Love in the Heartland

by Diana Currie

  “Are you saying you’re willing to spend $12.50 on a movie that you know will be terrible simply because the trailer promises shower sex between me and Emma Watson?” Speaking of movie magic. Shower sex? Please. That shit’s impossible, Nathan thought to himself.

  Maddie laughed nervously. “Yes, absolutely. Oh my God, you have no idea how embarrassing it is to talk to you about this.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s not a big deal,” he tried to assure her.

  “Maybe to you! But while we’re on the subject… Can I ask you an acting question?”

  “Shoot.”

  “How do you do scenes like that; where you have to be practically naked in front of all those people on the set? I have no idea how you make a scene that must be so uncomfortable to film still look so sexy.”

  Nathan hummed thoughtfully. “There was no passion shared between me and Emma. It’s just part of the job. It is uncomfortable to be undressed in front of the crew, but I feel much more naked with you right now. Exposing myself to you this way is much more difficult that filming love scenes. I’m telling you secrets that no one else knows.”

  Maddie paused for a beat, reveling in the way his sad, defeated voice gave her goosebumps as he said the words naked with you. She sensed the conversation had taken a more serious turn. “You mean secrets like how you’re only now watching Lost?” she joked.

  Her attempt at humor worked. Nathan laughed out loud and it felt good. “I like talking to you, Maddie Sherratt.”

  “I’m glad. I meant what I said in that letter. You’ve had me worried lately. Tell me what you’re thinking when you act the way you did last night.”

  “You mean the drinking? Do you think I’m an alcoholic, Maddie?”

  “Do you think you are?”

  “Not yet,” he whispered. “But I’m not happy and sometimes drinking makes me forget about that for a while. Last night I almost did something much worse.”

  Maddie sat up in bed, afraid but determined to ask Nathan to elaborate. “What did you almost do, Nathan? Don’t lie.”

  He liked the way she said his name; her tone was patient yet insistent. He liked that she demanded the truth from him. Nathan imagined that Maddie was not a faceless stranger, but perhaps an old family friend who’d known him forever and wasn’t about to take any bullshit from him.

  “Someone at the party gave me drugs. A pill. I didn’t take it, but it’s downstairs in my living room right now and I wrestled all night with the desire to take it. I want this pain to go away, even if just for a little while.”

  “Where are you sitting right now?” Maddie asked.

  “I’m lying in my bed.”

  Maddie closed her eyes, promising herself there would be time to revisit that mental image later. “Nathan, you called me for my help. And I’m going to do that. I want you to get up and walk down the stairs. Can you do that for me?”

  Nathan huffed. He was quite comfortable in his warm bed. But he stood up and followed his new friend’s direction. “I’m in the foyer downstairs now.”

  “Good. Listen carefully. I want you to go get whatever it is that pusher gave you last night and carry it into the bathroom.”

  Nathan knew what Maddie was asking him to do. He’d considered the same solution the night before but lacked the courage to follow through. With Maddie’s stern guidance he was able to force his feet forward. He pulled the little white pill out of the coffee table’s drawer and it felt hot in his hand all the way to the bathroom.

  “Now what?” he asked Maddie.

  “Put it on the vanity and then look in the mirror, Nathan. You see that man there? I need you to keep him safe for me. You have to take care of yourself, Nathan. Not just for me but for every other person who cares about you as much as I do. Do it for your parents and your brother too. You deserve so much better than whatever that thing is sitting next to the sink. And I promise you right now that you don’t need it. So, I want you to pick it up and flush it down the toilet. Right now.”

  Nathan thought to himself how Maddie had a flare for the dramatic. He also decided that he liked her and wanted to talk to her again. “I can do that for you, Maddie.”

  “No, Nathan. You have to do it for you,” she insisted. She heard the sound of a toilet flush and was finally able to let out the breath she’d been holding.

  “Thank you, Maddie,” Nathan said softly as he walked out of the bathroom and went to sit on the couch.

