Playing the Part

by Darcy Daniel

  Okay. It was now or never. Time for her plan of attack. “Actually,” she said, “I’ve been thinking—”

  “That must be a strain.”

  She bit her tongue as she wrapped a bandage around his hand to keep the gauze in place. After the urge to swear at him passed, she said, “Since you’re so accident-prone, I should stay for a while.”

  Cole snatched his hand away. “Does this look like a hotel?”

  “I could help you out.”

  “Yeah. By leaving. Now.”

  He rose, towering over her.

  This wasn’t going to plan at all. In an instant, she changed tack and released a fake sob. “Please… I… this place is perfect for—”

  Cole grabbed her upper arm and hauled her from the chair.

  “Hey!”

  Her feet barely touched the floor as he marched her into the hallway. Before she could break free, he opened the front door and shoved her through, slamming it behind her.

  Now who was being rude?

  He wouldn’t get away with this. She pounded on the door.

  “Go away,” he said from the other side.

  “I’m not going anywhere without my purse and luggage!”

  Silence followed for a long moment, then, “Where are they?”

  She smiled. She had him. “Let me in and I’ll get them.”

  “Nice try.”

  Anthea frowned, pressed her ear to the door and listened. She could hear faint movement in there, but it sounded distant. Soon, though, he’d find her things and have to open the door to give them to her. She placed her hand on the doorknob and waited.

  That’s when she heard a noise further along the veranda. She spun around just in time to see her suitcase flop through an open window. Her purse and carryall landed on top.

  Mouth agape, she ran toward her luggage. “You… you jerk!”

  Cole slammed the window shut, locked it and crossed his arms over his chest. “Get off my property.”

  Unable to help herself, she raised her middle finger. When she received no reaction, she kicked her suitcase and glared at him. Of course, he was oblivious to it all.

  She released a grunt of anger. How dare he treat her this way? Well, this wasn’t over by a long shot. She grabbed her purse, pulled out her scarf and sunglasses and stormed down the steps to her car.

  When she hung a U-turn, she made sure the tires spun in the gravel. Heading along the driveway, she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw Cole standing at the top of the veranda steps. She couldn’t be absolutely sure, but he seemed to be grinning.

  Well, one thing she did know for sure, he couldn’t see the luggage she’d left behind. The luggage that meant she’d return.

  Chapter Four

  Anthea drove into Mayfield, found a café and seated herself at a booth in a discreet corner. She ordered a hearty breakfast and savored the delicious country cooking, telling herself not to feel guilty for eating such a heavy meal. As long as she only allowed herself a treat every once in a while, no one would know the difference.

  With her scarf and sunglasses on, none of the locals in the café paid her any attention. Which was the way she wanted to keep it after seeing that ludicrous tabloid magazine. As soon as she settled things with Cole she’d get on the phone to Ethan and try to convince him to sort out the whole debacle.

  During the delicious meal, she tried to figure out how she might be able to worm her way into Cole’s good graces. First, she had to get him to listen to her reasons for wanting to stay. That was the hard part. The only way she thought that might happen was with a bribe. But what did a man who worked hard in the hot sun want when he came in from the field? The answer came to her in a flash.

  Beer.

  Unfortunately, the liquor store wouldn’t be open at this time of the morning.

  Instead, she drove around town visiting her old childhood haunts, and soon found herself outside the local primary school.

  Since school was out for the end of term holidays, the playground was deserted. Anthea took a seat on the swing set. Had she really been a bully? What horrible things had she said to Cole all those years ago?

  Something flashed in her memory. She had the vague recollection of the teacher separating her from Karin for talking.

  Due to the town’s small population, many of the grades were mixed, and even though Cole had been a year ahead of her, they were in the same classroom.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to remember. The teacher had moved her from her usual seat and placed her beside Cole. He sat at the desk, his hair in desperate need of a cut, a hole in the elbow of his red jumper, and the sole of one runner peeling away. And then he looked at her and smiled. His eyes, so green, made her stomach flutter.

