Hot Alaska Nights

by Lucy Monroe

  He'd have to have Mrs. Painter's nephew take the mare for some circuits of the paddock at least. The boy was a passable rider.

  "Hey, big brother. I thought I might find you here."

  Rock turned in surprise at the sound of Marilyn's voice. "You're busy with the movie people."

  "I was." She grinned, and he saw the little girl she'd been and the woman she was. "It's amazing you're letting them film inside."

  "It's in the contract."

  "Carey said you allowed them an extra day so I was guaranteed to see some inside filming while I was here."

  Rock shrugged. He'd been seeing to the twins' needs since their birth. He didn't see what was surprising about this.

  "You're an amazing brother, you know that?"

  "Don't go getting all sentimental."

  "Right. You're not emotional at all." His baby sister's voice was just dripping with sarcasm.

  He chose to ignore it.

  "What are you doing out here? All the filming is happening inside the house."

  "Yeah, well, as cool as it is, I missed my big brother."

  "You didn't take a break from your thesis to visit me." If she was going to do that, she would have planned to come home before she found out they were filming a movie in Cailkirn.

  She frowned and shook her head at him. "It wasn't an easy decision not to come home this summer."

  "You and Carey decided on a different life than this one." Rock tightened the saddle on Orion.

  "We didn't decide to leave you behind."

  "He hasn't been home since he left for LA."

  "He wanted to come home a star."

  "Hollywood breaks a hell of a lot more actors than it turns into stars."

  "He knows that, but he wanted to prove he'd be different."

  "Until he had a use for me."

  "Rock. It wasn't like that."

  "Wasn't it? Neither one of you came home until there was something here for you besides your family." Besides the man who'd given up his own childhood to raise them.

  No, he wasn't feeling sorry for himself at all.

  Damn it.

  Marilyn surged forward and threw her arms around him in one her patented hugs. He'd never been able to resist his baby sister when she needed comfort and as much as it might seem like she was offering that commodity to him, he knew she was really seeking it.

  Rock put his strong arms around his sister and gave her a firm squeeze. "It's okay, Marilyn. I'm never letting go, you know that."

  "We didn't leave you."

  They had, but she was his baby sister. So, he just hugged her.

  She sniffled. "We were always coming back. I wasn't even going be gone the whole summer."

  He gave another tight hug and the pushed her just far enough away that he could look down into her pretty face so much like their mother's. "How's the thesis going?"

  "Good." She winced. "Okay, honestly? It sucks. Maybe this whole me being a film director with vision and a message for the masses isn't all it's cracked up to be. I don't know if I can do it, Rock."

  He frowned. His can-do sister was doubting herself? No way in hell was he going to allow that to happen. He might not like where her dreams were leading her, but he'd be damned if he'd allow her to doubt her ability to make them happen.

  "You listen to me, Marilyn Jepsom. Mom and Dad may have gotten a lot of things wrong, but one thing they had in spades?"

  She gave a watery chuckle. "What's that?"

  "They never gave up and neither will you. You are brilliant, kid. You can do this."

  "You really believe that? I'm not like you. I can't take a few thousand dollars and turn them into several million and raise my sister and brother while doing it."

  "Well, we can't all be financial geniuses," he said with obvious sarcasm.

  She punched him. Hard. "Don't you make light of it, Rock Spencer Jepsom! You are the best, smartest man I know. No other man can live up to you. And that's another thing. I keep breaking up with guys because they're not good enough. None of them live up to my big brother. It's a problem."

  Rock couldn't be happier. "Well, now, that puts my mind at rest."

  "Oh, put a sock in it, big bro. A girl has her needs."

  "Not something I ever wanted to hear about."

  She burst out laughing. "So, you're going riding."

  "What was your first clue?"

  "Don't be a smartass."

  "Don't swear."

  "Rock, I'm twenty-two years old, not twelve."

  "Still my baby sister."

  "You are such a Neanderthal about some things."

