“I’ll be right back,” she said as she glanced down the boardwalk.
“Take your time. Could be fun,” Felicia said as she turned back to the mannequin, more pins at the ready.
Chapter 3
The class hadn’t been ushered in quite yet, and Bradley assumed they were getting things ready. He hoped they’d hurry as the native were getting a little restless.
Two of the girls in front of him gasped and whispered to each other, pointing at a woman who was rushing in with a garment bag over her shoulder. She limped slightly, but he smiled when one of the girls said, “She looks just like Jasmine in the Disney movie,” to her friend.
“She sure does,” said her friend. “I wonder if she’s in the show.”
The woman couldn’t have heard them, but as she passed by, she looked up and shared a dazzling smile with the group.
“See you all inside,” she said as she waved. And suddenly, Bradley found himself a little more interested in this presentation. At least if he couldn’t be halfway to Canada, he may as well be entertained.
He finally got the kids settled in the folding chairs and breathed a sigh of relief. He’d just sat down when Wade Weston spotted him from across the room and crossed over.
Bradley stood and shook the hand of his old friend.
“Wade, great to see you. Thanks for making this possible. The kids are really excited, as you can see.”
He poked his thumb behind him at the wide-eyed kids. Even the boys by this time were paying attention and not so concerned about looking cool.
“Great to see you, too, Bradley. I was expecting Stephanie, but this is a nice surprise.”
Bradley explained the switch and Wade nodded knowingly.
“Maddie and I have been through similar. I hope everything turns out all right.” He clapped Bradley on the back and looked up at the stage, giving a nod to a man who’d just walked out.
“Enjoy,” Wade said. “Some of our staff is going to listen in, too. This has been a really fun project for us here at the ranch. Thanks for giving us an excuse to get this together.”
Bradley waved as Wade headed to the back of the barn and he took his seat. He’d never been much of a television watcher, and was a little surprised at how interesting it all was. The main crew gave brief talks about what they did, and Bradley’s ears perked up and he sat up a little straighter when the beautiful woman from earlier took her turn on the stage. She’d been standing for quite some time, and he noticed that she still limped a little as she crossed over to where the show-runner was.
“Thanks, Adiel,” she said in a soothing, gentle voice. Her thick, black hair was in a ponytail and swayed gracefully as she took some beautiful dresses from a garment bag and hung them on a rack.
He’d never been interested in dresses, but the way she talked about how she made custom, specialized costumes for all the cast was actually interesting. He’d had no idea it was so involved.
Each crew member had entertained questions, and he was pleased that the kids showed respect and asked legitimate questions— from how long did it take to make a costume to how did you learn to edit film to how do you get a job like this in the first place, which prompted some really interesting stories.
Bradley was just thinking that this wasn’t too bad, and he’d be able to forgive his sister for delaying his vacation when the cast members stepped out and you’d think the kids were seeing rock stars. Some of the cast were newcomers, but apparently—although he didn’t recognize anybody—some of the girls knew one of the most good-looking guys who came out wearing a costume with a sheriff’s badge.
“Shhh,” he whispered at the first squeal, and the guilty party, Kayla, turned and mouthed, ”Sorry,” to him, but bit her finger nonetheless. He was grateful.
They contained their awe pretty well from then on, and he laughed at how little it took to get middle school kids going. Coaching was a lot easier than this, because the kids were pretty focused and sweating, and didn’t have a ton of energy for much else. This was another animal entirely.
One of the actresses, a pretty girl named Rachel, ran through a scene with what he thought might be the lead actor, and he groaned as he realized it was a sentimental scene. They were both great actors, and it was pretty clear the show should be a success. But Kayla and her partners in crime couldn’t contain their giggles and the boys in the back groaned when there was an actual kiss—chaste, to be sure, but a kiss nonetheless.
He’d hoped they’d all come out unscathed but laughed anyway. How could these folks know what middle schoolers were like when they picked a sample scene.
Everybody finally got back to normal, and he caught JW’s eye and gave him a thumb’s up. Should be over soon.
Adiel gave a short closing bit and Bradley breathed a sigh of relief. He stood to thank the cast and crew and shepherd his charges back to the bus.
“Any more questions?” Adiel, the show runner, asked the middle schoolers.
“I have one more,” asked Delanie, who’d asked questions all along. Her long red braid fell down her back and swayed as she bounced from foot to foot.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a smile.
Bradley rubbed the back of his neck and sat back down. He couldn’t imagine they’d have any more questions after all they’d already asked in the several-hour presentation. They’d even had a break with cookies and punch—Wade really went all out for them—and they got to mingle with the cast and crew then.
Kayla, Delanie’s best friend, giggled and Bradley braced himself for what question might come.
“So, it looks like you really like each other,” she said to Rachel. “What if you hate each other and you have to kiss him. How do you fake that?”
Rachel looked from the man in the sheriff’s costume to Adiel, and then back to Delanie.
“That’s actually a good question,” she said, and Bradley detected a little blush creeping up her neck.
