Romancing Rachel (River's End Ranch Book 51)

by Pamela M. Kelley

  “The air is so much cleaner here,” he said.

  Ben nodded. “I don’t miss the smog, that’s for sure. So, fill me in, any new developments with the show? Did you ever meet with Rachel? The one we saw in that play? I liked her.”

  “I liked her too.” Adiel had been surprised that he liked Rachel even more on their second meeting. “I hired her for the role of Susan. She starts next week.”

  Ben was about to take a sip of wine and set the glass down instead. “You cast her in the role of Susan? I thought you had a smaller part in mind?”

  “I did, initially. But the more I thought about it, the more clear it became that she had to be Susan. It could be huge for her and for us.”

  Ben furrowed his brow and lifted his glass again and took a long, slow sip. Adiel knew him well enough to know he was processing what he’d just been told, analyzing all the potential implications, the benefits and risks. Casting an unknown actress with no television or film experience in such a critical role was definitely a risk. But Adiel was confident that it was a well calculated one.

  “If it doesn’t go well….” Ben began.

  Adiel just nodded. He understood that Ben was just being his usual cautious self—cautious until he got behind something and then it was full steam ahead. He sensed that Ben would come around.

  “Well, I trust that you know what you’re doing,” he finally said and lifted his glass. “To Rachel…”

  Tony delivered their meals a few minutes later, lasagna with meatballs for Adiel and a ribeye steak for Ben. They finished eating and were about to pay the check when a party of four walked in, Rachel and her family. She didn’t notice them at first and Adiel watched as the host sat them at a corner table. She looked so much like her mother, except she was taller and slimmer. Rachel was so thin that she had a delicate look to her. Her younger sister was a carbon copy, except she was sporting dimples and a ponytail.

  He was struck as he had been before, by Rachel’s calm beauty. He was much too old for her of course. He doubted that a pretty young girl in her early twenties would really be interested in an old man of thirty-five. Although in L. A. they often pretended to be because they wanted something. While he wasn’t as successful as Ben, Adiel had done well for himself financially too. But more importantly, he also had power, which attracted women more than anything else.

  He had the ability to help them with their careers, and when he’d been younger and more naive, he’d thought they were genuinely interested in him. After being burned more than once, he decided not to date actresses anymore. And aside from the age difference, assuming Rachel was even interested, he knew it could be messy to start something with an actress that worked on one of his shows.

  “Isn’t that Rachel?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, we’ll have to stop by and say hello on our way out.”

  Ben looked thoughtful as he glanced their way and then turned his attention back to Adiel.

  “She’s a beautiful girl. There’s a certain quality about her. Hard to explain. She’s pretty but somewhat fragile looking too, if that makes any sense?”

  Adiel grinned. “And now you understand.”

  “I think I might, yes. Hopefully that will all translate to the screen.”

  “It will. I haven’t been wrong yet and I have that feeling about her.”

  “Good. I trust your instincts and I’d love to see this show be a hit.” Ben was quiet for a moment and then added. “It’s too bad she’s off limits for dating. Assuming she’s even single?”

  “I have no idea. But yeah, totally off limits.”

  “How long has it been since you broke up with Bethanne? It’s time for you to get back out there. There’s a lot of nice girls here in Riston. I could introduce you to some if you’re up for it?”

  “It’s been almost a year. I suppose I should start getting out there again.” Adiel sighed. He was mostly an introvert, more comfortable playing with his stories and on set with his shows. First dates and making small talk with strangers was never something he’d enjoyed.

  “I’ll talk to Anna. She knows lots of people here. Wade does too. Why don’t you start by coming to trivia with us this Thursday? That’s always a fun time.”

  Adiel had gone to trivia once before with the group from River’s End ranch and enjoyed it.

  “That sounds more my speed. And the pizza is good too.” He signed the credit card slip, and they walked over to say hello to Rachel and her family. She looked surprised to see him.

  “I didn’t notice you over there!” she said as they reached the table.