  Jolted from the memory, Anthea sucked in a breath, sat up straighter and gripped the swing’s chains. Why waste time thinking about the past? She needed to deal with the here and now.

  When she returned to her car, the digital clock on the dashboard read 12:05 p.m. Perfect.

  First, a quick stop at the local hardware store, where she purchased a medium-sized cooler, then on to the one and only bottle shop in town where she purchased ice, beer and diet soda.

  By the time she turned into Cole’s property, it was a little after one o’clock. As she drove down the long driveway, she watched him in the field, saw him straighten, saw his posture stiffen. No doubt horrified that she’d returned. Then again, he couldn’t know for sure who had arrived, could he?

  Anthea parked in front of the house, opened the trunk and heaved out the heavy cooler. She grabbed a handle, dragged it up the steps, across the veranda and over to the front door. Propping open the screen door, she gripped the solid door’s handle.

  It wouldn’t budge. Unable to believe it, she gave the handle a good rattle. The grump had locked the door. Way out here in the middle of nowhere, and he’d locked the damn door. And she knew without a doubt he never kept it locked. It hadn’t been locked when she arrived earlier, and it hadn’t been locked yesterday.

  Well, okay. So he wasn’t stupid. Even though he had no clue who she was, he’d suspected she might not give up so easily.

  But did he really think a locked door would deter her? She’d been getting her own way her whole life. Stubborn was her middle name.

  Anthea stepped away from the door and smiled. There, just beyond the window he’d tossed her luggage through, hung a porch swing. She lugged the cooler over, fished The Farmer’s Wife script from her suitcase and took a seat.

  Sweat trickled down her spine as the porch swing rocked gently. She kept herself in top shape to maintain Alex Stark’s athletic prowess, but hauling that heavy cooler around in the humid heat had been hard work.

  Exhausted and thirsty, she grabbed a diet soda from the cooler and took a good long drink, then opened the script and fanned herself.

  From her purse, she snagged her cell phone. Surely Ethan would be in a panic about where she’d disappeared to.

  She turned on her phone, dialed Ethan’s number and waited, hoping the battery wouldn’t die before she managed to get hold of him. It came as no surprise when her call went straight to voice mail.

  “Ethan. This is your sister. Remember me? The only sister you have. You might also remember that I’m your client and I don’t like surprises. Especially lies printed on the front covers of magazines.”

  The moment she hit the disconnect button, she regretted the way she’d spoken to him. He really had taken care of her, especially after their father died.

  By then, Ethan had learned well from Brian how to deal with grief. He buried it, just the way they had buried the grief of Mattie’s passing, by keeping busy. Having also grown up inside the industry, Ethan had become interested in the business side of things. Appointed as her legal guardian,
he took over as her manager and relaunched her career as an adult actress.

  Much to her surprise, Ethan was a far better manager than her father. Before she had a moment to dissolve into grief, Ethan landed her her first adult audition for a role as the resident bitch in a daytime soap. She had been thrilled when she was given the part, but one thing Ethan couldn’t handle so well was the press. The tabloids soon got wind of her new role, splashing the pages with lies about how she seduced a producer mere weeks after her father’s death to secure the role on the soap opera, claiming she was a selfish, uncaring starlet who valued career above family.

  Ethan never fought the lies, taking the clichéd approach that there was no such thing as bad publicity, that the more the tabloids talked about her, the more well known she became. In the end, Anthea found it easier to just let them think what they wanted, rather than fight against it and show the world her true grief.

  As with everything in the fickle world of celebrity, the next story came along and hers was soon forgotten.

  So much so, that a few years after her stint on the daytime soap, a network signed her on for a prime-time sitcom of her own. In between her television roles, small parts in feature films came her way, which eventually led to her starring role in the Kick movies.

  And she had to admit, Ethan had been right about the tabloids at the time. Her false bad-girl image had helped her land the role of Alex Stark, but now, when she wanted a serious role, a role where the audience needed to like and empathize with her, that sort of publicity was having the opposite effect.

