Burt and the producers are having some kind of private discussion next to one of the filming monitors and the rest of the crew is in the process of fixing one of the backdrops. Bennett has to wade through a sea of crewmembers to go say hi to her family and to drop Will off with his. (To her delight, Bennett notes that Liz looks even worse than she does.) They’re all standing with Emmy, looking a little overwhelmed with everything.
“I’ll be right back—I need to talk to Burt for a sec,” Bennett tells her.
She already has a general idea of how this conversation is going to go, hopefully, but she still feels a tiny ripple of dread as she heads across set toward Burt. Her gaze flicks over toward the actors out of reflex along the way, and her heart gives a panicked flutter when her eyes meet Teddy’s. He immediately looks away.
Burt is huddled up with a group of producers, and Bennett just doesn’t have the time to stand awkwardly and wait for a lull in the conversation.
“Excuse me, guys,” she says, sliding up between the director and another producer. “Would y’all mind if I have a word with Burt for a second?”
“We still need to get that shot,” Burt says after them as they head off in different directions. Then he turns to Bennett and folds his arms. “What’s up, Bennett?”
“I need you to let my cousin Will over there be an extra in the raid scene we’re filming later this afternoon,” she says without preamble, and Burt looks at her like she’s officially lost it. “An extra with lines.”
“Are you kidding me, Bennett? You know we don’t have time to set that up. There’s too much paperwork that has to get done, and what lines are we going to give him? The script is set.”
“It’s not that much paperwork, and he won’t even have to be credited. I’ll figure out the lines while I’m touring my family around.”
Burt frowns some more. “It’s not that simple.…”
“I’ll make sure the producers are on board with it, too. All you have to do is sign off.”
“It’s just not a feasible option today, Bennett.”
“Come on, Burt,” Bennett pleads. “I haven’t asked you for anything during production, and I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. It’s just a few extra lines in the movie. That’s it.”
“Did he put you up to this?”
“No,” she says. “He doesn’t even know I’m asking you.”
“Then why is this such a pressing issue if he doesn’t even know you’re asking?”
Bennett has to take a second to figure out exactly how she wants to word this. “Will’s just super into acting. And he’s surrounded by a family of assholes all the time. Giving him a couple of lines in a thirty-second scene will literally make him the happiest person on planet Earth today.”
Bennett never pegged Burt as a softie, but she can see she’s wearing him down.
“You know he has to stay and get all the paperwork done—photo release forms, liability waivers, the whole shebang,” he says, pressing a finger to his mustache.
Optimism surges through Bennett. “I know. I’ll make sure it gets done.”
“And no promises that the extra scene will make the final cut.”
“I know,” she says. She already has a strategy in mind for that as well. “But you have to at least promise you’ll consider it.”
“Fine. Then consider it all done. But you gotta do something for me in return,” he says, squaring off with her. Bennett already knows what’s coming. She’d anticipated it, actually. “You have to give this PR thing with you and Teddy a shot. I mean really give it a go. I know you think it’s a cheap—”
“Done,” Bennett says.
“—scheme, but I—” Burt stops midsentence. “What?”
“I said, consider it done.”
“Just like that?” he asks suspiciously.
She nods. “As long as you keep your word, Burt, I’ll keep mine. But I get to do the PR thing on my own terms, with no interference from you.”
He considers that for a moment, squinting at her like he’s trying to see any cracks in her demeanor. Bennett keeps her cool, though. This is the segue piece in her plan—the most important component in setting everything into motion. And it’s all hinging on Burt Bridges.
“Done,” he says, holding out his hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Tanner lets Bennett borrow the baseball hat he’d worn to set. He told her he’s doing her a favor. By then Bennett’s too on edge to care about how bad her hair apparently looks, but she puts it on anyway.