  “We were just having an early dinner. You know Ben?”

  “Yes, nice to see you again. This is my mother, Lauren, my brother Harrison and sister, Emma.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Rachel’s mother said. “Thank you for hiring Rachel. We’re out celebrating now.” Her smile was warm and friendly and it was obvious how excited they all were. Adiel was glad to see it.

  Rachel smiled shyly. “This is our favorite restaurant.”

  Adiel laughed. “I think it’s become mine too. Nice to meet you all. We’ll leave you to enjoy your dinner. Rachel, I’ll see you next week.”

  “I’ll drop my paperwork off tomorrow.”

  Chapter 3

  Rachel was on cloud nine for the next few days. Nothing spoiled her mood, not even the cranky customer that sent his eggs back three times for three different reasons. When Thursday rolled around, she was excited to go out to trivia and had plans with her friends over the weekend to go out to dinner and hear some live music. Everyone wanted to celebrate her good news, and she still kept pinching herself. Her dreams were coming true in a way that was far bigger than she’d ever anticipated. She was eager for Monday, to get the first day out of the way so she could relax a little and know it was truly real, after all.

  She turned at the sound of a knock on the front door and knew that Cameron had arrived to pick her up for trivia. Cameron Baker was one of her closest friends. They’d known each other forever and had gone to high school and college together. They’d also once waitressed together at the cafe during college, but that hadn’t lasted long for Cameron. She didn’t have the patience for it and left for a Summer receptionist job at a local doctor’s office. That’s where she fell in love with the medical field and changed her major to nursing. Now she worked at the local hospital as an ER nurse.

  “You look adorable!” Cameron exclaimed when Rachel opened the door.

  “Oh, thanks. You do too.” Cameron always looked fantastic. She had thick, shiny blonde hair that fell in natural waves to her shoulders and had eyes so blue that they always got people’s attention. She was wearing a cute, baby blue sundress that showed off her tan arms and legs. Rachel wore a long navy skirt made of soft t-shirt material, topped with a pretty white cotton camisole top. Her arms and legs were pale white compared to Cameron. Her skin was so fair that she usually avoided the sun unless she wanted a bunch of freckles or a sunburn.

  Cameron chatted non-stop as she drove the short distance to the restaurant at the ranch. “So, Clark and Tammy are meeting us there and Melissa and Jack too. Lily and Bernie of course and I think Maddie and Wade too, their daughter Vivian and Jackie, who works with Maddie in the spa.”

  “It’s going to be a big group!”

  When they arrived at the restaurant, Simon and Jaclyn were already there, though Jaclyn wasn’t her usual smiling self as she waved them over to the table and Rachel quickly realized why. On the other side of Simon sat Betty, the older woman from the cafe. She was all smiles as they reached the table.

  “Hello Rachel! Great to see you again.” Betty looked thrilled to be there and her enthusiasm was contagious.

  Jaclyn patted the seat next to her and Rachel slid into it. Over the next ten minutes, the rest of the team arrived, along with Ben and Anna and much to Rachel’s surprise, Adiel. Though she realized it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise. She knew Ben and Adiel were good fr
iends and Ben and Anna often joined them for trivia. They sat at the opposite end of the table and Adiel waved hello as they took their seats.

  “Who is that?” Cameron whispered when she saw Adiel waving.

  “That’s my new boss, Adiel.”

  “That’s an unusual name. How do you say it?”

  “Ah, deee, elle. I think it’s kind of cool, actually.”

  “It does seem to suit him, he looks like the artsy type,” Cameron agreed.

  Jaclyn looked around the table with satisfaction. “We have an outstanding team tonight!” Her smiled faltered as she reached Betty who was tapping Simon on the arm to get his attention.

  Once their waitress, Patty, brought them all of their drinks and took their pizza order, Jaclyn lifted her glass of root beer.

