by Monroe, Max
My daddy, watching his old western flicks with Louis in many of the leading roles, the old Hollywood red carpets Adele would swoon over with Louis in his tux smiling handsomely for the cameras, and Luca recounting his favorite movie to work on the other night—one that apparently led to one of his most meaningful friendships.
If my memory serves me right, I think Agent Zero was the last movie Louis did before retiring for good.
“I see you’ve brought a guest with you,” Lou comments with a warm smile. “I’m—”
I cut him off and answer for him. “Louis Lennox. I know. I know who you are, sir, and it is such a pleasure to meet you.”
“You can just call me Lou.” He chuckles and shakes my hand. “And you are…” He pauses, waiting for me to do the normal, human thing and tell him my name.
“Billie,” I say and clear the nerves out of my throat. “Billie Harris.”
“It’s a pleasure, Billie.” He smiles and looks between Luca and me, and then his eyes glance behind us. “I’m glad to see you made it all right.”
“Always do,” Luca answers.
“All right, then,” Lou says with a glance toward me. “Glad to see you’re making some fucking friends, then.”
Luca rolls his eyes, and I laugh out loud.
Lou turns his attention back to me with a smile. “How was the hike, darlin’? I know Luca says he likes it, but it was always a hell of a trek for me. Make an old man feel better. Tell me it’s not just me.”
“Oh, yeah. It was terrible,” I don’t hesitate to respond, a giggle following my words. Of course, Luca snorts, probably thinking I’ve made a gross understatement, but I ignore him and focus on Lou. “Worth it, though, for the chance to meet you.”
Lou smiles, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes telling the best kind of story. “That kind of flattery’ll get you good news. You all can take my four-wheeler on the way back. Cut down on your time considerably.”
Luca’s eyebrows draw together, and Lou notices. “Old Hank Sulen cut a new trail. You’ll be able to take it all the way back to the dock at the bay where I’m assuming you left the boat.”
I’m a little afraid to get too excited, but my whole body decides to vibrate anyway.
“How long will it take us to get back with the four-wheeler?” I ask hopefully.
“Oh, probably about six hours,” Lou kindly responds, and my whole damn stomach takes flight.
“Only six hours? That sounds like one hell of a good plan, doesn’t it?” I bounce on my good foot and make jazz hands toward Luca. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but doesn’t offer up any form of agreement.
Hell’s bells, he better fucking agree.
“I can already tell this is going to be an interesting evening with the two of you.” Lou laughs and gestures for us to come inside. “Why don’t you come on in and take a load off? I’ll cook us up some food.”
We all step inside the cabin, and I instantly move my eyes upward and take in the high ceilings. Damn, this place is big. Surely, if I decide to cut to the simplest solution for this big mess and murder Luca Weaver tonight, there will be a place to hide the body.
Walking down the entry hallway and into the airy space that holds the kitchen, I set my hiking backpack on the floor and sit down at the table.
Luca busies himself with pulling bags of what looks like medicine out of the center compartment of his bag.
“I see you brought lots of goodies for me,” Lou says and Luca grins.
“Just trying to make sure you have enough medicine to last you during the winter months.”
“Well, it’s appreciated, but you worry too much,” Lou mutters on a laugh. “I’d find a way to survive, no matter what.”
Luca sighs. “I hate to tell you, Lou, but you’re getting a little too old to trek through ten feet of snow to get your heart medication.”
“No need to remind me of my old age, Lucky. With the way these hips crack and pop when I get out of bed in the morning, that’s reminder enough.”
“Lucky?” I question, and Luca rolls his eyes.
“Just a stupid nickname he won’t give up on.”
I grin. Personally, I kind of like it.
“You like steak and eggs, Billie?”
“Lou, I can promise you, I will like anything that isn’t beans at this point.”
Luca smirks and reaches out to playfully tug at my ponytail. “You act like you’ve had to eat it for months. It’s only been a few days, princess.”
A few days. Pfft. Feels like one hundred.
“Princess?” Lou questions, glancing back and forth between Luca and me.
It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Just a stupid nickname he won’t give up on.”
Luca laughs. “Trust me when I say this, it’s the perfect nickname for her.”
“And why’s that?” I ask, pointing my stare at him.
“You are the epitome of a city girl being dropped into the wilderness,” he explains. “Two hours into the journey you asked where the bathroom was. Not long after, you were bitching about cell service. In the middle of the damn forest while wearing a pair of furry boots, mind you.”
“How was I supposed to know there’s no cell service out here?” I toss back. “And I’m no city girl, Lucky. I’m from the mountains of West Virginia, thank you very much. My favorite cowgirl boots are just at the bottom of the dang river.”
“Well, you had me fooled, then. Maybe all that LA air has gone to your head.”
If I’m being honest, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this.
Daddy always used to say I was a walking contradiction. Harris blood but not a lick of desire for the normal Harris hobbies—fishing, hunting, being in the outdoors.
When I was growing up, they didn’t have to punish me in the usual ways like chores. Daddy would just threaten me with a fishing trip, and I’d smarten right up and start behaving.
