Love in the Heartland

by Diana Currie

  Maddie gave Nathan a quick peck on the lips and then pulled away, eager to go see what Jackie could do to improve her look. Nathan wasn’t ready to let her go just yet and grabbed Maddie’s hand, yanking her back towards him and curled her into a tight embrace.

  “Go have fun. I’ll miss you.”

  Maddie grinned and said she would miss him too. When he finally let her go, Maddie winked at him playfully and then followed Jackie into the house. Nathan watched until they were gone and then turned to notice his brother staring at him.

  “What?” he asked.

  Garrett shook his head smiling, knowing that his little brother was definitely more smitten with Maddie Sherratt than he had admitted the last time they spoke about her. “Nothing, bro. Nothing at all. Let’s go eat some lunch and then we can catch up while I finish off the Spielberg scotch.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Nathan’s house didn’t feel empty anymore; not with Maddie, Garrett, and Jackie all staying with him. He liked hearing the sounds of their footsteps and muffled voices from the second floor as they milled around getting ready for a night out in Hollywood. It had been three years since Nathan had lived with anyone and he’d forgotten just how nice it was to have family around. Waking up next to Maddie every morning made him feel like everything in his life was just about perfect.

  He made reservations for dinner and called ahead to Chateau Marmont while Garrett showered in one of the guest bathrooms and Jackie and Maddie did their hair and makeup in the master bath. Nathan also sent texts to a few friends to see if anyone wanted to meet up with them after dinner. It had been a long time since he’d tried to arrange plans with anyone so he was very pleased to see Tyler and Katie wanted to meet them later that night. He was even happier when Pete Walker replied that he had other plans.

  When Maddie came downstairs Nathan was stunned by how elegant she looked; Jackie did a truly professional job on her. She was wearing a salmon colored dress with a low neckline and a short hem. Her hair was swept up and pinned atop her head with just a few curled strands hanging down. The most noticeable difference in Maddie’s appearance was her confidence. He could tell from the way Maddie held her head high and smiled brightly that she thought she looked good too. Nathan held out his hand to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “You look gorgeous,” he said.

  “Good enough to take out in public?” she teased.

  Nathan wrapped his arms around her as his eyebrows crinkled. “Hmm, maybe too good. I’m not so sure I want to share you with the world.”

  Maddie laughed. “After everything Jackie plucked and moisturized on my body I’m not letting it go to waste. She even got me in high heeled shoes!”

  Nathan glanced down to her feet. “I thought you looked taller.”

  “Yeah well, if I’m holding your hand all night it’s not affection. You’ll be keeping me from falling on my ass.”

  Nathan rolled his eyes and then pulled her closer for a light kiss, careful not to smudge her makeup. “You’ll do fine. And we’ll have fun tonight, I promise.”

  Stanley had the night off so Nathan arranged for another driver to take them to the restaurant he chose in West Hollywood. Jacqueline was thrilled to ride in the limousine and Garrett helped himself to the wet bar. They enjoyed dinner at a quiet table in the restaurant where Nathan ordered wine and appetizers for everyone to share and told them to order anything they liked. Nathan noticed that while Garrett usually complained about his wealth and undeserved luck whenever they were together in Wisconsin, he sure didn’t have a problem enjoying the spoils of it there in Hollywood.

  Nathan didn’t let the change of heart bother him; he was simply glad to see that so far, he was getting along with his brother. Maybe it was Jacqueline that kept him in check or perhaps it was the passage of time that had made a difference, but regardless of the reason Nathan was happy to watch Garrett and Jacqueline enjoying themselves.

  Maddie got along great with the couple which was another relief of Nathan’s fears. He was so happy to see her relax and have a good time at the restaurant. The waiter recognized Nathan but was accustomed to serving celebrities and handled himself professionally so they were able to make it through the meal without feeling like a spectacle. Nathan knew the restaurant would be the easy part; they were much more likely to attract attention after dinner.

