by Anne Fraser
‘It’s what we stuntmen call the stuff we do.’
Suspecting she wouldn’t like the answer, Elizabeth thought it best if she didn’t ask why.
‘So what is it?’ she asked, taking a fork full of her scrambled egg.
‘It involves a car crash and a hot burn,’ Kendrick said, with a glance at Josh.
‘A hot burn?’ She was liking this conversation less and less.
‘It’s where I have to look as if I’m on fire,’ Kendrick said. ‘But don’t worry,’ he added hastily. ‘We know what we’re doing. We’ve done it before. We make sure there are folk around with fire extinguishers and I’ll have stuff on that keeps the flames from burning.’
‘As long as they get to you in two minutes,’ Josh said darkly.
‘They will,’ Kendrick said.
It did nothing to allay Elizabeth’s fears. It sounded as if there was a great deal that could go wrong. It was one thing watching Kendrick doing his stunts when she wasn’t … what? Involved? Sleeping with him? Crazy about him? The thought stopped her breath. She wasn’t crazy about him. She liked him. He was good for her at a time in her life when she wanted to pretend that she was someone else. That was all.
But the way he was looking at her and the way her heart responded—kicking against her ribs—made her wonder if that was true.
Confused, she realised she’d lost her appetite and pushed her plate away, reaching for her coffee instead.
‘Are the others back yet?’ she asked. She didn’t want to think those thoughts.
‘Some of them. The rest won’t return until after lunch. In the meantime, Josh and I are going to go over the gags we’ll be doing tomorrow.’ He leaned back in his chair, looking like a man who was satisfied with life and no wonder.
‘I’ll make sure I’m around.’ Elizabeth picked up her tray. ‘What time?’
‘Straight after we’re finished here. We work it out on paper first then we build the stunt up bit by bit. You can stay and listen to how we do it, if you like.’
But Elizabeth was already on her feet. She wanted to get away from Kendrick and his searching looks so she could compose herself.
‘I won’t if you don’t mind. I’m going to go to the medical trailer and see if anyone’s looking for me. I also need to check my supplies.’ She knew she was over-explaining but she didn’t want him to know how much being near him was flustering her. She was beginning to think that not feeling was better than this acute anxiety coiling in the pit of her stomach.
Across on the other side of the set she was surprised to find Jack leaning against the door of the trailer. He was alone, which in itself was unusual. Every other time Elizabeth had seen him he had been followed by an entourage of assistants, make-up artists, stylists and who knew what else. They all shared one thing in common. Simpering adulation of the great man. Personally Elizabeth didn’t get it. He might be rich, successful and good-looking—although not in the masculine way Kendrick was—and a film star, but he was arrogant and disinterested in anyone else to the point of rudeness sometimes. She wondered what had brought him to seek her out.
‘Jack, what can I do for you?’ Elizabeth asked, unlocking the door of her trailer.
For the first time he looked unsure of himself. He kicked a pebble away with the toe of one of his expensive shoes.
‘Why don’t you come in out of the heat?’ she continued as Jack still didn’t say anything.
‘We missed you the other night,’ Jack said eventually, flashing her the famous grin she had seen on the large screen many times before.
‘I’m sorry. It sounded like a great night,’ Elizabeth replied.
‘I heard there was some sort of accident on the road up here last night and that you and Kendrick helped out. Is that right?’
Elizabeth nodded to a chair. ‘Please, make yourself comfortable.’ She was pretty sure he hadn’t come to talk about the accident. ‘Yes. It was a shock. Thankfully everyone we rescued is going to be all right. It was lucky Kendrick was there to help.’
‘Ah, Kendrick. Our very own real-life hero.’ Elizabeth didn’t like the way he said it. He couldn’t envy Kendrick, could he? She hid a smile. It was quite possible Jack didn’t like the competition. He had made his money pretending to be a hero, whereas Kendrick really was one.
‘Is it Kendrick you came to talk to me about?’ she asked coolly. ‘Or was there something else on your mind?’
Suddenly Jack paled. Elizabeth only just had enough time to grab a sick bowl before he doubled up and vomited violently.