But Luca doesn’t need to know he’s hit the nail on the head. Lord knows his ego is big enough as it is. I refuse to put another “I’m always right” into his back pocket.
“Before you two head for round three of your bickering,” Lou interrupts, and his eyes quirk up with amusement, “I’d like to let you know that there are fresh towels, soap, and shampoo upstairs in the guest room bathroom. Feel free to make yourself at home, Billie.”
Fresh towels? A bathroom? A shower? It’s like heaven called to notify me of a delivery of modern amenities!
“I just have two questions for ya, Lou.”
“And what’s that?”
“Do you happen to have a—” I pause, trying to remember the term Luca used for it. Cat phone? Sat phone? What the hell’s it called? And why do I suddenly feel like I’m in the middle of a Dr. Seuss book? “A…pat phone?”
“A sat phone?” he asks, his gray eyebrows furrowing. “Short for satellite phone?”
“That’s it!” I snap my fingers in the air. “A sat phone!”
Lou glances between us, before his eyes stop on Luca. “Let me guess, your stubborn ass left your sat phone at home?”
Luca just grins and shrugs. “You know how I feel about carrying a fucking phone with me on hiking trips.”
“God forbid you have a way to reach someone if there’s an emergency.” Lou rolls his eyes and looks back to me. “I do have a sat phone, darlin’. And you are more than welcome to use it.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness.”
I’m pretty sure it’s been days since I’ve spoken to my sister or Serena. My boss most likely expects that, but Birdie, well, that’s a whole other story.
“And what’s your other question?” he asks, and I don’t hesitate to tell him, a little grin painted across my lips.
“Is there warm water in that shower of yours?”
“You can turn that water up so hot it’ll melt your skin off.”
“Praise Jesus,” I say on a relieved sigh and hop up from my seat. I stride right over to Lou and plant a big kiss on his cheek. “Tha
nk you, you wonderful man. You have made my day.”
He grins. “Glad I could be of service, little darlin’.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I have a date with a shower.”
Hallelujah!
Funny thing about always relying on your cell phone—when it comes time to recall any-freaking-one’s phone number—even your own sister’s—you can’t, for the life of you, remember it.
And unfortunately for me, my cell phone is dead as a fucking doornail from my fall, so any hope of retrieving said numbers is an impossible task.
Luckily, Lou’s sat phone is also a smartphone, so before I hopped in the shower, I fired off two emails—one to Birdie and one to Serena, letting them both know I’m alive and well, but that the service is shitty and they shouldn’t expect to hear from me until I’m at the airport, getting ready to fly back to LA.
An hour later, I’m freshly showered and sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying the delicious steak and eggs and potatoes Lou cooked up for us.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s been a few days since I’ve had an actual meal or if Louis Lennox is really that good of a cook, but gosh darn it, I’m one bite away from a foodgasm.
“Lou, this is the best damn meal I’ve had in months.” I stab another piece of steak onto my fork. “Thank you so much for this.” I take another bite and resist the urge to gobble it down like a heathen, forcing myself to chew slowly and actually enjoy the food.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s light-years better than corn and beans.” I toss a teasing glare toward Luca, and he laughs.
“Hey, you’re not offending me. It’s not like I enjoy meals like that. They’re a necessity when you’re on a hiking trip for a few days.”
“A hiking trip that could have been a day trip on a freaking four-wheeler, you mean.”
Lou laughs. “He didn’t know about the new trail, darlin’, so you can’t blame him too much. But now I’m really curious about how the two of you met.”
Luca doesn’t hesitate to lay it all out there. “She just showed up at my cabin the other day, uninvited, and truthfully, she’s yet to tell me how in the hell she managed to find me.”
I look up from my plate and find him staring at me with a quirk of his brow.
“Does it really matter how I found you?”
Lou chuckles, but Luca keeps looking at me, his unrelenting gaze urging me to fess up.
“Fine,” I respond and shut my eyes for a brief moment. “I had a little help. But before I tell you who helped me, you need to promise you won’t get ticked off.”
“Go on.”
“No,” I refute, set down my fork, and hold out my pinkie finger toward Luca. “Pinkie promise first that you won’t get pissed.”
“Christ,” he mutters, but he goes along with it, intertwining his pinkie with mine and making good on the promise.
“Your agent Adele helped me.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he questions, and Lou just follows our conversation like he’s watching a tennis match, his head moving back and forth between the two of us.
“But,” I add pointedly. “In her defense, I kind of sort of maybe lied about being a budding actress to get an appointment with her. And it’s not like she gave me the GPS coordinates of your cabin. She told me the freaking town and that was it. I had to figure out the rest by myself.”
“I’m guessing that’s where fucking Earl came in.”
“Yep.” I nod and pop a piece of steak into my mouth.
Lou chuckles and shakes his head. “Sounds like it was quite the adventure to track him down.”
Near-death experiences.
Being yelled at by a naked lumberjack.
Yeah. It’s been a fucking adventure.
I snort. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“But why exactly did you—?” Lou starts to ask, but Luca answers before he can finish.
“She wants me to read a damn screenplay for the producer she works for.”
Lou smirks. “I’m sure that went over like a hooker singing in the Sunday choir.”