  But that wasn’t Ethan’s fault. After all, if he’d chosen another path, she had no doubt her own career wouldn’t exist today. She was so grateful for all he’d done for her, although for some reason, she’d never told him. Damn it. She felt like an absolute heel for leaving him such a spoiled-brat message on his phone.

  Well, there was nothing she could do about it until he called back.

  Finishing the last of her soda, she stretched out on the swing. After squirming to get comfortable, she opened the script again, but as the swing rocked, her eyes grew heavy.

  And then she was having the most wonderful dream. Cole had returned from the field, taken pity on her and was wiping her hot face with a cool washcloth. Except the washcloth didn’t feel quite so cool. In fact, it felt warm and a little slimy.

  Anthea’s eyes snapped open to discover the dog lapping enthusiastically at her face. She jolted wide awake, leaped to her feet and frantically wiped away the drool.

  Midswipe, she stilled. On her feet, she could see over the veranda railing. And what she saw would be etched in her memory forever.

  In the field, Cole pushed the wheelbarrow toward the house. The sun hung low in the sky behind him, causing the clouds above to take on a brilliant orange. But it was Cole she couldn’t keep her eyes off. The sun’s rays lit up his dark hair like gold and outlined his broad shoulders and muscular body in an aura-like effect. And in that moment, she felt a loneliness so deep she wanted nothing more than that man in the field to climb the steps, take her in his arms and just hold her tight. To let his strength and warmth engulf her and assure her that she was safe in those arms, no matter what lies the world beyond spread about her.

  When a tear spilled over her cheek, she told herself to get over it. She didn’t need a man to make her life a success, to fill a void she hadn’t acknowledged until returning to this town. She’d done just fine without one, hadn’t she?

  Unsettled, she plonked down on the porch swing and tried to pull herself together. This was not the time to fall apart. Cole had already proved that fake tears didn’t work on him. No doubt real tears wouldn’t either.

  Besides, Anthea faced a more immediate problem. One caused by the can of soda she’d downed before falling asleep.

  Cole’s feet crunched across the gravel driveway and started up the veranda steps. Thank God.

  “It’s about time,” she said when he made it to the top step. “I’m busting.”

  He froze, and she knew from the expression on his face that it wasn’t because he was surprised to find her there, but because he wasn’t sure how to reply.

  Time for plan A. Bribery.

  She opened the cooler, taking great care to make sure the ice and long-necked bottles of beer made plenty of clinking sounds as she rifled around and chose one. She unscrewed the cap and smiled at the wonderful hiss the gas made as it escaped.

  And then she saw exactly what she wanted to see. Cole swallowed, licked his lips. The sweat on his brow and damp shirt were all the evidence she needed to know he had to be thirsty.

  But instead of moving toward her, he strode to the door and pulled a key from his pocket.

  Anthea quickly raised the bottle to her lips and took a sip. The taste made her face contort—wine was more her style—but she managed to force out a long, exaggerated sigh of pleasure.

  “Come on, you big grump. I know you want one. And I know you don’t have any inside. Just hear me out. That’s all I ask.”

  Cole opened the screen door and inserted the key in the lock. “Sounds like a high price to pay for one beer.”

  Ha! A response. Now she was getting somewhere.

  “What about a whole cooler full?”

  His fingers stilled on the key. A good sign. After a moment, he removed the key from the lock, slid it back in his pocket and walked toward her. He stopped a few steps away and held out his hand. She reached into the cooler and grabbed a fresh beer. As she passed it to him, she noticed blood seeping through his bandaged hand.

  “Your hand’s bleeding. I told you, you need stitches.”

  He simply shook his head and walked over to the railing. The beer hissed as he opened it and raised it to his lips.

  “Good, right?”

  He kept his back to her and leaned against the railing. “What do you want, a medal?”

  “I just want to stay.”