  "This is not something new."

  "I suppose not. Did you want some company?"

  "You're offering to go riding with me?" he asked suspiciously. "What do you want?"

  "Nothing." She glared at him. "I really did miss you, you big jerk. Do you want my company, or not?"

  "I do."

  It only took a few minutes to saddle her horse and then they were on their way, but they were only a short distance into the ride before Rock realized what Marilyn was after. Information. On Deborah.

  "We're not dating."

  "Carey said she sleeps in your bed."

  "I don't appreciate you two gossiping about my love life."

  "So, it is a love life."

  "No, damn it."

  "Oh, you swore!"

  "Don't be a pain in my as… backside! Deborah and I are friends."

  "With benefits."

  "Don't be smart."

  "But you said I am."

  For that, he took their horses to a gallop and only slowed down when his sister started using some of his favorite cuss words.

  When their horses were walking again, Marilyn turned to him in her saddle. "Carey says you really like her."

  "I do like her." Too much.

  "She's an actor."

  "I am aware."

  "Is that why you insist you're not dating?"

  "We aren't dating."

  "Carey said you took her into Cailkirn, showed her the sites."

  "There are no sites in Cailkirn." It was a popular refrain with the twins.

  "You know what I mean. You two went to dinner, but Sloan horned in on your romantic evening. Did he try to make a move on Deborah?" Marilyn's eyes gleamed with more interest than was healthy in either their town mayor or her brother's current non-relationship. "Did he flirt with her?"

  "Sloan flirts with every beautiful woman who crosses his path. He's a politician."

  "He's something all right." Marilyn frowned.

  "Deborah didn't flirt back."

  Marilyn's grin was blinding. "Carey said she didn't."

  "How would he know? He wasn't there."

  "Town gossip." Marilyn looked pityingly at Rock. "You do remember how that works? Miss Elspeth has repeated your conversation on the Boardwalk word for word."

  "I'd think she'd be embarrassed to."

  "Ooh, was she talking about Sloan's proclivities again?" Marilyn demanded.

  Rock felt real dread settle in his stomach. "You keep your mind off of Sloan's bedroom preferences, young lady."

  Marilyn kneed her horse into a canter as she headed back to the house. "Gotcha!" Her laughter trailed her as she rode away.

  The arrival of Rock's sister ate into their already limited time alone together, but the upside was the instant almost sister-like rapport Deborah shared with the younger woman. She couldn't remember ever being as free and easy with Alicia.

  Maybe because she'd had to walk away from the family a decade ago, but Deborah loved the way Marilyn teased Carey or Rock and invited Deborah to join in on the joke. They'd had late night snack sessions in the kitchen and because Marilyn got the business, she got that Deborah had to do that in a healthy way.

  They chatted and laughed, and Marilyn never judged Deborah or treated her like she was less because she was an actor. She talked to her like Deborah had wisdom Marilyn was eager to hear.

  It was a gift. R
ock might not be willing to give their relationship a chance, but he'd given her a taste of family she hadn't had in ten years.

  And the kind of family she'd never experienced before.

  "So, you and Rock?" Marilyn asked Deborah with exaggerated widening of her eyes and raised brows.

  "For the duration of the film."

  "Oh, you don't like that do you?"

  Deborah rubbed her arms, feeling cold for some reason. "How can you tell?"

  "Well, it's not like it's written all over your face. Okay, it kind of is. You don't have a very good poker face for an actor who has been in the business for like a decade. You're practically a veteran."

  "Rock says the same thing. I don't put on roles for him."

  "Or his family, apparently," Marilyn said with a wry smile.

  "Should I?"

  "No." The younger woman shook her head vehemently. "I'd say that's the worst thing you could possibly do. Especially if you're hoping to make this thing last beyond the movie. What's it like?"

  "Being with your brother?" Deborah asked with a squeak, genuinely shocked Marilyn would ask.

  The blonde was confident, bold even, but this was brash, even for her.