  “I think a toast is in order. Congratulations to Rachel as she embarks on her new career as a television actress!” All eyes turned to Rachel, who felt a wave of embarrassment and a thrill of excitement at the same time as everyone clinked their glasses together and offered their congratulations.

  “Your life is about to change, in so many ways, my dear. Are you ready for it?” Jaclyn peered over her glasses at Rachel, waiting for her response.

  “Yes, I think I am. I’m beyond excited, truly.”

  “You’re ready for love?”

  “Love? Oh, I thought you were talking about the show.” Rachel was confused.

  “Maybe I am, Maybe I’m not. Maybe it’s all connected….” Jaclyn paused dramatically. Rachel had no idea what she was talking about, but just nodded and smiled which seemed to appease her.

  “In time you’ll see. Just follow your heart Rachel, wherever it leads you, even if you’re not sure where the road is going.” Jaclyn was being so mysterious and vague that Rachel wanted to ask her her to be more specific, but she knew better. Jaclyn had quite a reputation for knowing things, especially as it related to romance.

  Which was something Rachel knew very little about. She hadn’t had a serious relationship in a long time and hadn’t actually had so much as a date in months. It just hadn’t been a focus. And she didn’t expect that it was likely to be one now either as all her energy would need to go to the show, and to making sure she did a good job.

  Everyone had a lively fun time. The pizza was good, as usual and just as they were finishing up eating, Arthur, the trivia host, came around with pads of paper and scoresheets. Lily reached for one of the pitchers of root beer in the center of the table and had to stand to reach it. Her belly was getting so big. Both she and Maddie were due in the coming weeks.

  “Do either of you know what you’re having?” Jaclyn asked.

  Lily and Maddie looked at their husbands, Cody and Wade who both nodded.

  “It’s a girl for me,” Lily said.

  “And a boy for me,” Maddie said. Wade sat beaming next to her, obviously thrilled at the idea of a boy, since they already had a girl, Vivian, who was nine years old and from Maddie’s first marriage.

  “How exciting. And names?” Jaclyn leaned forward, eager to hear their answers.

  “We’re still deciding on that. There’s a few we really like. We may wait until we meet her to decide,” Lily said.

  “I think we’re going with Wade David, but we’ll probably call him David to avoid confusion,” Maddie said.

  “I thought it might be fun to have a junior,” Wade said.

  The conversation died down as Arthur’s voice came over the speakers and he explained how trivia worked. They had ten teams playing and there would be three winners at the end of the night for the top scoring teams. Each team would win a gift certificate to the restaurant. Rachel recognized several of the team names, many of them were regulars that came every week to play.

  A very pretty woman with long, sandy blonde hair and a sleek black dress came rushing over to their table. Anna stood when she saw her and nudged Ben who went to find an extra chair. He placed it between him and Adiel and the woman sat.

  Anna introduced her to the table. “Everyone, this is Lexy, a friend from my book club.”

  “I know her,” Cameron whispered. “She’s a nurse at the hospital, in pediatrics. She was engaged to one of the doctors last I knew. I wonder what happened?”

  Rachel noticed that Jaclyn was glancing at Lexy the same way she’d looked at Betty—with annoyed disapproval. She shook her head and muttered. “Too many people. Not a good idea.” But then she quickly plastered a smile on face. “Welcome, my dear. If you’re in a book club, we can definitely use you for the literature questions. The more the merrier, right?”

  Rachel realized after registering the slightly uncomfortable look on Adiel’s face that Lexy was a setup. Anna and Ben invited her to trivia to meet Adiel. As the evening went on, he seemed to relax some. Trivia was good for that as they always had a new question to focus on. And when they had a few literature questions, both Lexy and Adiel knew the right answers. So, they had that in common. Adiel also did well with history and science questions. Really well.

  “He’s a good addition to the team,” Jaclyn said at one point, but softly so only Rachel could hear. “He’s smart!”

  “He does seem to be. He’s a writer, so he probably likes to read.”