  She watched his shoulders rise and fall as he took a deep breath and released it. “Why anyone would want to stay where they’re not welcome is beyond me.”

  “Because I need to do some research.”

  He placed the beer bottle on the railing. “Research into what? How to trespass? Annoy the living hell out of people?”

  Okay, let him be a smart ass. She just had to keep her cool and not bite back. And remember to stick as close to the truth as possible.

  “For a movie,” she informed him. “Set on an isolated farm. This place is perfect.” She waited. He didn’t say anything for the longest time.

  “So what are you? An actress?”

  “That’s right. Though, not a very good one…yet.” She took a deep breath. This was as good a time as any to tell him her one and only lie. “My name’s Anne Sugar, though I doubt you’ve heard of me.”

  “So?”

  “What do you mean ‘so’?”

  “So why the hell should I care about some spoiled actress’s research?”

  Fine, if he wanted to be like that, then she’d just have to move onto plan B.

  “Isn’t it obvious? As part of the research, I can help you replant. You said the hail ruined weeks of work, that you were already behind. Together, we could halve that time. And with your hand…”

  Cole shook his head as he finally faced her. “Which just proves you’d be in the way.”

  A weak argument. Hope rose in her chest. “But it’d take half the time if I helped. Plus I could clean.”

  “I can do that myself.”

  “And do the laundry.”

  “Can do it all myself.”

  She scowled at him. “There must be something you can’t do on your own?”

  He shrugged, felt along the railing, found his beer and finished it off.

  Anthea rose, shuffled from one foot to the other.
Things were getting desperate in the bladder department.

  “Think about it,” she said. “But right now, my bladder’s in critical overload.” Not to mention she really needed a shower after her nap and the licking she’d taken from the dog. Though she thought it best not to mention that.

  With great reluctance, Cole reached into his pocket and produced the key. Before he had a chance to change his mind, she made a grab for it. But he’d been ready for that and held on.

  “Use the john, then you’re outta here.”

  When he released the key, she bolted to the door, unlocked it and raced inside.

  * * *

  Cole couldn’t believe the audacity of the woman. What stranger behaved in such a manner? Maybe people from the city were different, but she had to be one of the most persistent, stubborn, annoying people he’d ever come across.

  He shook his head at that. Really, it wasn’t like he knew anyone except the locals.

  He rarely left the property—not since the age of nine, when he lost his sight. He’d lived here his entire life, had even been born right in this very house. And even though his grandparents owned the property, times had been tough, leaving his parents with no choice but to live here with his mother’s generous family.

  Adjusting to his blindness had taken time, but he already knew every inch of the house and land backward, so it hadn’t been long before he figured out how to get around on his own. Once he lost his sight, his grandparents had homeschooled him, and he’d taken advantage of the extra free time to practice how many steps it took to get from one place to another, though he quit counting a long time ago. Now it was second nature. He just knew.

  But the world outside the farm was an entirely different matter. Here he felt safe, protected, solid. Out there, in the real world, a dark and dangerous place awaited.

  The first time his grandparents had taken him to a psychiatrist in town, hoping he’d regain his sight, he had refused to hold their hands. He might have been blind, but he was still a nine-year-old boy. And nine-year-old boys were tough and independent. They didn’t hold hands unless they were sissies. But after a few embarrassing mishaps, he’d become aware of just how vulnerable he was when faced with an unfamiliar space. He soon became certain that no matter which way he moved, he’d collide with something. And that fear had frozen him to the spot in much the same way as fear held his tongue during his sessions with the psychiatrist. He couldn’t move for fear of physically hurting himself, and he couldn’t talk about what happened to his parents for fear of letting the emotional pain surface. In the end, to avoid both the physical and mental anguish, he’d taken to hiding on the farm when he knew his grandparents were due to take him into town for an appointment. He made it so difficult for his grandparents to find him, they eventually gave into his determination to never leave the farm. And he didn’t have a single problem with that. He simply had no reason to go anywhere.