She held his shoulders as he heaved. This was why he was alone. He’d hardly want anyone to see him like this.
Eventually, after Jack had stopped being sick and had wiped himself down with the cool cloth Elizabeth passed him, he sank back into the chair looking distraught.
‘How long have you been feeling like this? Any other symptoms?’ Elizabeth asked.
Jack nodded. ‘I’ve been feeling this way for the last couple of hours. I must have been sick at least four times. Am I having a heart attack or something? I sure feel like hell.’
‘I doubt you’re having a heart attack. Far more likely it’s something you ate. Perhaps in the last few days?’ If so, it was unlikely Jack would be the only victim. ‘Can you remember what you ate?’
‘Lobster, oysters, salad, the beef, other things. A bit of salad.’
She had nibbled the lobster Kendrick had brought from the party. Come to think of it, her stomach was feeling decidedly queasy. Great. A set full of ill people and if she was right, only a sick doctor to look after them.
‘I’m going to help you back to your trailer and make sure you’re comfortable. If you don’t stop being sick in a couple of hours I’ll give you an anti-emetic to help, although if it is food poisoning it’s best to let your system get rid of any toxins. I want you to take sips of water. If you can’t keep that down, I’ll give you some electrolyte fluid. Do you know if anyone else is having symptoms?’
She helped Jack to his feet. All his earlier bravado had disappeared. Now he was just another sick patient feeling understandably sorry for himself.
‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen anyone else since I arrived back this morning. I sent my assistant away. I didn’t want her around to see me being sick.’
As soon as she’d settled Jack she would go and check up on everyone else. It was possible others had been afflicted and were too ill to leave their trailers.
And she was right. There were at least four others in the same boat as Jack and no doubt others had yet to become ill. She phoned public health to let them know that there was an outbreak of food poisoning but as it had been most certainly from the food at a private party there was nothing they needed to do except be aware if any other family doctors phoned in to let them know about patients. Everyone who was ill had eaten the lobster and Elizabeth knew it was likely she would get ill herself. In the meantime, she needed to make sure that Philip was aware of what was going on.
As she crossed the camp to find the director, she passed Kendrick and Josh, who were practising some complicated-looking somersault on a trampoline, presumably to perfect it before shooting a stunt.
She walked over to them and waited until they had finished. Kendrick noticed her and came across straight away. ‘We don’t need you on standby just yet,’ he said. ‘I’ll let you know when we start practising it in earnest.’
‘Make sure you do. But that’s not why I’m here. Did either of you have lobster at the party?’
Kendrick shook his head. ‘Can’t stand them. Taste of the sea and salt, that’s all.’
‘What about you, Josh?’
‘Don’t care much for them either. Give me a good steak any day.’
‘Why are you wanting to know?’ Kendrick asked. ‘Don’t tell me they were off?’ He broke into a wide grin. ‘I can’t imagine Jack being best pleased about that. He likes to think he throws the best parties, not ones that make his guests sick.’
‘It
was probably just a bad one. But if you two are okay, I need to get on.’ A spasm of pain sliced through her abdomen and she pressed her stomach with a hand. Perhaps she should give herself an anti-emetic? That might keep the symptoms at bay long enough for her to make sure everyone else was okay.
‘Are you all right? Here, come and sit down.’ Kendrick placed an arm around her shoulders and made to lead her away. Elizabeth shook her head and tried to push him away.
‘You had the lobster too.’ He was no longer smiling.
‘I’ll be okay.’
But before she could protest Kendrick swept her up in his arms and was striding across to her trailer.
‘Will you put me down?’ Elizabeth snarled, mortified. ‘I have to see to my patients.’ She could barely speak. Nausea was rising and her stomach was churning. Please, God, don’t let me be sick. Not now, all over Kendrick and in front of everyone.
Kendrick kicked open the door of her trailer and placed her on her sofa.
‘Okay. You stay here. Tell me what you want me to do.’
‘Go and see who is ill and make sure that someone is looking after them.’ As the nausea rose in her throat she pushed him towards the door. ‘Go!’