“I think that once you’ve been in love, you just kind of know what it feels like. As an actress, it’s my job to summon the emotion of whatever part I’m playing, and convince all of you that it’s real. And once it’s been real—you are or have been in love—it’s easy to do. You just think of the person you love and project it to whoever your love interest is on stage on on film.”
Her eyes grew wide for a second and she turned to the sheriff. “No offense. I like you a lot, but I don’t love you. I mean—”
Bradley laughed as Adiel stepped forward and put his arms around both of the actors, who laughed as he did.
“It’s all about getting you guys, the audience, to believe it’s real. And there are lots of tricks to do that. I hope some of the cast shared them with you at the break, and that your rendition of Romeo and Juliet is great. I bet it will be.”
With that, the kids all stood and gave their best applause and thank you’s. Stephanie had these kids pretty well trained, and Bradley was impressed as they filed out the door. The cast and crew had lined up and each student shook hands and thanked them.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he got to the end of the line—JW had taken the head of the line—and he thanked Wade again.
“This was great, Wade. Stephanie would have been thrilled to be here. We both really appreciate it.”
“Nothing to it, Bradley. Glad you could come. The kids were great, and I think it was nice for the TV folks to be able to talk about what they’re doing. They’re working really hard. Oh, by the way, I’ve made arrangements for root beer floats for everybody over at the saloon before you go. You have time?”
Bradley glanced at his watch, glad he could say yes. He loved root beer floats, and he thought all the kids had been on their best behavior and had earned one.
“Sure do. Can I invite the driver?”
Wade laughed. “Of course. You know where it is. And you can take a look at the petting zoo on your way. Not sure if you’ve seen that. They’ve got some, um, interesting critters in there.”
&nb
sp; A loud clap of thunder shook the ground and Bradley looked up, then over to the saloon. He hadn’t noticed, but it looked like it had rained during the presentation and the interior of the Old Town was dotted with puddles.
He and JW called for the bus driver, told the kids the good news and they headed over toward the saloon. As they avoided the puddles and took a look toward the petting zoo—he’d told them they could take a peek after they got their root beer floats—he noticed the pretty wardrobe supervisor heading in that direction, too. He really did love root beer floats, but was even more pleased when he saw her walk into the saloon just before they arrived.
Chapter 4
“Here you go, Tamlyn. The usual.” Sadie, the owner of the saloon and the magician responsible for the best coffee and ice cream Tamlyn had ever had handed her favorite drink over the counter.
“Thanks, Sadie. I missed it this morning. Wasn’t sure I would recover.” Tamlyn took a sip and closed her eyes. It was heaven, and Sadie laughed, looking quite pleased with herself. That made Tamlyn happy, too. The people at River’s End Ranch were so thoughtful, and even though she lived in Riston, alone, she enjoyed her work family here at the ranch.
She turned and took a step back at the sight of the entire middle school class flooding through the door, chatting loudly with giggles woven in. She raised her eyebrows as she pressed her back against the far wall, wanting to get out of the way.
They were very well-behaved, and Sadie had trays of root beer floats ready for them—she had been so single-focused on her coffee that she hadn’t even noticed them. The student teacher she’d met earlier was busy getting all the kids in a line, and at the end of the line was the teacher who’d brought them in.
One of the kids called him “coach” and he looked like one. Tall, thin but muscular, his dark hair peeking out from beneath a baseball cap and covering the collar of his red golf shirt. His jeans were faded, but not too much and his thick-soled, black sneakers had stripes on them. He was definitely an athlete.
“Hey, careful, there.” The coach herded the kids up to the front and away from her as she tried to keep her hot coffee from spilling. He had an easy-going, yet commanding manner, and the kids responded right away, apologizing to her and moving toward the front and the trays of root beer floats.
“Sorry about that,” he said to her with a nod and a tip of the brim of his hat. His smile was infectious, and his dark brown eyes glistened with a color she couldn’t quite pin.
“No worries.” She pushed herself from the wall and nodded, navigating toward the door. “I hope you all enjoyed the presentation today.”
A girl with a long, red braid down her back turned and smiled wide.
“It was great. Thank you for doing that for us. I can’t imagine how you make all those costumes.”
She blinked a couple of times before she answered. She’d never really thought about it, but she did actually produce quite a lot of costumes. For her, it was fun, not work.
“I just try to make it work,” she said quietly as she shuffled toward the door and held her coffee close. She glanced back at the teacher and was surprised that her stomach fluttered at his smile. She shook it off and scooted out the door, her garment bag in one hand and coffee in the other.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind her. She checked her watch and realized she had less than an hour before she was supposed to meet her aunt and Allen for lunch at the cafe. It had been a busy morning, so she sat down on the bench outside the saloon, waiting for her coffee to cool. She set it on the bench beside her and leaned back, taking a deep breath and rotating her ankle. Her favorite blue cowboy boots were serving her well—it hardly hurt at all.
“Where’s the petting zoo?” a tall boy said as he came out of the saloon, root beer float in hand.
“Hold up, Alex,” the student teacher said as he slurped his own root beer float and the rest of the students flooded out behind him.
