Mae frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You and Shannon gave something to Lee when you visited.”
“Are you talkin’ about Byron Parker’s personal accounts?”
“I am. And I’ve come to ask you to stop Lee from using them.”
“Stop Lee! Why would I do that? If he thinks it’s best to—”
Karen scooted to the front edge of the cushion, almost spilling her drink. She placed it on a side table for safekeeping. “But it’s not for the best!” she argued. “If he tells people the Twilight legend isn’t true, it will destroy the town. Tourists won’t come. What reason would they have? Who’d want to see a place where something was supposed to have happened but didn’t?”
“But if it didn’t—”
“You saw how the people of Twilight are working to get ready for the movie preview. Their goal is to lure tourists—not just during the preview, but afterward, too. They want to take advantage of the studio’s publicity for the new movie and combine it with a little publicity of their own to create something longterm. I’m sure they’ll be asking permission soon to put up signs along the road bordering the ranch to guide the tourists. And with ‘Western Rambles’ doing a special—”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of a bunch of strangers driving by the ranch,” Mae interrupted her.
“Then...then get the county to build another road! I’m sure you have the connections.”
Mae smiled slightly. “Oh, yes, I have connections. But building another road...”
Karen saw the way Mae was looking at her, as if she were seriously delusional. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to calm herself. This wasn’t going well. She should have known. But she’d thought Mae could be her strongest ally. If only she could make her care about the town!
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, trying to back up a step. “I know this seems—But it means so much to me. And would to Aunt Augusta, too, if—”
“I don’t see how Lee’s telling the truth will bring an end to Twilight,” Mae maintained.
“Because if tourists don’t come, the people won’t make any money, and they’ll have to move away.”
“They’re living there now.”
“They’re barely hanging on! The cost of living has gone up everywhere, even in Twilight.”
“Maybe I could get the place declared a historic site or somethin’,” Mae said.
“That takes time, doesn’t it? And time isn’t something Twilight has very much of.”
Mae thought for a moment. “I don’t see how in good conscience I can ask Lee to go against what he thinks best.”
Karen was losing the battle. She didn’t know whether it was because she hadn’t done a good enough job of making her plea or because she was up against the stubborn arrogance of the Parkers. She gave one last try, her voice rising. “You Parkers have everything! Can’t you let Twilight have something?” Then she felt bad because she’d shouted at a very old woman in whose house she was visiting.
Marie hurried into the room, followed by a large, burly man with a round face and a nearly bald head. “You want us to get Rafe?” Marie asked gruffly, looking at Karen as if she were the enemy.
Mae waved them away as she had Rafe. “No, no. No need. I can handle it.”
“But—”
“You and Axel go back to what you were doing. This little girl is just trying to make a point. That’s all.”
The pair didn’t like it, but they did as Mae said.
Once again Karen felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.”
“You feel strongly about that little town.”
“And the people,” Karen added.
“A town is its people,” Mae declared, and Karen felt an optimistic spark. She wondered if she’d made more headway than she’d first thought. “Tell me,” Mae continued. “Since you don’t live there, why do you care?”
“I care because...I’m more a part of Twilight than I am anywhere else. I grew up in Austin, but Twilight is in my blood. I visited every summer when I was a child...did my aunt tell you? I love it.” Her declaration was made with such simple conviction that Mae nodded.
“That’s the way we Parkers feel about our land. It’s a part of us. It’s in our blood.”
“Then you’ll talk to Lee?” Karen pleaded.
“I’ll talk to him,” Mae agreed, “but I won’t tell him what to do. ‘Western Rambles’ is his show, and it’s a dam good one. A reflection of the man who makes it. Lee’s one of us. He’s a Parker. He stands for something. And I’m not goin’ to try to make him go against what he thinks is right.”
KAREN RETURNED to Twilight in a brighter mood than when she left it. She knew Mae had agreed only to talk to Lee, but that was better than refusing.
She parked her car behind the antique shop and hopped out, remembering to bring with her the small bag of purchases from the drugstore. She would return later for the half-dozen moving boxes in the trunk.
She was halfway up the exterior stairs when she saw him. She almost dropped the bag when he unfolded his length from where he’d been sitting on the landing.
“We have to talk,” he said quietly, and for a giddy moment he reminded her of his older cousin Rafe. The same dark menace, if a little more subtly held. The same steely determination. “In there,” he added, motioning to her aunt’s apartment.
Karen shook her head, remembering what had happened there once before. “I’d rather not” she murmured.
“We need to talk in private. Unless you’d rather have Nate’s story—”
Karen pushed past him, leaving the door open for him to follow. She placed the bag on the kitchen counter and quickly positioned herself behind it.
“You went to see Mae,” he said.
His knowledge startled her. She hadn’t expected Mae to have called him so soon. “Yes,” she said.
“You asked her to use her influence to quash the story.”
“I did.”
He came closer and she tensed. But he didn’t try to move around the counter or touch her. “You went to the ranch to do this,” he said evenly.
