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“No.” She shook her head. “The ranch has been in trouble for a while. Christian didn’t talk too much to me about it, but his mom died a while back, and his brothers took off.”
Landon’s eyes widened. “His brothers just abandoned the ranch?”
“Not exactly. Their dad owns a company up in Washington state. His two brothers didn’t really want to do the ranch thing, so they went to work for him.”
There had to be an interesting story there. Three brothers—one trying to save the ranch on his own. Was Christian not close to his dad? None of it was any of his business, but he related to it more than he wanted to admit.
“My brother isn’t a ranch guy, as you can see.” He smiled at the memory. “When he was a teenager, he would buy candy in boxes at the store and resell them at school for a dollar an item. He was a businessman from the day he was born.”
“But running a ranchisrunning a business.” She was looking at him now, her eyes filled with curiosity. “I guess your brother doesn’t see it that way.”
“Nope.” Landon shook his head. “But I think there’s a cowboy still in there somewhere. There’s a reason he chose a ranch for this year’s Christmas shoots.”
“Why Christmas movies?” she asked.
The question threw him for a second. He looked up from his work to see her deeply engrossed in what she was doing.
“I think he saw an opportunity and pounced,” Landon said. “Don’t tell anyone, but it’s not like he’s some big romantic who sits around watching Christmas romances. He goes where the money takes him.”
“You don’t have to be a romantic to be into Christmas.” She looked up, a dreamy expression on her face. “Christmas is about…hope. Family. Figuring out what life is all about. Just being on that set today has changed my perspective on things. You forget the magic of the season.” She laughed. “If it were up to me, I’d have a Christmas in July parade right through the middle of Corbin every single year. Put Santa on a sleigh with some snow. You’d see instant smiles on faces.”
He couldn’t argue with that. He found himself battling a smile just listening to her. And a Christmas in July parade sounded like a great idea. Maybe the town should do something like that next year if the movies helped ignite tourist interest in the area.
Suddenly, Audrie closed the flaps on the box she’d been working on and pushed herself to her feet. “I think these two boxes are done.”
Frowning, he looked over there. How had she finished so quickly? He just assumed she’d be stacking things separately so they could consolidate to one box.
“These are the ones I think will work and these aren’t.” She pressed one foot against the second box she’d pointed to and pushed it aside. “There’s no way there’s a thousand here.”
“If there’s twenty per set…” he said.
“Some had a hundred.” She looked down at the box. “So, you just need ten boxes of a hundred.” She chewed her lip a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts before speaking again. “I guess they would look like a lot more if they were out of the box and side by side.”
“Exactly,” he said. “We’ll just take back what we found, and my brother can sort it from there. You ready?”
Audrie nodded. “Ready.”
He hefted one box and had her stack the other on top. They weren’t light, but he found himself trying to impress her with his strength. It felt good to show off for a woman for the first time in as long as he could remember.
But as they stepped out into the early evening heat, it hit him once again that he was supposed to be keeping his distance. Falling for her wasn’t an option, not when it was so important to keep things professional.
7
Dinner was in the food tent, same as lunch. Only at dinner, they’d lost some of their stars—Peter and Tracie, specifically. Jessica was in the center of the room, entertaining a group of people with a story about working with a big Hollywood star ten years ago.
Audrie stood just inside the flap, trying to get her bearings. Landon was behind her somewhere, but he’d stopped to make a quick phone call to someone. He hadn’t disclosed who, and she secretly wondered if maybe there was a girlfriend or fiancée back in L.A. He didn’t wear a wedding ring, but that didn’t mean he was single, and even if he wasn’t married or engaged, maybe he wasn’t available.
“She’s back,” someone called out. It was the script supervisor she’d sat with at lunch.
But Audrie’s attention was on Jessica, whose smile had faded. Her eyes had also narrowed when she spotted Audrie standing there. What was that about?
“Did you and Landon find Christmas cards?” one of the crew members asked.
“They’re in my trunk,” she said. “We figured we’d have Michael and Rourke look them over before we unload it all, just in case I have to take it all back to the store tomorrow.”
She pulled her gaze off Jessica, but she could still see her out of the corner of her eye. That was definitely a glare on the actress’s face.
Footsteps approached from outside the tent, leading Audrie to step aside. Seconds later, the flap was pulled back, and in walked Landon, having to duck to squeeze through the door. Audrie, on the other hand, walked through it without issue.
