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“Now that’s a plan.” Peter smiled at Landon.
Jessica cleared her throat. “It’s all on the same property. It takes, like, two minutes to get from the hair and makeup trailer to the barn. Besides, we’re shooting at the house a lot.”
There was clear annoyance in Jessica’s voice, and Audrie wondered if it had something to do with Peter. Obviously, there were some lingering resentments between the two of them. And as with Landon, Jessica’s feelings seemed to be one-sided. She was a big ball of emotions, and the men around her…well, weren’t.
Rourke looked in Landon’s direction. Audrie wasn’t sure what they were communicating with that look, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Jessica being Jessica.
“We’ll figure something out,” Rourke said. “We could always split people up.”
Landon set his fork down and picked up the bottled water he’d grabbed from the large cooler filled with ice at the end of the food line. He uncapped it as he spoke.
“I’m sure some people would like to be near the barn, while others would prefer to be over here where the food is,” Landon said.
“That’s a good point.” Peter smiled broadly as he looked from Rourke to Landon. “Put me near the food. I’d love to be able to walk to doughnuts in the morning.”
“Excuse me,” Poppy, who’d glanced back over her shoulder several times during this recent conversation, said. “I’m going to go sit with Christian.” She pushed her chair back and smiled at Landon and Audrie.
Audrie wanted to go with her. Anything to get away from whatever Jessica was doing here. But it would make too much of a scene for her to get up, even though she’d be leaving to sit with her best friend. Besides, it would also mean Jessica and Landon were alone at the table, only two chairs separating them. It might be weird of her, but she liked serving as a buffer between the two of them.
“Tracie’s over there,” Peter said. “If you don’t mind, I’m heading over that way. I need to talk to her about something.”
Audrie couldn’t help but shift in her chair to take a look behind her. What was going on over there? In the process, she let her gaze scan past Jessica, who was staring down at the lettuce wedges on her plate like they might suddenly start entertaining her.
That was when it hit Audrie. This wasn’t about Jessica being attracted to Landon. This was about Jessica being angry that her ex was spending time with her supporting actress. She couldn’t do anything about that, but she could try to make Peter jealous by flirting with Landon.
The thought sent a surge of anger through Audrie. Did Landon know she was just using him?
“You know, I was offered another movie at the same time this one started shooting,” Jessica said.
At some point in all the drama, Michael and Rourke had started a side conversation about the shooting schedule, but Jessica’s words immediately grabbed their attention. They both turned and looked at her.
“What movie?” Rourke asked.
“A feature film,” Jessica said. “Lots of big names attached. It was a supporting role, which was why I turned it down. But now, I’m not sure. They definitely would have rolled out the red carpet for me.”
Audrie had gone back to focusing on her food. She didn’t want to stare at Jessica. She was pretty sure her surprise at the way the actress was behaving would show. It almost sounded like she was threatening them.
“Well, we’re glad you chose to work with us.” Rourke glanced over at Landon. “Sometimes being a big fish in a small pond is better.”
Jessica didn’t hesitate before firing back a response in a tense voice. “And sometimes you do a movie because the co-star is someone close to you, and then things go bad, and you’ve already signed the contracts…” She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as they all waited. “But I just have a week and a half to get through, and then I can fly home and tell my agent which direction I want my career to go.”
With that, she looked over at Landon. Audrie saw it out of the corner of her eye. She was still keeping her head down to avoid being seen as nosy.
“There are some good things about working on this movie, though,” Jessica said, her tone noticeably softened. “You and your brother, for instance. I definitely give you high marks for your professionalism and just making the week a little more bearable for me.”
This little speech was loaded with something Audrie couldn’t quite put a finger on. But the sooner she finished her meal, the sooner she could be out of here. She’d hop in her car and head home. If Poppy wasn’t around, she’d go straight back to her little house, or maybe she’d go to her sister’s next door. She needed a little time away from all this. She needed to get her thoughts and feelings together. And she could only do that away from this set.
12
Landon had never been so glad to see plans change. When he got the call from Rourke that he was needed at the barn, alone, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.
A production assistant was tasked with heading to Trailer City to break the news to Jessica. That was a relief, too. The last thing Landon wanted to deal with was Jessica’s anger when she learned she wouldn’t get the one-on-one consulting she felt she needed for today’s scenes. He was pretty sure this wasn’t about consulting, anyway. She had a hidden agenda.
There was no time to worry about that, though. He had to drop everything to run to the barn. Lucky, the horse they’d brought in, was sick—or so they thought. While Landon would never call himself a horse expert, he’d seen this before and he knew exactly what to do.
By midmorning, Lucky was back to her normal perky self. Landon saddled up the horse and got her ready for Jessica’s arrival. A production assistant was sent to fetch her from the hair trailer.
When the truck pulled into the lot in front of the barn, Landon braced himself for drama. Jessica wouldn’t be happy their session that morning had been canceled, and he had a feeling she’d take it out on him. But she got out of the vehicle, a big smile on her face, and started toward him.
