Page 77 of Born to be Wilder

A pause.

“Right,” Alice said softly. “Well, tell Buck thank you. She’s always looking out for me, and I appreciate her more than she knows.”

I swallowed. That damned lump tried to stop me, but I forced it down.

Not looking at her face, I reached over and pressed her brooch back into place against her collar.

Then I turned back toward the boardwalk.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go scream and duck like regular boring people.”

She chuckled and fell into step behind me.

We took our positions, and this time, I knew we had to get it right or we would miss our chance to be a part of movie history.

Take four.

The rider came in.

The exchange happened.

The shots cracked out.

Despite my instinct snapping into place again, I fought against it the way Sylvie fought not to stare at the camera. The way Doris had fought for that horse. The way Alice would fight that cancer and win.

I screamed. I ducked. I hid behind that barrel like a woman who wouldn’t fight for the ones she loved.

It was the most restrained performance of my life, and nobody would ever know what it cost me.

“Cut! That’s a wrap on the street scene!”

The cheer that went up from the crew was immediate and genuine, and I let out a breath so big my hat shifted forward.

The widows and I melted together on the boardwalk steps in a loose, happy heap.

“We did it.” Sylvie pressed a hand to her sternum.

“We are in a movie,” I said. “A real movie. Jackson Harlow. Colt Stirling. Both in this movie. We are also in this movie, and real human people are going to sit in a real theater and see us on that screen.”

“This was really fun,” Alice said.

“Immortalized. Better than vampires.” I grinned.

“Much better than vampires,” Doris agreed softly, both hands pressed to her heart. “Because now we can still get into Heaven together.”

“I hope they got a close-up of me.” Alice looked toward the cameras.

“I don’t!” Sylvie breathed out. “I don’t think I looked at them, but I’m terrified if it’s a close-up, everyone will see how scared I was!”

“Ah, I think you nailed it,” I said. “We all did.”

We stood by the saloon, catching our breath and shaking the dust off our skirts, when Roger and the boys approached with Clarice leading the way.

“Well, that was certainly… interesting,” Roger said, fighting a smile.

“Sorry about ruining that scene.” Doris sucked the air through her teeth. “I hope you aren’t mad, but I couldn’t stand by and watch poor Betty in pain.”

“They were right when they said you did us a favor,” Dan said. “We would have been slaughtered by the press in reviews.”