by Tina Leonard
“An ad might be the way to go.” Pick was thoughtful as he glanced at Curvy. “Stormy said they were offering good money. Could be one of the farmers might be willing to plow their crops under. It’s an opportunity to go with a sure thing, especially when we’re heading into another long, dry summer.”
They stared at each other for a second. “Annie Aguillar Rayez,” Pick and Curvy said at once.
“She’s got a hunnerd acres,” Pick finished, “plus she got the farm next to hers where she put her daddy and Gert when they got hitched. There’s plenty of room out there, and her farm’s right off the highway where the Hollywood folks could get their equipment out easily.”
“You can send Stormy to Annie’s to see if the location would be right but…” Sloan fixed the elderly gentlemen with a stern eye, “…don’t you dare try to figure out a way to rope Annie into it.”
“Oh, no,” Pick shook his head quickly. Too innocently.
“We wouldn’t, Sloan,” Curvy seconded too eagerly.
They hurried from the office. Sloan looked out of the window, watching them head across to the Stagecoach and an unsuspecting Stormy. He frowned as he saw the two men put their heads together. They were up to no good.
Just to keep the playing field even, Sloan thought, I’d best put another call in to Cody.
Mary stared at her mother, antagonism stiffening every limb in her body. It hurt Cody to see the two of them at such odds. Mary had once been Annie’s lifeline, her only happiness after his brother—her husband—had died in a farm accident.
“I’m thirteen. Stop treating me like a baby.”
“I’m not, sweetheart. I don’t want you going to the county fair alone. All I’m asking is for you to go with someone whose parents are going to be there, too. But I can’t leave right now. I can go tomorrow, but not tonight. A lady’s on her way over to talk to Zach and me.”
Annie’s expression was stern but loving. Cody thought she handled the situation well, but it had an explosive fuse to it. Mary was at an awkward stage, wanting to be grown up and resenting her mother’s control over her. She didn’t realize how much she still resembled—and sometimes acted like—a child.
“Fine.” Mary flung herself into the window seat. “If you’re going to treat me like a baby, I’ll just sit here and suck my thumb.”
Annie sighed. “That’s your choice.”
When the doorbell rang, she went to answer it, and Cody noticed Mary quickly dropped her babyish attitude and tried to appear adult. A Hollywood scout coming to call was a big deal to her. She was too young to know better than to be impressed by people who made their living pretending. Resentment slid through him at Stormy’s intrusion in their lives. When she walked into the room, he stared, feeling unwelcome attraction pull at him despite today’s even more outlandish getup. Where in the hell did that woman shop?
“You’ve met Cody, I believe,” Annie said, showing Stormy to a comfortable chair.
Cody barely returned her nod. Hell, yes, he’d met her. And as soon as Sloan had called to tell him Pick and Curvy were sending Stormy this way, he’d hurried over to listen in. Annie was good-hearted and sometimes innocent of the ways of the world. Stormy appeared extremely cosmopolitan—and determined.
Annie introduced Stormy to Zach, who shook her hand courteously. Last, she introduced her to Mary, and Cody saw Stormy’s eyes widen as she looked at the teenager.
“You’re very beautiful,” she told Mary.
“So are you,” Mary returned shyly.
Shock replaced the resentment inside Cody. Mary wasn’t beautiful; she was a child, for heaven’s sake! And Mary needed a trip to the eye doctor. Stormy wasn’t beautiful; she was exotic like a peacock in a chicken coop.
He had to correct himself, though, as he frowned at Stormy while she began to talk to Annie about the movie project. She might be beautiful, if she took off those damn voluminous pants—today a black pair, at least—and that filmy blouse which revealed curves he didn’t want to think about.
Mary stared at Stormy, her eyes drinking in every inch of the woman. Cody supposed Mary would think Stormy was glamorous. Thank heaven Annie had the good sense not to allow her daughter to dress like a gypsy.
“Don’t you think, Cody?”
Annie’s voice snapped him away from his perusal of Stormy’s slender feet, which he could see through the straps of black high heels.
