Chapter 3
Ty
"Yeah, of course, the questions…" Sam said.
He shifted his focus, concentrating on his computer screen instead of the phone.
He was an utter heartthrob, and he was a much better actor than me, but I didn't have time to be insecure or have my own feelings come into play at all.
I was happy that Sam was an experienced actor.
That would only help me through this process.
It was only mildly distracting that he looked like an actual movie star.
He was better than one. I stared at his image on the screen, wondering if there were any other actors in Hollywood who were this handsome.
How was it even possible that he looked good on FaceTime?
I had no problems being loyal to my boyfriend, though.
I would pretend to have feelings for this guy for the sake of being a good actress in the series, but I would not develop any actual feelings for him.
That wasn't a factor for me. I was around college guys constantly.
I was often in environments where people were drinking, and therefore, I got hit on quite a bit.
I never had a problem with looking at other guys.
I had my own personal struggles with anxiety, and no one in my life knew anything about it besides Jacob.
I had developed the condition after we had been together for a while, so he knew me before I had trouble.
Jacob was the only one who knew. I hadn't even told my sister.
We were so close that I knew it would worry her if she knew I was struggling.
I didn't want her to worry about me, so I never told her.
I trusted Jacob to know my struggles and weaknesses and not expose them, and he never embarrassed me by telling anyone else. I owed him a lot for that.
All this to say that I was comfortable with my boyfriend and loyal to him, and in spite of my co-star being gorgeous, I was not checking him out. That was why I decided to keep us on track. We had questions and answers to read about our characters.
"I guess I'm supposed to ask you a question first," he said, glancing at his computer.
"Yeah, I have an answer before a question. So, you just read the question to me, and I read the answer, and that's it?"
"I think so," he said, with a smile and a shrug. "It looks like a little script to me."
"Okay, I guess we just read it."
"Yep, okay, first question… Where are you from and what's your family situation? How long have you been traveling?"
"I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia.
My father died when I was a baby. My stepfather is a struggling farmer, and my mother is busy caring for my four younger half-siblings, one of whom, my three-year-old brother, was not born like the rest of us and needs special care.
He's been sick and miserable the whole time we've been on the road.
Whoa, this is heavy," I added, looking at him.
"I know, life was hard back then," Sam said.
"Is any of this true? Did Alex's relative really have five kids, and one who was special? Was that all true?"
"I have no idea how much of it is true," Sam said. "I know Alex did a ton of research and interviews, but I really don't know how much is accurate. It doesn't seem like any of this is even mentioned in the script. Is that all for your answers on the first one?"
"No, the last part is that we've been in the wagon for more than two months. Can you imagine? Two months to get from Virginia to Missouri? Two months on the road with those little sick siblings and everything."
"Yeah, I don't know how much of it is true. I think he's probably setting the stage for how ready Chloe was to get off the road by that point, even if it meant becoming someone else."
"Yeah, I see what you're saying," I said. "And so I guess it's my turn to ask you… Tommy, what about you? What's your family situation?"
"I'm Lottie's neighbor and her brother's best friend.
We grew up together, and I am a staple in their house.
I've been close to her brother my entire life and have always thought of Lottie as a sister.
I'm the youngest of three boys. My father is a sheriff, and my oldest brother followed in his footsteps.
My next-older brother left town a year ago with a group of cattle ranchers from Mississippi.
I've been working at my grandfather's feed store since I was fourteen, and now, at the age of nineteen, I help him run the place and have taken over a lot of his responsibilities…
" he paused and glanced at me. "I knew some of this from Tommy's character description.
I guess he wanted you to know it. Okay, I'm just going to keep moving on. What's your full, God-given name?"
"Trinity Jane Lily Banks."
"No, your character. And what did you say?"
"Oh, my goodness, I'm sorry. Chloe Ann Callaway. That's funny. I wasn't even reading."
"What'd you say your name was?"
"Trinity Banks."
"No, you said something between that. Your middle name. Something like 'daylily'."
"Daylily?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, smiling at him.
"I couldn't hear you. What'd you say?"
"Jane Lily."
"See, I was close. Your name is Jane Lily?"
"Yes. My middle name. I have two."
"Trinity Jane Lily Banks?" he asked, confirming.
"Yes, but I should've said I was Chloe Ann Callaway. Why are you smiling?" I asked him.
"Because it's a name that made me smile, that's all. Trinity Jane Lily. I've never met anyone with that name."
"Yeah, I know. I thought it was great until I was about ten, then I hated it. Then, at fifteen, I decided I might as well not hate it anymore. No one calls me that, anyway. What's your full name?"