Later that evening, when Elizabeth was beginning to feel a little more human and contemplating a shower, there was a knock on her door.
Without a shower, she wasn’t in a fit state to see anyone. Her hair was matted, her make-up smudged and she had discarded her clothes on the floor and curled up in bed wearing only her bra and panties.
Before she had a chance to tell whoever it was to go away, the door opened and Kendrick strode in uninvited. She should’ve guessed. Even if she’d barred her doors and windows the man would probably still have found a way in. She wouldn’t even put it past him to remove a door from its hinges if it got in his way.
‘Go away, Kendrick,’ she groaned, hiding her head under the blanket. ‘I’m not human enough to have visitors. So unless you’re here to tell me that someone needs my urgent medical attention, just go away—please.’
‘I brought you some fruit juice,’ he said. ‘And I thought I should tell you there are about ten of you who are suffering from eating lobsters. I’ve coerced those of the cast who are okay into keeping an eye on the rest. Holding sick bowls isn’t really my—er—thing. At least you don’t have to worry about the others.’
There was silence for a moment and she wondered whether he had left. She peered over the top of the sheet and her heart stopped. He had picked up the photograph of Charlie she had left on the bedside table and was scrutinising it.
‘Who is this?’ he asked softly. Elizabeth had to resist the impulse to snatch the photo from his hand. Usually she left it in her drawer for exactly this reason. She didn’t want unexpected visitors to her trailer asking questions she wasn’t ready to answer. But she had taken it into bed with her when she’d been feeling so dreadful and at some point during the day had placed it back on the table next to her.
‘It’s my daughter. Charlie.’
‘So this is Charlie. What happened to her, Lizzie?’
She held out her hand for the photograph and when Kendrick passed it back she traced Charlie’s sweet face with the tip of her finger. She could hardly force the words past her closed throat.
‘She died,’ she said simply.
‘Lizzie, I’m so sorry.’ Kendrick sat down on the bed and pulled her towards him so that she was nestled against his chest. ‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’
But she did.
‘She was born with Gauther’s disease. It’s a life-limiting illness. I knew almost from the start that she wasn’t going to be with me very long.’
Kendrick said nothing but she felt his arms tighten around her.
‘I gave up work to look after her. She needed full-time care and I wanted to do it myself. I wanted to spend every second of her life with her.’ Her voice faltered and she sniffed loudly. ‘She died three months ago. She was only eighteen months old. Kendrick, no mother should outlive her child. That’s why I’ll never have any more. I couldn’t bear to go through that again.’
‘What about her father? You said you were married?’
Elizabeth sighed. ‘Simon? He couldn’t take it that he had a child with disabilities. It was as if it was a slur on his manhood. Can you believe he wanted me to give her up for adoption? He said that way we could try for another. As if Charlie was a toy that could be thrown away just because she didn’t live up to his expectations.’ Anger pooled in her chest at the memory. ‘I thought that Simon would come to accept Charlie, given some time, but he didn’t. When I wouldn’t hand Charlie over to foster-carers, he left.’
‘He left you and Charlie alone?’ Kendrick’s voice was threaded with steel.
‘We coped. You know, the next time I saw Simon was at Charlie’s funeral.’
She shook her head. ‘I could have forgiven him for leaving if only he’d kept in touch with Charlie. But once he walked out of the door, it was as if she—we—no longer existed for him.’
She managed a shaky breath. ‘So you can see I’m serious about never marrying again. I’d rather be on my own than go through that again. It’s simpler.’
‘Not all men are like your ex-husband,’ Kendrick said, but there was something in his voice that made Elizabeth’s blood chill. He sounded distant, unlike the man she had shared her bed with.
He stood. ‘I’d better get going.’
He looked down at her. There was a wariness in his expression that hadn’t been there before. ‘I’ll come and check on you later.’
As Elizabeth had expected, the food poisoning took around twenty-four hours before everyone was over the worst, herself included. Kendrick kept popping in through the day to see how she was and to bring her news of the other afflicted members of cast and crew, but something had definitely shifted between them. He was friendly but the teasing spark in his eyes was gone.
