by Susan Sands
Everyone went into set-up mode. After the sudden and unexpected breakdown, they’d had to do at the other location, things weren’t quite as organized as they normally were. But Bailey had done her best to make this transition as smooth as possible with the help of Seth and the movers and shakers in town who knew how to get things done quickly. Thankfully, the slow walking was cut to a minimum.
*
Seth had never witnessed such organized madness. That was the only term he could come up with to describe so many large moving parts in such a small area. There were whistles, yells, and plenty of folks motioning to one another that it almost seemed like they were communicating in another language.
Bailey was at the center of it all. She wore a headset and spoke into a mic, talking and pointing, consulting her handy clipboard, unmistakably the person in charge for the moment. She’d taken detailed notes on everything he’d shown her regarding the specs she’d given him for the studio’s requirements. And there had been a lot. It was all being played out in real time at the moment. Her cohort Alexis seemed to handle the details and supplies.
Impressed didn’t come close to how he’d describe his reaction to watching her do her thing. She was such a pro. He’d imagined her profession as a more romantic Hollywood career. Something more creative. This—this was something gritty and loud and complicated. Akin to engineering and completing a difficult puzzle with mechanics, electricians, trucks and trailers. And so many people. He’d had no idea when she’d requested all those permits from the city that it would go like this.
He wanted to help. It’s all he’d tried to do since she’d gotten into town. But Seth was at a loss here. He figured if she had any questions that needed answering, she would ask. But she’d asked so many questions up front, about generators, electrical cable, and how many feet high things erected could be according to Ministry’s town ordinances, how late they could film, and some very specific items he’d had to run down with the city council.
As residents looked on in amazement alongside Seth, he remained ready to jump in at a moment’s notice. “Looks like our girl’s got it all under control, doesn’t it?” his momma asked from beside him. She’d had to almost yell over the noise.
“Doesn’t appear to need my help,” Seth said, torn between pride and sulking.
“You’ve done your part. In fact, it’s time to let her do her thing. Maybe back up a step and give her some fresh air now,” Momma said.
“Are you saying I’ve overstepped?”
She shook her head, smiling. “I’m only saying she can take it from here. If our mayor, Ben Laroux, had been here to coordinate with Bailey, you wouldn’t have spent so much time with her. This was an opportunity dropped in your lap.”
“I did my job.” Seth’s jaw tightened in defiance at her suggestion. “Because Ben asked me to.”
She put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you did. And look around. She couldn’t have done all this without the hours you put in behind the scenes to get everyone on board in town. Some of those old farts wouldn’t have responded to Bailey the way they did to you.”
“Ben could have done it in half the time; you know that.” Ben was the town’s golden boy and they both knew it. No animosity; just fact.
“Maybe, but he wouldn’t have worked as well with Bailey. And he wouldn’t have gone so far beyond his job description to try and help her along with the additional things you’ve done. You did all this with love, not obligation. She knows it and appreciates it, son.”
He couldn’t deny his mother’s words, so Seth didn’t bother. “She’ll never move back here. Her life is in L.A.”
“You can’t control what she does—only what you do. You’ve shown her how much you care. She’s gotten a good taste of what it’s like to be home. I can see the longing in her eyes to be among people who love her. We don’t know what the future holds. I mean, would you ever have expected Aames and me to get together?” Momma laughed.
Seth let her words sink in. She had a few good points. No use wishing for the impossible. As he watched Bailey coordinate a complete movie base-camp setup, Seth realized how hard she must have worked to earn the trust of so many people. That was the kind of accomplishment one didn’t walk away from. Yes, he hoped she’d find her writing chops again, but it would definitely need to balance with her career. She was on fire in her element out here.
Home would always be here for Bailey. Hopefully, Aames had another thirty or forty years left if his health held out. Her roots would remain. But Seth had never felt the need to move on. Especially not now that he’d been near Bailey again. Why? Most normal people didn’t carry a lifelong torch for their first love.
