Wild Action (6 page)

“What’s with this scene where Attila chases the boys?” Nick asked.

“Oh, that’s the pivotal one I mentioned yesterday.”

“No, I mean what’s with him
chasing
them? You
told me people should never run away from bears. You said it excites their predatory instincts.”

“Well, the boys won’t
really
be running away from Attila. I know the notes call it the scene where he chases them, but Jay will do separate takes of them running and Attila running. Then they’ll edit the sequences so it
looks
as if he’s chasing them.”

“Ahh.”

When Nick went back to his reading, she sat watching him, still not quite able to believe that he was actually helping her. Of course she realized it was to his benefit, as well as hers, if things worked out with Jay. But most men would never have stayed when they’d been in the midst of looking for a place to live.

Even fewer would have agreed to work with a bear, no matter how much it might prove to be worth to them financially. Especially when they already had a good job. Which added up to the fact that she felt very, very grateful. And despite her resolve to keep their relationship strictly business, she was aware of feeling more than simple gratitude.

As hard as she’d tried to fall asleep last night, she’d lain awake for a long time, extremely conscious that Nick was in the bedroom right across the hall—and that both their doors were open to allow what little breeze there was through the house. Then, at breakfast this morning, before he’d shaved, it had been impossible to ignore how sexy he looked.

Just as she was ordering herself to think about
anything
other than him, he tossed down the script and glanced over at her. “Here they come.”

Trying to quell a fresh surge of anxiety, she rose and looked across the clearing. Sure enough, there they were, just rounding the curve in the road.

Three black stretch limos led the way, followed by a convoy of trucks, trailers and RVs that would be home to the cast and crew while they were on location here.

The noise sent the rabbits scurrying under the safety of the porch, and in the house the Marx brothers began barking. They hated being shut inside, but she couldn’t chance letting them out until everyone was safely parked. All in all, there was such a commotion that she half expected to see Rocky Raccoon peering down from the porch roof—even though it took a lot to rouse a coon from his day’s sleep.

“Looks like an invasion,” Nick said.

She glanced at him and forced a smile, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous she was. It would do nothing for his self-confidence.

The trucks began turning off into the field where she’d told Jay to set up camp, while the limos pulled up in front of the house.

The third one had barely stopped before the back door flew open and two boys leapt out

“I guess those would be our ten-year-olds,” she murmured as they headed for the porch.

“Hi, I’m Kyle,” the blond one said, grinning at her. “And this is Brock,” he added, pointing at the dark-haired one.

Brock produced a grin of his own.

“Well, hi. This is Nick and I’m Carly.” She glanced at the two frazzled women who’d hurried after the boys—their mothers were on location with them, she knew.

“They’ve been sitting in the limo too long,” one of the women said. “Would you mind if they looked around a little? Burned off some of their energy?”

“We’ll keep an eye on them,” the other woman promised.

“Sure. Go ahead. Just don’t let them stick their fingers into the aviary.”

By the time Carly turned her attention back to the limos, the drivers of the remaining two had opened the back doors. A couple of men were getting out of the first one, while Sarina Westlake and Garth Richards emerged from the second.

Carly focused on Jay Wall, whom she recognized from Gus’s description. Of average height and weight, he had long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, a scraggly beard and wire-rimmed glasses. His clothes said he wasn’t a man who dressed to impress—tattered jeans, a T-shirt with
Two for Trouble
printed across it and a bright orange baseball cap pulled on backward.

Luckily Crackers couldn’t see him from the solarium, but she made a mental note to mention the bird’s little color quirk the first chance she got Some of the cast and crew were bound to end up in the house, so they’d all have to be warned.

Glancing at Nick, she whispered, “The one in his early thirties is Jay. And I think the midfifties one must be the producer, Brian Goodfellow.”

“You’re sure
he’s
not the director?” Nick whispered back. “He’s got that pear-shaped Alfred Hitchcock look.”

“Well, despite that, he has to be the producer. Get Real Productions is his company.”

“Carly, darling,” Jay said, heading for the porch as the limos started back down the drive. “Finally, we meet in person.”

