High Noon: A Sweet Romance (Red Canyon Series Book 3)

by Laura Westbrook

  For a moment, he smiled, then wiped it away, flashing back to his character. “If you hear anything, make sure to holler. The sheriff’s office is just around the corner, and I try to make myself available to talk to citizens.”

  She wondered if she’d be considered just any citizen to him, but there was only one way to find out. She wondered if it would be frowned upon if she went to visit him in plainclothes while he was working. Probably. It wasn’t worth asking Carol.

  The family stopped nearby instead of continuing on past them. Luke looked back over his shoulder and tapped his fingers against his leg. After it was clear the group wasn’t going to move on, he dipped his head again and moved on himself. Lynn held back saying mean things to the family under her breath. They seemed like nice people, but they ruined her opportunity to talk to Luke like a normal person.

  “That was Luke, one of the face characters who’s worked with us for a few years,” Carol said. “He’s quite experienced.”

  “I can see that,” Lynn breathed. “I met him earlier. Samuel introduced us.” That sounded a little too official, so she pulled it back. “Samuel introduced me to several face characters, and he was one of the people in the room at the time. He seems nice.”

  “He’s very good at not breaking character. That’s something you’ll have to thoroughly learn. Whenever a guest is within earshot or can see you, you need to be in character, whether you feel like it or not. As you can see, Luke did just that.”

  He sure did. “Have you ever seen him break character?”

  “Not once. Not in any meaningful way. And I’m good at paying attention to details.”

  Carol went back to describing the different buildings, and Lynn did her best to keep up, still with the brochure clutched in her hand. She wondered if she’d be nearly as good as Luke at focusing on the customers and staying in character. She wasn’t convinced yet.

  * * *

  Vanessa tugged on a sleeve. “Will you stop flailing your arms around?”

  Lynn stopped just long enough to get another breath of air. “I’m not. I’m just getting lost in here.”

  “It’s not that hard. There are only three holes. One for the head and two for the arms. You have a one-in-three chance of getting it right, and your head won’t even fit through either of the wrong holes. You’re a winner every time.”

  “I don’t feel like a winner in this top.” Lynn finally got her head to the top and peeked out the froth of lace at the neck.

  “Now that I have your sizes, I was able to look through everything we’ve got to see what would look best on you. Normally, I don’t try quite as hard for any employee, but you’re not just anyone.”

  “So, is this like a special occasion or something?”

  “Of course,” Vanessa said. “It’s your first performance, silly. That’s a big deal. It’s like a rite of passage.”

  “I barely know what I’m supposed to do. And it’s in an hour.”

  Vanessa straightened the top over Lynn’s shoulders. “Sure you do. You told me about it earlier. You sit there and you look beautiful and shocked at the ghastly things that are going on. Simple. Just like this floral pattern on your top. You see how unassuming and elegant it is? This sort of thing would be what a pioneer woman would wear to church or a special occasion. I figured it was fitting for you today.”

  Lynn glanced up at her. “Am I going to hear a sermon?”

  “I meant more the latter in this case. You’re going to do fine. You’re not a main character, just in the background, so there’s not much to mess up. They probably did that on purpose, as you’re still learning the ropes.”

  “I want to be one of those background characters who joins in. They’ll least expect that. Keep the audience on their toes.”

  Vanessa sniffed. “I think management would hate that. They have everything scripted out. The main characters even have separate rehearsals.”

  “It’d be hilarious, though. Can you imagine if I just stood up and knocked the pistol out of the guy’s hand and rolled out the rest of the scene as the main character—villain even? That would be fun. I’d love to see their faces. Like a Bonnie and Clyde kind of thing. Only just the Bonnie part. Then I can ride off into the sunset with all those gold doubloons or whatever money they had back then.”

  Vanessa fastened a brooch just below Lynn’s neckline. “I think those both are different time periods. Haven’t you been studying up on Carol’s brochure?”

  Lynn glanced at the ceiling. “Define studying.”

  “Have you ever opened it, or did it go immediately into the trash?”

  “Yes, I opened it up. Give me some credit. I just…didn’t get very far.”

  “Like the first two pages in?”

  “Maybe one.”

  Vanessa poked her side. “What if she quizzes you?”

  “I guess I’ll fail then and they’ll have to put me back where I came from,” Lynn said. “Oh darn.”

  “She probably just hands those out to check off a box. I’m sure it won’t come up. I certainly didn’t have to read a brochure or take a test, but then again, I’m not a face character.”

  “True,” Lynn said. “How’s your day been so far?”

  “Not too bad. I talked to Craig this morning.”

  Lynn raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? A full-on conversation?”

  Vanessa turned away. “Ah, well. Maybe ‘talked to’ was a bit strong. I said hi to him this morning, and he said hi back.”

  “There you go. That’s a start. Before you know it, you two will be married and have all kinds of babies.”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about all that, but I would like to have a real conversation with him. He’s so hot in that costume. He may not be the sheriff, but an assistant sheriff is good enough for me.”

  “Assistant sheriff?”

  “I don’t know what they’re called. His character is a western cop, just below the sheriff level. There are two of them, Craig and Jasper. They’re usually around Luke, especially during the performances.”