  Luckily, their arrival at Chateau Marmont managed to be kept low key. Their driver dropped them off right in front of the building and they had no issues getting inside. There were lots of other actors and musicians there; Nathan was not at all the most famous face. Jacqueline and Garrett were in awe as they walked around the bar and lounge areas. After getting the first round of drinks, Nathan claimed a large table near the back of the room. They talked about life in Wisconsin versus life in Texas while they waited for Nathan’s friends to arrive. Within an hour they were joined by Tyler Curran, Katie Owens, and Katie’s assistant.

  Maddie didn’t realize celebrities had assistants outside of the studio, but apparently it was common. At least that’s what Katie said. She introduced the woman as EmmaMichaels, an ex-actress who discovered she liked to shop more than she liked to act. Maddie was fascinated with her right away; sensing a bubbly and honest personality. She wanted to hear more about how Emma wound up working for Katie.

  “I came out here two weeks after graduating high school,” Emma told Maddie. “I had stars in my eyes and big dreams of fame and fortune. I had the typical initiation to L.A. I lived in a roach infested apartment with three other girls all whom wanted the same thing as me; to make it on the big screen. I went on auditions every week and worked at a bowling alley every night. It only took me six months to burn out.”

  “Did you ever get into a movie?” Maddie wondered.

  “I played the green fairy in a Disney made-for-DVD movie. And I had a Swifter commercial,” Emma shrugged.

  Katie laughed and added, “That’s why I hired her. I recognized her from the commercial and thought she was awesome.”

  “I think your exact words were ‘hey, you’re the Swifter girl!’” Emma corrected snickering.

  A few minutes later, Nathan was telling the group about his next movie role when an old friend spotted him from across the room and waved. Nathan hadn’t seen his Zero Gravity costar in many months and was less than thrilled to see him there. He also didn’t want him to meet Maddie but it was too late; Gerard had ended the conversation he was having with two young women and was strolling over to say hello.

  “Nathan, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you here. How’s it been going, man? Who are your friends?”

  Nathan faked a smile and made the introductions. “Everybody, this is Gerard, my costar in Zero Gravity. Gerard, you remember my brother, Garrett? He’s in town the rest of the week with his girlfriend, Jackie. You might recognize Tyler and Katie. Emma is Katie’s assistant, and this is my girlfriend, Maddie.”

  “Hey, do you want to join us?” Garrett offered.

  Gerard agreed and slid into the booth next to Emma. She recoiled closer to Katie, having heard not so nice gossip about Gerard’s reputation. “Thank you. I haven’t seen my good friend Nathan in quite some time. Maddie, have you had something to do with that?” Gerard asked conversationally.

  Maddie’s eyes widened, initially worried that Gerard somehow knew it had been at her request thatNathan stay away from him. She hopedNathan wouldn’t have blamed his recent absence on her and she smiled politely. “I think I might have. We’ve been together a few months now.”

  “How wonderful,” he replied flatly.

  Maddie knew Gerard was the lowlife that supplied Nathan with the little white pill that nearly ruined his life. She hadn’t expected to run into him while she was in town and part of her wanted to punch him in the face. Instead, she maintained a calm facade as everyone at the table waited for someone else to start up a conversation.

  “We should play a drinking game,” Garrett suggested loudly.r />
  Everyone looked at him and then glanced around the table to gauge others’ reactions. “What game did you have in mind?” Katie asked boldly.

  “Truth Serum. We ask each other questions and if someone refuses to answer they have to drink. If the answer to the question is the name of a person at the table then that person drinks.”

  “That game sounds dangerous,” Nathan commented.

  “I think it’ll be fun,” Gerard said with a smirk. “A good get-to-know-you game.”

  “Exactly,” Garrett replied happily.

  Jacqueline looked at Maddie who shrugged trying to suppress her smile. Maddie knew this game was going to make Nathan mad but she was too curious to see what questions would be asked to back out. She didn’t want to miss the opportunity to ask the EVOL stars some personal questions and when the tables turned on her she could always opt to get drunk rather than answer. Her only concern was how Gerard would act. She glanced over at Nathan to try and read his face.

  Nathan saw that no one at the table was going to back him up so he reluctantly agreed to play. He signaled the waiter to bring the table a round of shots and said, “Okay, who’s going to start?”