  “You’re very welcome. Is there anything else you need to tell me?” she asked cautiously.

  Nathan changed the subject, not ready to delve deeper into his demons yet. He had plenty more soul bearing to do but thought it better to save for future conversations. He hoped she would agree to allow him to call her again. “You’re an enigma, Maddie. I want to ask you more questions now.”

  “Proceed, if you must,” she replied while feigning annoyance.

  Nathan smiled, happy that she seemed more relaxed with him now than she was when he first called. “What’s your favorite band?”

  “Luke Bryan.”

  “Who’s that?”

  Maddie giggled, not surprised by his response. “He’s a country music artist. I’m from Texas, remember?”

  “Are you telling me you’re a cowgirl, Maddie?” Nathan asked dropping his voice again. It was the voice of Nathan Foster that she recognized from his films. Deep and sultry. Holly called it a panty dropper.

  “I’ve ridden a horse a time or two,” she replied. Nathan liked that visual. He suddenly wanted a clearer picture.

  “Maddie, would it be too forward of me to ask you to text me a picture of yourself? I want a face to go along with your lovely voice.”

  “You want me to send a selfie to Nathan Foster?”

  “I’m just a guy named Nathan, Maddie. Please don’t think of me as anything more than that. The Nathan Foster you speak so fondly of is nothing more than a figment of your imagination. Believe me.”

  “And this guy named Nathan I’ve been getting to know is nothing more than a voice through my phone,” she countered.

  “Precisely. I can send you a picture of me too if you want,” he offered.

  Maddie couldn’t say no to that. “O-okay.”

  Nathan smiled. “I won’t take up any more of your time this evening, but I’ve really enjoyed talking to you and I’d like to do it again sometime. Would that be alright with you?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “Thank you, Maddie. I’ll call you again next Sunday night. Don’t forget to text me that picture.”

  “You either, Guy Named Nathan.”

  He chuckled into the phone. Maddie closed her eyes and tried to memorize that sound for she wasn’t at all convinced that Nathan would ever dial her number again. Especially after he saw her plain face appear on his phone.

  “Have a pleasant evening, Maddie.”

  “You too.”

  Maddie hung up the phone and quickly ran a comb through her hair. She took off her glasses and applied a touch of makeup to her face before snapping her picture. She took several shots before getting an image she was willing to send him. The text with Nathan’s picture came through before she finished typing her own message. She noticed his phone number was included in the body of the message. Nathan was stunning in his selfie, wearing a plain white t-shirt and a smile. What made her heart swell was the fact that next to his face Nathan held up her yellow fan letter in his hand. Damning evidence that the conversation she just had was not a dream. Maddie knew she would open that text message every time she needed proof that the last hour had been real.

  Maddie was now deeply concerned about Nathan’s wellbeing. If the tabloid photos weren’t enough to worry her then their conversation certainly did. She wanted nothing more than for Nathan to follow through on his promise and call her again, if not for her own indulgence then for his comfort. Maddie could sense how much Nathan needed a loyal, supportive friend and she wanted to be that for him. She thought he was wrong a
bout his negative self-image. In that picture Nathan was real, untouched by computer effects and lighting tricks. He looked natural and more handsome than she’d ever seen him before.

  A few seconds later Nathan received the message from Maddie. He was excited and nervous to see the face of the woman who had such a profound impact on him. Even the short amount of time they spent conversing that night made Nathan’s heart and mind ache a little less. He knew he wanted to be friends with Maddie Sherratt. He had never had a true friendship with a woman and he thought it was high time he gave it a try. Maddie had already saved him once by convincing him to flush the little while pill. Nathan understood how much he needed to talk to someone outside Los Angeles once in a while.

  It didn’t matter to him what she looked like; it might even be easier on him if she was unattractive, for Nathan knew himself to be a bit of a flirt with women. Young and old, they all gravitated to him with very little effort on his part. Nathan opened Maddie’s text message and quickly saw just how problematic being strictly platonic friends with her was going to be. Madeline Sherratt was downright beautiful.