She had a tiny rose tattoo on her ankle.
Cody leaned back, crossing his arms. “Think what?”
“Think that it would be okay for Mary to try out for a bit part in Stormy’s movie if it gets made in Desperado?”
“I— Hell, no, I don’t! I thought this was a discussion about location. Since when did this turn into a casting call?”
“Haven’t you been listening, Cody?” Annie frowned at him slightly. “Stormy thinks Mary would be just right for the part of the awkward teenager in the movie. She’d have to try out, of course—”
He stood abruptly. “I’m going into the kitchen to help myself to a glass of tea.”
“Oh, good. Will you please bring Stormy one, too, while you’re in there, Cody?” Annie sent a pleased smile his way. “I made some special, just for her visit. It has mint in it from my own garden. Do you like mint?”
Stormy nodded happily. Cody could tell she was delighted at being treated to Annie’s brand of warmth, just as many a time he had enjoyed it, too. There was no better woman than Annie. Stormy might be from La-La Land, but obviously she recognized a good heart when she met one.
However, he would not allow her to take advantage of Annie. Stormy’s trick of pretending interest in a role for Mary was calculated and underhanded. Cody stomped into the kitchen, pulling out a glass for himself and one for the purple-haired woman. “Do you like mint?” he mimicked, his mood turning more foul.
“Yes, I do, thanks.” Zach slapped him on the back. “What’s got your braid in a twist, Cody?”
“I don’t like any of this.” He threw ice into the beautiful green glasses so hard that ice chips flew. “I don’t like movie business.”
“And what else?” Zach leaned against the counter.
“Nothing else. It just feels fishy to me.”
“You don’t like her, do you?”
Cody half turned. “Who?”
“The movie scout.”
“This has nothing to do with her, although I must confess her hair makes me…nervous.” Purple, by damn. It could only be called purple.
“I like her hair.” Zach seemed surprised. “She’s a very attractive woman.”
Cody’s jaw sagged. He turned to completely face Zach. “You’re pulling my leg.”
Zach laughed heartily. “Relax, Cody. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“What secret?” He glowered at Zach to let him know he was trespassing on his business.
“I remember feeling the same way the first time I laid eyes on Annie. She had me turned so inside out I was walking backwards on my hands.”
Cody poured the tea. “Slick, you’ve misjudged the situation. I don’t like her, don’t trust her, don’t like the way any of this smells.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t like me, trust me, when you met me, either.”
“There’s something wrong when one little weird-looking female can turn this whole town on its ear over some film and people playing make-believe. I’ve never seen so many folks get in line so fast to be made fools of.”
“Easy, Cody.” Zach thumped him on the back as Cody picked up the glasses. “You might find yourself next in line.”
“Damn well won’t.” He returned to the living room, and handed a glass to Stormy. She glanced up at him gratefully and smiled. Her forearm brushed against his jeans as she reached to take the glass.
Sexual response hit him in the region of his zipper, and he wished Annie had air-conditioning. It was time for Zach to get his wife an air conditioner; they had plenty of money, he thought sharply.
Stormy looked
cool and completely comfortable in her loose clothes. She went back to animatedly discussing her plans, obviously not struck by the same pull he’d just felt. Disgusted with himself, he sat back in a well-out-of-sight chair, but where he could hear the discussion. Taking a long sip of tea, he allowed his gaze to wander along her face and down her neck. She had tiny freckles on her chest showing above V-neck buttons. She had nicely mounded breasts he tried not to look at a third time, a dainty little waist, and sweetly shaped hips.
She had three tiny, gold loop earrings hanging from one ear, he noticed when she moved her long hair, and only one in the other. Damn lopsided female, he told himself. Couldn’t she make up her mind? It was either one earring or three, but she had to sit on the fence.
He downed all the tea in his glass and still felt dry in his throat. Zach was wrong. Stormy Nixon’s hair was purple. And she was not attractive.
