The Last Goodbye (The Women of Independence) (4 page)

They sat comfortably for a while, lost
in their own thoughts.

Danielle spoke first. “I did the same
thing a while back; I made a bad judgment call, too.” She pushed off with one
foot, setting the rocker in motion.

“I’ve owned this renovation business
about ten years now. Ever since...” She looked away. “...anyway it’s been about
ten years, and last year I decided I’d take on a partner. Bryce is an architect,
and we’d consulted on a couple of projects.” She pushed again, making the chair
rock even faster. “We’d been working together for about six months, and when he
suggested that we join forces, it made a lot of sense. Sometimes in the
evenings, we did paperwork, and I was teaching him the estimating programme. We
even dated a few times.” She gave a short, dry laugh. “About two months ago, he
left and set up his own business.”

Grayson tensed, but remained silent.

“We’d just put the finishing touches on
a couple of quotes for fairly big jobs. The weasel approached the customers behind
my back and they signed with him.”

“You didn’t pursue it legally?”

She shrugged. “This is a small town and suing
each other is a last resort. Besides, I don’t think he can handle the jobs on
his own, and some of the sub-trades don’t care for his methods.” She gave him a
wicked smile. “I think he’ll fall flat on his face.” She looked into the
distance. “What angered me the most was that when he left, he poached two of my
best employees.”

“They weren’t your best employees if
they went with him.”

She looked up sharply. “You know, you’re
right. I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She drained the rest of the Grand
Marnier. “Anyway, I know what it’s like to misjudge someone.”

“What I don’t understand is that he had
it all and he threw it away.” His voice softened. “You said you were dating?”

She nodded, the movement barely visible
in the dark.

“Then he’s an idiot.” A light came on
inside, the soft golden light throwing his face into shadows. “I lost someone
too, but to be honest, it wasn’t much of a loss.” He gave a small,
self-deprecating laugh. “Melanie and I had been going out for a little over a
year. I was riding high from my successes and she loved the attention. But when
the movie tanked, she dumped me so fast!” He laughed again. “You know that part
in the road runner cartoon where he takes off, his legs spinning, and leaves a
cloud of dust behind?”

Danielle nodded, trying not to laugh.

“That was Melanie.”

Danielle reached for her glass, then
remembered it was empty. “Excuse me for stating the obvious, but aren’t you
better off without her?”

“Yes, of course.” He grinned. “But at
the time, her leaving was just one more blow to my fragile male ego.”

“Somehow I think you’ll survive. Sean’s
a respected producer isn’t he?”

“He’s one of the best. I’d worked with
him once before, so he was able to look past the negative press from my epic
failure.”

The door opened, and Carmen Santangelo
stepped out into the cool night air. “What are you two doing out here?” She
smiled at Danielle and extended her hand. “We haven’t met, I’m Carmen.”

Danielle studied the other woman and
liked what she saw. “I’m Danielle.” She gestured to Grayson. “We were just
discussing our past mistakes.” She looked into the great room. “Where is
everyone?”

“I think they’re in their rooms. It’s a
bit too early for me to sleep and Jake said I could help myself to the books in
his library, so I came down.” She looked from Grayson to Danielle. “I won’t
interrupt you any further.”

Grayson jumped up. “You’re not
interrupting.” He grinned at Danielle. “I think we’ve solved the problems of
the world for now.” He held the door and they all went back inside. “Good
night.”

The two women watched him mount the
stairs and Carmen turned to Danielle. “He’s a good man,” she said, voicing
Danielle’s thoughts. “Good night, now.” She disappeared into the library.

* * *

Carmen opened her eyes and stretched
luxuriously. She’d slept better last night than she had for months. Outside the
window, early morning sunshine gilded the trees and she smiled to herself. For someone
accustomed to living in the city, leaving the blinds up was the ultimate luxury;
she could get used to this. She swung her feet out of bed and headed for the
shower.

By the time she made her way downstairs,
Sean, Grayson, Scott and Marty had pushed their breakfast plates aside and were
going over one of the never-ending schedules that would soon rule their lives.
She looked around for Jake, but he’d evidently eaten and left already.

She poured herself a cup of coffee from
the carafe on the sideboard and sat down, listening to the conversation
swirling around her.

“...for the dream sequence,” Marty was
saying. “We couldn’t have built a better set if we tried.”

Carmen’s interest was piqued, but she
remained silent.

“You’ll want to see it as soon as
possible, I would imagine.” He turned to the director. “It’s in a canyon, and
the lighting might be a bit tricky.”

Grayson nodded. “Jake and I were going
to ride out there today, but there’s a problem with some of the cattle, and he
left early.”

“I could take you.”

All eyes turned to the doorway.
Danielle’s gaze was fixed on Grayson. “If you like.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

Carmen’s curiosity got the better of
her. “Where are you going?”

“Silverton.” Scott edged forward on his
seat. “It’s a ghost town now, but at the turn of the century, it was a silver
mining town. It’s on the northern border of Jake’s property.” He looked to
Danielle for confirmation, and she nodded.

The ‘First’ continued. “Jake used to own
the property, but he deeded it over to the government to develop as a potential
tourist site.” He turned to Danielle again. “I’ve got that right, haven’t I?”

She grinned. “Yes, but you’re making it
sound as though he gave it away. He negotiated a long-term lease to graze his
cattle on Crown Land.” Her eyes met Sean’s and they exchanged knowing looks.
“He did just fine on the deal.”

Grayson checked his watch. “I’d love to
see it this morning. The crew starts arriving later today and you know what that
means. I won’t have a spare minute.”

Danielle shrugged. “Then let’s leave
after our meeting in the barn. I’ll ask Enrique to saddle one of Jake’s horses
for you.” She paused. “We could get there in the 4x4, but it’s so much nicer
riding. You
do
ride, don’t you?”