Her plan is set into motion at precisely 10:02 a.m., when Burt comes over to introduce himself to Bennett’s family. They don’t actually get the set tour going until after ten fifteen, though, because Liz and her parents spend fifteen minutes gushing to Burt about what an amazing job he’s doing (while subtly hinting at their family’s “interest in acting”). Burt wants nothing to do with them after one conversation and finally sends them off on the tour so he doesn’t have to deal with them anymore.
It takes an impressive amount of stealth and coordination to fill Emmy and Will in on the plan while they’re touring around set. (Will almost blows their cover with his reaction to Bennett telling him she got him a spot in filming.) Thank goodness Bennett talked to the producers about Will before the tour started—her cheeks and face are so sore from all the fake smiling for pictures she’s done so far, she probably wouldn’t have been able to speak, let alone convince them to cast Will as an extra. They were surprisingly receptive to the idea, though.
Bennett and Will make sure to document every second of the tour, from beginning to end—proposing selfies around set; taking pictures with their families; making sure Liz looks as hungover as she feels in every photo.… They take so many pictures Will’s phone dies halfway through. Just as planned.
Liz has one of those iPhone cases that charges your phone, and she’s too hungover to care when Will asks if he can borrow it. She hands her phone over with an irritated shrug, and Will is practically bouncing when he gets back to Bennett’s side.
“I started a group text with your family and my family so we can send each other all the pictures we’ve taken,” Bennett says quietly. “Emmy’s also in there—she’s the six-four-six area code number.”
It doesn’t seem possible, but Will’s smile actually gets bigger. It’s taking up his entire face.
“I still can’t believe you got me a spot in filming,” he says, lowering his voice but keeping the giddy excitement in his tone. “This is going to be amazing—”
Bennett shushes him. “You’re not supposed to know yet, remember? And we really have to sell this PR thing.… Knowing Burt, he’ll probably change his mind and cut your scene just to spite me if we don’t pull it off.”
“No worries.” Will shows her the back of Liz’s phone case and presses a little silver button. Four white dots light up. His smile turns devious. “Fully charged. We got this.”
Nodding, Bennett thinks back over her plan. The only things left to do are to break the news to the Will’s parents about his role, then fill Olivia in on her job.…
And somehow convince Teddy to speak to her again.
* * *
“WHAT?” Liz screeches, her eyes darting between Bennett, Will, and Burt.
Everyone winces, and it takes a heroic display of self-control for Bennett not to laugh—she has to roll her lips back between her teeth and look away.
“Christ,” Burt mutters. He turns to Will and his parents. “As I was saying, we’d love for Will to fill in for one of the extras this afternoon, but there’s a lot of paperwork to get done. Will, are you over eighteen?”
“Er—no, sir.”
Bennett panics. She’d completely forgotten Will needed a parental signature.
Burt nods. “You’ll need a parent to cosign, then. Once Bennett gets everything green-lit with the producers and Emmy gets back with your paperwork, we can get you into hair and makeup.”
“Emmy will be back in a few m
inutes,” Bennett says. “And I already spoke with the producers about the script before the set tour.”
“Don’t you work fast, Bennett,” Uncle Fletcher says. He doesn’t look pleased. “Mr. Bridges, are there other openings for extras today? My daughter, Liz—”
“Sorry, but no. We only have room for one,” Burt says; then he glances around the group. “But everyone is welcome to stay to watch filming this afternoon.”
Uncle Fletcher and Aunt Susan gape.
Liz, on the other hand, sets her jaw and glares at the director’s back as he walks away.
Bennett glances at her family to gauge their reactions. They’d been so enthusiastic about the set tour, but right now they just look uncomfortable. Bennett’s parents are trying to keep up small talk while Tanner subtly congratulates Will.
“Bennett, I’m freaking out,” Will says. He speaks softly, throwing glances in Liz’s direction. Despite everything, he’s still being considerate of his older sister—something that only Will McGeary would do.
“I’m freaking out for you,” Bennett said. “You deserve it. Are your parents going to sign for you, though?”
