“So what do you think about today? You’ve certainly done enough of these shoots during your career. And we’ve only got today to get the film in the can.”
She looked to Bobby to intercede, but he remained silent. Of course he did. Wasn’t he just asking her the same thing?
She glanced outside to gather her thoughts, not surprised to find the blonde outside on the deck, happily flirting with Dean. “Well, my first impression is that it’s a casting issue.”
“Meaning Windy?”
Leeann nodded, racking her brain for the right words to not upset anyone. “She’s very pretty, but Mr. Winslow is a bit—well, the age difference between them is very apparent when they pose together.”
Oh, boy, was that diplomatic enough?
Vincent nodded. “Hmm, you do have a point.”
“Why not have Leeann do it?”
What?
Leeann opened her mouth to protest, but was too stunned by Bobby’s statement to speak.
“We’re the same age and she’s experienced at this stuff,” he continued, a wide grin on his face. “It’ll be great.”
Was he crazy? Absolutely not! There was no way she was getting in front of the camera again.
“No, I don’t think so.” The words came out rough, but she was grateful to have found her voice. “Besides, you already have a model here.”
“Who’s not working out,” Bobby pushed. “There’s a clause in the contract that states I have a say in all production aspects. Including casting.”
“But she was used in the filming of the commercial, which is already completed,” the production assistant added, joining their group. “To change models now, especially with one so different in coloring and shape…”
Meaning she was a size six instead of the size two chatting it up with Jersey boy out in the sunshine.
Perfectly happy with her hard-won, toned body, Leeann was glad for the excuse. “Exactly, but what I was going to say is in the film footage, the woman’s never seen clearly, only as an obscure, dreamlike figure to the cowboy.”
Bobby started to speak, but Leeann cut him off. “Perhaps the still photography should be done the same way. I mean, after all, isn’t the point to sell Mr. Winslow’s endorsement of the product? Wear this, be like me and the girl will come back to you?”
She didn’t give a damn what clause was in his contract. No way was she going to let him use the spoiled-star-getting-his-way card to get her back in front of the camera.
Vincent’s eyes sparkled. “I think you’ve got something, Leeann. Perhaps you should be working on this side of the camera.”
“I’m sure your staff would’ve come up with the same idea eventually.” Leeann smiled. “Just happy I could help.”
“Okay, let’s get everyone back on set.”
The assistant called out the order and the crew went back to work.
Leeann turned to Bobby. “I think that includes you, too.”
“Lee—”
“Don’t go there.” She lowered her voice. “What the hell ever made you think I’d agree to such a harebrained idea?”
“Harebrained?” He fought hard not to smile and failed. “Gee, I didn’t think it was that far off base.”
“You have no idea how far off base it was.”
He moved in closer, so much so that Leeann had to look up at him. “Tell me.”
“What?”
“Tell me why you’re so upset with my idea of you being in the photo shoot?” Bobby’s voice dropped to a whisper to match hers. “I certainly seem to have hit a hot spot of yours.”
“Should I start with how wrong it is to even suggest replacing a paid professional with an outsider?”
“Yeah, an outsider who at one time was one of the most photographed—”
“That was a long time ago!”
He stared at her until someone behind him cleared his throat in an obvious attempt to get his attention.
Leeann stepped back. “They’re waiting on you.”
“Don’t leave.”
She looked away and shook her head, tucking her hair behind one ear. “I’d really like… I just need a moment alone, okay?”
“There’s a bathroom right there.” Bobby pointed to a closed door. “Or my study is right next door. Feel free to wander, just don’t leave. I think I’ll be practicing my apology skills again once all this craziness is over.”
He walked away.
Stay or go? Leeann didn’t know what she wanted to do.
She could hear the photographer calling out instructions, pleased with whatever Bobby was giving him, but there was no way she could stay and watch.
Entering the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and stood in front of the mirror. Her reflection blurred until she saw a woman with long hair. The memories brought on by the photographer’s comments tried to crowd into her head, but several deep breaths kept them away.
The vibration of her cell phone pulled Leeann from her thoughts. Seeing her aunt’s name on the display, she realized she’d missed their lunch date.
“Sorry, Aunt Ursula, I didn’t mean to forget about you,” she said in greeting. “But you won’t believe where I am.”
“Hmm, sounds intriguing, honey.” Her aunt’s lyrical voice carried over the airwaves. Ursula was Leeann’s mother’s free-spirited and younger sister.
She’d moved to Destiny from Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the late seventies to help her sister care for Leeann when she was born. Deciding to stick around, she’d opened her own hair salon, Ursula’s Updos. Over the years, Leeann and her aunt had formed an unbreakable bond.
“Since I’m stuck here anyway waiting on Minnie’s perm to take hold, go ahead and spill the details! Does this have something to do with Mr. Winslow?”
Leeann sighed. While her parents had hated her dating Bobby back in high school, her aunt had always thought the boy considered no good by most people was just misunderstood. “You know, you always did have a soft spot for him.”
“I wasn’t the only one. Have you finally run into him again?”