“Lord-a-mercy, boy. What in tarnation y’all got us into?” Mr. Miller mumbled next to Seth.
“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it, Mr. Miller?” Seth refused to be baited by the crotchety old farmer with a large lump of tobacco in his cheek.
“I ain’t never seen anything like this mess.” A brown stream of tobacco spit hit right in front of Seth’s boot. His somewhat clean boot. Seth knew Mr. Miller could direct that stream within a centimeter in any direction.
Seth cut him a look. “I just cleaned these boots. Have a little respect, why don’t you?”
“I gotta believe these city slickers ain’t gonna have much respect for the citizens around here. The air’s already unbreathable,” he complained.
“Hey, Mr. Miller, why don’t you come on over and have a slice of pizza on me?” Momma suggested. “I’ll even throw in a cold Dr Pepper.”
“Well, I don’t mind if I do, Joella.” Mr. Miller smiled, his brown teeth stained from years of tobacco chewing.
She linked her arm in his and led him toward the Pizza Pie.
Momma turned back and winked at Seth, and he mouthed his thanks over getting the old grumpy goat off his back for the moment. But Mr. Miller wouldn’t be the only one he’d have to deal with during the next few weeks, Seth was sure of it.
Seth turned his attention back to the scene at hand. Amid the chaos, it was hard to believe things would soon go back to normal, or semi-normal once everything got moved into place. But Bailey said all of this would hardly be noticeable beyond the area on the edge of downtown they’d designated.
Most of the equipment was moveable and the scenes would be filmed on location at the events planned in the coming days so as not to reinvent the wheel, or so the studio had said.
Bailey approached him then, her eyes bright with adrenaline. “Hi, Sheriff. The director wants to know how many runners y’all expect in the Jingle Jog?”
“I have no idea, but Maureen would know. Send him her way,” he suggested. “I assume you have her contact information.”
She rolled her eyes and pressed a button on her headset, the off button, he assumed. “I sent it to him, but he insisted I ask for some reason. His need to know was immediate.”
“You have the pleasure of telling him I didn’t know. I assume he’s a difficult one,” Seth said.
She nodded. “Some are, more than others.” She’d kept smiling the entire time, the dimple on the left side of her mouth making him want to lean in and kiss her. But of course he’d never undermine her like that. She was the bomb around here, commanding respect from everyone. Which made him want to kiss her even more.
“Good luck with that. Hopefully, y’all can get everything set up by dark.”
She looked at her watch. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Can I help?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking. Because even the bomb might need some help.
“Nope, but thanks. This is all mine. But I’ll let you know if I have any more questions you can’t answer.”
He laughed at that, watching her hips as she strode back to her position in the middle of it all.
Chapter Fourteen
Bailey was careful to drive ahead of the school bus to Camp Grandview in the Jeep because of the red dust the bus kicked up. “Fingers crossed they aren’t going
to flip out about this,” Alexis said from beside her.
“The mattresses seem to be in good shape since they’ve been covered. I laid down on one and was surprised at how comfortable it was after we put those thick pads on them,” Bailey said. “Plus, we’ve got all the coffee and food stuff for them to put in the kitchen area.” They’d taken a portion of the staples for the twenty-five guys who were staying out here.
“I guess we’ll see. I put the ‘most likely to be flexible about it’ guys out here.” As they’d loaded up the bus, there’d been comments about heading to prison and such.
“At least there wasn’t any sign of wildlife inside the cabins. No snakeskins and such,” Bailey said.
Alexis shot her a look. “You might want to keep those sort of comments to yourself when we get there.”
Bailey tended to forget that not everyone had grown up like she did. With the forests and creatures great and small all around. Snakes with triangular heads and colorful stripes were the only ones to be feared or killed. Most of the others were grass and rat snakes and were beneficial. Rats were still gross but not especially a big deal unless they’d infiltrated the attic.