“I appreciate your having me over.” Stormy stood, giving Annie Rayez a heartfelt smile. Words could not express how much she had enjoyed the last hour here. Annie treated her with respect, giving her proposal the attention of a businesswoman to another businesswoman. “I enjoyed meeting all of you. And you, too,” she told Mary.
The teenage girl had sat beside her inscrutable uncle all evening, never saying a word, though Stormy could feel her excitement. Every once in a while, Cody would reach over to tug teasingly at Mary’s long hair, and she would turn and scowl playfully at her uncle. Stormy had a feeling Cody teased the girl on purpose as his way of showing her affection.
If Stormy had been born into a family that had as much love to share as this one, her life might have turned out very differently. Mary reminded her so much of herself at that age. Maybe it was the awkward gawkiness she remembered so well.
“We’ll give your movie project consideration.” Annie showed her to the door with a pleasant smile.
“Call me if you decide to take me up on it. I’ll be at the Stagecoach. And if Mary should be interested in auditioning for the role, I’d be happy to give her name to the casting director.”
“Well, I’m not sure about that—” Annie began.
“I’d love it. I know I would!” Mary’s face lit with happiness.
“We have a while to decide about that, Mary.” She gave her daughter a patient smile. “Don’t we, Stormy?”
“Actually, they’ll probably start auditioning in the next couple of weeks. They’re hoping to start filming as soon as we have a location.”
“My goodness! I thought this was a future project?” Annie said.
“We had a location which fell through. Since the big name actors have already been signed on, we need to find another location quickly so that they don’t move on to other projects. That puts the pressure on me.” Stormy smiled but it was hard with Cody standing in the background, his legs spread, his arms crossed, and his face unwelcoming.
“I see. What happens if we decide not to accept your offer?”
“I think everything will turn out okay. I took a drive up the road today and happened upon Shiloh. Their mayor seemed plenty interested, and completely certain that they had an excellent location for me.”
“He would.” Cody shot her a sarcastic nod. “Tate Higgins isn’t called Wrong-Way for nothing.”
“What does that mean?”
Annie shook her head as she gently steered Stormy out the door. “Don’t listen to Cody. You don’t want to hear the tale of two towns while you’re here. We want you to go back to Hollywood with a good impression of our little world.”
“I have a good impression.” Nothing could change her mind, but her curiosity was roused. “I do want to hear a tale of two towns.”
“It’s silly, really.” Annie shot Cody a frown. “Desperado is named for all the desperados and huaqueros, or looters, who hid in this area in farmhouses and such. Shiloh is named for the famous General Shiloh, who courageously fought battles down south of here with Karankawa Indians. Headhunters.” Annie grimaced, and glanced over her shoulder at Mary, who was listening with huge eyes. “Anyway, since the two towns are one right after another on the map, we compete somewhat for tourist business. As you might guess, having a famous general puts Shiloh ahead of us in the advertising area. Tate Higgins took advantage of that by posting billboards along the highway telling folks to drop in to the ‘honorable city where folks have been down-home good for hundreds of years’. Naturally, that got folks around here mad, and ever since, they’ve said that Higgins would send a lost man the wrong way just so he could stick him in the back.”
Zach laughed. “It could also have something to do with the fact that, late one night when he’d had too much to drink, he had a run-in on a deserted country road with a parked tractor on the opposite side. He was driving in the wrong lane that night, for certain.”
“Goodness,” Stormy murmured. “I hope no one was hurt.”
“No. But Cody would have liked to hurt him. It was his tractor.” Annie grinned at Cody.
“What was he doing in Desperado?” Stormy’s eyes were on Cody as she drank in this small-town lore.
He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s always in Desperado stirring up trouble.”
“Don’t you worry, Stormy.” Annie patted her arm. “Tate Higgins is just fine. If you need to make your movie in Shiloh, you’ll be just fine. Cody’s just trying to scare you.” She gave Cody a stern eyeing. “Or impress you with his storytelling. Cody, did you come over here just to give this poor woman something to take back to the scriptwriters in Hollywood?”
“No.”
Stormy stared at him. Why did she feel that he disliked her so much? Was it the heat in his darkest brown eyes, or his unyielding, stiff posture?