She lifted her chin instead of replying. She was tired of answering his questions.
“That must have been hard for you,” he surprised her by saying. “Mae certainly admired you for it. She told me you were—her word—spunky.”
His nearness and the positive spin he was putting on her visit to Mae was eroding her determined detachment. His voice, the way he looked... She had to do something! “And?” she challenged.
“From her, that’s enough. She likes you. She approves.”
“I mean, did she convince you? Are you going to quash it?”
“I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Karen sighed. “It’s a simple choice. Good things for you or good things for the town.”
“If I choose the town, I’ll be going along with a lie. The truth could easily come out one day. If we found it, someone else could, too.”
“No one else has access to your family’s records.”
“They have access to that headstone and the county’s records.”
“Why would anyone care?”
“Some people like to make trouble.”
“People like you?” she retorted. “Think about the harm you’ll be doing. The studio’s probably already out millions on publicity—playing up the legend.”
“I’ve thought about that. Have you ever heard the saying, Any publicity is good publicity? They’d probably welcome the added notoriety. The more the picture’s talked about, the more of an audience it’ll draw.”
“Then...your show. Is that the kind of program you want to put on the air? I thought you specialized in good things. Not—”
“Telling the truth is a good thing.”
Karen curled her fists.
He smiled without enjoyment. “Not quite so simple, is it?”
“I’d like you to leave,” she sa
id tightly.
“Diane told me you’d talked to her, too. She thinks you hate her.”
“I don’t hate—”
“Don’t take it out on her or Manny. They’re part of the team, they get a say, but this one’s mine to call.”
“You’re the one who’ll have to live with it, then!” she retaliated. “Do you think you can do that?”
“I’ve lived with worse,” he said quietly, and let himself out.
FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS Karen existed in her own world. She’d done everything she could to convince Lee not to reveal Twilight’s secret. There was nothing left to do but wait and see what he decided. She stayed to herself, working in the storage shed, working upstairs. But even as hidden away as she was, the excitement that was starting to grip Twilight’s populace managed to work its way through to her.
She knew when the first set of movie workers departed and were replaced by a second group, whose specialty was to set up the preview. The original trucks having brought almost everything they needed, the transfer was accomplished smoothly and easily. What especially pleased the townspeople was that before the old crew left, they assembled in the Lady Slipper and wore their Twilight Texas T-shirts and sported their Twilight Texas caps. Drinks and goodwill were exchanged all around, along with wishes for luck.
Karen also knew that a couple of the townspeople had branched out in their construction to build the road signs, which would be put in place after this weekend’s premiere, and that Isaac Jacobs had agreed to paint them. He’d done such a great job with the logo, he was the perfect candidate to repeat his success.
She knew all this, but she couldn’t watch it. All she could think about was the power Lee Parker had to destroy everything.
THE “WESTERN RAMBLES” crew used their time to finish taping all the townspeople’s interviews and to collect any other individual shots they thought they might need before the preview, particularly those of Lee, alone, delivering various segments of his copy. They knew that from the moment the media arrived on Saturday through the movie showing on Sunday afternoon, they wouldn’t have many minutes to spare.
“I don’t know...I feel like Judas or something every time we talk to any of these people,” Diane complained from her position draped along the foot of the bed.
“Isn’t that supposed to be me?” Lee asked. “Aren’t I the one with the traitorous kiss?”
“You’re not Judas.”
“Then, for sure, you aren’t, either.”
“I am,” Manny said while doing repetitive curls with his hand-size dumbbells. “I’m the guy everybody can point to and say, ‘There he is, there’s that Judas guy!’”
Diane tossed her pillow at him. “Still,” she said, adjusting her position, “I do feel that way.”
“Drop it, okay?” Lee was frowning. “I know what you’re saying. I need to make a decision.”
“Maybe it’s best that you don’t,” Manny countered. “Not until after we leave the place.”
Diane shook her head. “No, if he’s going to do it, he has to tell them to their faces. Warn them. It’s not their fault that the legend isn’t true.” She turned to Lee as if inspiration had struck her. “You know, if you’re concerned about perpetuating the lie, we don’t have to do it. Every time you mention the legend, you call it that. You say, ‘The legend says this...the legend says that,’ and then go on with it. Whaddya think?”
“It could work.”
She pulled a face. “Gee, thanks for the enthusiasm.”
Lee merely shrugged.
Diane caught the pillow that Manny tossed back at her and stuffed it under her elbow. “I’ve never felt this way about a shoot before. I’ll be glad when this one’s over.”
“You want combat pay?” Lee asked dryly.
She looked at him. “Maybe.” She sat up. “Okay. Cards on the table. I don’t see anything wrong with believing in legends and myths. Think about Santa Claus and the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. When you have a child one day, Lee, are you going to tell the little kiddie those things don’t exist because it’s not the complete and accurate truth? Manny and I aren’t, I can guarantee you. I still like to believe and I’m an adult. Actually, I think adults need legends and myths as much as children do, maybe more. We all like to believe in heroes who are bigger than life. King Arthur, Robin Hood... Experts aren’t sure if they ever truly existed, but the stories about them have been handed down through the ages. And that wouldn’t have happened if people didn’t want to believe in them. Belief in heroes speaks to something in the human soul.”
