Love in the Heartland

by Diana Currie

  “How are you going to decide? I wish you could tell me more so that I could help you.”

  “I asked my mother about it yesterday when she called. But that didn’t solve anything. Her answer to every problem is for me to go home to Wisconsin.”

  “You told Nancy about this secret movie and not me?” Maddie teased.

  Nathan didn’t pick up on the humor in her voice. “I really do want to tell you. Your opinion would be very relevant to my problem, but I’m worried about your reaction.”

  “My reaction? Why?”

  “Because I feel like I owe it to my fans to make this movie.”

  “You’re afraid I’ll tell you to do it?” she guessed.

  “Yeah. I know you will.”

  “Well now I’m really curious, Nathan. I remember you promising never to lie to me, even by omission,” she said hoping to guilt the truth out of him. She couldn’t help herself.

  Nathan groaned theatrically. “Okay, I’m going to tell you. But please promise me you won’t freak out.”

  “I promise nothing.”

  “Maddie,” he said sternly, rubbing two fingers against his temple anxiously.

  “Fine, fine. Totally serious now. Supportive friend hat is on. Shoot.”

  Nathan sighed out loud. “It’s a Love Spelled Backwards sequel.”

  “Are you serious?” she gasped.

  “Yes,” he replied rolling his eyes.

  “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

  Nathan had to hold the phone away from his ear. He was surprised the glass wall behind him didn’t shatter into a million tiny fragments. This was exactly the response he had feared.

  “Oh. My. God. How could you torture me with that kind of information? It’s been agonizing enough to keep the secret of the fake tribal band from Holly. This is like the mother of all secrets!”

  Nathan scowled at her typical fangirl ramblings. “Don’t you think the mother of all secrets you’re keeping from Holly is the fact that you and I are friends?”

  Maddie nearly choked on the word. Friends. Yes, she was his friend. She immediately felt terrible and struggled to control her breathing and suppress the excitement she felt. “I’m so sorry. You’re right, I’m your friend and I am here to support you. I just can’t believe they want to make another EVOL movie. I’m in shock.”

  “Why are you surprised by that? Hollywood is out of ideas; didn’t you know? They make every remotely successful movie into a sequel. Independence Day 2 for instance. Hangover 3. Toy Story 4. Saw 5. Fast and Furious 107.”

  Maddie giggled. “Okay, okay. You’re right. And I really am sorry for screeching like a crazed fan. I was just not expecting that at all.”

  “I know. I was shocked too. Duncan’s writing a second book to go along with the movie release. So now do you see why this is so hard for me to turn down?”

  “Yeah, I get it. This is a tough one. A second EVOL would be so awesome. And the fans are so hungry for more; I know it’ll make a lot of money.”

  “So that’s it? You want me to do the movie now too?” Nathan asked hopelessly. He was completely outnumbered. The only person he could find to support his desire to turn down the movie deal was his overprotective mother.

  “Honestly, yes. As a fan of the book and movie, as a girl who is completely in love with Caleb Thomas, I do want you to,” Maddie admitted. “But don’t you remember what I wrote in that letter you read last month? Above all I care about you. I want you to be happy, I meant that. I couldn’t possibly enjoy EVOL 2 if I knew it cost you your sanity.”

  Nathan sat down in one of the wicker chairs on his veranda and looked out across the lawn to the carefully manicured bushes that lined the property. “I have to admit the script is good. The truth is I’m not opposed to the movie itself. It’s everything else that comes with being Caleb.”

  “The media attention,” Maddie stated.

  “The screaming, crying, erratic women. The constant paparazzi presence outside my home, the studio, the grocery store,” Nathan added.

  “You’re making me feel guilty. I’m the reason you have zero privacy. If people like me didn’t eat those pictures up you wouldn’t be followed like that.”

  Nathan sighed. He didn’t want Maddie to feel guilty. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s because of you, Holly, and the whole EVOL Facebook fan club that the movie offers keep coming in. I understand that and I’m grateful for my success.”