  Chapter Two

  The following Sunday night Maddie made preparations for Nathan’s call. By 5:45 she was alone in her room with the door locked after telling her parents that she needed to study for an exam. Her cell phone charger was plugged in next to the bed and she had a bowl of fruit and a bottle of water on the night stand. The food was next to a small pad of paper with a list of possible conversation starters she’d jotted down over the course of the previous seven days. Maddie hadn’t stopped thinking about Nathan Foster since he called her last week and despite her best efforts there was still a huge doubt in her mind that her phone would actually ring at six o’clock as promised.

  At 6:15 those doubts began to take purchase in her gut. Maddie had worried all week that perhaps Nathan had just been desperate last Sunday night and now that he was in a better place he’d have no further need for her. She’d really felt like she’d gotten through to him last week; convincing him to flush the drugs that were in his home. Maddie was certain the connection she’d felt with him was mutual but she still feared that perhaps once he saw the photo she texted of herself he would think twice about calling her again.

  By 6:30 Maddie was an emotional mess. She changed into her most comfortable flannel pajamas and ate a few pieces of the chocolate she had stashed in her desk drawer. She knew it was a long shot that a Hollywood celebrity like Nathan Foster would enjoy talking with a country girl like her. But she thought they shared a moment or two during that first phone call that proved she was wrong. And now she was going over everything they had said to one another trying to pick apart the conversation and discover what it was that made him say he would call again and then not follow through.

  Maddie moaned into her hands, angry at herself for letting a guy make her act so crazy. She never took this kind of crap from any of the boys at school. If she gave her number out and the guy didn’t call then he wasn’t worth her time. She never thought twice about it. But Nathan Foster wasn’t just some guy. It had taken every ounce of self-control to refrain from telling Holly about Nathan when they saw each other on campus. Maddie was bursting at the seams but for some reason couldn’t bring herself to spill her guts to her best friend. She was mindful of why Nathan called her in the first place and wanted to respect his privacy.

  At five minutes to seven Maddie became worried that something had happened to Nathan. All week she’d been monitoring the entertainment websites she usually frequented to see if any new stories popped up about him but nothing bad had been reported. Could something terrible have happened to him? Maybe there were more pills in his house than he’d admitted to her.

  When her phone rang Maddie screamed. She’d been pacing back and forth and the sudden music blasting from her phone scared the living daylights out of her. To say Maddie was a bit edgy was a gross understatement. The caller ID displayed a blocked number again, only this time Maddie knew exactly who was calling. She took a deep breath before accepting the call.

  “Hello?” she answered trying to sound casual.

  “Hey, Maddie. It’s Nathan,” a deep voice said in her ear.

  She had almost forgotten how incredibly sexy Nathan Foster’s voice was. He was tardy, but the sound of his voice pushed that thought far from Maddie’s mind. He seemed better this week; his tone upbeat and that made her sigh with relief.

  “Hey. It’s good to hear from you again.”

  “Likewise. You sound a little different. Is everything okay over there is Texas?”

  Maddie twirled a loose strand of hair around her index finger. It was one of her nervous habits. “Yeah, I’m good. I wasn’t sure you’d call again, but I’m glad you did.” She continued pacing, her nerves too rattled to sit still just yet, and waited for him to speak.

  “I spent all week thinking about the things you said to me. You have no idea what that call meant to me,” Nathan admitted.

  Finally, Maddie sank into the soft mattress on her bed and curled her legs up to her chest. His words were validation that she had in fact helped him. It was something she desperately needed to hear to make herself believe she was more than just the luckiest damn Nathan Foster fan in the world. Knowing that she’d talked him through a tough time and he valued her advice was important to her.

  “So, are you feeling better?” she asked hesitantly.

  She heard Nathan sigh through the phone. “Yes, and I have you to thank. I was in a bad place last weekend. I don’t know what might have happened if it hadn’t been for your blinding yellow letter and your kind words over the phone.”

