The Last Goodbye (The Women of Independence) (9 page)

Danielle wondered if Carmen’s new
relationship with Jake would affect the actress’ decision. “How long do you
have to make up your mind?”

Carmen made a wry face. “I didn’t mean
to make it sound like I already have the part. I haven’t worked for a while, and
I had to audition along with several other people, so it’s not a done deal. My
agent will probably get back to me in the next few days.” She was silent for a
few moments. “I haven’t mentioned the new project to Jake, so I don’t know if
he’ll have an opinion or not.”

“Would it make a difference if he did...
have an opinion, that is?”

Something in Carmen’s eyes softened, but
she shook her head. “I don’t think he’d let me know even if he did. He’s
difficult to read.”

Danielle nodded. “You’ve got that right.
I’ve known him all my life and there are still times I can’t tell what he’s
thinking.” She studied the other woman for a moment. “I won’t ask you what
you’ll do if they offer it to you. I have a feeling you don’t even know
yourself.”

“You’re very perceptive.” Carmen lifted
her water glass, and then put it back down. “How do you feel about Jake and I?
I know you saw me coming out of his room this morning.”

Danielle’s smile was unmistakably
sincere. “I’m for anything that makes my Uncle Jake happy. I didn’t realize it
at the time, but I think part of the reason he’s never married is that he
wanted to create a stable home for me after my parents were killed. I lived
with my gran during the school year, and spent the rest of the year here at the
ranch. I don’t know too many people who would make that kind of sacrifice.”

Carmen sighed. “I can see him doing
that. He’s a special man and I’m hoping for the chance to get to know him
better.”

Something in the actress’ words touched
Danielle. “I hope you get that chance.” She rose, stretched, and leaned on the
railing.

They fell into a comfortable silence.
Down by the lake, Andrea laughed at something one of the men said, and rose.
She appeared to be flirting with Hayden and an unladylike snort came from the
love seat.

“What is it?” Danielle kept her eye on
the scene unfolding by the lake.

“A lot of good that will do her. Hayden
has a partner at home, and it’s not a woman.”

Danielle shot a quick look at Carmen. “Doesn’t
she know that? I was under the impression that everyone knows everyone else’s
business in Hollywood.”

Carmen considered her question for a
moment. “Generally speaking, yes. But Hayden keeps to himself. I only know
because I worked with him on a small film a couple of years ago. He’s a nice
young man.” She rose gracefully and stood at the railing beside Danielle. “Now
she’ll put the moves on Tyler, but that won’t go anywhere. He’s recently
married and has a new baby; he’s not going to put that in jeopardy.” She
sighed. “Then she’ll turn her attention to Gray.”

Jealousy sliced into Danielle like a
knife. Her throat went dry and she had to swallow before she could speak. “How
do you know that?”

Carmen laughed. “She’s one of those
women who always has to have a man around. What do the young people say? She
likes to ‘hook up’. It happens every time she goes on location.”

Jake’s rich baritone echoed inside the
house and Carmen swung around. “Jake’s here,” she said, her eyes alight. She
touched Danielle affectionately on the arm. “I must seem like a giddy teenager,
but I don’t care.”

Danielle watched Andrea for a few
moments, before turning to the other woman. “I think the way you feel about
Jake is sweet. In the meantime, I’ve been feeling guilty because Grayson and I
left our horses with Enrique when we came back from Silverton. I think I’ll wander
up to the stable and give you a few minutes with my handsome uncle.”

The sun was about to disappear behind
the distant hills when Danielle arrived at the stable. She didn’t expect to
find Enrique there, but called out anyway, thinking she’d at least receive a
reply from Fleet. Met with silence, she realized that Enrique must have turned the
horses out into the paddock. She continued through the stable and out the far
side.

It was that perfect time of day when
long shadowy fingers crept across the land. She stopped for a moment to admire
the horses, all of whom raised their heads at once as she approached the rail, and
then went back to grazing. Burnished by the lowering sun, their coats gleamed
and rippled over powerful muscles.

