Shadow Ridge (2 page)

“Bethany Tillman!” One man with a camera yelled. She raised her hand and waved. “Can you tell us if Dirk Peters is going to sign for Bobcat?”

“Sorry guys. Official news has to come from the studio, not me. Good night.” She gave a saccharine smile that was genuine, not forced or fake.

When they were far enough away he looked at her. “What is it that you do exactly? I thought you lived in Freeport.”

She laughed. “Isn’t that a question you should ask before you ask a girl to play strip poker with you?”

Well yeah, it was a question he should have asked first. “I’m asking now.”

“I work for a movie production company. I handle the business side of movie making along with the hand holding side. I moved back to Freeport to help my mom out. She and my dad divorced a few months back. Signed, sealed, and delivered that is. They have been separated a bit longer. He left her for a younger woman. She’s a ditzy whorish school teacher who was my nephew’s teacher. My mom has been raising him since my sister was murdered in New York. She was a single mom because her husband died in the war. So,” she sighed and shrugged. “With him not having parents he came to live with the grandparents—my mom and dad—and well…wandering eyes equal wandering hearts. He left her and took bimbo teacher with him out to California. My mom needed me and my boss nearly worships me so he let me relocate. I travel a lot when I have to, but thanks to technology I can video conference too. And the best part is they’re going to be filming in Boston for one of the movies I have to police for a while so I won’t have to go too far to keep tabs on the high maintenance people linked to this one. But I can’t say more than that. Besides, I shouldn’t even say all that. I don’t know you either.”

He laughed. “I won’t tell anybody. Actually I’m the Sheriff here. I hope that doesn’t make you change your mind about going out with me. Hollywood lady and all I guess you probably have men clim
bing boulders to get to you.”

She laughed hard. “
It’s Hollywood, Miles, not Colorado. But no, I’m not going to change my mind. You’re kind of nice. I want to open the package. No promises—but I want to know more about you.”

He could deal with that. With hopes whatever she learned would make her want to stay with him and know more.

“Just be yourself. Don’t try to impress me; okay?”

“Impress you? Who says I was trying to do that?”

She laughed. “Oh please. You could have probably saved yourself some money if you weren’t checking out my legs and trying to get me hot all night.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. He may have stolen glances at her legs once or twice—or the entire night. Yeah, he should have folded before he put it all on the table, but he honestly did think the guy was bluffing. He missed a few signs and that was his fault because he lost focus when he started thinking about the hot woman who had just said yes to
a date with him.

“So um…did I make you hot?” He
orchestrated their position so that after she disarmed the alarm she was backed up against her car. The sleek red Audi was definitely expensive. He knew that because he knew cars. She was a woman who wouldn’t need his money which was good. But would she want to wear his cuffs? He had to admit he wouldn’t mind letting her do that.

“Maybe,” she blushed and lowered her eyes. “But I’ll never tell.” She squared her shoulders and gave him a sly smile. “Don’t stand me up tomorrow night; okay?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he moved and allowed her space to step away from the car. He opened the door for her and watched her get inside. “Buckle up,” he said and made sure she did it before he shut the door. He took a step back so she could pull away from her parking space. Yeah, she was definitely hotter than hell and he would be one lucky man if she took it past the first date. He wasn’t delusional, the ball was in her court and he was at her mercy.

Chapter Two

“B
ethy girl that man is too fat for you,” Kelly shook her head, her finger and anything else she could shake to drive home her point. Bethany knew he wasn’t some super in-shape guy, but he was nice at least. His confidence had caught her off guard. Maybe that’s what he planned on in the first place—catching her off guard and knocking her off her feet. Every other guy that night had received a firm “not interested” response. Unlike her friends, she was not there to find a man. She was there for educational purposes. Everything she did seemed to be for educational purposes and work. While there were people hired to perfectly stage sets she had actually been the one to point out errors. Maybe that’s why she flew up the ladder so fast—because she was keeping Montecito Productions out of the movie negative black hole.

“At least we’re able to stop the major mistakes before they hit the scre
en,” Jeff had said to her. “You catch things they should catch.” Jeff was a major player, not the highest, but nowhere near the lowest either. “You’re a godsend for our company and we’re not letting you go.”

She was thrilled in a way because that got her a significant raise, a new car and a house. She had never known a job would provide such luxuries for their employees—valued or not. And when she had to go back to Freeport she hadn’t had a problem at all. In fact, they had bought her the land and built the house she, her nephew and her mother moved into. She had it made. After struggling so hard to find her place in the glitz and glamour of the world she finally had reached a comfort zone. Of course this was still Hollywood no matter where she made her bed and Hollywood could love you today and hate you tomorrow. She planned for the worst now days so she was making sure she had a significant cushion in case the worst happened.