Will grins. “They better. But I can forge my dad’s signature better than he can.”
“What’s the scene he’s in?” Tanner asks.
“It’s the raid scene Katherine’s involved in when she sneaks away from The Company to go on a rogue mission.” Bennett feels her chest tighten as she answers. The scene that follows this one in the script is the reunion between Jack and Katherine—the same one from the first table-read. “Will’s going to be one of the technicians in the warehouse that helps Katherine get out when she’s detected.”
Tanner high-fives him and says, “You’re gonna kill it, man—”
There’s another shriek from across set, except this time it’s followed by Olivia running over and almost tackling Will into a hug. Emmy strolls up a minute later with a smirk on her face and paperwork in her hands, obviously already spreading the good news to the cast and crew. Olivia makes a huge deal out of congratulating Will in front of Liz and his parents. And it’s so hilariously satisfying that Bennett kind of feels guilty.
“You’re going to be spectacular, Will,” Olivia says, megawatt smiling as she wraps Will into another bear hug. “This is just the start, too. Having a major production as the first thing on your acting résumé is huge. I’m putting you in touch with my agent after this.”
Will looks like he’s going to pass out. The rest of the McGeary clan looks like they’re going to explode. Particularly Liz.
The only sour note of the day so far comes when Bennett’s parents pull her aside and tell her they can’t stay to watch Will film his scene. Tanner has to get back for a last-minute swing lesson before his big golf match later in the week, and her dad has a business meeting with Pontoon Paul back at the lake later that night.
“I wish y’all could stay,” Bennett says, trying not to whine. “I still can’t believe you guys came to the signing.”
“So you were surprised?” her mom asks. “I was a little worried someone blew our cover.”
“Totally surprised.” Bennett grins.
“We had a blast, kiddo,” her dad says as she walks them across the parking lot to their car. “Tell Burt thank you again for having us. And tell your friends we said bye, too.”
Bennett hopes no one picks up on how much it hurts that Teddy isn’t going to say bye to her family. “I’ll let them know,” she says.
They’re about halfway across the set parking lot when Olivia calls out after them, “Hey, wait a sec, Caldwells! I didn’t get to say bye!”
Because of course even a demanding major motion picture production can’t keep Olivia Katsaros from being fucking awesome. She bear hugs everyone and stands with Bennett as her family drives away.
“Your brother’s superhot, by the way,” Olivia comments as she waves at the retreating car.
Bennett bursts out laughing. “Is that the real reason why you came over to say good-bye?”
“I may have given him my number last night when you weren’t looking.”
“Oh, God—thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome,” she replies cheerfully.
“Hey, real quick, I have a favor to ask you,” Bennett says, lowering her voice as they walk through the parking lot back to set. “So, I kind of had to cut a deal with Burt to get a spot for Will in filming today, but he made sure to tell me that there was a chance Will’s scene would get cut in editing—” she explains, stopping when Olivia holds up her hand.
“Way ahead of you there, B. After witnessing the freak show that is his family last night, the boy must be protected at all costs. I’ll make sure he’s in all the right shots.”
Bennett laughs at her use of “freak show,” because, honestly, the phrase is about as accurate as it gets.
“Oh, for the love of God,” Olivia mutters. “Speak of the devil.”
Glancing up, Bennett follows Olivia’s line of sight until it lands on Liz beelining toward them.
“Bennett? Can I talk to you for a sec?” she asks when she’s still a good distance away.
Bennett sighs. “What’s up, Liz?”
Liz is looking worse now than she was before the set tour—it probably has to do with her brother stealing back his spotlight. Real world lighting always shows Liz’s true form.
Liz looks at Olivia. “Could you give us a second?”
Wrong thing to say to Olivia Katsaros.
“Actually, no. I can’t,” Olivia shoots back. “I’m gonna stand here and wait for you to get out whatever it is you think is more important than the conversation I was having with Bennett.”