  "Ewww. No. Being in a movie, dork."

  Deborah laughed, relaxing a little. "Exhausting. Exhilarating. Terrifying."

  "Why terrifying."

  "I lost my family over my desire to be an actor. This is my chance to prove that decision wasn't the wrong one."

  "And if the movie fails, you didn't prove anything." Marilyn's expression was filled with understanding.

  More understanding than Deborah would expect Rock's sister to have.

  Deborah grimaced. "Other than I make sucktastic choices."

  In careers and men and friends. Really. Her life wasn't peopled with them, was it?

  "Don't get so down on yourself." Marilyn gave her a tight hug. "Everybody has flops, but this isn't going to be one. I can feel it."

  "Has Carey let you read the script?"

  "No."

  "Did he tell you about it?"

  "Well, no."

  Deborah couldn't help laughing. "Then you're not exactly an informed observer, are you?"

  "Don't be snotty."

  "Don't be bossy."

  "It's in my DNA. You have met Rock, haven't you?" Marilyn's laughter was infectious.

  "Touché."

  "Carey said he wants to talk over dinner tonight. Like a family meeting or something."

  "Oh." He hadn't told Deborah he didn't want her there. Maybe she should make herself scarce, regardless.

  One thing she was not, was family.

  She didn't have family, not really, not anymore. "Good thing I've got dinner plans with Art then. Direction stuff to go over."

  "You do? Carey didn't say anything about dinner."

  "That's because it's not about his role. Just mine. Just some notes I want to go over with Art." She made a mental note to let the director know about the plans too.

  "Oh, okay. Is that usual?" Marilyn asked suspiciously.

  "It's not unusual."

  "He's not like putting pressure on you to spend a lot of time with him outside of filming is he?" Marilyn pressed.

  Deborah got where the line of question was going and let her disgust with the idea show on her face. "Like you said, ewww. Marilyn, Art is a good guy. He has real integrity. He doesn't just talk about it."

  "That's good then."

  "I think so. I wouldn't have signed onto the project if he was that type of director."

  "So, there are those in Hollywood."

  "Of course, there are, just like there are corporate sharks that seduce their admins and dump them with pink slips." Deborah reached out to the younger woman. "You take your time researching the people you'll be working with, if you're smart. And I know you are intelligent. No project is worth getting in a bad situation over."

  "You're right. I'm lucky. I have a cushion. So does Carey."

  Deborah wasn't so sure that was true any longer, but she wasn't going to be the one to spill the beans to Marilyn about her brother's reversal of fortunes.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Rock watched his brother and sister trade affection disguised as insults over the dinner table. Deborah was eating with Gamble, going over scene notes, or something.

  She wouldn't tell him how long she thought it would take. Irritated, Rock stabbed his steak and sawed at it with his knife.

  "What did that piece of meat ever do to you?" Marilyn asked with a teasing smile.

  "Nothing." He chewed his food, barely tasting the organic beef Mrs. Painter had marinated and grilled to perfection.

  Carey pushed his food around his plate, but so far as Rock could tell the boy hadn't eaten any of it.

  Rock put his cutlery down and waited until his younger brother met his gaze. "All right, kid, out with it. Ever since you've been home, there's been something you've wanted to say. Marilyn's here now. Say it."

  Carey gave their sister a pained look.

  Rock wondered if she knew what this was all about, but she just looked back at her twin in confusion.

  "I'm not like Marilyn," Carey practically yelled.

  "I am aware."

  "That right there!"

  "What?" Rock asked mildly.

  "I know I'm not perfect."

  "You don't have to be."

  "Really?" Carey asked defiantly, but with an underlying hope Rock couldn't ignore.

  He'd raised this young man, no matter how improbable that might seem to some. He would never allow Carey to doubt that Rock accepted him, failings and all.

  "I love you, Carey."

  "I lost my money, Rock. All of it."

  "I'm on your accounts, kid. I knew that."