  “The new girl is doing pretty well too.” Jaclyn didn’t sound as pleased by that. She was even less pleased when she glanced over at Simon and saw him deep in conversation with Betty.

  “Pay attention you two. Did you even hear that last question?”

  Simon immediately had a sheepish look on his face. “What was it?”

  “Which city has the largest aquarium in the United States?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. It’s the Georgia Aquarium, in Atlanta,” said Betty.

  The whole table looked at her in surprise.

  “How did you know that?” Jaclyn asked.

  Betty grinned. “I used to live in Atlanta.”

  The next question was food related and Betty was the first to mention the correct answer for that too.

  Jaclyn looked perplexed and Betty laughed and then explained, “I love to cook.”

  “You do? But why do you go to the cafe so often?”

  “It’s no fun cooking for one all the time. I like to go to the cafe and be around other people. I still don’t know many people here yet.”

  “Well, you do now!” Simon said.

  Betty smiled. “Yes, I’m starting to. Thank you both for including me.”

  Rachel noticed Jaclyn’s expression soften and a curious look come into her eyes. She’d seen that look before, when Jaclyn was up to something and she wondered what she had in mind.

  “We’ll have to introduce you to more of our friends if you’re planning to stay here in Riston for a while,” Jaclyn said.

  “Oh, I’m not going anywhere! I’d love to meet more of your friends.”

  They sailed to an easy victory, getting almost all the questions and even the final question right. As they all walked out together, Rachel found herself behind Adiel and as they stepped outside, he smiled at her.

  “I seem to be seeing you everywhere suddenly.”

  “I know! Did you have fun?” She looked around but noticed that Lexy was already gone as were Anna and Ben. She could see them in the distance heading toward their cars.

  “I did. Ben brought me once before. It’s a fun thing to do midweek, a nice way to get out but still have an early night.” It was about a quarter to nine, which meant Rachel could still get a good nights sleep before heading in to work the breakfast shift.

  “You ready to go?” Cameron said as she walked up beside her.

  “I’m ready. See you on Monday, Adiel.”

  Chapter 4

  Rachel barely slept the night before her first day on the set. She showed up at a quarter to eight. It was a non-filming day as Adiel had explained when they met, so they’d get to sleep in a little later. Once filming began, she’d have to be on site by six am for makeup and costume.

  She nervously walked
into the conference room where the cast was going to meet to go over the latest script and have a read through. They’d do that for two days and then start filming on Wednesday.

  Adiel was deep in conversation but looked up when she walked into the room and nodded. She noticed the others helping themselves to coffee and bagels and pastries that were set out on a side table, so she did the same and then sat down. She took a sip of her coffee and spread a little cream cheese on a cinnamon bagel. She was almost too nervous to eat but knew she had to take at least a few bites to settle her nerves and so her stomach wouldn’t embarrass her by gurgling in the middle of their meeting.

  She was one of the first at the table but it quickly filled up and her eyes grew wide when she noticed several familiar faces just a few seats away. Famous actors that she’d only seen on TV before. It was surreal to be in the same room with them and as a colleague.

  A petite woman about her age, with a messy, short blonde bob sat next to her and introduced herself.

  “Hi there, I’m Sandy, one of the writers. You must be Rachel?”

  Rachel nodded, her mouth full of bagel. She finally swallowed and smiled.

  “Sorry. Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you nervous?” Sandy asked. “I would be. I was when I first started working with some of these people. But don’t be. Adiel’s awesome. He’s one of the best show runners I’ve worked with and the rest of the cast is pretty nice too, for the most part.” She grinned and Rachel sensed there were one or two people that Sandy wasn’t overly fond of, but she supposed that was to be expected.

  “I’m nervous. Excited too though. But mostly nervous.”

  “Today will be fun. We’re just going to read through the script. I wrote a good chunk of this one, so it’s pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Yes, I’m not humble.”

  Rachel laughed and relaxed a little. It was good to meet someone her own age who seemed fun and down to earth too.