  “So, what are you going to do?” Maddie whispered.

  “I don’t know.”

  “How long do you have to decide?”

  “The studio wants an answer by the end of the week. But really everything revolves around me. They won’t recast the lead role so I could drag my feet for months if I wanted. It would just piss off the execs.”

  “I think you need to let this soak in. Give yourself a little time and reevaluate how you feel in a couple days. So, let’s talk about something else, okay? What were you doing when I called?”

  Nathan smiled to himself. How had he survived all this time without Maddie in his life? She just made everything… brighter. “I was thinking about going for a swim,” he answered.

  “Is the weather nice there today?” Maddie asked trying not to think about Nathan in a bathing suit.

  “A little chilly but the pool is heated.”

  Maddie chuckled. “Of course it is.”

  “What were you doing before you called me?”

  “Kyle is over with the girls. We were watching the Ranger’s game downstairs. Kyle figured he could show up at dinner time and get a free meal but my parents went out to eat tonight.”

  “Poor Kyle,” Nathan replied. “I hope you fed him.”

  “Eh, I told him to wait around to claim mom’s doggy bag.”

  “What, really?”

  Maddie smiled. “No, I made him a cheeseburger casserole. What kind of big sister do you take me for?”

  “Damn, that sounds good. What else can you make?” Nathan asked rubbing his stomach idly.

  “I’m a decent cook. I can make chicken piccata, beef stroganoff, homemade pot pies, let’s see… I make a mean pecan pie, mint chocolate chip brownies, bananas foster-”

  “Stop, stop. You’re killing me,” Nathan moaned.

  Maddie blushed, the firm grasp on her subconscious slipping just enough to imagine what it would be like to cook for Nathan. She bet he would look amazing sitting in her kitchen, licking a spoon covered in chocolate batter…

  Her daydreaming was interrupted by a splash heard through the phone. “Nathan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What was that noise? It sounded like water.”

  “I just got in the pool.”

  “What if you drop the phone, dummy,” she chided playfully.

  “It’s been placed safely on the concrete edge. You’re on speaker. I’m imagining that you’re here with me, sitting at the edge of the pool with your feet in the water.”

  “Now you’re killing me,” she whined.

  “And why’s that?” he asked knowingly.

  Maddie was about to respond when she heard a knock at her door and froze mid-sentence. “Come in.”

  “What’s going on?” Nathan asked in her ear as Kyle pushed open her bedroom door. He was holding Addison in one arm.

  “Maddie? Who are you talking to?” Kyle asked.

  “My brother just came into my room,” she explained to Nathan. Looking up at Kyle again Maddie said, “just a friend.”

  Kyle’s face fell and he cleared his throat. “The friend you said got into a fight?”

  “Um, yeah. I was just making sure he’s okay.”

  Kyle didn’t look pleased by her answer. In fact, his face twisted into a pained expression. “Maddie, what is going on with you?” he asked pulling his tablet out from behind his back.

  He shifted the baby in his arms in order to turn the tablet on and show the screen to Maddie. She gasped when she saw the TMZ webpage loaded up. Nathan’s picture was there, right
where she left it. Damn tablet technology for remembering the website she was looking at!

  “So, are you crazy, delusional, schizophrenic?” Kyle demanded, “or do you want to tell me who you’re really talking to?”

  Chapter Five

  Maddie smiled when she heard her phone ring at exactly eight o’clock Sunday evening. She knew who was calling and the nervous butterflies in her stomach that she experienced during prior conversations were finally gone. She grabbed her phone off the kitchen counter feeling genuine affection for her caller.

  “Hey, slugger,” she answered happily.

  Nathan grinned. “Hello there, Madeline.”

  “Any more black eyes to report?”