Danielle hooked her right foot on the
bottom rail of the fence, and a pang of longing caught her by surprise. She’d
been coming to this very spot all her life, beginning with her father. He’d
stand here, foot on the rail as she was doing now, and seat her on the top rail,
where she could watch the horses. She could still feel his arms around her,
keeping her safe, and introducing her to each animal.

Unbidden, tears came to her eyes and she
brushed them away. She had no idea why these memories had chosen to creep up on
her tonight. Maybe because she’d opened up to Grayson this morning, telling him
about her parents.

Deciding he’d punished her enough for
leaving him with Enrique, Fleet wandered over to the rail.

“Hello, Boy,” she said, as he nuzzled
her hand. “Sorry, I didn’t bring any apples.”

“How about these?” She turned at the
sound of Grayson’s voice and watched him approach, a plastic bag of fruit in
his hand. The stubble on his cheeks was darker now, and she wondered how it
would feel against her skin. Her pulse ratcheted up at the notion, and she
hoped he wouldn’t notice her response.

He scanned the horses in the paddock and
handed her the bag. “Esperanza said she gave me enough so you could give at
least one to each horse.” He copied her position on the fence and smiled as
Fleet took the apple from her palm, and the other horses crowded around.

The apples disappeared in no time and
she turned to him with a smile. “Thanks, Grayson.”

He turned sideways and studied her.
“You’re sure you won’t call me Gray?” His eyes searched hers and she found
herself hoping he’d kiss her again. “No,” she said, backing up and almost
losing her balance. “Grayson will do just fine.”

He lifted his shoulders. “Okay. How was
your day?”

“Busy.” She leaned against the fence
again and studied the horses as she spoke. “I got everything to paint the roof,
including the harnesses. Thought I might as well have it all on hand.”

“Good.” He’d slipped into Director mode.
“Scott and I want to shoot that scene the day after tomorrow if you can get it
done in time.”

She thought quickly. “No problem. It’s
not a big job. I’ll haul the ladders and stuff out there in my truck. Do I need
any paperwork? You know, for permission to ‘deface’ government property?”

He pulled out his cell phone and had a
short conversation with his Unit Production Manager. “Gary says it’s all taken
care of. Nobody is working out there right now, so you should have the place to
yourself.”

“Gary. I haven’t met him, have I?”

“No. His wife is with him and he’s one
of the crew staying at a motel in town.”

“How many people are there?”

“Support staff? Just under forty. Not
very many, but then we’re only shooting a few key scenes here; plus the scenery
and some long shots of the cattle with a few extras. We’ve already shot most of
it on set in LA.”

“You don’t really need to be here, do
you?”

He acknowledged her question with a
small frown. “You mean we could have shot all this back in California?”

She nodded.

He looked into the distance. “I have to
admit I questioned that decision in the beginning, but the landscape around
here is unique and it will give the film a distinctive look. Like
Brokeback
Mountain
being mostly shot in Alberta. The scenery was so spectacular, it
was like a character in the film.” He turned and looked at her as if seeing her
for the first time. “But the best thing about shooting here is that I got to
meet you. That’s a definite bonus.” The air sizzled between them as he studied
her.

“You don’t have any idea how attractive
you are, do you?” He smiled a slow, sexy smile and Danielle wasn’t sure if her
legs would support her. If he could do this to her with just a smile, what
would it be like to give in to the desire that was eating away at her resolve?

She eased the tension with a toss of her
head. “I’ll have you know, someone told me today that I’m beautiful.”

“Should I be jealous?” He took a step
closer and her back hit the fence. He cupped her chin in one hand and tilted up
her face.

“No,” she whispered. “It was Carmen.”

He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb
and she sucked in a breath of air, every nerve ending on fire. “Good,” he said,
sliding his hand along her cheek and into the thick plait of hair at the back
of her head. “I’d love to see your hair loose,” he murmured, his fingers
tensing against her scalp. “I’ll bet it’s spectacular.”