Reaching her, he took both her hands in his and
stood beaming at her so warmly that, if she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was positively dying to work with her. For a director, he made a great actor.

“This is Brian Goodfellow,” he added, releasing her as the short, rotund man joined them on the porch.

“Goodie,” he said, nodding to Carly. “Everyone just calls me Goodie.”

“And our stars…” Jay paused and made a sweeping gesture toward them.

Sarina and Garth nodded from the drive, then went back to whatever they’d been talking about.

“And this,” Carly said, “is Nick Montgomery, my new partner in Wild Action.”

“Oh?” Jay extended his hand to Nick, his expression saying he didn’t like surprises.

“Nick will be doing most of the work with Attila,” she added.

“Oh?” Jay said again. “Do you have a lot of experience with bears, Nick?”

“Actually, most of my experience has been with cats.”

“Big cats, he means,” Carly said quickly, shooting Nick a look that said this was no time for humor. “Lions, tigers and panthers mostly, right?”

He grinned at her. “Right. But Attila and I are good buddies,” he added to Jay.

Before there was time for anyone to say another word, a child yelled, “Jay? Look what we’ve got!”

Carly turned, then froze in horror. The two boys had come around the side of the house—Kyle with Crackers on his shoulder.

“We went in the back to get some water,” he said
excitedly. “And all I did was say hi to him, and he hopped right on me.”

Behind the boys, their mothers appeared, both wearing “Aren’t they cute” expressions. A split second later, Crackers noticed the orange baseball cap.

He shrieked. Carly dove at Jay.

“Shee-it!” he said, ducking to avoid her hand.

She still managed to grab the cap—but only an instant before Crackers swooped through the air and snatched it from her. Landing on the porch railing, he sat bobbing his head up and down, the cap’s bill securely in his beak.

“Awesome!” Brock said. “Can you make him do it again?”

“Sure,” Nick told him. “Want to see him do it again, Jay?”

The director glared at him. “I hope you’re a better bear trainer than you are a comedian.”

Smoothing his hair, he looked at the mothers and snapped, “Keep those kids away from the animals, understand?”

When they nodded in unison, Jay turned his glare on Carly.

“I’m so s-sorry,” she stammered. “It’s the color orange. It sometimes makes him freak out.”

When Jay glanced over at Crackers as if he’d like to wring his little feathered neck, Goodie said, “You’re lucky he didn’t sink those claws into your head. If he had, I’d be starting to believe this movie really
is
jinxed. But come on, let’s go make sure all the equipment made the trip safely.”

Jay nodded, then looked at Carly again. “Goodie and I will be back after we’ve had lunch. I’d like you
to show us the bear then. And you think you can keep that parrot in a cage for the duration?”

“Well, the bird likes his freedom,” Nick said. “So we’re not going to coop him up in a cage for a month or more. But all you need to do is tell everyone not to wear orange.”

“Or maybe we could see if the chef has a recipe for parrot cacciatore,” Jay muttered.

I
T TOOK AT LEAST
fifteen minutes for Carly to get Crackers back into the solarium—by which point the baseball cap was in shreds.

Nick had hovered nearby while she’d coaxed and cajoled, but he wasn’t nearly as much help with the bird as he was with Attila. She probably shouldn’t have told him Crackers could amputate a man’s hand.

Just as Crackers finally flew onto his perch, the phone began to ring.

“Don’t you move,” Carly said sternly, pointing her finger at him before she reached for the phone.

“Hi, darling,” her mother’s voice greeted her.

“Oh, hi, Mom, What’s up?”

“Nothing much. I just wondered if you’d heard exactly when your movie people are arriving.”

“Actually, they got here about half an hour ago.”

“Oh, good. And is everything going well so far?”

“Everything’s just fine.” Except for the fact that Attila might not perform for the camera and an unnervingly attractive man was living in her house. Not to mention having an entire horde of people setting up camp in her field and a parrot who’d come close to scalping the man who could make or break Wild Action.

“Well, I won’t keep you, dear. But we were curious
about what happened when you met with the lawyers. How did that nephew of Gus’s take to learning that he’d left half the estate to you?”

