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“Hey, Andy!” Otis’s call had Andy whipping around. “Come help me make the pizzas Georgia wants to take home for dinner.”
He didn’t even say goodbye before he dashed around the counter and Otis pointed him toward the sink to wash his hands.
“Did you hear from the producer?” Mav asked Georgia.
She nodded. Mav was her new boss.
“Yes. The live show is next week,” she told him. “The Hansen ranch is the perfect backdrop for the stage. The crew will start tomorrow setting it up.”
“If I find out you’re standing and not delegating, I’ll sic your cousin on you,” Mav warned.
Georgia came to Hunter Valley in the spring to organize the fire department calendar fundraiser. Because of the success, she’d been hired on full-time with James Corp–Mav’s billion-dollar company–to be the local public relations director. Since then, she and Mac–not Mav–the fire chief, fell in love and they were having a baby.
Mac, who was a very protective guy, only nodded in agreement. “Right. Sit. Now.”
He pushed Georgia–gently–into his empty seat and snagged an unused one from a different table for himself. Then he pushed a full glass of ice water in front of her.
“What’s this you’re working on?” I wondered.
She took a sip of the water and smiled. “Cowboy Goes a Courtin’. It’s a new TV show where–”
“I’ve seen it!” Mallory interrupted, hands waving as if she was trying to flag down a taxi. “The first season was so much fun.”
“I don’t have a TV,” I reminded, “so you’re going to tell me what it’s about.”
“It’s like the 70s version of that dating game show. There’s a bachelorette and three bachelors, but she can’t see them. The guys in this show are cowboys who want to–”
“Go a ‘courtin,” Mallory finished for her.
Georgia nodded. “Exactly. She asks the guys questions and picks one.”
“That’s it?” I wondered. It didn’t sound that exciting to me.
Georgia looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. She glanced around. “The questions are pretty naughty, or as naughty as they can go for TV.” Ah, she was making sure Andy wasn’t around.
“Like sex naughty,” Mallory clarified. “But cowboy-style.”
I laughed. “I figured.”
“I’ve seen it. It’s usually filmed on the same lot as my show,” Luke called from the far end of the table.
Georgia looked his way and her eyes widened. “You’re Derek Dashwood.”
He nodded, then leaned forward to extend his hand to her. “Yeah, but I’m Luke, actually.”
“Nice to meet you,” Georgia said, clearly not as starstruck as Mallory had been.
“You’re organizing the whole thing?” Luke asked, clearly curious.
Georgia shook her head, but Mav spoke up from beside Luke, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s James Corp’s mission to help grow Hunter Valley’s visibility and economy. Having an episode of the show happen here brings both eyes and money to the town, so we coordinated with the PR team to host a live, one-time special.”
“All I’ve done is to help find a venue for it and maintain community relations,” Georgia said.
“While sitting down,” Mav added and Mac nodded his agreement.
“Sitting down,” she agreed, although Mav looked skeptical. “Ask the producer. She’s got an intern who literally walks around with a chair for me.”
“I don’t get someone carrying a chair around for me,” Luke said, sounding disappointed. “You must be very special.” He winked and offered her a smile, which I was recognizing as a patented Luke move. Or was it a Shep Barnes move? I hadn’t seen the show to know.