“No worries. I’m just going to check,” the boy said as he headed down the steps of the boardwalk.
Tamlyn smiled as the rest of the student followed, cups in hand, and the coach brought up the rear. As he followed the kids toward the petting zoo, he smiled at her again and tipped his cap.
“Thanks again, ma’am,” he said before he scooted off in the direction of the petting zoo.
They’d barely gotten down the steps before Billy the Kid—the petting zoo’s escape artist—careened from around a building. This was a very common occurrence recently, and Tamlyn had gotten many chuckles out of watching Jamal, the nice young man in charge of the petting zoo, chasing him hither and yon. She was never sure who won—Jamal or Billy. But today, it looked like Billy was winning.
“Come back here! I have carrots for you,” Jamal shouted as he followed at full speed.
“Oh, my gosh,” one of the girls cried, stepping back as the goat came at her full speed.
“Delanie, look out,” her friend shouted.
Tamlyn stood as the goat ran full speed toward the group of kids. The boys jumped out of the way, but the girl named Delanie seemed frozen in place.
The coach started toward her but didn’t make it in time. The goat bleated, dodged left and right, but eventually ran right between the two girls.
The one with the red braid’s root beer float flew out of her hand, straight up, and the two girls collided, eventually landing straight in a puddle from the recent rain. Mud dripped down their faces as they looked at each other and then turned to where the goat had run, not even a blip in his gait.
“I’m sorry,” Jamal shouted as he kept running after Billy.
Tamlyn’s hand flew to her mouth and once she knew the girls were okay, she did her best not to let her giggle escape.
“Oh, no,” the student teacher said as he raced toward the girls. He did take a moment to glare at the boys who were outright laughing.
To the girls’ credit, once they got over the shock of the goat attack, they laughed so hard that they actually laid back in the mud, looking up at the sky until their giggles subsided. The whole group laughed, and Tamlyn joined them.
The only one not laughing was the coach.
“Good grief. You’re covered in mud,” he said as he reached his hands out to the girls, helping them stand.
“No kidding,” one of the boys said as they all laughed again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a goat drive-by before,” the one with the red hair—well, red hair covered in mud—said.
“Are you all right?” The coach looked quite concerned and had turned his baseball cap backward to better assist the kids.
The student teacher had run into the saloon for napkins, but the flimsy paper wasn’t quite doing the trick. The girls stood in the puddle, arms extended, as the mud dripped from their arms and legs.
The coach stood and looked around, as if for assistance. Tamlyn’s own giggles had subsided and she walked down the steps from the boardwalk.
“Wow, that was something,” she said, and the girls turned to her with another laugh.
“Sure was. My sister’s going to kill me,” the coach said. “I can’t let them get back on the bus like this.”
Tamlyn looked toward her studio at the end of the boardwalk. It had dressing rooms, a wash basin and was probably the best bet to try to clean up this goat tragedy.
“Why don’t you bring the girls down to the studio. I have some clothes they can change into in the fitting room, and a sink to wash up. The rest of the kids can hang out outside. Won’t take a minute.”
The coach’s brown eyes softened—with gratitude, maybe, she thought—and he told the student teacher what they were going to do and asked him to take the rest of the kids to the petting zoo while he supervised the girls in the studio.
“Well, well, what have we here?” her assistant said when she walked in behind the girls covered in mud.
“A goat incident,” Tamlyn said with a smile. “I’m sure we have something the gi
rls can wear, and they can clean up at the sink.”
“No problem. Hi, I’m Felicia,” she said as she ushered the girls into the back room.
Tamlyn looked through some of the costumes, searching for some that wouldn’t be needed for a while. The coach plopped down on the bench in the waiting room and pulled off his cap, running his hand through his dark brown hair.
“Wow, that wasn’t anywhere near what I expected to happen today.”
Tamlyn laughed. “No, I don’t imagine so. Random goat accidents aren’t common. Except at River’s End Ranch.”
The coach shook his head. “Well, stranger things than that have happened around here. At least that’s the way I remember it from summers spent around here.”
She smiled at him and pulled two dresses from the rack that she thought might fit the girls. They were period dressed, designed after fashions from the 1880s, but it was better than wet, muddy blue jeans she figured.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Bradley Holbrook, the one in charge of this mess,” he said, extending his hand to her. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Tamlyn Nelson. Pleasure to meet you. And happy to help,” she said as she laid out the dresses.
She took the dresses to the back and helped get the girls changed. It was probably unusual for kids on field trips to come home in different clothes than they left in, but she hoped the parents would understand. The girls giggled in the dressing rooms and twirled in front of the mirrors when they came out.
“Look, Coach, we’re pioneer girls,” the girl Tamlyn now knew as Delanie said.
Her friend, Kayla, did the same and thanked Tamlyn and Felicia before they grabbed their tennis shoes that Felicia had washed and put them on. It was a bit of an odd combination, but Tamlyn decided not to split hairs.
“I’ll bring these clothes back as soon as I can. I’ll wash them first,” the Bradley said, and she and Felicia gasped in unison.
Teaching Tamlyn Page 2
