open laptop. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit!”
“What is it?”
She looks at me, and I realize she isn’t upset, but over-the-moon excited. “The two actors Desdemona chose for Limited Fate weren’t available! The director wrote me back, asking for new leads. And get this! The script caught the attention of Andrew Fontaine—you know the one, right?”
“The Oscar committee. I do.”
“It’s on their radar in preproduction. I knew this script was special. I told Desdemona we had to put all our energy into it. Actors will be willing to lowball their pay to get Oscar buzz. It doesn’t matter that the budget isn’t great.”
“You still want Jason Venetian and Gayle Sumners?”
“You bet I do. I knew it the minute I met him.”
“Even if that action sequel he did tanks?”
“Any publicist worth their salt can spin that into proof that Jason was meant for serious films.”
“Does Jason want serious films? A lot of men would rather be Thor than a sensitive sculptor.”
“He’ll want it. I know it. He got pigeonholed after that tire commercial. The beefy tough guy. But he’s not. He’s got soulful eyes. Mark my words, one well-lit close-up from when he sees that jaded graffiti artist, and he’s America’s next heartthrob. Like Leo after Titanic .”
“I trust you, Kelsey, but Desdemona won’t go for it. That agent tweaked her ego, so he’s dead to her.”
“I could put it in. She doesn’t even have to know.” Her eyes scan the email as if she still can’t believe it.
“What makes you think the agent will change his mind?”
She walks to the kitchen and sets her laptop on the table. “This.” She switches tabs. A headline reads, New superhero limited series announces leading cast .
I skim through it. This is the one we were pretty sure was taking Jason away from us.
“He’s not on the list,” Kelsey says, almost bouncing with excitement. “They passed him over. He and his agent are going to be reeling from that, especially since Jacobs was all over him at that party, promising him the moon. The agent’s going to throw him at something to keep him out there.”
“Especially if there’s Oscar buzz.” I sit beside her. “But Desdemona will have told Jester not to take his call.”
“I’m handling it myself. And I already sent a message directly to Jason.”
“Sounds like you have it under control. But how will you handle Desdemona if he takes it?”
She closes her laptop with a snap. “I may simply blow up that bridge when I come to it. Is she confirmed for LA in a week?”
“No. Jester’s monitoring her airline bookings. Looks like she trusts us to handle the extras at the soccer match.”
Kelsey lets out a long exhale. “This is so perfect. Everything this summer has been so perfect.”
But something crosses her mind, making a line appear between her eyebrows.
I’m guessing that’s me. Probably if her husband material found out about how recently she and I hooked up, it wouldn’t go over so well.
Something in me snaps, ever so gently, like a twig in the woods. But it makes me say, “I did a little digging.”
“On what? Jason?”
I unlock my phone and show her the lien on the tree farm.
She sits straight up. “Why would you do that? Why would you spy on the Hanovers?”
“I’m worried. You love your job. It’s working out. Are you really going to give it up on a doomed farm? You know this fundraiser doesn’t even make a dent in that.”
She shoves my phone at me. “I can’t believe you! Why can’t you be happy for me? Grandmama knows about my job. She thinks it’s fabulous! Maybe I can have it all! Just because you failed at everything you ever tried doesn’t mean I will.”
Well, damn.
She snatches up her laptop and races out of the kitchen.
Kelsey doesn’t usually come out swinging. I’ve touched a nerve.
I put away the sandwiches, giving her some time to cool down. Then I quietly climb the stairs and stand outside her door, forming the words that will smooth this over.
I knock. “Kelsey?”
Her voice is tight. “What?”
“Can I come in?”
I hear her footsteps, then the door swings open. She instantly turns and returns to her spot on the bed, the laptop open.
“I’m sorry I looked. I’m trying to have your back.”
“We knew the farm was in trouble before I met anyone. They’re not hiding it. The amount doesn’t matter.”
Maybe it doesn’t.
She closes her laptop, and I wonder if she’s writing her mother.
“I’m sorry I punched you where it hurt,” she says. “I didn’t mean it. I think you had the level of success the rest of the world dreams of.”
Had. Of course. The joke, the has-been. I know who I am.
“It’s all right. I shouldn’t have snooped.”
Her brows are furrowed hard, her lips pinched in a tight frown. “Zach, it might be time for you to go back to LA. I’m good here. I have people to talk to. Things to do. I belong. I think the workload at the farm will settle down now that the events are over, and I won’t need you to cover my research and emails. I appreciate that you did it.”
I sit on the edge of her bed. She looks ethereal in a T-shirt and loose gym shorts, her makeup still sparkling and her golden hair in ringlets.
I love her, I realize. I honestly, truly love her.
That’s a damn nuisance. More to recover from.
And she wants me gone.
“Here’s the thing,” she goes on. “I’ve covered all the Hallmark bases. It’s time for regular dating stuff.” Her eyes cut to the shared wall of our rooms. “And I think I can’t fall into that with you so close. It’s different now between us. I didn’t want it to be different after what happened, but it is.”
I get it. And I’m not exactly interested in hearing what goes down between her and Randy, either.
“It’s good timing,” I say. “If Desdemona does return to LA, I can run interference. We can switch from Hallmark movies to those sitcoms where someone is trying to be two places at one time.”
This sparks a smile from her. “You can say she just missed me, then have Jester in a blond wig pop up across the field.”
I manage to laugh. “Exactly. We have you covered. Go ahead and have it all.”
She reaches forward to squeeze my arm, and I have the sinking feeling that this might be the last time she ever touches me. She’ll fall in love with Randy, make a name for herself by casting the next Oscar-winning film, and that will be that. She won’t need me or Desdemona or anybody.
She’ll live out her small-town, Hollywood-adjacent happily ever after.
“I’ll get out of your hair first thing in the morning,” I tell her.
“You’ve been the best wingman a girl could ask for.” She shakes her head at herself. “And I might have asked for more than I should have.”
I indulge myself with one last lean toward her and press my lips to her hair. “I was happy to oblige.”
Then I leave for my own room, the overstuffed suitcases, and prepare for life without her.