Diane glanced from quiet man to quiet man and pulled another face. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I’ll step down off my soapbox now.”
“No,” Lee said. “You’re right”
She drew another breath. “And believing that an outlaw like Nate Barlow sacrificed his life for a child—”
“You’re right,” Lee repeated, only this time a little more sharply.
Diane knew better than to press the issue further, and Lee gratefully got to his feet.
“I’m going to bed,” he said. “I’m beat,” Then, glancing at Manny, he teased Diane, “Don’t let him drop one of those things on his foot. We don’t need a cameraman who has to hop around.”
Diane grinned, accepting his unspoken attempt at contrition. “All we need is a picture that goes up and down...up and down.”
She was giggling at something Manny said when Lee closed the door.
His glimmering smile disappeared for good as he let himself into his room. He knew he couldn’t continue to put off his decision. He’d been given several days’ grace because nothing crucial had been in the works. Now it was all coming together in a rush. He was apprehensive about the media’s impending arrival. Wary that with their twitching noses and curious minds they might catch on to the fact that something was indeed wrong. And the primary giveaway would be that headstone.
Lee hadn’t spoken to John about it. He hadn’t wanted to spook him, make him aware that they knew of the deception. He doubted that it went further than that. As Karen had speculated, in all probability the alteration had come about in order to tweak tourist interest.
Karen...
Lee fell back onto the bed fully clothed. Circumstance forced him to keep his love for her to himself. Look what she already thought of him! She wouldn’t take kindly to hearing him say it. Not now. Not when Twilight’s continued existence rested solely in his hands. That was exactly why it would be so easy for him to give in to his first instinct and drop his questions about the Twilight legend. But if he chose that path, was he doing it only to placate her? To get back in her good graces? To make her think well of him again? And if he did, where would his integrity and his honor fit into the equation?
He also had another problem. If he went through with exposing the truth on “Western Rambles,” wasn’t he doing what he’d once found so repulsive? Like his old news director, wouldn’t he be laying himself open to accusations of callousness? Of giving priority to the sensation of a story over its cost to humanity?
His humanity told him to leave things alone. To follow Diane’s suggestion and use her carefully crafted. “The legend says...” as a distancing tool between fact and fiction.
The legend says...
Lee got up, discarded his clothes and collapsed between the sheets.
There were times when he wanted very badly to believe in myths himself. Times, like now, when the correct course in life seemed hopelessly obscured.
A SLEEK BLACK LIMOUSINE pulled into Twilight the next afternoon. Inside it were Melanie Taylor and her two assistants from Hollywood. She made a show of getting out of the car and taking a quick inspection of the workers’ temporary quarters. Both assistants had notebooks at the ready to jot down her impressions.
Karen, who happened to be talking with Bette on the sidewalk in front of the antique shop, watched the whole production.
“Oh, no,” Bette moaned. “Not her again.”
�
�It looks like,” Karen said, smiling.
By this time Melanie had spotted them and hurried over. “The music hall...I can’t remember. Where is it now?” she asked with a flash of her dazzlingly white teeth.
“Over there,” Bette said, pointing to the large building across the street and to the far left of the well.
“Oh, that’s right! Yes. Harry! Dwight!” she called to her two young assistants. “I’ll meet you inside in just a moment. Yes, that building over there. I’ll be with you as soon as I speak with my two friends.” She rolled her eyes when they had trouble finding the correct building. “Honestly. I don’t know how they make their way around LA, but they do. Quite well, as a matter of fact.” She leaned close to kiss the air next to Bette’s cheek, then did the same to Karen. “You’re Karen Latham, aren’t you? I’m remembering correctly, aren’t I?”
Karen nodded.
“I’m Bette,” Bette said. “John’s wife.”
Melanie grinned. “I know who you are! How could I forget? You and John have played such a large part in the success of this project. How is John? I definitely want to speak to him as soon as possible.”
“He’s at the hotel,” Bette said levelly.
A light frown creased Melanie’s brow. “The hotel?”
“At the end of the street. We’re fixing it up for tourists.”
“Fixing?” the studio representative repeated, a little hollowly.
“Yeah. Been working on it for the past ten days or so...ever since you left.”
Karen glanced at Bette and saw the redheaded devilment in her expression. She was out to make trouble for this woman..To worry her.
“But...you weren’t supposed to—Oh my God! Don’t tell me that John’s changed anything!” Panic had set into her blue eyes.
“Changed just about everything,” Bette confirmed. “Looks really nice now. Doesn’t it, Karen?”
Karen was having a hard time keeping a straight face. She had known Bette didn’t like Melanie but had no idea just how deeply the feeling went. “Uh, yes. Yes, it looks very nice.”
Twilight, Texas Page 20
