All she had to do was concentrate on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. If she let him see how much his complaint had upset her, he would win.
“Are you okay?” Dana asked.
She nodded. “I need to head over to the entrance gate for a while. Some sort of emergency. Can you cover for me here?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll be back after lunch,” Alex said and then she started walking, making a point not to look back at Blaze. Her eyes, still swollen from the previous night, filled with tears. Everything was her fault. Maggie said she would be fine, but she wasn’t cut out for a job like this. If the other day was any indication, she was facing a demotion. Mr. Howard’s angry words bubbled to the surface, sending tears down her cheeks.
How could she admit her temper had gotten her in trouble, or that Blaze’s relentless teasing was more than she could handle? Being the acting park manager meant she was supposed to be professional, courteous, and polite. Not a failure.
She blew her nose, wiped her eyes, and took several deep breaths when she closed in on the booth.
Robyn smiled from the stool in front of the cash register and removed the headphones from her ears. “What are you doing out here?”
“I wanted to, um…check the brochures. Make sure we have enough.”
“I guess we are getting kind of low.” Robyn slid off the chair and opened the cabinet under the desk, pulling out a huge stack of glossy papers.
“I’ll fold them. You take care of customers.” Alex nodded to the car slowing down outside. “Pretend like I’m not here.”
“Okay,” Robyn said, frowning. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed by the crowd.”
“I hear ya.”
Alex sat on the floor and leaned against the wall. Robyn greeted the visitor and then put her headphones back in, humming along with the music while Alex folded. Hours passed like that, until she had folded every brochure in the cupboard.
“Thanks for letting me hide out,” Alex said when she left to go home for lunch. “Don’t mention it, okay?”
“I won’t. I totally get it.”
As much as she wished she could spend every day in the entrance booth, she knew everyone was relying on her to handle things. Hiding wasn’t an option.
****
Blaze frowned as he watched Alex disappearing down the long road to the entrance gate. A woman in a matching brown uniform stood in Alex’s usual place. Something had just happened, but before he could get to the bottom of it, Mr. Reid called him to the set by name.
Heat flushed his cheeks and he ran to get back to work. With one strike against him, he went through his lines and followed directions. He couldn’t afford to screw up again.
When they stopped for lunch, he ate quickly and made his way over to Alex’s replacement.
“Hey, where’s Alex?” The apology he had planned still waited in his brain. Telling her they were her bread and butter was overstepping. Even if it was true.
“Entrance gate. There was an emergency,” the woman replied as her cheeks flushed pink.
“Emergency? What kind of emergency?”
“Beats me. I’m just following orders. Alex seemed kind of stressed out. I’m glad I’m not the acting park manager.” In a much quieter voice she said, “I know I’m not supposed to ask because we’re professionals and all that, but could I have your autograph?”
“It’s not a big deal,” Blaze said.
The ranger pulled a tiny notepad and a pen out of her pocket and handed it to him as she said, “Please don’t tell Alex.”
“Who should I make it out to?”
“Dana,” she said and then laughed nervously after she spelled it out.
With the tip of the pen against the paper, he paused. “Why would she be stressed out?”
Dana frowned.
“You just said Alex seemed stressed out.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, it’s a lot to take on. Her regular job is already pretty intense, and to have all these responsibilities added would be more than I could handle.”
Blaze nodded as the words rattled out of her mouth. It was the kind of nervous chatter he was used to. As he thought about the extra responsibilities Alex had he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
“I’m just a seasonal. I’ll be gone at the end of next month. I hope I get hired next season, too. I love Twisted Juniper. It’s a great park because of the management.” Her smile faltered as she looked at the little notepad still in his hands. “I would hate to get in trouble.”
Blaze scrawled his name across her paper and then handed it back to her. “I won’t mention it.”
“Thanks.” Dana’s shoulders relaxed.
“While we’re here, when is there time to do your regular jobs?”
“There isn’t,” Dana responded automatically. “I should be out burning pines. There’s a huge infestation of pine engraver beetles this year. That’s what Alex and I were working on last week,” she said as she rubbed her upper arms. “To be honest, I’m kind of glad for a break.”
“Speaking of breaks, I think ours is over.” Blaze had been watching Mr. Reid very carefully to be sure he didn’t miss anything.
“Thanks for the…” she trailed off and patted her pocket.
He nodded and got back to work. Alex didn’t reappear until much later, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t sneak away to talk to her. When filming ended, she seemed to vanish. The apology would have to wait for another time.
****
That night, Alex looked up from her couch in time to see the headlights from Jim’s car sweep across her front porch as he parked in their adjoining driveway. It had been days since she’d seen them and practically bounded out to greet them, followed closely by the girls.
“Welcome home.” Alex grinned despite everything.
“Alex, meet Henry.” Jim opened the back door and showed off the brand new car seat containing a tiny pink person.
“Hi, Henry,” Alex cooed. Pelli licked Jim’s hand and then sniffed the back seat of the car. “Look, it’s your little brother,” she said to the dog.