“Grayson?” Her voice seemed to come from
a long way away. “Will you please stop talking and kiss me?”

He looked at her for a moment through
eyes dark with desire. “I thought you’d never ask.” He cupped her head and
pulled her into an embrace that left little doubt how much he wanted her. She
met him eagerly, and when he probed her lips with his tongue she opened to him
with a whimper of delight. Horses whinnied in the background, but lost in the
deepening kiss, neither heard. When he finally pulled back, his eyes were
unreadable. Danielle watched him, wishing she had the nerve to say something,
but she was afraid to spoil the perfect moment.

“What brought that on?” he asked
finally, swooping in to place a light kiss on her lips before she could
respond.

She lifted her shoulders. “I wanted to
see if it was as good as I remembered.”

“And?”

Her gaze lingered on his lips. “It was
better.”

“Ah, so you thought about me, did you?”

She recognized from his teasing tone
that he was trying to cool things down, so she responded in kind. “Don’t let it
go to your head, Crawford.”

“Oh, so now I’ve gone from Grayson to
Crawford. We’re going backwards.”

His words were sobering. The fact was,
they weren’t going anywhere, something she’d be wise to remember. She raised a
hand and touched the stubble on his cheek; it was softer than she’d thought.

He grabbed her hand and held it in place
for a moment, then turned it over and trailed his lips over her palm.

“Grayson,” she said, her voice
trembling. “I’m a big girl, and I know nothing’s going to come of this
thing...” She gestured back and forth. “...between us, but I wanted to know if
I’d imagined it.”

He pulled her against his chest. “For
what it’s worth, I wondered what it would be like to really kiss you, too.”

They stood there for several long
moments while their heartbeats returned to normal, then he backed up and held
out a hand. She placed hers in it, allowing him to tug her away from the fence.
“Come on, let’s join the others for dinner.” He started walking.

She would have preferred not to share
him, but there wasn’t much hope of that. “So,” she said, scrambling to keep up
with him. “Did everyone arrive today?”

“I think so. If not, Gary would have
told me.”

“When I drove in this afternoon, it
looked busy. There was a fellow at the gate acting very officious.”

He slowed momentarily. “Did he bother
you?”

She laughed. “Only his eyes.”

“Oh, I know who you mean.” He held up a
finger. “Wait. I know his name. Kevin, right?” He looked to her for
confirmation and she nodded. “He’s a wannabe writer. Keeps trying to submit
scripts, but he doesn’t have an agent. He seems to think that if he works on location,
he’ll meet someone who can help him. I don’t think he believes us when we tell
him that no-one will look at a script that isn’t submitted through the proper
channels.”

“He keeps doing this?”

“Yes. It’s not only annoying for us, but
the last time he got quite belligerent. I don’t know who hired him this time,
but at least he hasn’t bothered anyone yet.”

“I thought he looked kind of creepy.
It’s the colour of his eyes, I think.”

“Don’t let him bother you.” They’d
reached the ranch house and he released her hand. “Is it okay with you if we go
in the back way? I’d like to say hello to Esperanza.”

The housekeeper grinned widely when they
came in together. She was busy, but not too busy to see Grayson dab his finger
into the chocolate frosting on a cake. She swatted him good-naturedly and
laughed at his antics as he pretended to be injured.

“The others, they are on the verandah,”
she said, and waved them through the kitchen.

Danielle held back, but Grayson sensed
her reticence and propelled her through the door, a hand at her waist. It was a
comforting feeling, and she was tempted to lean into him. How long was it since
she’d allowed a man to take care of her? Never, probably. With Jason, they’d
been equals. After Bryce’s defection, she’d briefly vowed never to trust a man
again, but she was sensible enough to know that they weren’t all like the
architect. She just hadn’t expected a man like Grayson to come along so soon.