  “Nope, nope. None that I’m aware of. You sound like you’re in a good mood. Can I assume things went well with your brother the other day?”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. Kyle. He was almost five years younger than her but since he was a head taller he acted like he was her protector and not the other way around. But Maddie knew different. When Kyle saw the TMZ story on his tablet the other night he realized that Maddie had referred to Nathan Foster, the famous actor she idolized, as her “friend”. He was really pissed at her when he caught her supposedly talking to herself in her room. Kyle thought that his sister’s cheese had finally slid off her cracker and was now having conversations with Nathan Foster as if he were really in the room.

  Maddie couldn’t believe that her brother would think she was crazy enough to entertain delusions like that but she had to admit the truth seemed even less likely. She was forced to end her call with Nathan prematurely Thursday night in order to calm Kyle down and give him some sort of explanation for her odd behavior. It killed her to disconnect the phone call when Nathan had just told her that he was wet, swimming in his heated pool, wishing she was there with him. Torture. But Kyle was seriously concerned. The last thing she wanted to do was let Kyle talk to Nathan on the phone, he wouldn’t be able to recognize the actors voice anyway, so Maddie chose to say goodnight to Nathan and tell Kyle the truth.

  “I told him everything; I hope that doesn’t upset you. He’d thought I’d lost my mind because I told him one of my friends had been in a bar fight and then he saw the TMZ article I read online about you. He actually thought I was making up a relationship with you in my head!”

  Nathan couldn’t stop laughing. “So when we were on the phone he thought you were talking to yourself? That is hilarious.”

  “Yeah, well laugh all you want. I had to tell him about the letters I wrote you, and how I was worried. I told him why you called me that first night. He still didn’t believe me until I showed him the pictures you texted me.”

  “Hmmm. What does he think now?”

  “He thinks it’s incredible but he believes me. I threatened to Facebook all his baby pictures if he told a single person that I know you, even our parents.”

  “Geez, are you really that ashamed of me?” Nathan teased.

  “Yep. Totally am. It’s a good thing we only talk on the phone. I’d be mortified if the paparazzi got pictures of me next to a grown man sporting a black eye.”

  “Harsh, Maddie. That’s harsh,” Nathan responded as he stretched out on his sofa. He didn’t understand why but he liked it when she teased him.

  “So, tell me about your day,” Maddie said, eager to move their conversation forward. She knew Nathan had to make a decision about the EVOL sequel but didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.

  “I worked out in the home gym, read through one of the other scripts I’d been excited about before Love Spelled Backwards dropped into my lap. Then I watched a few episodes of Lost. It’s getting really good.”

  Maddie snickered. “What season are you on?”

  “I need to watch the last episode of season three and I’ll officially be halfway through the series.”

  “The three finale? That’s an awesome episode. Why don’t you put it on right now, we can watch it together?” Maddie suggested.

  “How?”

  “Hulu. It has full seasons of lots of old shows.”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize that,” he replied walking over to his flat screen to switch it on. “So, are you going to be in your living room then, to watch it online?”

  “No, I have to go down to the basement. Mom’s watching TV in the living room. The basement’s more private anyway. It’s kind of like our family room. There are big comfy sofas; mom’s elliptical machine is down here, and Kyle’s old guitar.”

  “Oh, okay. Let me get set up here. I need to plug in my phone so it doesn’t die during the show. And I gotta get the TV on.”

  “How are you watching it? The DVD’s?”

  “Yeah, JJ Abrams sent the box set series to me as a gift.”

  “You’re such a name dropper. Tell me when you’re ready, slugger.”

  Nathan chuckled and settled down on the sofa in his living room. “I’m ready now. I put you on speaker again.”

  “Where am I this time?” Maddie asked biting her lip.

  “On the arm of the couch. Can you hear me?”

  “Yep, I can hear you. So how should we do this? Count to three and then hit play?”

  “You mean you don’t know? I was led to believe you knew how to synchronize a double feature like this.”

  Maddie laughed. “Nope. I’ve never done this before with anyone.”

  There was silence for a moment and then Nathan replied, “Then we’ll both remember our first time together.”