I nod and giggle. “Oh, it went about as well as you’d expect with this guy.”
“And then,” Luca adds. “I had to save her ass from drowning in the river, and during a rare moment of weakness for me given her condition, she strong-armed herself on to this hiking trip.”
“Sounds like you’re a determined little thing,” Lou says, his eyes bright with amusement. “Who do you work for?”
“Serena Koontz.”
Lou nods approvingly. “She’s one hell of a producer.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“And what does your job entail?”
“I’m her PA, but I’m hoping that in the near future, I’ll be a little more than that. I’m actually hoping to follow in her footsteps and become a producer.”
“Lofty goals.”
“Well, my momma always told me to dream big, and my granny made sure I had the tools.”
Lou smiles. “Well, if it’s any help, I think you’re going about it the right way. Starting from the bottom, learning from the best, and working your way up.”
“Thank you,” I respond. “I just hope it’s all eventually going to lead me to where I want to end up.”
“It will,” he says. “You just gotta take it one day at a time, little darlin’.”
“Oh, determination and persistence are not her problems,” Luca chimes in with a snort.
“Have you read it yet, then?” Lou challenges, and I take the opportunity to jump in.
“No. He’s supposed to read the first five pages, though.”
“Five pages. That hardly gives you a feel for the story, Lucky.” Lou chuckles. “I think you need to stop being stubborn and just read it. All of it. Maybe it’ll surprise you.”
“Yeah. What Lou said,” I agree with a smirk, and Luca just shakes his head and takes another bite of steak.
“I’ll start with the five pages and see where it goes.”
“So, you two worked on a movie together, right?” I ask. “Is that how you became friends?”
“Oh, I’m not friends with him. He’s just my errand boy.”
“Watch yourself, old man.” Luca points his fork at him, and Lou chuckles.
“As you seem to already know, I played Luca’s father in Agent Zero, and that’s where our friendship started. Not too long after that, I retired from Hollywood, built myself this cabin out here in the woods, and me and my wife Shirley settled down to enjoy the rest of our lives together in peace and quiet and nature.”
Before I can ask where his wife is, he adds, “Shirley passed two years ago. So now, it’s just me out here.”
My heart drops. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me too, darlin’. Me too,” he says wistfully. “She adored this bastard right here, and when he decided to leave LA and move out here, we helped him out a little.”
“Helped me out a lot,” Luca corrects. “If it weren’t for Lou and Shirley, I wouldn’t have known where to start.”
“But how did you know this was where you wanted to settle?”
Luca shrugs. “I don’t know. I just knew. I knew I needed to get away from it all. And, well, I’d visited Lou and seen his property, and it was just the kind of place where I could picture myself figuring out how to be me again.”
“And now, Lucky living so close is a real blessing,” Lou says. “He’s basically the son I never had. Always making sure I have enough food and medicine to last me for a few months since it’s so hard to get out here—and damn near impossible for an old man like me to get back to town.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Luca tells me. “If it weren’t for him, I’d probably still be in Hollywood, addicted to drugs or alcohol, and just completely fucking lost and unhappy.”
“But you’re happy now? Out here?”
“Happy is relative, princess.” Luca shrugs. “I’m definitely not unhappy, if tha
t’s what you’re asking.”
I take the last bite of my steak and think about his words as I get up with my empty plate and head into the kitchen.
Happy is relative. Relative to what?
Everyone should be able to feel happiness in their lives.
Not every day, not all the time, but it should be there.
Does Luca not have that?
The mere thought of it not being a part of his life makes my chest ache with sadness.
But I swallow down the emotion and busy myself by cleaning off the counter and doing the dishes.
“You don’t need to do that, Billie,” Lou states, but I wave him off.
“And you didn’t need to make us a delicious meal, but you did.”
He chuckles. “You’re a stubborn little thing, aren’t ya?”
“Yep,” Luca answers for me. “And I’m going to join her in stubbornly cleaning up your kitchen.”
Before I know it, he’s beside me, drying the dishes after I finish washing them.
Plates. Cutlery. Pots and pans. One by one, in comfortable silence, we get them washed and dried and put away in the cabinet.
By the time we’re finished, it’s a little after nine in the evening, and all three of us are ready to call it a night.
Bailey chooses a cozy spot on the living room rug.
Lou goes into his bedroom on the first floor.
And Luca and I head upstairs.
To the only guest bedroom in the house.
With only one bed.
Luca
Forget hit men, crab fishing in the Bering Sea, and adrenaline sports; the biggest danger for a man is a beautiful woman in his bed. Eight years alone and the feel of Billie fucking Harris are a deadly combination.
By the time she does whatever it is women do in the bathroom, I’m already lying in the bed, sitting up and reading the screenplay I promised to.
I wanted to get my five pages out of the way and be done with it all. But as much as I should have stopped at the fifth page, I’m twenty-four pages in, and I’m riveted.
I look up from the white stack of papers and find Billie standing near the foot of the bed. Her hair hangs past her shoulders in soft waves, her cheeks are rosy, and her hot, svelte body is clad in a tank top and sleep shorts.
