Charlie suddenly felt ashamed that he had tried to stop Anna from filming in Denson Oaks. He hadn’t realized that he’d been in danger of losing the entire town anyway. Denson Oaks was on life support. This movie could save it from total financial ruin. And the tourism it brought in could bring businesses back from the brink, bring employees into town, and fill those vacant apartments for some property owners. More people meant more revenue, and more revenue meant Denson Oaks could restore more of its historical buildings and fill more of its potholes.
And Charlie Greene had tried to sabotage it.
He hunched down in his seat, resting his elbows on the bar and staring down into his drink. “Something wrong?” John asked from behind the bar.
“Only me,” Charlie admitted. “I had no idea the town was as bad off as it was. I thought I was the only one struggling.”
John let out an airy laugh through his nose. “You should talk to people more often, then. We’ve all been fighting for our lives for a while. For the first time in years, we have hope thatthings might get a little easier. We’re all lucky that fine woman happened to find our little corner of the world.”
“Yeah,” Charlie muttered. Then he turned around on his stool to see Anna shaking hands with one person, turning to hug another, laughing and chatting, her cheeks pink with excitement. She was beautiful, and her presence here represented hope to so many people. In that moment, Charlie decided to do what he could to help her succeed in saving Denson Oaks.
CHAPTER 12
ANNA
Golden hour had passed, and the crew was wrapping up the ranch portion of filming for the day. The morning had been all about getting the right lighting for a particular romantic moment in the film. After that, the rest of the day’s shooting was scheduled to happen back in town. It was going to be a pretty quiet day for Charlie, which Anna would bet he was looking forward to—at least, a week ago she would have made that bet. Now she wasn’t so sure.
The thing was, Charlie had calmed down quite a bit since that night at the Jolly Ram. Some switch had flipped in him, for a reason Anna couldn’t begin to guess at, and he’d become downright friendly to the crew and to her. When he saw them from a distance, he even lifted his hand occasionally in a kind of greeting.
Anna was helping the crew pack up their equipment when Charlie passed by on his way to feed the horses. This time, rather than simply raising a hand, he actually stopped and said, “Leaving so soon?”
It was so out of character for him that she was lost for words for a good five seconds. “Uh… we’re… we’re done here for the day,” she said. “We were trying to catch the light at a specific time of day.”
He arched an eyebrow. “The golden hour?”
“Yeah,” she said. The fact that he even knew the phrase surprised her. “How did you…”
“I read about it.” He answered her half-question with a shrug. “Yesterday.”
“Why?” The question came out of her mouth before she could stop it.
He shrugged. “I was trying to learn a little more about what you do, so I read up on the movie business.”
She could hardly believe her own ears. “That’s really cool of you,” she said.
“I didn’t do it for you,” he assured her, his grumpiness finally making an appearance again.
She couldn’t help laughing at him. “Well, I still think it’s cool of you to care about what I do. So, what are your plans for the day?” It only seemed right to show interest in him now that he had shown interest in her.
“After I feed the horses, I’m going to take a look at that leak on the barn roof. You know the one. Your caterers have been catching water in a bucket for weeks.”
“Oh, yeah!” It was true; there had been a leak in the roof of the old barn they were using for shade on their lunch breaks. It hadn’t been a fast leak, so they’d just propped a bucket underit and emptied it every few hours when it rained. Then, she realized something. “But you don’t even use that barn. Why bother?”
Charlie shrugged. “I might want to use it one day. I hope to get more livestock eventually. Anyway, I may as well fix it while y’all are using it. You don’t mind, do you? Your caterers weren’t using the bucket water to flavor the food or anything?”
Anna laughed, not because his joke was particularly funny, but because she was delighted he bothered to joke with her at all. She was certainly seeing another side of him now. “Hey, can I help you out with the roof?” she asked. It was an impulsive offer, but she felt it was the right thing to do. Even though they were going to pay him quite a bit, she couldn’t deny the inconvenience they’d caused him. It was the least she could do, really.
He glanced down at the shorts she was wearing. “You sure you’re dressed for it?”
She followed his gaze and lifted one foot to demonstrate. “I’m wearing closed-toe shoes. Should be fine. It’s just a little spot, right?”
“Hopefully.”
She followed him while he went to get his ladder and tools. Then she followed him onto the old barn roof. Once she poked her head over the roof, Charlie said, “Stop.”
She did stop. “What’s the problem?”
“This roof is worse off than I thought. I think it needs more repairs than just the one. I don’t want you walking across it.” They climbed back down the ladder, and Charlie put his tools in the barn to keep them out of any weather.