  Garrett rubbed his hands together with a big victory grin and said, “I’ll start to give everyone an idea of how it works. Emma… who is the worst celebrity you’ve ever assisted?”

  Emma thought for a second and then answered, “Lindsay Lohan, no doubt about it.”

  Jacqueline smiled and wanted to ask Emma more about working for Lindsay, but it was Emma’s turn to ask a question. “Okay, Nathan, this is for you. Which movie was more fun to film, Zero Gravity, Love Spelled Backwards, or Tomorrow and Forever?”

  “Love Spelled Backwards, I think.”

  Garrett groaned. “That question was lame. You’re trying to make the person drink rather than answer honestly.” Emma stuck her tongue out at him.

  “My turn,” Nathan said. “Tyler, who do you think is older, Katie or Jacqueline?”

  Tyler chuckled. “Oh man…” He looked back and forth between the women and neither had an amused expression on their face. “Um… Jackie?”

  Jacqueline huffed and said, “I’m twenty-five. What about you, Katie?”

  “Twenty-two,” she replied apologetically.

  Garrett laughed and said, “It doesn’t really matter if Tyler was right or not. His answer was your name, Jackie, so you have to take a drink.”

  Jackie rolled her eyes, “Stupid game,” she muttered and took the shot of vodka in front of her.

  “Do you hate me now?” Tyler asked jokingly.

  Jackie smirked. “No, but I’m counting that as your official question directed at me so now it’s my turn. Okay, let’s see my question is for…Maddie. How many times have you and Nathan had sex since you got to L.A.?”

  Maddie’s cheeks blushed and she looked down; she hadn’t expected to be the first person to get asked such a personal question. Nathan frowned and stuck up for her saying, “Jacqueline! Why do you have to embarrass her like that? Don’t answer, Angel.”

  “She has to answer or drink!” Garrett said.

  “I was just curious… long distance relationship and all,” Jackie explained with a grin. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Maddie.”

  “I’m not embarrassed; I’m just trying to count!” Maddie said defending herself. She ignored the voices around her and started thinking again; bathtub, bed, kitchen counter, bed again, living room sofa, and the bedroom floor. “Six times,” she answered confidently.

  “Damn, bro!” Garrett chortled. Nathan rubbed his hand over his face as Tyler whistled long and slow and Gerard offered him a fist bump, which he declined.

  “Maddie, honey, it’s your turn to ask a question. And might I suggest putting the spotlight on this game’s sponsor?”

  Maddie tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Garrett, your question.”

  “Bring it on, sex kitten,” he antagonized.

  “What was the name of that actress you shamelessly hit on the last time you came to L.A.?”

  “Easy! Demi Levato.”

  Jacqueline looked surprised. “When was this?”

  “Before I met you, babe,” Garrett assured her.

  Katie raised her hand to get everyone’s attention. “Excuse me, but you hit on me too.”

  “I did?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. The same night; you don’t remember? Nathan introduced us, you hit on me big time, and I told you I had a boyfriend. Then you shoved your tongue down my throat anyway.”

  “You two kissed?” Jacqueline shrieked.

  Nathan and Maddie laughed at the expression on Garrett’s face. He seemed to have no recollection of those events at all, but Nathan remembered. And he was so glad at that moment that he’d told Maddie about it too. They were partying with Gerard and a couple other Zero Gravity costars. Garrett had been so drunk that it wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t remember it. That was the night Nathan had to pull his brother away from Levato’s beefy, angry, bodyguard before he got his head bashed in. Nathan had yelled at him the next day for being an embarrassment and it took a long time to repair the damage caused by that night.

  “Yes, it was here at the Chateau in fact,” Nathan said smugly. He was very proud of Maddie for being able to turn the tables on his brother. Judging by the expression on Jacqueline’s face, those missing memories were coming back to haunt him.

  “That was almost a year ago,” Garrett said dismissively.

  Jacqueline still crossed her arms and pouted. “You knew me a year ago.”

  “Ok, but we weren’t dating yet,” he said.