And it made her feel like she’d been kicked in the ribs.
So much for telling herself that she didn’t feel anything apart from lust for Kendrick. What an idiot she’d been. All she could hope for now was to salvage some pride. She wouldn’t let him see that he’d hurt her, not even if it took all her acting skills. At least he wouldn’t have that satisfaction.
He told her that Philip, who, like Kendrick, had been unaffected, was carrying on filming with those who were still on their feet.
‘Not one to waste any time. Not that I can blame him. Every day we’re not filming costs money.’ He peered at her. ‘You look as if you’re on the mend.’
Elizabeth felt as if a steamroller had run over her and then reversed and done the same thing again. Kendrick, on the other hand, looked disgustingly healthy. Gorgeously, sexily, healthy.
She struggled to her feet. ‘I’m going to see how everyone is,’ she said. ‘No, really, Kendrick, I’m fine,’ she added as he looked about to protest. ‘You’ve been really sweet, but I need to get on and do my job.’
Kendrick looked doubtful for a moment then he must have seen the determination in her face as he stood aside. Good, she had managed just the right tone.
‘Okay, Lizzie. Have it your own way. I really need to get on and do some practice with Josh. Philip wants to film a stunt tonight, I’m afraid. Whether you’re fit to be there or not.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Elizabeth muttered. ‘Just let anyone try and stop me.’
Later that afternoon, after she’d made sure all the afflicted patients were recovering, Elizabeth wandered over to where they were setting up for the stunt. She still felt weak but she knew by the time tomorrow came she’d be almost back to normal. Jack had insisted on being flown back to LA as soon as he had stopped vomiting and was expected back in a day or two.
‘Without my lead man, I need to get as many of these stunts in the bag as we can,’ Philip was saying. ‘At least then I won’t lose too much time.’ He glared at Elizabeth as if it was all her fault. Kendrick
winked at her behind Philip’s back.
‘What about if we do the car-chase scene out in the desert?’ Kendrick suggested. ‘Josh and I have that one pretty much worked out.’ He sketched a wave behind him. ‘I know what I have to do with the burning building. That can wait until Jack is back.’
Philip looked somewhat appeased.
‘How about you, Doc?’ he asked Elizabeth. ‘Are you up to being around?’
Kendrick frowned. ‘I’d forgotten the doctor needed to be there. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for her to be standing around in the sun when she’s been ill.’
‘I’ll be fine.’ Although Kendrick was intervening for the best of reasons, she wasn’t about to let him tell her how to do her job. How would he feel if she tried to tell him how to do his? She suppressed a smile at the thought of her directing his stunts. If she had her way he’d jump from no more than two feet off the ground and somehow she doubted that was going to happen. However, it felt good that someone cared enough to think about her welfare. It had been so long since anyone had. The thought jolted her. She was used to coping on her own. Did she really want someone to involve themselves in her life?
‘Good,’ Philip said before Kendrick could protest further. ‘Let’s get the crew that are okay on their feet and out of here. I want to film the scene while there’s good light.’
‘I’ll go and get my medical bag,’ Elizabeth said, turning towards her trailer.
Kendrick fell into step alongside her.
‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’ he asked. ‘Because I could refuse to do it today and he’ll have no option but to postpone it.’
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and faced him. ‘Kendrick, I appreciate your help and your …’ she sought for the right word ‘… concern … But I’m as professional as you. If I’m needed, I’ll be there. Don’t worry, I’ll take a hat and plenty of water, as well as extra for everyone.’
Kendrick looked far from being reassured. ‘It’ll be a long day.’
‘And I’ll be fine. Go and do whatever you need to while I get organised.’ She looked at him for a long moment. ‘This stunt is going to be safe, isn’t it?’ It was different from watching him before. Before what? She’d slept with him? Started to care about him? She shook her head, dismissing the thought. She didn’t care about him in that way. Don’t you? a little voice whispered. You don’t tend to sleep with men you don’t care about. Who are you trying to kid? She was determined she was going to ignore the voice. She could not afford to care about anyone. Not ever.