  Lynn’s mind drifted to how Luke had looked the day before, with his costume that firmly placed his character in a position of authority. A presence like that in history must’ve made the townsfolk feel a little bit safer in a hazardous world. Her imagination continued to run wild until she realized Vanessa had said something.

  “Need anything else?”

  “No, I think I’m good,” Lynn said. “I guess I should head over there. But what if I get stopped by someone? I’m not supposed to be a street character yet.”

  Vanessa touched her chin. “Try walking behind the buildings on your way there. It’ll be slow going, but you’re guaranteed not to run into any guests. If you rip your skirt, though, I won’t be happy. I might make you sew it back up.”

  “I haven’t been back there. It’s not a good idea to carry tools through an alleyway.”

  “Well, now’s your chance. Also, make sure to lift your skirt if there’s any mud. There probably won’t be without any rain, but keep an eye out for it. You’re probably not used to doing that.”

  “With a long skirt? Not at all. But I’ll keep it clean.”

  “You better get going. The show will be starting soon, and you still have to get over there.”

  “Okay, wish me luck.”

  “Good luck. And try to resist the urge to improvise and ruin the entire show.”

  Once Lynn had stepped out into the fresh Arizona air, she realized the back alleyway wasn’t exactly dry. Even though it hadn’t rained for quite some time, patches of earth were still damp, and it even churned into mud in some places. She wasn’t sure if it was water from hoses or condensation from air-conditioners, but either way, it didn’t make for the most suitable condition to travel through.

  She tried to aim for the dry spots, but that was becoming more and more difficult. The further in she got, the more she considered turning around and taking the main road, even if that meant stopping and talking
to customers. She might prefer taking her chances and looking stupid to accidentally falling and muddying up her entire costume. She was having enough trouble keeping her shoes clean.

  When she hopped onto a small radius that looked safe, the short heel of her shoe quickly sank into the mud. Her mind went to the quicksand she’d seen in old, black and white westerns when she was a kid. The ones that looked so meek and mild on the surface but underneath were the skeletons of men and horses who had been lured to their deaths. It wasn’t possible for that stuff to be wedged in-between buildings at an Arizona theme park, but at that point, she was just as scared of Vanessa’s reaction.

  By the halfway point, she still had everything clean but the heels, other than the very bottoms, of course. She didn’t have any sense of time, as she’d left her cell phone in her new locker, so she had no idea whether she was early or hopelessly late. She was pretty sure there was still time, but she rarely went without her cell phone these days and felt rather naked without it. She wasn’t used to not knowing what time it was at any point.

  Finally, she came to the back of the saloon, which basically meant a simple set of four stairs leading up to the back door. There was an odd patch of grass just below the steps, which provided an excellent opportunity to wipe the heels of her shoes on. She’d made it. The trip back would be another matter, but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.

  The trick was, she didn’t know if the show had started or not, and opening up a door in the middle of it was the last thing she wanted to do. The back door led in right behind the bar, or at least, the side of it. They decorated it to look like the door to a storage room, likely where a bartender at that time would have spare liquor bottles stashed away. If she opened the door at the wrong time, she might get a fake bottle to the head.

  With surprising self-control, she eased open the door and peeked inside. The front door leading out to the street was still closed, and there were several face characters milling around inside. She wasn’t too late.

  “You made it,” a voice said from one of the many wooden tables spanning the open area. It turned out to be Rayleigh, sitting in a full dress with frilly stuff coming out the bottom and what Lynn imagined was a corset underneath. She was definitely dressed in what Lynn would consider the fancy version, to the point where Lynn felt a little underdressed next to her.

  “I did,” Lynn said. “You’re here for the performance too, I take it?”

  “I’m here and present. Although my head is killing me. I wish I wasn’t here right now.”

  Lynn slid into the chair next to her. “It’s a little early to hope it’ll end soon. Are you not feeling well?”

  “You could say that. I threw a reality TV show party last night, and I had a bit too much to drink. My boyfriend can bounce back pretty easily, but I usually have a headache for the rest of the day.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I guess hurrying this along won’t help you then, if you expect to have it all day.”

  “Are you excited for your first performance?” Rayleigh asked. “I assume it’s your first, anyway. You just started doing this a few days ago, and I haven’t really seen you around yet.”

  “No, you’re right. It’s my first one. They pretty much told me to stay in the background and not say anything.”

  “Well, that’s just because you’re new. Once you get a feel for things, they’ll put you in more important roles. The other day, I did a performance piece alongside the blacksmith, where we talked about what our characters do all day. It was kind of weird, because there wasn’t a great ‘real world’ reason to talk to them about that. We told ourselves our characters thought they were a group of apprentices, hearing about the craft to see if they wanted to take it on.”

  “I can see how there would be gray areas.”

  “We get as close as we can, but sometimes there’s no getting around the fact that we’re modern people in costumes, and the guests just have to overlook that part.”

  “Right. So what are you doing for the performance?” Lynn asked.

  “Probably the same thing you’re doing. There’s not much for the lady folk to do in this one. I’m here to look pretty.”

