She got back out of the car and started asking around for a jump. The only employee in the village gift shop offered to help. She actually had to turn theopensign toclosedto do so.
“Oh, you don’t have to go to all the trouble,” Anna said. “I’m sure I can find someone else who isn’t so busy.”
“Honey, I wasn’t busy.” The woman laughed. “I was bored.”
Once their vehicles were nose to nose, the woman glanced into Anna’s car to see if she could find anything wrong. Instead, she noticed the paperback on the passenger seat. “Oh, are you readingTexas Sunrise? Honey, you’re late to the party.”
Anna laughed and responded, “Oh, no, Iamthe party.” She then shared why she was in town.
“A movie?” The woman helping her got that twinkle in her eye. It was the same twinkle Anna had seen in the eyes of Joan from the airplane. She was thrilled. She also said, “Oh, but you can’t film it here.”
“You don’t think so?” Anna asked. She’d already come to the same conclusion, but she was curious what the other woman’s reasons would be.
“Well, how far into the book are you?” her new friend asked.
“About halfway.”
“So, you know. Our little town is cute, and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it’s not quite the same as the one in the book. Oh!” She perked up with a thought Anna was immediately intrigued to hear. “Have you been to Denson Oaks? That place would be perfect! So many old buildings, and not much has changed over the years.”
“I haven’t been there yet, but it’s on my list. I’ll arrive there tonight, actually.”
“Oh, it’s going to be the winner. I just know it is.” The woman grinned. “I mean, I wish it could have been here, just so I could be part of it all. But I love that book, and every time I’ve visited Denson Oaks, all I could think was that it looked exactly like the village inTexas Sunrise.”
“Well, I hope it’s a winner,” Anna said. “If it is, I can relax after today.”
They finished the jump, and Anna’s rental car started up right away. She drove to the next town with no problems, parkeddowntown, and started to look around. As she observed the town, she noted down details in her phone, imagining certain scenes she was in the process of reading and where they might be shot. Again there was a park. This one had a gazebo, but it wasn’t quite right—too small—so one would have to be built for the shoot. The buildings were older than the last town, which was promising, but the look wasn’t exactly right.
Anna didn’t worry too much about it. She still had the rest of the week to find a good spot, and she’d scheduled three towns for every day. There had to be one that was perfect. Denson Oaks sounded promising, since it was the favorite of a fan. As Anna understood it,Texas Sunrisefans were devoted. She doubted any of them would link a real town to the town in the book unless it was exactly right.
She sat down at a diner and ordered the same meal that the main character in the book ordered during the diner scene. There wasn’t any reason for it beyond Anna wanting to get into the perfect headspace. She was trying to explore the way she imagined the fans would explore. Whichever town became the location for this movie was going to see a surge in tourists, no doubt about it. Anna wanted to experience the town the way she felt the tourists would.
It was, perhaps, above and beyond her job description, but Anna took her job seriously. She always thought about the post-production life of the town just as much as the rest. A great location with a decent attitude toward tourists could extend the success of a film. Most location scouts might not take that into consideration, but Anna always did.
In addition to lunch, she ordered a chocolate milkshake, because why not? It was delicious, the service was decent, and her sandwich was good, too. By the end of her meal, she was in amuch better mood, and she looked forward to finally getting to see Denson Oaks. This place was a definitemaybe, though. She made sure to note that down.
Her rental car complained a bit as she started it, but a second try got it going just fine. There was no chance the rental place that handed her this car was going to escape a negative review from her. Did they even check the batteries before they loaned out their cars? Was there any kind of regular maintenance done? Probably not.
As she drove, the landscape around her got less flat and more scenic, and she began to have a little hope. At some point, she thought she might have missed a turn because she’d been so distracted by the beauty of the horizon in front of her. She pushed on for a while, watching the brush along the road get a little greener as she did. Little purple flowers started to dot the land on either side of the road. When the sun began to set, she decided she’d better get a handle on whether she was on the right path before dark.
She pulled over and pulled out her map, scrolling and zooming to figure out exactly where she was. Service wasn’t great out here, so she hadn’t been able to use an app to give her directions as she drove. No matter, though. She knew how to read a map. The trouble was her questionable rental car running idle in the heat. Certain that was going to end badly, she rolled down all her windows and shut her engine off. She could handle the heat, and it was going to lessen as the sun went down anyway. Better less air conditioning than a car that overheated and stopped running.
After about ten minutes of tracing her route, she determined she hadn’t missed her turn after all. It was coming up soon, though, and if she got going now, she could probably still make it toDenson Oaks before dark. Then she tried to start her car. And it failed. All she heard was a clicking sound, and then silence.
Anna cursed aloud and tried again. This time, even the clicking sound was gone. Was it the battery again? She popped the hood and got out of the car. Just in case there was something obviously wrong, she wanted to see the engine. But who was she kidding? She wasn’t anywherenearcompetent enough about cars to be any kind of mechanic. As far as she could tell, if nothing was smoking or obviously disconnected, the mystery remained.
“So much for getting to Denson Oaks before nightfall,” she muttered. She tried her engine a few more times before she finally gave up and realized she was going to have to walk or call. Or both. She grabbed her purse and phone and locked the car. Then she started to walk along the side of the road, holding her phone up and swinging it around just in case it found a sliver of signal.
She probably got about a half mile down the road before a truck going the opposite direction slowed to a near stop. The driver rolled down his window and leaned out to squint at her. If she wasn’t already planning her next move, due to being a woman alone on the side of the road, she might have noticed he was probably the best-looking man she’d seen in years. As it was, she was gearing up her sass so she didn’t look completely lost and helpless.
“You making a video or something?” he asked.
Yeah, like she was going to tell him the truth. “Sure. It’s nice out here. You got a problem with me recording out here? It’s a free country, isn’t it?”
The man put his truck in reverse and kept pace with her. “The signal’s better in the other direction,” he said, clearly not buying her act in the least.
“Like I said, I’m recording the sunset.” She planted her hands on her hips to look a bit more confident. “And beyond that, it’s none of your business.”
“Okey-dokey, darlin’.” He put the truck back into drive and started driving away. “My business or not, though, the signal’s better out that way.” He pointed up the road, back toward her stalled car.