“He’s nice,” Bethany finally said. “And stop calling me Bethy. You know I hate that.” She wasn’t gone for centuries so Kelly should have known that. Back in the days of childhood she hated it too. The only person who got away with it was her father because he was her dad and she had the perfect family life so it didn’t matter. It seemed perfect to her anyway. The little girl who had a father who taught her how to work on cars, throw a ball and kick butt in case she was attacked. Her father, the CPA, didn’t let work get in the way of making one of her school plays. He never missed a family dinner even if that meant he had to go back to work after dinner, or bring work home to work on after dinner.

Life was perfect from the eyes of a child back then which is probably why the adult in her still couldn’t understand how her father could abandon his “queen” for some floozy teache
r. She couldn’t understand how he could abandon her at all. The day he walked out that door was the day he shattered every dream she had of marriage and happily ever after. If it didn’t work for them then it didn’t exist. She didn’t expect it in Hollywood. Odd since she had fallen down that hole herself, but she didn’t expect the happily ever after. These celebrities were under the microscope where a simple handshake with a laugh could spawn the malicious rumors of affairs. They worked months at a time away from their families. It wasn’t easy and many marriages fell apart.

She had said in Hollywood marriage was just a piece of paper so don’t
bother with getting that piece of paper because that paper will burn in the hell the gossip rags would suck them into. Now she figured that applied everywhere. Marriage just didn’t mean anything anymore—to anybody it would seem.

She shrugged off her thoughts.
Now was not the time to think about the hardships in her own life, or the crazy world of temporary marriages that she had come to realize surpassed Hollywood. Now was not the time to realize her childhood vision had been a lie. She was combating her old childhood friend, Kelly McDowell, and if she didn’t concentrate she might end up getting roped into a date with some chain smoking idiot again.

Bethany chuckled
softly. God; that had been their senior year of high school and she still remembered it.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking about Burt Peters.”

“Oh no! You know I said I was sorry about that. He was with the cool kids.”

“He was with the hang out behind the school during math class and smoke a joint kids, Kel. Seriously…” She shook her head.

“That was high school.”

“I still remember it therefore you’re still being held accountable for picking him as my date for our senior class day out.” She still remembered it because most of the students hated the idea of having to spend the day at the Botanical Gardens while she loved it. Old times were fun to think about sometimes.

“Don’t change the subject anyway. That man is just…he’s not your type.”

Really? What was her type? More than that, what did Kelly really know about it. It had been a long time since high school. They had both gone their separate ways and if Bethany wasn’t back in Freeport now they wouldn’t even be talking. “He’s nice, confident, respectful…yeah, not my type.” She shook her head at her friend. One thing Bethany always had going for her was her sarcasm. She always meant it; some people thought she was joking when she was really serious. This time she was pointing out the flaw in Kelly’s statement. Maybe he wasn’t her type physically but he could be personality-wise. She just had to get to know him a little better to see.

“He’s not right for you. Go out with Bill Davison. He’s smart. He has his own law firm. He has a relatively nice body.”

Bethany snorted. Bill had a fabulous body. It wasn’t all perfection, but it was close. She would have laughed just thinking about Bill, his perfectly tailored tight fitting suits, and his bottle a day of cologne smell, but Bill was nice—until he hit the court room or an argument outside of it that he was determined to win. He wasn’t a bad guy. But something about him had her wondering if all of those won cases had more to do with the fact that he looked like a porn star. Not that she watched porn, but she had spent enough time in California to know the look. He looked like he could be a porn star—all glamour and glitz packaged in a suit carrying a Harvard law degree and undefeated court record.

“I’m not interested in Bill. He’s nice, but he doesn’t know how to be funny at all.”

“So?”

“So I like a slice of a sense of humor to go with the serious. Anyway, I’m not Bill’s type either.”

“Maybe, but you know there are better looking men out there. I mean that guy could be cute if he lost about a hundred fifty pounds or so.”

Bethany felt her anger rising, but as always she was the diplomat.
“He seems like a nice guy. I’m going to get to know him better. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to stop talking now—unless you have something productive to say.”

“Wow, it’s like that huh?”
Kelley’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock.

“It’s like that.”
Bethany didn’t have time for the junior high school antics. Beyond that, she really hated people who were so insecure in themselves that they had to pick on somebody else about their weight. It wasn’t that Kelley was picking on him per se, but her opinion was just as annoying as if she had been.

Kelly shrugged. “I’m just trying to help you, but whatever. When he kills over on top of you and s
quishes you to death don’t come crying to me.”

“If I’m dead I can’t come crying to you, Kelly. Think before you speak next time.” Bethany grabbed her keys off the table and her clutch wallet. “I have work to do. Enjoy the rest of your day, Kelly.”

“Yeah, you too. We’ll talk tomorrow, but I have to get some Christmas stuff together. The kids are spending this Christmas with me.”

