Chapter 10
Ty
My heart was pounding. I had just told Alex and the others that I wasn't with my boyfriend and could now perform my duties as an actress in this role.
The whole exchange had only taken a minute or two, but Alex had bluntly asked the extra to leave, and I was left feeling suddenly overwhelmed.
I had been through moments like this when I was put on the spot.
I would get through it. My nerves were blown out of proportion compared to my circumstances, and I had to talk myself down mentally so that my body would follow suit.
I knew I had blushed, but I concentrated on other things… I had come out with the news that had been simmering inside of me for three weeks, and it did feel good even though I was stirred up at the moment. I looked at Sam as we found a spot to stand outside.
"I'm so glad we came out here. Thank you. Sorry. I just felt nervous for a second, and sometimes I need to take a second to remind myself where my feet are."
He laughed at that, and it made me feel better. "What are you nervous about?"
"I don't know, changing things, I guess. I'm barely keeping my head above water as it is."
"Do you mean with life?"
"No, with acting."
"No, you're not. You're doing great."
"I'm trying," I said, pacing a little as he stood there. "It's not that I'm nervous about kissing you, I mean I am a little, but not really. It's mostly because of making Alex switch everything again after he was so accommodating. Both of you were. And I hate telling that girl never mind."
"Would you rather have me kiss her?"
My eyes snapped up to meet his.
"No," I replied in a neutral tone.
He grinned a little, slowly, mischievously, and my stomach flipped. My heart was already racing, and there he was looking like a movie star. Was it possible to die of butterflies? I wondered if kissing this guy might actually kill me—stop my heart.
"It's no big deal," he said, calmly and coolly.
"All that's going to happen is that I am going to stand a little bit closer to you while we're talking, and then at the end of the scene, I'll leave the room for a second and then come back in and kiss you instead of that other girl.
There's no dialogue at all on that second part. "
"And then we kiss four other times after that?" I said.
"You mean today, or in the series? It's three more in the series, but they're scripted as… they're just little… this one's the biggest. Today, the one in the kitchen is supposed to be a deeper kiss, but I don't even know if he'll have us do it in rehearsal or not."
"It's no big deal, whatever he wants us to do is fine," I said, shaking it off.
It felt good that he was talking so bluntly and calmly about it.
I took a deep breath. "Thank you."
"Thank you," he said in an exaggerated tone, joking around with me.
Sam was playful and happy, and that made me feel better, breathe easier.
I had gained some confidence from our little trip outside, and I was thankful to him for doing that for me.
I liked him as a person, and he happened to be extremely attractive, which was going to work in my favor filming this scene.
There was a fresh pan on the stove by the time we made it back inside. We got into position, and Sam waited on the other side of the set door while Alex called for action.
I moved around the kitchen and began to cook the eggs. I was about to crack the second one into the pan when Sam came into the kitchen. I could hear him moving behind me.
"That's not how she makes the eggs," he said from behind me.
He came up behind me swiftly, and I stiffened since I hadn't expected it, but I didn't pull away from him.
I just leaned into him and stared into the pan.
His big hand was over mine, and he helped me begin to stir the eggs and scramble them right there in the pan.
He was closer this time. His mouth was near my ear, and I was no longer aware of the cameras.
I felt the spoon as it gently scraped along the bottom of the pan, and I felt his hand on mine.
I leaned into him. His other hand came around my waist, and he ever so gently touched my stomach.
My chest rose and fell as I let him help me, let him hold me.
"They eat their eggs scrambled," he said, smiling and speaking near my ear again.
"Who eats their eggs scrambled?"
"All of your family does."
"I don't know how to cook that. I've only ever done it with the yolks."
Sam stayed right behind me, and we stirred for a moment as he let his hands gently touch me.
I was attracted to him, and my body seemed to be having a reaction to his touch.
I was glad I had rehearsed these lines a thousand times, because they came to me even though I was extremely distracted at the moment.
"My mom didn't trust me with the cooking. All I did was clean and take care of the kids."
"Well, you'll cook quite a bit over here. I’m sure you'll do your share of cleaning and caretaking, too."