"Samuel David Allison."
"No, I meant your character."
"Oh, my gosh, I did the same thing. That's hilarious. I didn't even realize. Hang on. Thomas Paul Logan. That's my name. Sorry. Focus." He grinned, and I smiled back at him, waiting for the next question. "Oh, and what's your favorite kind of pie?" he asked.
"Why would you ask me about pie?" I said, reading my next line.
"Because my mom makes the best pies," he said, reading off the screen. "What's your favorite kind?"
"Apple," I answered, reading. "What about you?"
"Chocolate."
"A chocolate pie?" I asked. "I've never tasted a chocolate pie. My mom makes water pie, but I haven't had any pie at all since we've been on the road."
"My family makes pies to sell at the feed store, and we always have leftovers. Would you want to come with me and get some?"
"Isn't there some girl who would be disappointed?"
"All the girls would be disappointed," he said, smiling confidently.
We continued the scripted conversation, finding out new things about our characters that weren't revealed in the series script. I learned that Tommy had been engaged and that his childhood sweetheart and first love had passed away tragically in an accident with a horse.
"Why do you think we had to do this?" I asked him after we read the last exchange.
Sam shrugged, looking at me in the phone. He readjusted in his chair now that we were finished with the official stuff.
"Does this stuff make Chloe feel any differently about Tommy?"
I shrugged. "I guess it helps me feel more familiar or comfortable. But it is sort of weird hearing that you had a first love."
"Why's that weird?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I sort of thought they were each other's first love."
"I'm sure they wanted your character to like Tommy more from knowing that. Did it have the opposite effect?"
"Sort of, I guess," I said, shrugging and being honest."
"What about your boyfriend now?" he said.
"What about him?"
"Did he ever date anyone before you?" he asked.
"Yes, b-but no one who he would come out and say was his first love. I feel like a girl wouldn't want to hear that her potential suitor had this big, first love who wasn't her."
"I get that," he said. "I guess we could pretend I never said that."
"No, we can't. It's a thing now." I straightened my shoulders and fixed myself up a little using my reflection in the tiny thumbnail on my phone. "How do you think I compare to her?" I asked. I was joking around, and he knew it.
"Life was harder back then," he said. "People died young. An accident with a horse would be normal. Tommy would get over it and focus on Lottie."
"What about you?" I asked.
"What about me?"
"Do you have a first love?"
He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then he stopped himself. "Me personally? No. I wouldn’t say I had a… no. You?"
"I, well, I mean, I don't know. I've been with Jacob for over a year."
"What if you guys ever broke up?" he said. "Would you be able to give your heart to someone afterward?"
"I mean… if you're able to even picture that, something's wrong with the relationship, right? I would like to think we wouldn't break up."
"Yeah, I see what you're saying. I think for the purposes of the series, they wanted you to find Tommy more attractive. Would you rather have me say I didn't really like her? Maybe I was reluctantly betrothed."
"No, it's fine, you've already said it—she was your first love." I was smiling and shaking him off because I was being lighthearted about it in the first place.
"I've never had a director do this before. Maybe it'll help us to have that background information as we're filming a scene."
"Yeah, you're right, I'm sure Alex knows what he's doing. And speaking of that… I was talking to Jacob about the egg scene."
"What about it?" he asked. "I know you're not kissing me at the end."
"I know, he's being really nice by getting me a stunt double."
"I never thought kissing me was a stunt, but thanks, I guess."
"I wasn't talking about kissing when I brought it up, though.
I was asking about the way you're supposed to be behind me and hold me by the waist and everything.
I was reading that scene with my boyfriend last night…
he's helping me prepare… and he was reading the notes.
He said he really doesn't want your hand on my stomach like that. "
"That's impossible to change," he said. "My hands are there when we're talking. It's in the shot. There's no way to use a stand-in for that."
"I know, I know, I told him that. And I'm not, I guess I'm not going to mention it to Alex.
But just from me to you… could you try to be G-rated with that?
Just keep your hand… I don't know how to do it…
can you just do the minimum touching possible that Alex will allow? I'm sorry. I feel bad asking that."
"No, I'm… I'm just going to do what Alex asks me to do," Sam said, somewhat awkwardly.
"Yeah, you should. I'm sorry. I'm not going to say anything to Alex. Anyway, I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It's no problem. We'll work it out."
He was a professional, and I could tell he was being patient with me. "Well, thanks for everything," I said, smiling and waving at him.
"You too," he said.
"I guess we'll see each other in a few weeks."
He smiled. "Yep, see you in Montana."
"Kay. Bye."
We waved at each other as we disconnected.