“I’m at his place right now.” Leeann decided to jump right in. “Talking to you from his guest bathroom while he’s in the middle of a product endorsement photo shoot.”
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to hear all that. Are you okay?” Ursula’s voice turned serious. “I mean, is being back in that kind of environment doing a number on you?”
Plopping down on the closed toilet seat, Leeann told her everything, including the memories she was holding at bay by sheer will.
“Maybe you shouldn’t hold them off, honey,” her aunt said. “If you let them come to you, if you deal with them head-on, it could be the best way to finally let go of your past.”
“I have let go of my past,” Leeann protested. “I moved on and created a whole new life for myself.”
“A life that put you in control as a deputy sheriff, but even that wasn’t fulfilling you in the way you’d hoped. Now that life has changed, and with Bobby back in the picture—”
She jumped to her feet. “What picture? There is no picture!”
“Sweetie, you’re talking to me from inside his bathroom.”
Leeann hated when her aunt pointed out the obvious. “Okay, you have a point, but Bobby is not back in my life. I don’t even know if he’s back in town for good.”
“From what I’ve heard his house is pretty impressive.”
A snort escaped before Leeann could slap a hand over her mouth. “Yeah, that seems to be the word for it, impressive. As in impersonal. Sort of like a cross between an art museum and Little House on the Prairie.”
Her aunt laughed. “Sounds like it needs a woman’s touch.”
“Not this woman.” Leeann knew exactly where her aunt was going. “I’ve already told you, Bobby and I are just…old friends. We’re not even friends anymore. We’re more like acquaintances. Two people who used to be a part of each other’s lives a long time ago.”
“Like I said,
he was your first love.”
Leeann looked at herself again in the mirror, but remained silent. There was nothing she could say to refute the obvious.
“He was your only love.”
Her stomach clenched at the truth in her aunt’s words.
Her life in New York had been all about work, a social calendar that was more about self-promotion than relaxation and a crazy schedule that left her with little personal time.
There had been only a couple of men since Bobby, but none that she ever gave her heart to, and certainly no one in the past six years.
“Okay, I need to go, Auntie. I’ll talk to you later.”
She felt like a jerk for running her aunt off the phone but talking about the past with everything else she was trying to deal with today wasn’t helping.
Deciding it was time to get out of this house, Leeann yanked open the door, stepped into the hall and slammed right into a mountain.
“Oh!”
She grabbed hold of Dean’s shirt. He steadied her with one hand, the only casualty being a cardboard tube that bounced against the slate flooring.
“Boy, you never know who’ll come walking around a corner here.” Dean gave a deep chuckle as he released her. “One minute a real live mannequin wearing little more than a bunch of lace and string strides by and now you!”
“Hmm, why do I get the feeling you’re enjoying having a fashion model around to gawk at?” Leeann grinned as Dean bent over and picked up the cylinder.
“We’ve got two fashion models in the house. At least according to Bobby’s bright idea.”
Leeann rolled her eyes. “He told you about that, huh?”
“Don’t be hard on him. He’s just a guy, after all.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dean grinned and pointed the tube at the door to her right. “Hey, would you mind putting this in Bobby’s study? They’re breaking for lunch and he’s having some back spasms. I need to give him a quick rubdown.”
She took the tube from him. “Sure.”
“Thanks, doll.”
Dean gave her a wink and took off for what Leeann guessed was the exercise room downstairs. She stepped into the next room, noticing the decorators had continued their mountain lodge/Western theme in here as well.
A massive desk sat on the far side of the room in front of an oversize window with a couple of leather chairs nearby. Against one wall was a table holding a two-level miniature replica of Bobby’s house, right down to the grass, flowers and rocks.
Wow, that was really neat.
The exterior model showed how well the log mansion and the new outer buildings fit into the surrounding mountains and flatlands. It was breathtaking seeing it this way and Leeann realized Bobby had every right to be proud of what he’d built here.
Hanging on the wall above the model was an aerial photograph of the house and surrounding land. Leeann could easily see her pond just to the south. She lightly traced her fingers over the bright patch of blue peeking through the trees and the cylinder in her hand tipped upside down.
The lid fell off and sheets of rolled paper fell out.
“Oh, shoot.”
She bent and picked up the thin sheets, noticing they were architectural drawings. The label on the tube read “Murphy Mountain Log Homes,” the company that built this place. Was Bobby looking to do even more building out here?
Unable to resist, she spread out the papers on his desk. She could tell it was the large parcel of land down past the outer storage buildings and barn.
Thickly forested, it had remained untouched by her family for the four generations they’d owned it, but when a second transparent drawing slid into place over it, a large oval shape blocked out many of the trees and even more buildings dotted the landscape.
What was that? My goodness, it looks like a—
“So, what do you think?”
The sounds of Bobby’s voice had Leeann spinning around.
He leaned heavily against the doorjamb, wearing the same faded jeans he’d had on when she first arrived. The flannel shirt was back, too, but now it hung open—revealing a flat stomach—as if he’d just pulled it on.