“Ahh, he took it pretty well.” She glanced over and saw that Nick was still hovering. “Actually, he’s going to be staying here while they’re shooting. He’s helping out with Attila.”

“Really”
her mother said, packing about thirteen questions into one word.

Carly had no desire to answer even one of them with Nick standing there listening, so she said, “Mom, things are pretty hectic and I’ve got to run. But I’ll call you in a few days—let you know when you should drive down.”

“All right, dear. We’re really looking forward to it. Your father won’t admit it, but he’s been a little bored since he retired, and he’s really interested in seeing a movie being shot. And Lisa’s just
dying
to meet Garth Richards.”

“I’ll call as soon as I know what’s what. ‘Bye for now.

“My mother,” she told Nick as she hung up. “My parents and sister want to come down for a few days and see how movies are made.”

“Your sister lives with them?”

“No, she’s a year older than me and married. But she’s a big Garth Richards fan. And she’s a teacher, so she’s free during the summer.”

Wondering what her family was going to think when they got a look at the man who was sharing the house with her, she turned her attention back to Crackers and told him to get into his cage. Instead, he tucked his head under his wing, trying to make himself invisible.

“I thought he hated being in there during the day,” Nick said.

Carly shot him a warning glance. She was hardly happy about the way he’d been such a smart ass with Jay; she just hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with him yet. And at the moment, she could certainly do without his taking the bird’s side.

“He’s got to learn he can’t behave like that,” she said. “And when Jay gets back here, I want him to see we’re being cooperative. Crackers, move it,” she added.

His head bowed, he shuffled along his perch and kicked a bar of the cage with one foot.

“In,” she said firmly. “You can come back out at dinnertime if you promise to be. good.”

He gave the cage another kick, graced her with a bird’s version of a dirty look, then eased inside.

“And the next time you get another birdbrained idea, remember this is what happens.” -She carefully latched the door, then turned to Nick. “As for you, were you
deliberately
trying to annoy Jay?”

“What? All I said was we weren’t going to keep Crackers in his cage for an entire month.”

“That’s not what I was referring to. I meant your line about most of your experience being with cats. If you’d told him you meant the neighbor’s pussycat, I’d have killed you. And when you asked if he’d like to see Crackers come swooping down at him again… What on earth were you thinking of?”

“Well, the guy’s a schmuck and I—”

“That is
entirely
beside the point. The point is we want him to think Wild Action is terrific, remember? So when he goes back to L.A. he’ll give his friends rave reviews about us.”

“A guy like that can’t have any friends. And stop talking to me as if I were twelve years old. You may own fifty-one percent of this operation, but don’t try laying down rules about what I can and can’t say to people.”

“That’s
not
what I was doing. I was merely offering a little constructive criticism—which you obviously can’t take. Dammit, Nick, you’re exactly like Gus.”

“Oh? Now why does that sound like an insult? Yesterday, you told me Gus was the sweetest man in the world.”

“Except when he was too stubborn to listen! Then he’d put a mule to shame.”

Nick turned on his heel and started across the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Carly demanded as he opened the back door.

“I’ve got a few mules to put to shame.”

“We don’t have any mules.”

“Then I’ll make do with the ponies.”

Punctuating his exit line by letting the screen slam shut behind him, Nick headed around the side of the house—not wanting to admit to himself that Carly’s criticism hadn’t been completely off base. Put him face-to-face with a jerk like Jay Wall and he just couldn’t resist saying the odd thing he shouldn’t. It was a weakness that had gotten him into more trouble than he cared to think about.

Deciding to check out the camp while his temper cooled, he wandered down the drive to the field and surveyed the scene.

There were four generator trucks the size of large moving vans, as well as about fifteen equipment
trucks and at least as many trailers and RVs. One of the outside trailers had a sign indicating it was the kitchen, and half a dozen tables with chairs had already been set up at one end.

The site was buzzing with people, all of whom looked busy, so he just walked around the perimeter of the ragged rows, sizing things up and trying to get his mind off Carly. But she was just too annoying to stop thinking about.