For one brief, beautiful second, Liz actually seems intimidated .
She looks to Bennett for some backup. Bennett looks back at her expectantly.
“Okay. Whatever,” she says, getting her expression back to neutral. “So, you got my brother a spot in filming today?”
It’s more of an accusation than a question.
“Yeah, I did,” Bennett says. She almost starts to say why, but then remembers there isn’t a damn thing in the world she needs to justify to Liz McGeary anymore. Especially when it comes to decisions about a movie that’s based on her book.
“So, that means you can maybe convince Burt to open up another extra spot, right?” Liz tries again, and Olivia scoffs.
Bennett shakes her head. “Not really. It took some serious convincing to get Burt on board with a change like this. Especially since all castings had to be confirmed months ago during preproduction.”
That last part is a total lie, but there’s no way Liz knows that.
“Come on, Bennett,” Liz whines. “This is, like, my dream! Please? After everything I’ve done for you—please do this for me?”
And the sad part is, Liz is being dead serious with that.
“Sorry, Liz. I can’t,” Bennett says, and it’s almost scary how fast any trace of pleading on Liz’s face vanishes.
“I can’t believe how selfish you’re being,” she snaps, taking a step toward Bennett. Liz is a lot taller, and she makes a point to lean forward so it seems like she’s looming over Bennett.
Surprisingly, it makes Bennett want to laugh.
“Yes. I’m the selfish one,” she says.
Liz makes a face. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Bennett already has a response planned out about how selfish it is to be so unsupportive of her own brother’s dream, but Olivia ends up beating her to the punch.
And she does so spectacularly.
“Jesus, it means that you’re pretty much the definition of an asshole, Liz,” Olivia snaps.
“Excuse me—?”
“So listen.” Olivia gestures between herself and Bennett. “You’re on our turf right now, sweetheart, and we don’t have time for whiny, borderline psychotic bitches like you who get off on making people miserable. We have a multimillion-dollar movie franchise to get back to. One tha
t most certainly doesn’t include you. So, if you’ll be so kind as to excuse us—which, don’t hurt yourself, since any form of basic human decency seems to a stretch for you.”
Pleased with herself, Olivia hooks her arm through Bennett’s and pulls her forward, forcing a stunned-silent Liz to have to move out of their way.
“You are fucking awesome, Olivia,” Bennett says, and she doesn’t even care that she says it loud enough for Liz to hear.
Olivia shrugs. “I try.”
Liz doesn’t follow them, and Bennett smiles all the way back onto set, letting herself have a couple of moments before setting into motion the last leg of her plan. She and Olivia find Will and Emmy still rushing to get Will’s paperwork done before he has to go into hair and makeup. Will is still using his sister’s phone case and hands it and the phone to Bennett, telling her the passcode.
“You sure about this, Bennett?” Emmy asks.
Bennett nods.
“Sure about what?” Olivia chimes in.
“I’ll let Will and Emmy tell you,” Bennett says, squeezing Olivia’s shoulder as she starts away from the group. “I’ve got one last thing I need to do.”
* * *
Teddy is sitting in a director’s chair to the left of the main set. Alone.
Which is probably the luckiest break Bennett’s gotten all day. She had to take another minute inside her trailer to fully talk herself into what she’s about to do.
When she swings open the trailer door to leave, the crew is already getting the set ready for filming that afternoon. Burt and the producers are posted up around Burt’s favorite camera monitor, going over the itinerary. Will, Olivia, and a few of the other extras are swarmed with hair and makeup artists. The rest of the McGearys are awkwardly standing off to the side by themselves.…
Before they see her, Bennett skips down the trailer steps and ducks behind a door prop that a few crewmembers are carrying to the main set. She lifts her chin to Emmy as she passes by her and a huddle of personal assistants by the PA tables. Emmy wiggles her eyebrows and gives her a thumbs-up.
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