Maggie laughed as Jim helped her out of the passenger seat. “How has Pelli been?”
“Missing you. We all have.”
Maggie put her arms around Alex and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Thanks for taking care of her. I owe you one.”
“No, you don’t.” Taking care of Pelli didn’t add much work to Alex’s life. If anything, it had been a great distraction. Unwilling to leave, she supported her friend’s elbow all the way into their house. “Can I help you with anything?”
“You just did.” Maggie sighed and sank into her couch. “Walking is still a bit tricky. My joints are all floppy.”
Jim came in with the car seat hooked over his elbow. Squeaky cries came from within. “Damn. I woke him up. I hope I’ll get the hang of this thing eventually.”
“I’m sure it’ll take some getting used to.” Maggie reached for the baby and fumbled with a tiny diaper and a giant box of wipes. “Changing diapers is way harder than it looks, by the way.”
Alex nodded and tried to keep the dogs from getting onto the couch. “How was it? Everything okay? No complications?”
Jim grimaced. “I thought she was dying. Turns out labor is really noisy.”
Maggie shrugged. “I hemorrhaged a little, but I stabilized last night. So, no problems other than that.”
“Yeah, just a little excessive blood loss,” Jim added, shaking his head.
“I’m fine. How has it been? I missed two whole days. What happened?” Maggie unsnapped the tiny pajamas and unhooked the wet diaper.
Alex stalled. “You gave birth. That beats any stupid thing that happened on a movie set.”
“I really did it.” Maggie beamed. “I wasn’t sure I could do it, but then I did.”
“He’s precious.” Alex admired the new addition.
Jim stroked Henry’s little head. “He’s got my chin.”
“It’s a wonderful chin,” Maggie said before kissing Jim.
“I’m going to give you a little privacy. You just got home. I should get out of your hair.”
“But we didn’t get to talk,” Maggie protested.
“Tomorrow. We’ll talk tomorrow.” That was her cue to leave, grateful to avoid the unpleasant conversation that waited for her. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to dodge questions for long.
****
Alex returned to the set early the next morning. Everything was riding on her performance, and she couldn’t afford to screw up again. Mr. Howard wouldn’t let her forget. It was more important than ever that she did exactly what he asked of her.
The first thing she did was talk to Steve about his plans so she would know where to stand to be the most efficient. Their discussion made her job easier and took some of the dread out of her day. It wasn’t clear if he did it intentionally, but he always made her feel like she was doing her best. It was nice to have that reassurance after what happened. “Hey, is it okay if I check in with you every morning so we’re on the same page?”
Steve smiled. “That would be perfect. You’re the best.” Alex started backing away, but he spoke again, “I talked to my sister about the nature reserve.”
“Oh? What did she think?”
“That it’s a great idea. We’re going to meet with a representative from the wildlife trust when I get home.”
“That’s awesome.” A little surge of happiness bubbled up inside her. At least she hadn’t screwed up everything. “Okay, until tomorrow.” It was easy to watch Blaze from her position, to see him scan the area, probably so he could remind her of all the ways she had failed at her job. The alarm on her phone had chimed while she and Steve were talking, marking the beginning of her workday and another successful attempt at avoiding Blaze. That seemed to be the best option. If she couldn’t be nice when she interacted with him, it was best to avoid contact.
The director started shouting to the actors, putting them to work. As everyone spilled onto the set, Blaze meandered toward Alex. Trying to find an escape route, she backed away from him and bumped into a boulder. Trapped.
Lacking his usual cocky smile, he asked, “What exactly is an entrance gate emergency?”
“Sorry?” A real question was the last thing she expected from him and she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“You disappeared yesterday and Dana said something about an entrance gate emergency. What happened?” He furrowed his brow and seemed genuinely concerned.
Thankfully, Mr. Reid called everyone to the set. How was she supposed to talk to him when he was nice?
“Gotta go.” Before taking off, he smiled and winked.
Alex wondered if Blaze had some sort of eye condition that made him wink so much. Unless he thought he was charming. It wouldn’t work on her.
By the time noon rolled around, she was more than ready for a break. The line moved quickly, everyone shuffling forward, getting closer to the delicious smells wafting over the crowd.
“Are you going to tell me?” Blaze said in her ear.
She squealed, clutched her chest, and spun to face him. “Where did you come from?”
The corner of his mouth tugged into a crooked smile. “Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much—”
Of course, he would bring up sex as often as possible. “How did you get right behind me in line?” Words would have to be chosen very carefully around him.
He shrugged and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “Oh, these guys all know me, and I figured I’d grace you with my presence.”
“You think it’s okay to cut in line?” The question came out before she could stop herself.
“It wasn’t like that…” he trailed off and looked down.
“Wasn’t it? I’ve been waiting for ten minutes, and so has everyone else.”
Just then, the line moved, so she stepped ahead. When she glanced behind her, Blaze had ducked out of line and gone to the very back where it curved. She almost felt sorry for him, but then went back to hating him for making her life miserable. Why did he act like he didn’t know how difficult he’d made things for her? More like didn’t care. The only person he cared about was himself.
