THE two restaurants in town were definitely hopping with what looked to be hungry campers from all over the Cascades. Fortunately for the ten actresses who had opted to come out tonight, the Italian restaurant had a little bar where they could all just barely squeeze in, much to the delight of all the men in the area.
And just so that no stone of this adventure was left unturned, the camera crew came along, too, squeezing in right behind the women. Trudy, who as of tonight had decided that Jack was beyond her ability to reach—“There are just too many chicks around,” she complained—had her eye on someone new. One of the camera crew. “He’s more attainable,” she said to Leah as they sat at the back of the bar, sandwiched between the cigarette machine and waiter’s station, sipping wine. “Plus, he’s got a camera. That can’t hurt.”
“I’m not sure how it can help, but, whatever. What about Rick?”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Trudy said with a snort. “I keep trying to forget him, and every time I do, you remind me.”
“Sorry. It just doesn’t seem fair,” Leah said. “You already have a boyfriend and are trawling for one of the very few eligible bachelors in this group.”
“You’re one to talk,” Trudy reminded her. “You have the bachelor wanting to make babies with you.”
“Not really,” Leah said, and turned her gaze in a new direction, hoping to nip the conversation in the bud. “But that’s another story.”
“So is Rick,” Trudy said. “Here—” She shoved her wineglass at Leah. “Hold on to that for a moment, will you?”
Leah obliged her, and Trudy sat up, adjusted the teensy-tiny little halter top she was wearing, then brushed her black hair back from her face.
“How do I look?” she asked, pursing her lips for Leah’s benefit.
Leah looked her up and down and nodded approvingly. “I’d do you.”
Trudy smiled, took her glass from Leah. “See? That’s why we’re such great friends. Okay, wish me luck,” she said, and narrowed her gaze on the cameraman, who was filming a couple of the actresses as they talked with a couple of guys in trucker hats and shirts with the arms cut out.
With a wink, Trudy left Leah sitting alone and sauntered forward, swinging her hips in her best slut fashion.
She would, no doubt, be victorious, Leah thought, and sipped her wine, watching as the little happy hour gained momentum.
The white-water rafting had been fun—except, of course, for the moment she almost drowned—but it also had been emotionally draining. Between Jill pawing Michael under the guise of wiping water off his shades, and Ariel practically screaming watch me, watch me, Leah had felt a sharp pang of jealousy she did not want to feel.
Oh, but she was jealous, and insanely so. As jealous as Marissa Pendergrast, the wallflower in sixth grade, had been when Leah had the audacity to hold hands with the round-headed kid named Zach. Zach had sweaty hands and thick lips, but there is no accounting for the way a heart leans, because Marissa had loved Zach and had been so incensed by Leah’s actions that she’d pulled a wad of hair from Leah’s head.
Leah was jealous on that scale, Marissa-jealous, wanting to pull a wad of hair from someone’s head. What right did she have? None. Just like he had no right to be jealous. But she especially had no right, because she had moved on, had told Michael she wasn’t hanging around to watch all the women fawn over him. I am thinking of dating other people, had been her famous last words.
How stupid could one woman possibly be? Of course, Leah wasn’t certain what she was supposed to have said, because clearly, the man was not to be trusted. But she was pretty sure I am thinking of dating other people had been the absolute wrong thing to say, seeing as how she was having all these feelings whirling around in a friggin’ blender inside her. She did not want to be jealous, but she was. She didn’t want to see him, but the day felt so empty if she didn’t see him. And she damn sure didn’t want to want him, but she did, with every fiber of her body, with every smile, with every look, with every touch.
It was because her feelings were in such turmoil that she was very surprised and even relieved when she saw Adolfo sauntering through the crowd toward her, holding a bouquet of mountain wildflowers, tied together with a shoe string. When he finally reached her, he bowed, extended the flowers. “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman.”
“Adolfo!” she exclaimed, taking the flowers. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“You will forgive my impatience, si?” he purred with a warm, easy smile. “I could not wait so many weeks for your return.”
“Oh,” Leah said, grinning ridiculously as she admired the small, handpicked bouquet. “But I will see you Tuesday when we start filming.”
“Days, weeks, they are the same when you are gone,” he said. “Too long.”
She could feel her grin broaden. “The flowers are beautiful. But how did you know where to find me?”
He winked and said, “The crew, they always know where to find the beauties.”
Leah laughed.