Someday Sienna hoped to do the same. But for now, she was a lowly PA on a Kelton film who was assigned to keep tabs on the talent. Talent who had stormed past her without bothering to look up and see her.
Oh but she saw him. What was it about Joey Ramirez that set her heart fluttering, even when he was wearing a slightly soggy coonskin cap? She touched her lips and thought about the misunderstanding in the limo. How many times had she considered chasing the fool man down and demanding he give their love another chance?
Exactly twice—once on her birthday, which truly didn’t count as it was one of those dumb milestone years, and again when Regina informed her Joey was their new John Wayne—was the truthful answer, and neither time did she allow herself the humiliation.
She was fine. Would be fine, Sienna corrected, once she got Joey Ramirez out of her heart. And the only way to do that was to be as professional as possible. Starting with forgetting what happened in the limo and moving forward as coworkers on a movie set.
“Going somewhere?” she called.
Chapter 6
Sienna? Is that you?” Joey’s boot heels rang out on the sidewalk as he came barging back through the opening where, once filming began, Santa Ana’s troops would do the same. And likely be wearing the same expression.
“It’s me.” She took a deep breath and steeled her courage even as she renewed her resolve to guard her heart. “Up here.”
He turned her direction. “What are you doing up there? And where’s the car?”
“It’s dry up here.” Sienna gestured to the tarp. “And the car’s taking Mr. Kelton back into town.”
Joey appeared to be sizing up the situation. Time to head off any further misunderstandings between them.
“So we’re alone?” Joey asked before she could speak, his expression unreadable.
“For now.” Sienna looked past him to where the sky had begun to darken again. “Before you start thinking I had something to do with this, I didn’t. Leaving the talent on set is part of Mr. Kelton’s plan to acquaint them with their characters. The rest of the actors were subject to the same thing.”
“That explains why I’m here.” He easily joined her atop the lumber. “But why are you here?”
Several answers came to mind. “I felt sorry for you having to be here alone. The others were left in a group,” was the most neutral of them.
Stretching his legs out in front of him, Joey shrugged. “Thanks but I don’t need your sympathy.”
Well that did it. “I see.” She rose to her knees and yanked the briefcase from beneath the tarp. Upending it, Sienna found the package and thrust it at Joey. “Here’s your homework, then. Study it. There will be a test.”
Scrambling off the lumber, Sienna pulled the briefcase after her then adjusted her pride before storming away. I’ll just call the driver and tell him I need to be picked up immediately after he delivers Mr. Kelton.
“Walking back to town?” Joey called, though he made no move to follow.
“I just might,” she said as she picked her way around the muddy puddles to reach the gravel road. “And Mr. Kelton’s serious about that test. Expect him to quiz you on the way back to the hotel.”
“When’s that going to be?” he called.
Sienna ignored him to keep walking, though the loose gravel that had been poured as a parking spot for the contractors’ trucks made for slow going. With each step her certainty that her prayers had led her to this place waned. In its place was a huge question that began with, “Lord, what in the world am I doing here?”
“Sienna, wait,” Joey said as his footsteps crunched on the gravel.
She picked up her pace and paid for the decision by losing her footing. The hand that caught her released her just as quickly.
“Be careful,” Joey said when she turned to look at him. “Your boots aren’t made for walking.”
“Neither are yours.” She gave him a cursory glance. “Wardrobe will have half your salary if you ruin any of that. I suggest you get out of the weather before you have to write the studio a check.”
His chuckle was a low rumble. “Honey, I didn’t take this gig for the money,” he said. “And likely you didn’t, either.”
Her traitorous heart jolted. Despite his behavior in the limo, had he known she was working this film? Was that his reason for taking the part?
She braved a look at his face. “Then why?” Sienna dared ask even as she hoped she knew the answer.
A shrug was his quick response. “Who wouldn’t want to work with Art Kelton? And you know what a John Wayne fan I am.”
Of course. It had nothing to do with her. “Well then,” she said with her best professional tone, “you’ve got some work to do there. Study hard, Mr. Wayne, so you can be prepared when the troops return. Or should I say, Mr. Crockett?”
“You’re really leaving?”
“My job here is done.” Sienna reached to shake his hand then took a step back and pulled the folding umbrella out of her briefcase to open it. “Good luck, Joey. I’ll see you at the round table reading at the end of the month.”
Sienna set out walking, this time taking care not to slide about as she reached into her pocket for her cell phone. The last thing she needed was for Joey to rescue her again.
“End of the month?” he said. “But—”
She paused to glance over her shoulder. There he stood in all his nineteenth-century frontiersman glory, a coonskin cap on his head and a studio packet under his arm.
“But what?” Sienna said.
He appeared to want to say something. Perhaps to ask her to stay. And then he held out the packet. “Thanks.”
Thanks?
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re welcome, Joey,” she called as she reached the dirt road and turned toward the highway some three miles east.
“Are you really walking?” trailed after her.
Sienna’s response was to hold up her cell phone. “Calling the driver to tell him to hurry back.” Only when she punched in the numbers to call the driver to return for her did she realize her phone had no service.