“Ah, I’m sorry.” She waved at the paperwork. “Dean just asked me to drop these off in here, but they fell out of the tube in the process. I should have just put them back, but I was curious. It’s not my place, I shouldn’t have looked at them.”
“You’re right.” He entered the room. “But you did and if I know you, you’ve got something to say about them.”
Leeann looked back at the drawings. “I’m not even completely sure what I’m looking at. Is that a racetrack?”
Bobby nodded. “Regulation size, complete with viewing bleachers and a test facility. I figured with all this land my next plan was to move my racing operation here to Destiny.”
Shocked, she dragged the two drawings back and forth across each other. Each time the sight of all those trees and precious open spaces disappearing tore at her heart.
Guilt for selling the land filled her. A necessity in order to save her aunt’s life, the money went to pay the exorbitant cancer treatment bills. But what if she hadn’t? Would this area never have been at risk of being destroyed?
“Isn’t there something else? Something better you can do with all that land?”
“Something better?” He took a step closer. “You know, I bailed on a back rub so I could find you to apologize for earlier—”
“Forget the apology. How can you destroy all that forest?”
“Because I paid for it?”
“And that means you get to do whatever you want with it?”
“It’s my land. Unless you’ve got a better idea?” He shoved his fingers through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. “Jeez, what is with you, huh? You don’t like it that I’m rich, you’ve already decided my racing career is over. I thought maybe we were finally getting— I swear, it’s one step forward, two steps back with you, Lee.”
“You want a better idea? Fine.” Her mind raced as she fought to come up with something—anything—Bobby could do with all that acreage. “How about a summer camp?”
“A summer what?”
“The Shipman Summer Camp closed down about ten years ago when Ron Shipman died. His kids sold the land and it’s now a housing subdivision.”
“So?”
“So the kids in this area, and I don’t mean just Destiny, but the whole county, don’t have any place locally to go in the summertime.” She brushed past him, stopping to stand in front of the framed image of the land. “You’ve been down to the Youth Center and seen how busy it is, and that’s during the school year. Can you imagine what this town is like when school is out and the kids don’t have anywhere to go?”
“Lee—”
She spun back around, the idea flourishing to life as she spoke. She could see the camp where she and her friends, including Bobby, had worked all those years ago. She could see another camp being a part of this town, being here for a new generation to enjoy.
Her smile faded when she saw the incredulity on his face. “Well, you did ask for an idea.”
“That’s some idea.”
She knew that tone. He’d already nixed the plan before he’d even had a chance to think it over. “I guess a person would have to put more time, personal attention and money into a venture like that than they’d ever get back.”
“It’s not just the money—”
“Hey, Ace, there you are! I’ve only got a few minutes to work my magic before they’re going to call you back.” Dean poked his head into the room. His eyes widened. “Sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“That’s all right.” Leeann tossed the empty cylinder onto the desk. “I think I’m finished here anyway.”
Chapter Eight
Was he out of his mind?
Leaning heavily on his cane, Bobby stood in the conference room of Murphy Mountain Log Homes, a sprawling timber frame building, and thought back
on the call he’d made less than thirty-six hours ago.
Nolan Murphy, the second eldest of the Murphy brothers and lead architect of the family business, had agreed to revise the already completed designs for Bobby’s land.
Actually, what Bobby had asked for was a new set of plans.
All because he couldn’t forget the disappointment he’d seen in Leeann’s eyes when she’d stood in his office last Saturday.
Dammit, that wasn’t entirely true either.
What he couldn’t get out of his head was the way her eyes had lit up with enthusiasm when she’d tossed out her idea of what to do with his land. For a few moments, her joy had erased that haunted look that always seemed to linger in her eyes.
He wanted to erase that look forever and if that meant giving up his plans for a racing facility here in Destiny, fine. He already had one in North Carolina anyway.
But a summer camp for kids?
Yes, he had great memories of his summers at Shipman, both as a camper, thanks to a scholarship program for those unable to afford the fees, and as a camp counselor while in high school.
But did he have the desire to re-create the experience?
“No, it’s something—oh, hell, someone else—you desire,” he muttered, shaking his head as he moved to sit at the table dominating the room, sinking into the plush seating.
Which is why he’d made the call to Nolan late Monday night.
During a brief discussion, they batted around some ideas and agreed to touch base the next day. Zip had been working him hard this morning when Nolan called back midsession asking if Bobby was available to meet. He’d agreed and cut the therapy short, hence the cane.
Gently massaging his left leg, Bobby was proud of the fact he’d been pain free the last week, even if he felt a bit wobbly today. Thanks to home-cooked meals instead of hospital food and Zip’s workouts, he was gaining weight again and most of that was muscle. He felt strong and confident, two things that had sorely been lacking in his life ever since the accident.
Neither of which explained why he was even entertaining this crazy idea. “The things a guy will do for a woman.”
“Did you say something?” Nolan Murphy entered the room, a set of drawings in his hand. “I didn’t quite catch that.”
Welcome Home, Bobby Winslow Page 9