“What are you doing tonight, Cody?” Annie asked.
“Going to hang around here for a while,” he answered, not taking his eyes from Stormy. She felt hot electricity tightening her heart, and wished he would look somewhere else.
“What are you going to do now, Stormy?”
“I’m going back to my hotel room and probably watch TV.”
“Well, then. Cody, I want you to take Stormy to the county fair. She needs to see something more of Desperado besides my house, your house and Sloan’s office. It’s the proper thing to do,” she said pointedly, when Cody jerked his gaze from Stormy to glare at Annie. “Stormy, I have a comfortable pair of walking shoes if you’d like to borrow them. We appear to be close to the same size.”
Stormy didn’t think so. Annie topped her by a good six inches. However, she would love to see a real county fair…maybe she could go back to her room to change and then head over there herself. She started to shake her head, but Annie took her arm.
“I know I’ve got a pair of white tennis shoes that would fit you. And if I don’t, Mary does.”
That was more of a possibility, Stormy thought, as Annie dragged her past Cody’s simmering gaze. Stormy didn’t even try to smile as they went by him—she couldn’t. His black braid seemed stiff with disapproval, his lips carved into forbidding granite.
“I don’t think he likes me,” she whispered to Annie once they were in her room. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
“Oh, never mind him.” Annie’s focus was on her closet. “Cody doesn’t like anybody.”
“Um—that doesn’t sound very conducive to our spending an evening together.”
Annie pulled out a pair of blue jean shorts and a white eyelet top. She threw white ankle-length socks on the bed. “Put those on. The shorts you can roll a cuff on if necessary. The blouse will be fine. We appear to definitely be the same there.”
She gave Stormy a wicked grin, which she had to return. Annie’s enthusiasm was fun, and if she wasn’t worried about Cody, Stormy wasn’t going to, either.
Annie returned with a pair of Mary’s white canvas tennis shoes a moment later. “The two of you wear close to the same shoe size, thank goodness. Oh. Don’t you look nice?”
Country sweet was more the description, Stormy though
t. If anyone but Annie had suggested she wear this unfashionable getup, she’d be certain they were trying to make her look bad.
“Now. Your hair. You’re going to roast with all that hair on your back.” Annie stared at her thoughtfully. “Put it up in a ponytail. You’ll feel better.”
“A ponytail?” Stormy couldn’t even imagine it.
“Yes, a ponytail. You’re not used to the heat here, Stormy. I know it gets hot in LA, but the sun here is hard even on folks who have lived in Texas forever and are somewhat immune to it. Trust me. You don’t want to get heat exhaustion. And I may even send Cody by the store to get you some sunblock.” Annie eyed Stormy’s white skin disapprovingly.
“I’ll be okay.” Stormy hurriedly pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. “I won’t stay out long.”
Annie nodded. “Come on, then. Cody’s not too patient, and now that I’ve given him an assignment, he’ll be anxious to get on with it.”
Stormy winced at being considered an assignment to Cody, but that was what she was, of course. Though when his eyes widened at the sight of her legs, she felt a secret little thrill of happiness inside. An assignment I don’t think he minds as much as he pretends, she thought.
“I want to go, too,” Mary begged excitedly. “Please, Uncle Cody?”
“Not this time, ladybug.”
Mary’s face fell. Stormy couldn’t bear her disappointment. “I don’t mind if she comes along.”
“You don’t?” He stared at her as if he couldn’t believe she had good manners.
“Of course I don’t! It’ll be much more fun that way.”
A sudden quiet fell over the room. Stormy realized she had just implied that Cody wasn’t her ideal choice for an early evening outing. His gaze stayed tight on hers, half-lidded and thoughtful. “The more the merrier,” she finished lamely.
“Okay, ladybug. Into the truck.” Cody waved Mary toward the door.
“I’ll follow in my car.” Stormy grabbed up her flowered carpetbag.
“We’ll meet you at the Stagecoach, and then you can ride with us.” Cody waited for her to precede him out the door.