  Carey deflated, his expression still tense, but his body as slumped as a balloon with a slow leak. "I wondered."

  "There's more," Rock prompted, certain there was.

  It was time for Carey to come clean with all of it, for his sake. Not talking round it, saying vague stuff like he wanted to be himself. He needed to say who that self was. Out loud.

  And find out his family loved him for being him and nobody else.

  Marilyn's mouth was open in a shocked ‘O,’ but she hadn't said anything, no recrimination, no demands of how Carey had squandered so much money. For that, Rock was grateful. He thought the explanation was going to be a painful one.

  "I'm gay."

  "You always have been," Marilyn said, like maybe Carey was slow or something.

  He glared at her and opened his mouth.

  Rock quelled them both with a look.

  "Are you out in Hollywood?" Rock asked.

  Carey shook his head, pain and something like shame shining in his eyes. "Not yet. I told you I wanted this movie to be a statement. About me, but he said it would be career suicide."

  "Who?" Marilyn demanded, with that tone that said things weren't going to go well for someone.

  Rock appreciated the sentiment.

  The story came out then. Carey had fallen in love with an older actor. The man had convinced Carey to bankroll his role in an indie action adventure that had subsequently tanked. Just like their relationship.

  "He used me." The pain and shame resonating unmistakably in his tone now.

  Rock reached out and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "People do that."

  Carey looked up at him. "You don't."

  He wasn't sure Deborah would say the same, but they'd both gone into their relationship, such that it was, with their eyes wide open. Not like his baby brother and that damn lothario in LaLa Land. A currently out of work actor who would be damn lucky if he ever got another role outside of porn again in his natural life.

  "So, you don't mind?" Carey asked them.

  Marilyn and Rock stared at each other and then at Carey and then Marilyn socked Carey in the arm. "Don't be an idiot! You're you. How are we going to mind you being you? Should I mind you having brown hair instead of blonde like mi
ne? Gosh boys are dumb sometimes. I wish I was gay so I could marry a girl sometimes!"

  Rock burst out laughing at that one, but then he sobered and stood up, pulling his brother from his chair so they faced each other. This was too important not to face it like men.

  "You listen to me, Carey Jepsom. You are my brother. I raised you like a son. I will love you to the end of time. Nothing will ever change that. You get me?"

  Carey swiped at the moisture spilling over his eyes. "Yeah, I get you."

  "Now, I'm going to tell you something else. I can't make choices for you and I'll never try to push you into doing something you don't believe in, but I don't think a man who stole from you and used you is the best source of advice on how to live any aspect of your life. The world has changed, maybe not as much as we'd have liked, but every person who lives in courage changes it a little more. Isn't that what your movie is about?"

  "It is, yeah." Carey looked shocked, like he was surprised Rock had listened when he'd talked about the movie.

  "I raised you to be yourself. To be honest. Do you really want to deny an aspect of who you are to pursue your dreams?"

  "I'm making this movie and it's so good and it's so real…I don't think I can."

  "Then don't, Carey. I'll stand with you, whatever you decide, but you remember that. No matter what, I'll always have your back."

  "Thanks, Rock. You've always been our Rock."

  Then Marilyn and Carey were hugging him and he put up with it. For a little while anyway.

  Deborah let herself into the house with Carey’s key before dropping it and his gate opener onto a table in the hall like she’d arranged with him earlier.

  "Dinner went late."

  The sound of Rock’s deep voice stopped her forward momentum toward the stairs and Deborah turned, adjusting her course toward the living room. She found him sitting in an armchair with his e-reader, his long legs encased in jeans stretched out in front of him crossed at the ankles. One lone lamp cast a soft glow over his ruggedly handsome features.

  Undoing the buttons on the coat made necessary by the drop in temperatures night brought, even in summer, she smiled. "Where are the twins?"

  "Watching an old Carey Grant movie in the media room." Rock set the e-reader down and reached for her. "Why so late?"