They pulled into the parking area at the camp and waited while the others disembarked with their bags. Seth stepped off the bus, having offered to drive.
Bailey ushered them all inside the large mess hall since the temperatures had dropped in the last couple of hours. The fire was lit, and it was toasty warm inside. The guys ranged in age from eighteen to thirty-five-ish. She knew them all, so addressing them wasn’t intimidating, except that she noticed a few of them wore slightly peeved expressions.
“Hi, everyone. I realize these accommodations are slightly out of the ordinary, but since changing locations was the only way to get this film done, and Christmas is completely booked up around here, I’ve done the best I could last minute. This camp is situated on my family’s property. I grew up going to summer camps here.”
Jeff, the best boy electric snorted. “Never knew you were such a hayseed hick, Bailey.”
Bailey didn’t engage, but she noticed Seth step forward then check himself. She appreciated his urge to defend her, but she was more grateful that he controlled that urge in this setting, where she needed to be the one in charge and commanding respect. His behaving like an alpha male would tear that down in about a minute.
Alexis stepped forward. “You’ll find everything you need. The beds are clean, with new sheets and pillows. There’s a change of linens in the drawer underneath every bed. There are clean towels in those drawers as well. Let us know if you see any wildlife, either dead or still moving.”
“Wait. What? Oh, hell no,” Jeff huffed, his indignation evident. Not such a tough guy now, eh Jeff?
Bailey nearly choked with laughter on the swallow of water she was taking. Alexis was so good.
“On that note; this is my hometown. Please try to be kind to the people here. I’d like to get out without offending anyone. It’s like any other small-town location we’ve filmed in, friendly and filled with onlookers. So be patient. Thanks. Any questions?”
“Are we going to have to sleep in bunk beds?” The best boy grip asked.
Alexis answered, “Yes. You will be in bunks. Normally you share rooms, so this won’t be much different. You’re mostly young so snoring shouldn’t be too bad. We can find you some earplugs if the crickets get too loud.”
They all stared at one another, letting that sink in, Bailey assumed. “The coffee, sodas, and snacks will be set up in here. It will be a self-serve bar so anything you normally would have is here at this location. We took enough items from craft service for y’all. Sandwiches and items available to the others will be brought here every day.” These guys had already eaten right before they’d left the catering tent. Some had brought to-go containers back with them. “There’s a refrigerator and a microwave in here as well.”
“Okay. Let’s go have a look at your accommodations,” Alexis said and led a small group outside in the cold wind toward one of the bunkhouses.
Seth followed the group Bailey led without invitation. “Top bunks for the young and nimble, please.” There would be three cabins in use out of the four.
Bailey was impressed with the cozy setup of the cabin when they entered. The new oval braided floor rug made the place homey along with the new bedding and gas heaters working that looked like a real fire in the grates. Daddy had long ago refitted the small chimneys with gas logs to keep the chill from the cabins at night, even in the summer.
“Hey y’all, this isn’t so bad,” Jeff said. “It’s a pretty decent setup, Bailey. Sorry if I made fun of you earlier. I was only kidding.”
Bailey nodded. “No worries.”
The available bunks were claimed without any issue. “The bathrooms are through here. There are four showers and three toilets. If anyone needs the overflow bathroom, it’s in the mess hall we just left.”
The bathrooms were basic but functional and shouldn’t be an issue. “Try not to clog the toilets, please,” Bailey reminded them. “There’s a plunger in every bathroom.”
There were a few guys left without bunks. “The rest of you can come with me.”
When they’d finished up the tour and got everyone settled in, Bailey, Alexis, and Seth met back up in the mess hall. “How’d it go?” Bailey asked Alexis.
Alexis grinned. “Better than I expected. You?”
“So far, so good. As long as they don’t find out we weren’t kidding about the wildlife, we should be okay,” Bailey joked. But she did hope nobody ran into anything more than the occasional spider or cockroach. Fortunately it was winter, and currently pretty cold, so they should be okay in that department. Most of the snakes had gone into winter hiding by now. The black bears too. No need to mention any of that.
