Chapter 13
thirteen
Cash
I ran the brush down Maisy’s side—Granny’s paint horse. The dust lifted into the late afternoon light. I was exhausted from a day of recording, but Charlie looked even more worn out. Even now, as she came behind me, making slow circles over Maisy’s shoulders, her lids were half closed.
For two days, I’d been working up the courage to ask her something. It was actually the brainchild of Bennett Reed, the man directing my music video. He’d stopped by the house one evening to discuss logistics with me and Dad. After meeting Charlie and casually observing us together, he’d pulled me aside and put an idea in my head.
Moving down the horse’s hind leg, I kept my grip steady. “You’ve got it easy, Maisy. Stand in the fields all day, eat grass, flirt with the stallions.”
“Ha.” Charlie muttered around a laugh. “Maisy’s flirting days are long over. She’s geriatric now. Can hardly stay awake most of the time. Huh, girl?”
Charlie gave her a pat. Maisy was ancient. I didn’t even want to think about how old. Or that Anna, Seddledowne’s only vet, might have to make a house call that had nothing to do with checkups. My tough-as-nails grandpa had walked around lost, tears in his eyes, for two days when his quarter horse Fred had to be put down. Granny would be even worse when Maisy went.
“So…” I said as I reached the horse’s flank. “We’re filming a music video for ‘Hard to Love You.’”
Charlie glanced over at me. “Really? That’s so cool. Is it like…a video that tells a story, or are you just singing the song?”
“It tells a story. It’ll be scenes from the song. Chasing fireflies, kicking water at each other in a stream, playing guitar together, fishing on the lake, a midnight McDonald’s run for chicken nuggets.”
She had the lyrics memorized. I’d seen her singing along just yesterday, as we rerecorded some rough spots for the album. Clearly, it was about her. About us. Pretty much all of my songs that had anything to do with love were. There was no way she hadn’t figured that out. But if she had, she didn’t let on.
“Are you playing yourself or…” She grabbed the fly spray from the tote and started spraying it over Maisy’s neck.
“I’m playing myself.” I scratched my temple. “And we’ll hire someone to play my love interest.”
She stared at Maisy, her expression blank, as if I had just told her I was getting a gallon of milk from the store. “Hope she likes nuggs, whoever she is.” She gave the horse another spritz.
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “That’s non-negotiable. She needs to be a chicken nugget connoisseur.” My voice dripped with insinuation. Charlie used to say she’d have Chick-fil-A cater her wedding. But she kept her eyes on Maisy and her expression neutral. All right. There was no more time for messing around. Bennett needed an answer yesterday. “So… I was kind of hoping… you’d do it?” It was embarrassing how high-pitched I sounded. I cleared my throat. “Play my love interest, I mean.”
She looked at me, still poker-faced. “You’re pulling my leg. Is this a late April Fool's joke?”
“No. I’m totally serious.”
She stood up straight, staring at me. “Cash, I am the world’s worst actress. I have one mode and it’s called: whatever’s in my head is all over my face.”
“It was Bennett’s idea.” I wasn’t trying to be a coward, pinning it on someone else. I just needed her to know this wasn’t some harebrained scheme I came up with on the fly. “He says our chemistry is ‘off the charts.’” I made air quotes.
“Us?” Her tone was laced with disbelief.
“Yes.”
She reached into the tote, pulled out a horse treat, and held her palm flat, offering it to Maisy. “I don’t know. I think you’d all be so annoyed with me by the time it was done. It would be retake after retake. You should probably hire an actress who knows what she’s doing.” She snapped her fingers. “What about the girl who played Raven Nightshade’s niece in the last movie?”
Thing was, I needed Charlie to do it. I was a worse actor than she was. Dad said it would come with time. But I felt a lot of pressure to get my first music video right. I’d feel even more pressure if I were up against a seasoned actress. If I did it with Charlie, I wouldn’t even need to pretend. It would just be us, doing what we’d done a hundred times before.
“It pays twenty thousand dollars,” I blurted like some kind of stupid Hail Mary. As soon as it was out, I swore in my head. Bennett had capped it at ten. But I’d overheard Dad telling Mom he thought Charlie needed money for some reason.
She turned toward me, stunned, lashes fluttering. “I-It—what?” Her lips parted, and for a second, she looked utterly lost in thought, like she couldn’t figure out if I was messing with her.
“Yeah,” I said with more confidence. Looked like the other half was coming out of the proceeds of my single. Good thing it was doing well on the charts.
She hugged herself. “Like what would I need to do?”
“Eat nuggs.” I laughed. “Fake like we’re fishing. Pretend-catch fireflies that will later be CGI’d. They said real ones don’t pick up well enough on camera.”
Her expression had turned curious. Interested. Which meant I needed to give full disclosure.
“It’s all pretty playful. There is one pool scene though. It’s the climax of the video, during the bridge. We’ll probably have to put our hands on each other. Maybe, possibly kiss.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “I think we’re filming it in Anna and Blue’s pool or maybe the lake. Definitely some kind of water.”
She looked like I’d knocked the wind out of her. “Like…I’d have to wear a bathing suit?” That was the part that threw her off? Not the possible kissing? “It could be a one piece though, right?”
Once upon a time, Charlie had worn bikinis like a second skin—carefree, sun-kissed, and completely oblivious to the chaos she left in her wake. All. Summer. Long. It made my life equal parts heaven and agony. When your lifelong crush walks around in little more than lace-trimmed temptation, you either learn control or you combust. Teenage me had nearly gone up in flames many times.
I scratched my jaw. “Yeah. Probably.”
Her eyebrow raised. “Could I pick the suit?”
“Uh. Yeah. I’m sure we could make that work.” I had no idea, but I’d fight for it if it meant she’d do it.
“I don’t know. I’m still married. It feels…not right.”
My hopes, which I’d let get way too high, took a nosedive. On one hand, I wanted to remind her that plenty of married actors and actresses kissed people they weren’t married to. But on the other, I respected the heck out of her for drawing that line.
Before I could tell her that, the barn door flew open with a bang.
“Charlie!” my dad’s bodyguard, Jeff, called in a threatening tone. “Come get this trash before I do something I regret.”