  “Whatever. Just ask your next question, dumbass.”

  Gerard jokingly said, “Looks like only one of the Foster’s will be getting laid six times this week!” Nathan couldn’t hold back his laughter. It was refreshing to see Garrett be the butt of the joke for a change.

  “Shut up,” Garrett snapped. “Gerard, who played Travis Tague in your space movie?”

  “Why that would be Nathan Foster,” he answered sheepishly. “Which means he has to drink.”

  Nathan rolled his eyes and groaned. “Drink!” Emma reminded him. He swallowed the shot while giving her the stink eye.

  Gerard looked around the table to find his Truth Serum victim. “Ah, the lovely Katie Owens. Tell us… who was a better kisser, Garrett or Nathan?”

  “I object,” Nathan said immediately.

  “This isn’t a court room,” Tyler laughed.

  Katie glanced at Nathan and debated whether or not to just take the shot. She knew that refusing to answer the question would be just as revealing as answering. “Nathan,” she admitted in a small voice.

  Maddie bit the inside of her cheek to keep a neutral expression on her face but she wasn’t surprised by Katie’s answer. She could see how this game was escalating very quickly from uncomfortable to pure evil. Katie glanced at Maddie and mouthed “sorry,” so she smiled back and shrugged her shoulders slightly to assure Katie that she wasn’t upset. She knew their history and had accepted it long ago.

  “Nathan, drink!” Emma demanded, banging her fist on the table. She was really starting to like this game, and was also hoping to take the attention off Katie.

  Emma’s job description included Starbucks runs, personal shopping, answering fan mail, and most importantly being a loyal confidant. Being Katie’s assistant for the past five months meant that she knew firsthand how Nathan Foster had gotten under her skin and inadvertently broken her heart. She loved working for Katie and they had developed a friendship that extended beyond the typical business relationship most celebrities had with their assistants. They were also good friends.

  Nathan drank his second shot in less than a minute’s time and hoped nobody had plans to gang up on him. His body wasn’t used to consuming a lot of alcohol anymore and it wouldn’t take him long to get wasted. He remembered far too well how poorly he behaved with excessive alcohol consumption, which not coincidently usually involved
Gerard.

  Nathan smiled at Katie, hoping that she wasn’t too embarrassed by Gerard’s insensitive question. She smiled back briefly and then turned to Tyler. “Ty, what’s the most embarrassing thing to happen to you on set? Any movie.”

  He thought for a minute and then said, “I sneezed on a girl once in the middle of shooting a sex scene. I had a cold but the douche director didn’t care so we filmed anyway. I sneezed right into her hair.”

  “Ew!” Jackie said.

  Maddie held her hand up over her face as she laughed. “That’s so gross. What did she do?”

  “At first she didn’t realize there was snot in her hair and the cameras were rolling so I just kept kissing her. When she finally felt it, she was not too pleased.”

  “Who was the girl? Is she still acting?” Emma wondered.

  Tyler thought for a second trying to remember her name. “Amber something. She’s doing TV now. I felt really bad, we were both nineteen and that was her first sex scene.”

  Jackie sighed, “Don’t feel bad. Most girls’ real first times are not much better.”

  “Fairies don’t get sex scenes, thank God,” Emma said, “but my first time on camera was so nerve wracking. I was surrounded by actors who’d been around for a while and knew what they were doing; I was the only newbie. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up on set.”

  Katie smiled and said, “Nathan, tell us about your first time in front of the cameras. Didn’t you have a similar experience?”

  Nathan pressed his lips together thinking. Acting came naturally to him but the pressure of performing well and pleasing the dozens of people who all have a say in any film’s production was so intense it used to make him physically ill. He knew just how Emma had felt and guessed that every actor probably felt the same way whether they’d admit it or not.

  “The first movie I ever filmed was such a stressful experience that I used to puke in my trailer before every call to set,” he admitted.

  “Really?” For some reason Maddie found that fascinating but also very upsetting. She’d seen all of Nathan’s movies and that fear never showed through his performance, even in his first film. She didn’t like knowing that he had once been under such intense pressure.