Three tries and another quarter-mile down the road, Sienna slowed her frantic pace. The terrain here was flat, but still she hoped she might come upon some higher elevation that would allow her to make the call. Instead, the only things that seemed to be elevating were her irritation and her blood pressure.
So Sienna continued to walk, her right arm in the air and her attention equally divided between the uneven ground under her feet and the bars—or lack of them—on her phone. With every step came a prayer that the Lord, who had no such issues with lack of service, would hear her and come to the rescue.
Up ahead the dark clouds were gathering, and there was no mistaking she’d be walking into a rainstorm if she continued in that direction. The wind had already picked up, and the slow sprinkling of raindrops had turned into a drizzle. Soon the drizzle would be a downpour.
Sienna paused to gauge how far she’d walked. Not nearly far enough.
San Antonio was thirty minutes away by car and an eternity away on foot. At some point she might find a Good Samaritan to rescue her, but the old saying about speaking to strangers would surely prevent her from climbing into a vehicle with one of them.
And so Sienna was left with two choices: keep walking and take her chances or turn around and find shelter on the movie set.
“Lord, not my will but Yours. And I know Yours is to get me out of here.”
Once again she punched the numbers for the car, and again the call refused to complete. Resisting the urge to throw the gadget hard as she could at the nearest rock, she decided to take it apart and put it back together.
Sienna juggled her umbrella to tuck the handle between her chin and shoulder then turned the phone over to remove the battery. Counting to twenty, she put it all back together. When the display came alive, she said one last quick prayer before hitting redial.
Nothing.
“This
absolutely cannot be happening.” She stabbed the button again.
Still nothing.
While she stared at the display, a gust of wind blew past and tore the umbrella away from her. Scrambling to stuff the phone into the briefcase dangling from her shoulder, Sienna did her best to give chase, though the umbrella bounced end over end against rocks and cacti and the gnarled trunks of several mesquite trees before she snagged the handle.
Looking down at her mud-splattered jeans and soggy boots, Sienna’s decision was made. Marching back to the Alamo had not been in her plans, but there simply was no alternative.
So she held the briefcase close against her side and grabbed tighter to the umbrella’s now soggy handle as she slogged her way back down the once-dusty road. With each step the dark clouds seemed to close in until Sienna felt as if she might be swallowed up in the impending storm.
By the time Art Kelton’s version of the Alamo came into view, she could have shouted for joy. She didn’t however, for that might alert Joey to the fact she’d returned.
And that was the last thing she intended to do. As soon as the weather cleared and her cell phone found a tower, she intended to find her way back to San Antonio and forget this day ever happened.
Until then, however, Sienna could only pray that she’d make it inside the shack before the bottom fell out of the clouds that seemed to be following her.
Chapter 7
The tarp atop the pile of lumber flapped wildly in the breeze as Sienna passed by. It appeared the ramshackle building at the edge of the property would be the only dry place, so she made her way toward it. With each step she prayed Joey would not be waiting for her.
Had she a choice, Sienna might have taken her time arriving at the only solid roof within a half mile. Unfortunately, lightning zagged across the sky, and the drizzle became a torrent. With it the temperature began to drop noticeably.
Mud made the going slow, and the wind swooped beneath her umbrella to turn it inside out. She battled and won, but by the time the umbrella was back in place, she hardly had any use for it.
Reaching the porch was half the battle, though the gaps in the roof dumped rainwater on her as she raced past. Finally, Sienna reached the door and gave it a tug.
As she stepped inside, a match flamed, and Sienna turned toward it. The flash blinded her for a moment, but the warm yellow light allowed her focus to return soon enough to see Joey blowing out the match.
“Thought you left.” He gave the match a shake then tossed it into the sink as he sank onto one of the two stools nearby. “Change your mind?”
“Not exactly.” Lightning crashed outside, and she squealed then immediately felt like an idiot. “As you can see, the weather’s not exactly cooperating.”
“So, you don’t have a ride?” He shrugged. “I find it hard to believe no one in that interesting family of yours was willing to make the drive, rain or not.”
It figured that topic would eventually be brought up. “Leave my family out of this.”
When he snorted, Sienna debated the response she longed to give then thought better of it. Giving her umbrella a shake, she left it on the porch and stepped fully inside. The door swung closed but stopped a few inches shy of completing the process.
All the better, Sienna decided. If Joey didn’t wipe the smug look off his face, she might need to make a quick exit. And with the door already partly open, she’d be that much ahead of the game.
While standing near the exit had some appeal, she wandered toward him as much to avoid the gray shadows that held who knows what sort of vermin as to find the only place in the shack where she could sit.
Joey gestured to the packet on the table in front of him. “Haven’t opened this yet, but I’m guessing it’s the script.”
Sienna set her briefcase down then considered the condition of the floor and snatched it back up to placed it on the table. “Not exactly.” She removed her phone from her pocket and sat it atop her briefcase.
His eyes scanned the screen of her phone. “No service, I see.”
