I’mstillyawninginspite of our later-than-usual call time. The sun is already up and shining down on the vast fields as I pull into the long driveway. After truth time last night, I hung out with Sav and Shayla until midnight, and it was actually fun. We drank wine, ate a bunch of tasty snacks, and just hung out like regular girls. Shayla even surprised me by opening up a bit, telling us about a barrel racing accident she had last year and how hard it’s been to come back from that. It was refreshing to just have a normal night hanging out with friends. But some of their insights are still lingering in my head.
I drove myself in this morning though, because I need some alone time before everyone else descends on the place. And then I’ll have to call Janine and Belinda, because I have no idea what’s going on with my team. Last night was my brief break from facing the situation. I lettheir messages and calls go unanswered, so I could take a little time to get my head on straight, but now it’s time to face reality and figure out what the damage control plan is. Quint is weighing heavily on my mind too, but I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to say to him.
Out the window, I can see ranch life has already kicked off its day. Someone is leading a horse out to the field. I squint, but all I can tell is that the long, lean form in the distance isn’t Quint. There’s something distinctive about his walk that I’d recognize anywhere. It’s hard to place, but there’s a casual swing to his stride I’ve come to recognize.
Maybe don’t analyze that one too closely.
But it turns out I don’t need to make one of the calls I was planning. After putting the car in park, I lean my head back against the headrest, closing my eyes for a minute to gather myself together before I tackle the difficult conversations. But a rapping sound on my window sends my heart racing and I open my eyes to see my publicist peering at me through the window, preparing to knock again. I wave her off, scrambling to get out of the car.
“Aurelia, honey, so good to see you.”
Janine reaches out a hand to gingerly pat me on the shoulder.
“I was about to call.”
“Of course you were, but this situation felt like it deserved an in-person visit. Plus, I’ve been reading cowboy romances lately, so I thought I’d check out the situation. Your cowboy is pretty hot. Are there more of them around?” She looks around and her mouth pulls downat the corners as she lifts a foot to drag her now-dirty stiletto heel from the grass. “I didn’t know it was going to be quite this natural, though.”
I stifle the laugh that threatens to bubble up. “You came out to a working ranch and you were expecting paved walkways?”
“Well, it’s a set. I thought they’d have made things a little more comfortable for us.”
I think maybe she’s been spending too much time in LA. Having worked in the film and television industry for several years, you’d think she’d be a little less optimistic about filming conditions on location.
“It’s a real working ranch, Janine. This is what you get.”
“Of course.” She glances around. “Is there anywhere I can grab a coffee?”
“Well, unless you want to drive all the way into town, craft services will have to do.” I take her elbow and lead her toward the trailer where the coffee is.
“I suppose that will do,” she says, following me over to base camp where the craft trailer is located. The area is already full of people getting things set up for the day.
“Hey, Joe,” I say, nodding at our key grip as he adds some milk to his coffee.
“Morning, Aurelia.” He nods back at me with a smile.
“You know that man?” Janine asks once she has her coffee and we make our way down the driveway toward the small barn. As the only solidly paved place, I figured it would be the best spot to take her for a walk, and there’s no way I’m hanging around the crew for this conversation.
“Yes, he’s on the crew.”
“Huh.”
This is the kind of attitude I hate, and it’s the opposite of what we’ve built on the set ofSterling Hearts. This production has been amazing and welcoming. We’ve gotten to know the crew, because they’re humans too and without them, we wouldn’t have any show at all, so we treat them with respect and gratitude for the hard work they do. The opposite of the toxicity and cliquiness thatPaisley Creekdevolved into at the end.
I steer the conversation to the reason she’s here. “Okay, so do you have a plan for how we’re going to handle this fresh batch of negative publicity?”
But instead of looking worried or going into damage control mode, she clasps her coffee cup to her chest, turning to me with a smile as we step through the shadowed doorway into the quiet barn. “Isn’t it delicious?”
Wait a minute.My stomach dips. Her reaction is all wrong. “No, it’s a catastrophe. You had me fake-date him for the good PR. Remember the story you spun? Sweet country boy and Hollywood star? That all came crashing down, and now I’m right back where I started, looking like an entitled star breaking some poor guy’s heart.”
Which might in fact be just what I’m doing, come to think of it.
“I know, isn’t it glorious?” she says, clicking down the aisle ahead of me.
Why does she not sound surprised or upset or anything but gleeful? “No, it’s not glorious. They’re making me look like a fraud. Like a flaky star flitting in and fakinga relationship to improve her image. That was not the plan.”
“Yes, it was, darling. And look, it’s working. I got you back in the news once again. Everyone is going to be talking about you and the show. Ratings are going to skyrocket because everyone is going to want to check out Aurelia Lane’s comeback.”
“Wait,youdid this? You planned this?” I’m in shock, numb. To be fair, I’ve never really trusted Janine. But she is a brilliant publicist, and I thought she was at least on my side.