“It all looks fantastic. I didn’t hear a single complaint once they got inside the cabins. They were like little boys bunking together at summer camp,” Alexis said.
“They quite literally are, minus the summer,” Bailey said and turned to Seth. “You know, we couldn’t have gotten this place ready without your help—”
Seth held up his calloused, long-fingered hand to stop Bailey from finishing her statement. “No more thank yous. I’m glad I could pitch in. Plus, I told Mayor Ben I’d do everything possible to make this all go smoothly.”
“Well, you have, and we are in your debt,” Alexis managed to slip in. “The change in venue was…unexpected, and our bosses nearly blew a gasket. Bailey here did some quick thinking and brought us to Ministry. So far, they are thrilled because she saved their movie and their budget.”
“She’s a special person,” Seth said.
His intense blue gaze held Bailey’s and she had a hard time breaking the connection. “Uh, it’s been a long day. We’d better get back and check in for the evening to make sure they’ve got everything they need.”
“Are we going to strand these guys out here without a vehicle in case there’s a problem?” Alexis asked.
“Nah, we’ll leave the bus. I know at least a couple of them have a chauffer’s license and are capable of driving it. I asked the question in an email a few days ago when I knew that would be their mode of transport. This way, they won’t need a driver every morning and evening. Sorry I forgot to share that detail,” Bailey told Alexis. They each had communications going on as they handled their particular jobs while getting things lined up here. They cc’d each other on most emails and texts, but not all.
She flipped her hand at Bailey. “Not a thing, girl.”
“Well, that solves a problem. I’m hoping you ladies will give me a ride back into town.” Seth reached in his jeans pocket and pulled out a set of keys, clearly for the bus. “Where do you want me to leave these?”
“I’ll run them inside,” Alexis said.
She and Seth climbed in the Jeep while Alexis delivered the keys. Seth immediately posted up in the back seat. “So, two weeks until you head back to the bright
lights, huh?” he asked.
Bailey nodded. “That’s the plan. The filming will start the day after tomorrow and run until just before Christmas.”
“Will you stay in Ministry with your daddy for Christmas once the filming’s done?”
The question was legitimate, but it felt ripe with expectations. Or maybe just a little guilt thrown in for her daddy’s sake. Or his? “I’m not sure. It all depends what I’m asked to do for work.” So she hedged.
“Do you normally work on Christmas?”
“If we shoot a Christmas film, it’s possible,” Bailey replied, not sure why he thought grilling her was okay. Yes, they’d shared some moments. And Bailey couldn’t deny her very strong and very real emotional entanglement when Seth was near. But he didn’t get to shame her about leaving during the holidays if that’s what it came to.
Maybe she was already stressing about that. And Bailey didn’t need him to add to her worry that it might come to pass. While Christmas films made the studio big bank, the holiday itself wasn’t exactly held as precious to her bosses as it was to those here in her hometown.
Alexis returned to the Jeep, and Bailey had to admit her relief at not having to answer any more of Seth’s questions. Plus, he was way too close, sitting behind her like that. There wasn’t much room, with his long legs folded up. She could smell the remnants of his aftershave, or deodorant, or whatever it was that made him smell like that. In a good way, but in a way that disturbed her peace as much as his annoying questions.
“I’m ready to see what magic the cooks have whipped up for us,” Alexis said. “I’m starving.” The three of them hadn’t yet gotten to eat as they were discussing the plans to transport everyone while the crew was eating.
“We’d better hurry, or they’ll have everything cleaned up and put away by the time we get back,” Bailey said. The cooks were exceptional and exceptionally efficient. They ran a tight schedule and expected others to adhere to it.
“There’s always pizza waiting for us at the Pizza Pie,” Seth said. “It’ll be open for another couple of hours.”