I slowly pulled back to stare up at him. "I think they know I'm not Lottie," I whispered, staring sincerely at him. "I think they know and they just don't care."
Sam reached up and touched my hair. He stared at me so tenderly that I almost didn't even hear him when he said the next lines. "Lottie told you it wasn't great over here. That's why she wanted to leave."
I shrugged, just like I had practiced. "Well, the life I left wasn't great either."
"Oh, no?"
"No," I said. "I was scared to death to go to California."
He stared at me. "I didn't want you to go to California either."
I would have just melted if a guy who looked like Sam held me and said that to me in real life. I was melting as it was.
"I just hope you like it here," he added.
He reached over and moved the pan off the fire because the eggs were finished.
"Right now, I'm feeling really thankful I stayed."
Sam stared at me. He looked me over, and then he slowly started moving in to kiss me. I moved toward him also. I kept approaching him until our lips were almost touching, but Katherine came into the room, and Sam pulled back abruptly and stepped away from me.
He said his lines to Katherine while my back was turned.
My ears were ringing, and I listened closely as they spoke and then he followed her out of the room.
Alex yelled for us to stop the action, and he came into the kitchen area, clapping as he came near me.
Sam and Katherine came back into the kitchen, and so did everyone else, gathering around when Alex walked up to us.
"That was amazing, guys, much better, Sam.
I like that positioning so much, thank you.
Ty, pause slightly longer before you say that the life you left wasn't that great.
" I nodded at him. "I think that's all I need with cameras for today.
We'll run it through a few more times and then call it.
Cam and Judd might need to work some other things out with you once I'm done, but I'm happy with how you looked on that one, and how your lines went. "
Alex wrapped up with us within a half-hour, and then Cameron and Judd spent another hour with us, going over other details about the scene in preparation for the filming.
No one ever made us kiss each other.
We did the scene several times, and not once did Sam come back into the room and kiss me. Alex had just mentioned that he would be doing it tomorrow, and they positioned us for the cameras, but we never kissed. I wondered why Natalie had even been there.
I found that I was disappointed about not kissing Sam at rehearsal, and I knew that was ridiculous.
I had cleared things up with Alex, and I would be doing it soon enough.
It felt a little weird to be looking forward to it, but I was glad I had told the truth, and we were on track to perform the scene as it was written.
Once Cameron and Judd were finished with us, we had the rest of the afternoon off. I spent an hour with my sister, and we ate dinner together. She hadn't been there for our rehearsal, and I told her that I had come clean with Alex and the others about my breakup.
After dinner, my sister went to hang out in the horse barn, and I decided to tag along with her.
I ended up talking to Josh, a guy who worked there, and he took me into one of the cow barns with him.
We had been on the ranch for weeks, and I saw the cows all the time, but I never went into any of the barns.
I hadn't been in one since a trip we had taken to the ranch as tourists, and that was a year before the filming ever started.
It was interesting to listen to Josh talk about ranching, and he was easy to talk to.
I followed Josh around as he tended to a couple of chores. I asked him questions some of the time, and some of the time we were quiet. It was a nice time to clear my mind since I had been so nervous with the egg scene today. We got back in the ATV and headed back to the horse barn.
We ran into Sam on the way. He was on the path, and I had seen him from a ways off as he was walking toward us. He looked us over with interest as he approached and came to a stop near him.
"What are you guys doing?" he asked.
"Going back to the horse barn," Josh answered.
"Josh had to help his dad with the cows, and I went with him over there," I explained. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going walking." Sam paused and looked back and forth from Josh to me and then settled on me. "Do you want to come? Either of you?" he added.
"I'm about to head home for the night," Josh said.
Sam stayed focused on me. I thought of his name, and I remembered earlier at rehearsal when Cameron had been referring to him as Samuel.
She did it several times, and it seemed like she was being extra familiar with him because of it.
I felt jealous at the memory, and I wanted to hang out with him long enough to ask him if he was close to her.
"Sure," I said with a casual shrug. "I'm up for some walking."
Josh didn't think twice about it when I got out of the ATV and stayed on the path with Sam. I thanked him and waved at him as he drove away.