“Blaze, it’s so big,” a woman said loud enough to reach the front of the line.
“You’ve heard?” Even from her spot in line, Alex could see his million-dollar smile.
“I didn’t think it would be so heavy.” The woman passed his prop gun from one hand to the other.
Alex wanted to slap them both, but instead, she ordered her lunch, put him out of her mind, and found a place to sit alone.
Just when she’d taken her first bite, her phone chimed as an incoming video message came through. Great, it was her mother. From experience, she knew if she didn’t answer, the phone would ring ten more times. Of course, she had chosen to sit in only one of a handful of places where her cell actually got signal.
“Hey, Mom,” she said with a mouthful of food.
“Hi, Ally. I’ve been trying you all day. Are you eating?”
“Yep, that’s what I do at twelve-thirty.”
“I always forget it’s so much earlier there. I ate two hours ago.”
“That’s nice.” Waiting in line had already taken too much time, so she took another bite.
“Don’t be rude,” her mother scolded before clearing her throat. “Anyway, I’m calling to see which day you’re arriving for your brother’s birthday. It’s next week.”
If she hadn’t been chewing, she probably would’ve laughed. For two month, she had always managed to change the subject, no matter how much her mom badgered her, but this time she had to come clean. “Mom, I’m not going to be able to make it.”
“Matty is going to be sad you can’t come.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. He wouldn’t even notice if I were there.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.” When she’d gone home for Thanksgiving three years ago, she had endured a torturously long layover and noisy flight only to be harangued by her brothers. Junior had started in on her and Matt came to his aid, going on about how they had real jobs and maybe one day she would join them. Just like they always had. “I’m sure you’ll manage without me.”
“You haven’t even looked into flights, have you?”
“I can’t get away from work right now.”
“You work at a campground in the middle of the desert. I’m sure you can be spared. Besides, work isn’t the most important thing in life.”
Alex rolled her eyes and anger propelled her words out of her mouth before she could censor them, “Matt’s an expert at that part, isn’t he?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” she muttered.
“No, go on, tell me what you mean,” her mom said leaning closer to her camera, her angry eyes filling Alex’s screen.
“When was the last time he had a job?” Alex asked even though she knew. It was a part-time job at a fast food place two years ago.
“You know the economy’s been bad here.” There was always an excuse. Anything to justify her favorite kid.
“Sure, whatever.” Matt never left home. After high school, he’d taken a few college classes, but never been serious. Within a year he dropped out and dedicated his every waking moment to online gaming and mooching off their parents. Why couldn’t her mom see what a loser he was?
“Junior’s hours have been cut back at the plant, too. He tried to get Matty a job, but then they started making cuts. Poor Junior, he’s—”
Before her mom could get into all the grim details of her brothers’ pathetic lives, she interrupted. “Sorry Mom, but I need to go. The director just called everyone back to the set.”
“Director?”
“You know, the movie crew filming here at the park.”
“Movie crew? I would’ve remembered that,” her mom said.
&nbs
p; “I told you a few weeks ago when I met with the pre-scout group. Ring any bells?”
“Honestly, Ally, I can’t recall every boring detail about your job. Why didn’t you just say you were going to be working with movie stars?”
“Anyway, I have to get back to work. They’re waiting for me to start filming,” she lied. Their lunch break still had twenty minutes left, but she couldn’t stand to talk to her mom for another minute.
“I think it’s great you’re finally doing something worthwhile out there. What’s the movie?”
Alex’s cheeks burned and her stomach clenched. “We’re not allowed to discuss it with the public,” she said. “I need to go.” With that, she ended the call before her mom could respond and turned her phone off so it wouldn’t ring if she called back.
The food on her plate had lost its appeal, or maybe it was just her appetite that had vanished along with her meager confidence. Dumping her plate into the garbage, she took off toward the trail on the eastern rim where she knew she could be alone. Each step away from the noisy group helped clear her mind. The storm from the previous day had refilled the potholes and the wind had brought a fair amount of garbage with it. All she had to do was step a few feet off the trail, and onto a giant slab of rock dotted with depressions that varied in size with some as small as her shoe, others like shallow bathtubs. Squatting next to a particularly lively little pool, she used a stick to fish out a candy wrapper.
“Stupid people leaving their stupid garbage all over the place,” she grumbled. As she skimmed the surface with the stick, cleaning other scraps away, fairy shrimp scuttled away from her shadow. Their delicate legs fluttering through the water made her smile.
“What are you doing?” Blaze asked, his big head blocking the sun.
Alex tossed the stick away, picked up her pile of garbage, and glared at him. While she had been trying to actively avoid him so she wouldn’t get in trouble again, he seemed to go out of his way to find her. Why wouldn’t he just leave her alone? “Cleaning up litter.”
“How can you see it in that murky water?” He crouched next to her and squinted at the pool. “What the fuck is in there?” When he recoiled, he did it so fast he fell backward, his ass connecting squarely with the bedrock.
Love on Location Page 5
