Page 139

And it’s an incredible opportunity that I’d be crazy to pass up.

I print out the email and call a family meeting. I know the lodge is my project, but if I’m going to make a go of it I have to stop relying on The Holbrook Family Free Labor Plan.

But I want their input.

I finish reading the email out loud and look up, trying to keep my face neutral, wondering if it’s obvious my insides are front row at a Harry Styles concert.

“So, wait.” Rowe’s eyes are wide. “They want to film a movie here?”

I nod.

“With big name actors?” she adds.

I hold up the email and shake it.

“Oh my gosh.” She jumps up. “You said yes already, right?”

“Well, I wanted to run it by all of you,” I say. “Because it affects everyone.”

“They’re going to be in the way,” Quent says.

“Here, Quent, take my balloon so you can pop it,” I say pointedly.

He doesn’t look amused.

“We were thinking we’d have designated areas where they’re allowed and where they’re not,” Noble says because he and I have already discussed this.

“Could be great for the lodge, yeah, Hattie?” Boone says.

I nod. “Really great. Like, beyond great.”

“Imagine the photos that we’ll be able to put up on the website!” Rowe says. “I mean, to be able to say we were the location for a movie?” She squeals, then, her eyes get even wider. “Can I handle the meals?”

“Are you sure?” I look at her. Rowe’s farm stand does really well, which is kind of nuts for how out of the way it is, but she does have a job in the restaurant at the same resort where I work.

She nods. “Maybe you can bring me on for real, and I can quit my job.”

I frown. I didn’t know she wanted to quit her job, but there’s not time to get into that right now. Not when Kate Davidson marked her email urgent.

“So, we’re all in agreement?” I say.

Everyone nods. Quent finally capitulates. And I try to hold in my smile, but I’m just too excited. “Okay, then,” I say, as even-keeled as I possibly can. “I guess I’ll write her back.”

They all disperse—West heading to band practice, Hudson grilling Noble about his win last weekend, Quent going back out to work, and Rowena, bouncing around, throwing out guesses about who the stars of this movie might be.

When I see Boone hasn’t moved, I stop typing and look at him. “What’s up?”

“She said they need a consultant,” he says.

“Yeah, to help the actors with the horses,” I say. “I think authenticity is a big deal to her.”

“Can you, uh, throw my name in the mix?” he says.

I look at him, surprised. “Figured you’d be annoyed trying to teach two prissy actors how to look good on a horse.”

He shrugs. “Sounds fun.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re not hoping they’ll put you in the movie, right?”