When Joey lifted his gaze to meet her stare, Sienna nearly lost her balance. What was it about that man that made her want to throw caution and good sense to the wind and fall in love again? Even when she’d promised herself she wouldn’t.
“So,” Joey said, “I assume you’re Kelton’s right-hand man. Or rather woman.” He paused and seemed amused with his cleverness.
“I’m his PA on this film,” she said.
“One more chance to tell me the truth. Did you arrange this?”
“This as in what’s happening right now or this as in you working on the same film with me?”
He lifted a dark brow. “Both.” Before she could respond, he set her phone aside and hauled her briefcase toward him. “You don’t have a weapon in here, do you? I know we didn’t part on the best terms but—”
“I’ve told you the truth. I’m thrilled to be working with Mr. Kelton, and as for today, he did this with the other actors. You can check with them once everyone’s on set together.”
“Oh, I plan to.” He paused. “Now about the fact you took sympathy on me. Sorry, but that seems a little coincidental, don’t you think?”
Sienna made a grab for the briefcase, but he held it out of reach. “Don’t be ridiculous, Joey. I’ve long since moved on.”
Even as she spoke the words, she longed to truly believe them. Instead, Sienna thought of his embrace. Of his hurried kiss in the car. And of how good, for just that moment, being in his arms once again felt.
“Really?” He gave her a sideways look. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“None of your business.” She gestured to the packet with the studio logo. “Open it.”
With what appeared to be reluctance, Joey slid the briefcase back toward her. This time Sienna sat it on the floor heedless of what sort of insect or rodent might crawl up from the gaping hole nearby. She also discreetly pocketed her cell phone with a prayer it would somehow lock on to a signal once the weather improved.
The crinkle of paper caught Sienna’s attention, as did Joey’s laughter. “What is this?” he asked as he removed a box from the paper and opened it. “It looks like lunch.”
Sienna shrugged. “The others only got a script. I figured you’d already have your part memorized by now. That’s why I included the deck of cards. For playing solitaire.”
“You know me well,” he said then looked away.
An awkward silence fell between them, broken only by the sound of the awful weather now raging outside. Sienna rose and walked toward the door as Joey repacked the sandwich and chips into the box.
“I listened to the wrong people,” he said. “But so did you, Sienna. I’m not nearly as awful as your father believes, and your sister never did like me.”
“Papa was right,” she said under her breath as she recalled his warning that choosing work over relationship was the way to a broken heart. What she’d never tell Joey was that her father was equally troubled by both of them and not just Joey.
“Maybe so, but your aunts always liked me. All but Vi. Or was it Consuela?”
Sienna turned to face him. “Look, Joey. It appears you and I are both stuck here. That doesn’t mean I want to talk about old times.” She returned to look out the door. “Or bad memories,” she added. “So talk about the weather, the Spurs, or whatever else you can think of but I refuse to say another word about us.” A pause. “Or to listen to any either. Understood?”
“Yeah,” she heard him say as the thunder rolled past and shook more than just the door frame she was holding. “So honestly, what’s the point of this?” He moved across the floor, heavy footsteps that ceased in a spot just behind her. “What do you suppose Kelton intends for me to get out of this?”
Swallowing hard, Sienna glanced over her shoulder. With the lamplight behind him, Joey’s face was in shadows, his expression unreadable.
“His intention with the other actors was to build camaraderie and to give them an
idea of what it would have been like to depend on one another.”
His chuckle was soft, distinct. “Boot camp for Alamo defenders?”
“Something like that,” she said. “He figured you should experience what the others had. I convinced him you probably deserved some company as no one else was forced to be alone.”
“Cozy,” he said, his tone neutral.
Irritation rose. “Actually, I had hoped to enlist someone else for the job. I think Mr. Kelton’s still upset with me over the other Davy Crockett quitting.”
A curt nod and Joey made his way back to the table and the circle of lamplight. “How long were the others left to fend for themselves?”
Sienna frowned. “Overnight.”
“Overnight?” Joe shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No,” she said slowly, “I’m serious. However, the arrangement was for me to call the driver and have him come back for me as soon as I felt the least bit uncomfortable out here with you. Thus, your initiation into the defenders of the Alamo club might have been much shorter than the others.”
“Because you were in a hurry to leave?”
“Yeah,” she said as she sank carefully onto the nearest stool. “Guess that’s not going to happen now.”
Joe leaned back against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest. “Surely there’s a default time for the car to return. In what, a few hours?”
“Honestly, I never really paid much attention to that part of the briefing.”
Dark brows rose. “What do you mean?”
“I knew I’d be calling so I didn’t—” She shrugged as she looked out the dust-covered windows to where the rain poured down in sheets. “What does it matter? Surely Mr. Kelton wouldn’t leave us out here for long in this storm.”
“That’s brilliant logic, Sienna,” Joey said. “Except for the fact there are at least two miles of dirt road between us and a highway. With this kind of rain, I guarantee that’s nothing but mud now. How do you figure that limo’s going to come back for us?”
A flash of lightning illuminated the shadows. “Slowly?” was her only response.
A Riverwalk Christmas: Four-in-One Collection Page 22