He opened his mouth, then realized she
was teasing him. “Just don’t put me on a horse called Diablo, or Old Thunder,
and I think I can make it.” He turned to Carmen. “Do you want to come with us?”

“No thanks.” Carmen’s observant gaze
slid from Grayson to Danielle. “I’m going to be lazy and read today. You two
run along.”

Scott pushed back from the table. “Marty
and I are headed into Independence to check out the production office.”

“I think I’ll tag along, since Jake
isn’t here.” Sean followed them out.

Carmen watched everyone disperse. This
was going to be an interesting shoot. Very interesting indeed.

Grayson, Nick and Danielle huddled over
Grayson’s laptop, studying the correct plans for the set. There were one or two
minor differences which Grayson decided to ignore, in favour of changing the
location of the door.

“No problem.” Nick shot a quick look at
Danielle. “I can switch that up in a few hours. By the time the set dressers do
their thing, you’ll never know it’s been changed.”

Danielle nodded. “Good. I’ll leave you
to it. Grayson and I are going to ride up to Silverton. He needs to see the
location for himself.”

Grayson stepped outside, looked up at
the position of the sun, and nodded. “My First brought back plenty of video from
his visit a couple of months ago, but there’s nothing like seeing it for myself.”

Nick frowned, and looked from Danielle
to Grayson. “Your first?”

“Yeah... Scott.” Grayson slowed. “Sorry.
I forget that not everyone’s on board with our terminology. The First refers to
the First Assistant Director.”

Nick’s eyebrows drew together. “First
Assistant. There’s more than one?”

Danielle laughed. “That’s what I asked.”

“Yes. There’s also a Second Assistant
Director.”

“Do you call him the Second?”

Grayson shook his head. “No, I call him
invaluable.” He stopped for a moment. “None of this makes much sense, does it?”

Nick shrugged, unimpressed with the
language of movie-making. “No, but as long as it makes sense to you...” He
headed for his pickup, where he kept his tools. “See you guys later.”

* * *

“Grayson, I’d like you to meet Enrique.”
Danielle motioned to the stocky man who’d just finished saddling a horse.
Enrique had chosen Tommy, one of Jake’s finer horses as Grayson’s mount.

“
Senor
Crawford.” Enrique acknowledged
Grayson with a smile, but he watched cautiously as Grayson introduced himself
to the horse.

Danielle knew the moment Grayson had
passed the test. Tommy snuffled and went back to eating hay, and Enrique’s
shoulders relaxed visibly. The director knew his way around a horse, and that
was all that mattered to the loyal man who cared for Jake’s horses.

 Grayson extended a hand. “Please call
me Gray.”

“
Si, Senor
Gray.” Enrique’s grin
was genuine. “And welcome to Green Lake Ranch.”

“We’re going to Silverton, Enrique.”
Danielle took Fleet’s reins and mounted. “In case Jake asks when he gets back.”

Enrique waved as they rode away.
Danielle looked back to see him still watching. As far as the Mexican was concerned,
the horses were his children; he didn’t allow them out with just anyone.

“He’s still checking me out, isn’t he?”
Grayson grinned, but didn’t turn around.

Danielle laughed and she had to admit
that in spite of their rocky start, he had a way of making her relax. “Yes,”
she said, pulling up alongside. “He gets possessive when it comes to the
horses.”

“I sensed that.” He followed her across
the low bridge. “But that’s good.”

They entered a lush valley and Grayson
slowed. Cattle lifted their heads as they rode past, as though to keep an eye
on the intruders. Calves lay here and there in shallow depressions, betrayed
only by the flick of an ear.

Danielle never tired of the sight, and
she shot a quick glance at Grayson, surprised by the expression of contentment
on his face.

She reined in and waited for him to
catch up. “What are you thinking right now?”

He exhaled slowly. “I was thinking that
I miss my place.”

Danielle wasn’t quite sure what he
meant. “You live in the country?”

“I have a small ranch.” They rode for a
while, Grayson admiring the cattle. “It’s nothing like this, though. I run
fifty head. It’s a small place outside of LA.”

“You must hate going to work when you
have something like that. Who takes care of it for you?”

“Buddy Stanley, and his wife Kylie.” He
was silent for a moment. “Buddy was a stuntman who was in an accident. It left
him with limited mobility in his left arm.” She glimpsed a brief flash of anger
before he regained control. “He can do anything that anyone else can do, but he
lost his creds, so no more stunt work for him. I’m lucky that he and Kylie
agreed to live on my place and take care of it for me.”

“Sounds like you’re both pretty lucky.”

He raised his eyebrows and changed the
subject. “So, tell me about Silverton.”

“You’ve heard of Barkerville,” she
stated.

“That’s further north, right? The gold
town?”

“Yes. Silver was discovered at Silverton
after the gold rush at Barkerville. It’s not nearly as big, but the buildings
are just as interesting. There’s a main street, with a church at the end. And there’s
a saloon of course, and an old hotel, and a general store. The sidewalks in
front of the buildings are elevated, the way they are in Barkerville, but
they’re not all connected. It’s a bit of a hodge podge.” She’d been there
yesterday, and the layout was fresh in her mind. “And oh yes. Behind the main
street, there’s another street with four or five fairly large buildings and a
few residences. Some of the old homes still have faded curtains hanging in the
tiny windows. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to live there.”

She turned to him. “What sort of scene
were you thinking about shooting there?”

“It’s written as a dream sequence, where
Hayden’s character... he’s the one in the wheelchair... where he dreams about
being a gunfighter, before he was disabled.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

He shook his head. “I guess I have to
see the location first, get the feel of it. The production office is already in
talks with the government for permission. Apparently they’re being surprisingly
co-operative.”