Bethany nodded. Kelly and Christopher had an amicable divorce one in which the kids had a chance to spend alternating holidays with one of them. Last Christmas was Chris’ turn so Kelly got this Christmas and New Years while Chris would get Memorial Day and the Fourth. Bethany was thankful her parents hadn’t split while she was a kid. She couldn’t imagine having to spend alternating summers and holidays and school breaks with one or the other. Not that holidays mattered seeing as though they never celebrated them anyway, but it still would have been a pain to have to keep uprooting and moving all the time.

For Kelly and Christopher they at least stayed semi close to each other. Kelly had stayed in Freeport while Chris’ job had transferred him to Boston. It was still far enough away not to be on top of each other, but close enough so the boys didn’t have to fly across the country to see either parent.

“Okay, we’ll get together before the boys get here. When are they getting here again?”

“One week. They’re still in school up there. They’ll be in school here next year though. That makes me happy.”

Bethany could see the smile in Kelly’s eyes. She missed having the boys living with her. Bethany couldn’t even imagine what the boys felt. They had to switch schools yearly due to the divorce agreement, but Kelly had told her she and Chris were talking home schooling from here on out so the boys could stop having to try to make new friends every school year. Bethany hoped they could work that out for them at least. It couldn’t be easy to spend a school year here and then a school year there—not for any of them.

“Okay…I have to go. Conference call,” she said in one of those stressed out sing song manners. She wasn’t stressed. She loved her job. And she was very much adapting to the change in place and pace so she was doing fine.

Tonight she had a date and she needed to figure out what to wear. She had driven past the restaurant already so it gave her an idea that it wasn’t quite five star upscale, but it wasn’t quite jeans and t-shirt either.
It was new since the last time she was a permanent resident of Freeport so she had never been there to dine. The drive-by research was a necessity.

She hated first dates. First dates were too much about what to wear—dress or pants, makeup or no makeup. First dates were too much about what to order to eat. Although she would admit with Miles she shouldn’t have to worry about that. It’s not like this was some Hollywood guy who would be judging everything that went into her mouth and sizing it up for how many calories and how much fat it could pack on her.

She laughed about that as she drove down Freeman toward Sebastian. The good doctor t
hat her friend in Bev Hills had set her up with had actually been a plastic surgeon. The worst thing to do in Hollywood was date a nip and tuck guy because the entire dinner, despite her healthy meal, he kept pointing out how much that cream sauce over the broccoli was going to cost her in calories. Calorie count turned into how many calories equaled one pound of fat. She assured him she wasn’t worried about getting fat and that she worked out religiously. He assured her that even with her workouts she could still use some work. The only thing that surprised her that night was that he didn’t pull out the Sharpie and mark all the areas he was pointing out on her body that needed work.

“Oh, not so good times,” she laughed again. She had dated some nice guys, but some of them were complete douche bags too. Maybe she had come across more of those than she had nice guys lately. She hoped Miles didn’t turn out to be a douche bag.

“There’s only one way to find out,” she said as she turned on to the isolated road that would lead her to her home. She passed the apple orchards and kept on driving. Yeah, there was only one way to find out. If that date tanked then at least she would save herself some time on trying to make it work. She was not going to hang on to something that wasn’t right.

Miles had arrived at the restaurant early. He was nervous; he would admit that. But he had arrived with the same confidence he had when he asked her out. He was wearing his black custom made Armani suit, a deep red silk tie, matching pocket puff, cuff links and perfectly polished shoes. Having money afforded him some luxuries and while he didn’t walk around town in Armani suits he did pull them out for special occasions. This was a special occasion for him. A date with a beautiful woman who might be more than just a one date thing was definitely an Armani worthy occasion. The suit was only six hundred dollars and some change. It wasn’t as if he spent near millions on it, but still, Armani was Armani and the class in the design was what really made the garment for him.

When she walked into the lobby she smiled at him so warmly he felt areas of his body stir that needed to settle down before he did something stupid that scared her away from him. A date did not mean she wanted to find a room and explore what was beneath the top clothes.

“Hey,” she had walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him as much as she could. His stomach extended a little too much and his waist line was just a little too big for her to have a full connection. He felt embarrassed. She was used to California surf guys with hard bodies and perfect tans—what did he think he could give her that they couldn’t?

He kicked the thought from his mind. He could give her a lot…love, laughter, so many things if they just got to know each other beyond the wrapping.

Another slender woman had shown them to a back booth. It wasn’t near the bathroom, but it wasn’t near the crowd either. He wondered if they were trying not to let people see him. He wondered if they were trying not to scare their patrons away from the table and into the gym.

“I love it back here,” she said and it brought him out of his uncharacteristic self loathing fest. “It’s quiet so we can hear each other talk. And we get to sit closer. Not that I’m big on invading spaces,” she said quickly. “If you want me to sit on the other end of this horseshoe I will.”