  A shudder rippled through Maddie’s body at the soothing innuendo of his words. It took her a second or two to regain her self-control. “Okay, on three. One. Two. Three!”

  They watched the opening scene without speaking and it seemed like the show was in sync by the time the LOST logo appeared on their screens. Maddie snuggled into the sofa and draped an afghan over her legs. It was fun watching with someone who was new to the show. Maddie enjoyed listening to Nathan’s questions and comments throughout the forty-two-minute episode. She soon realized that Nathan was just as lost as Jack Shephard.

  “I still don’t understand. What is Charlie doing? Why couldn’t he close the door from the other side?”

  “I guess because it wouldn’t lock on the other side and he wants to save Desmond.”

  “No, no, Charlie can’t die… Not Penny’s Boat? What does that mean?” he responded.

  Then a few minutes later… “Is Benjamin Linus telling the truth?”

  “Does he ever?”

  “I’m so confused, Maddie.”

  “Maybe if you stopped talking through all the dialogue you would know what was going on,” Maddie quipped.

  “Or you could just tell me if this Naomi chick is good or bad!”

  Maddie rolled her eyes. Nathan was annoying to watch TV with. She didn’t understand why but she loved that she uncovered this little tidbit about him. It made her feel closer to him in some small way, like she was getting to know who he was instead of what he was.

  “Just shut up and watch, Nathan.”

  “You’re mean when you watch Lost.”

  Maddie giggled. “Save your questions till the end please. We’ll have a round table discussion when it’s over.”

  They continued to comment to one another every few minutes but mostly Maddie spent the time thinking about her relationship with Nathan and how much it had evolved in the four short weeks they’d been talking. She felt comfortable teasing him now as opposed to their first few calls when she was so frightened of saying something dumb or embarrassing. They had each shared some personal stories with the other and she felt like she could tell him anything and he wouldn’t judge her. She felt like his friend. It was a substantial development she was proud of.

  There was an unspoken understanding between Nathan and Maddie that their relationship wouldn’t progress any further than friendship because of their physical separation. Sure, they flirted here and there but it never progressed into anything more than that. Maddie was convinced Natha
n Foster, the world-famous actor, could never want her in a romantic way regardless of whether or not she lived in the same state as him or even the same city. She was a normal, Midwestern girl. She was nothing special. The pressure was off knowing that she could never be anything more in Nathan’s eyes than a good friend. She needn’t try to make him become enamored with her, nor fear his rejection of her pursuits. The option of a romantic connection was off the table. It was a relief.

  Had they been friends that saw one another often, Maddie could imagine herself having difficulty remaining platonic for any length of time. She would undoubtedly have embarrassed herself by concocting plans to try and make Nathan fall in love with her. Considering that the likelihood of such a plan succeeding was highly improbable under any circumstances she was thankful for the fact that they would never meet.

  Maddie knew that she did not truly “love” Nathan, of course. Her mother had taught her in high school the difference between infatuation and love when she started becoming boy crazy. Maddie knew she loved Nathan the same way she loved pizza, loved the beach, and loved the Texas Rangers. “Pizza love” Sandy Sherratt had called it. The past few years Maddie spent with Holly gushing over their mutual love for Nathan Foster had been nothing more than a harmless infatuation. Pizza Love. What she felt for him now was friendship… and it felt really good.

  “Wow,” Nathan commented as the season three finale ended. “So, who’s in the coffin? Why do they have to go back?”

  Maddie smiled as her mind drifted back to the present. “Your mind is blown, right? Now imagine having to wait all freaking summer to find out what happens next season.”

  “I can’t believe they killed off Charlie.”

  “You knew it was coming. Desmond told him so.”

  “But there’s an unspoken rule in Hollywood. You don’t kill off the fan favorites!”

  “Nathan, you are exhausting me.”

  “I’m sorry, do you need to go to sleep?”

  “No, just chill out with the twenty questions. You are a man in serious need of the Lostpedia.”