  “Your welcome. I have to admit though; I wasn’t sure how much help I’d really been. I might have checked TMZ a few times, or ten, to make sure you hadn’t gotten into any more trouble.”

  Nathan grimaced. He didn’t enjoy feeling like a disappointment in her eyes. This poor woman probably felt like he was such a burden to her; having to talk a spoiled, self-centered celebrity off the ledge the way she’d done.

  “I had another rough couple of days since we spoke. I had to do a press junket for Zero Gravity and go on a morning talk show. It’s so hard to fake enthusiasm for this movie, but it’s part of the job.”

  “Good Morning, America. I watched it. You were funny.”

  “I was?”

  Maddie giggled. “Yeah, you were. I always enjoy your interviews.”

  “You’re biased, Miss Sherratt,” he teased her.

  Nathan was in his kitchen warming up some of Lupe’s leftover meatloaf. It wasn’t as good as his mother’s but after adding a little barbecue sauce to the top he could almost pretend the loaf had just been pulled from Nancy Foster’s oven in Wisconsin. He took his plate over to the kitchen table and set it down next to a half empty bottle of beer.

  “We’ll see next Friday night how biased I am,” Maddie quipped.

  Nathan frowned and took a bite of food. It was hot and burned the top of his mouth. He was careful to only think the F-word and not say it out loud for Maddie to hear. He didn’t want to add “vulgar mouth” to his growing list of character flaws. “What’s next Friday?” he asked confused.

  “Duh, Zero Gravity is released nationwide. After you’ve trashed it left and right, if I still walk out of the theater thinking it was amazing then I must really be biased wherever you’re concerned.”

  “Amazing? I assure you it will not measure up to amazing,” he replied.

  Beginning to feel more comfortable Maddie lay back against her pillows and stretched her legs. She remembered how easy it had been talking to Nathan Foster the previous Sunday evening. All her pent up anxiety began melting away the longer they chatted. He had such a lovely voice, deep and soothing in her ear.

  “That’s my friend Holly’s favorite word. She thinks everything you do is simply amazing,” Maddie explained impersonating her best friend’s tone of voice and her mannerisms by holding her hands up like she was drying her nail polish.
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  Nathan hummed in understanding. “And what does this Holly person think about you talking to me?”

  “I didn’t tell her about you. I didn’t tell anyone actually, not even my mom.”

  “Come on, you had to of told someone. What about your brother, Kyle?” Nathan pressed. He couldn’t believe this girl hadn’t spilled the beans to a single person. Surely Maddie would have mentioned it to one of her friends or perhaps a classmate at school.

  “Not a soul. I swear.”

  “Why not?” he questioned, glancing out the floor to ceiling window that looked out over his back yard.

  “You called me last week for help. I guess I felt like telling people about it would betray your trust. You confided in me and I want to respect your privacy.”

  “Thank you, Maddie. I really appreciate your discretion. I know I never asked you to keep this a secret so I truly appreciate that.”

  “You’re welcome,” Maddie replied sensing a serious tone in his voice. She chuckled to herself thinking about what her best friend’s reaction would be to all this. “Besides, I did it to protect Holly as much as to protect you. If I had dropped this bomb on her she would have probably fainted on the spot! And then upon waking up she’d then nag me day and night until I put her on the phone with you. It wouldn’t have been pretty.”

  “Hmm, I see. Perhaps it would be best if you continued to keep our conversations a secret for now.”

  “Absolutely. I can keep a secret,” Maddie said assertively. She rather liked the idea of having Nathan Foster be her little secret. It felt more special and intimate that way.

  Nathan smiled as he stood to drop his empty dinner plate in the sink. He bypassed the bottles of water Lupe stocked in the fridge and grabbed another beer before wandering into the living room to sit on the sofa. “So, what should we talk about now? You do want to keep talking to me, right? I suppose I shouldn’t assume that you do.”