  “That’s what Vanessa said.”

  “I don’t mind,” Rayleigh said. “Let the guys do all the work this time. Especially with my headache, it’s for the best.”

  A man entered through the back door, the same one Lynn had, walked to the middle of the room, and placed his hands on his hips. He wore a polo shirt untucked over blue jeans and seemed like he knew what he was doing.

  “Okay everyone, we’re about to start. Let’s all get into positions. Once we’re there, I’ll open up the doors for the guests and signal to the face characters outside. Keep in mind that once the doors open, everyone is in character no matter what. If any of you have your cell phones, get rid of them now. Really, that should all be in your lockers back at the office. Everyone clear?”

  Everyone either nodded or murmured. She didn’t see anyone reach for contraband in their pockets or sleeves, so that was a good sign. Lynn was glad she’d left hers at the office. Or at least mostly glad. She felt an odd mixture of wanting to succeed, and at the same time, wanting to secretly sabotage her efforts so that they wouldn’t make her keep doing it. She had a hard time letting anyone down, which was usually her downfall.

  “You two will need to be separated,” the man said, gesturing to Lynn. “Let’s have you sit at this table over here.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Lynn said, making her way over.

  After she sat down and the man walked away, Rayleigh leaned toward her. “That’s the performance director. Don’t mind him. If it makes you feel any better, he’ll be barking orders to us all day. If you’re only doing this one, you’re lucky.”

  Before Lynn could ask why, Rayleigh continued, “We’re prostitutes, you know.”

  “What?”

  Rayleigh pointed up the stairs Lynn had been working on just a few days ago. “I mean, nobody’s come out and said it, but it’s assumed. That’s the brothel up there. Why else would women be sitting in a saloon underneath a brothel? That’s my theory, anyway.”

  Lynn scrunched her nose. “I think I’m a little too plainly dressed to be…one of those.”

  The room was filling up as several more face characters filtered in. There were probably around twenty of them now, almost all men. None of them were dressed like Luke in his sharp vest and pants. These men were all dressed like rugged cowboys looking for trouble.

  “I think they cared more about what a woman looked like out of her clothes than in them,” Rayleigh said with a giggle. “Don’t worry, it’s not part of the performance or anything like that. I just like to think that’s part of it.”

  “Why are you wanting that to be a part of it?” Lynn asked.

  Rayleigh flipped her hair with a laugh. “Why not? It makes for a more interesting afternoon. It’s all make-believe anyway.”

  Lynn decided she’d rather stand than sit, so she stood up and took two steps back. The director didn’t seem to mind, so she stayed there. “If it’s all the same, I’ll just imagine myself as an innocent bystander who came in for a drink.”

  Rayleigh shrugged. “Suit yourself. Although I don’t think many women drank in those days. At least, not in saloons.”

  The director walked across the room and placed his hand on the doorknob of the front door. “Places, everyone. Here we go.” He smoothly pulled open the door and stepped out of the way. People filed in, with people clutching things ranging from cameras to snacks to children. Some entered like they’d seen it all before, but most shuffled in with a mixture of awe and confusion. A park employee wearing khakis and a bright blue polo guided the customers to long wooden benches along the far wall, allowing a healthy space between them and the face characters.

  Remembering that she needed to start acting busy, Lynn grabbed a nearby prop, a white parasol leaning up against the wall. She wasn’t sure if her character was suppos
ed to have such a thing, but without her sitting at a table, she needed something to occupy her hands. A low buzz filled the room as everyone began talking, both between the customers to each other and the face characters to each other.

  Most of the conversation on Lynn’s end was either in character conversation or complete babbling, like how some movie extras repeat the word “watermelon” over and over when in the background and out of range—she’d picked that up from another behind-the-scenes production she’d watched.

  She might have been the only person not talking to another. After a minute or two of tinkering with her parasol, she realized she should eventually join in. She knew the director liked it when the face characters warmed up by interacting with each other before the performance started, but she had no idea how long that was supposed to last before something happened.

  “Lovely weather we’re having, aren’t we?” Lynn asked a nearby cowboy. She couldn’t think of anything better to say.

  The cowboy stopped his conversation mid-sentence and turned to glance at her. He twisted his hips, turned around, and rested his arm against the wall in a move that seemed almost too casual.

  “New around these parts?” he asked.

  She realized two things. First, she recognized him. He was Jasper, one of the other face characters often around Luke. Second, his question could easily have a double meaning.

  She decided to play along. “Sure am. I just arrived in town yesterday.” Technically true, as she’d received her character the day before.

  “You don’t say. Well ain’t that fortuitous for me.”

  She thumbed up the edge of her parasol. Jasper wasn’t unpleasant, but he certainly had a strange way about him. He had that side-smile where she couldn’t tell if he was joking half the time.

  “Well, if you like conversation, then I suppose it is.” That sounded like something her character would say.

  He leaned in. “You know, we could get a room upstairs. I’m not starting out for Sacramento until tomorrow morning.”

  She frowned. Was he really hitting on her during a scene, or was this the best thing he could think up for his character to say? He had to know those rooms upstairs weren’t actually bedrooms. Or actual rooms, for that matter.