Chapter 9
Kate
Something’s wrong.
I haven’t seen Reid all day.
Last night he came home from his run and disappeared. I have no idea where he slept. Especially since the other bedrooms are all being used by the crew since they arrived.
Then he left this morning. Really early. I heard him getting ready.
Now it’s almost four o’clock. In the afternoon. We’re supposed to be in makeup. I am. He isn’t.
Where is he?
And why has he been acting so strangely?
It all started last night. After that kiss.
Ohmygod, that kiss.
Best one so far.
It did things to my body that I didn’t know were possible. It made parts of me throb like they’ve never throbbed before. It made me want to beg him to throw me over his shoulder and haul me to our bedroom. It made me want to find out firsthand what lying with a man feels like.
The only reason why I didn’t: I’m not completely sure Reid knows what he wants. Despite everything he said. I mean, could he really want to quit acting? Isn’t his career why he did this show in the first place?
Gosh, I want him. When I went to bed last night, my skin was still tingling from his touches. And I was hot. Down there. In my center. I ached. All over.
It’s like he’s sparked a fever in my body. And he is the only cure. His touches. His kisses.
Where is he? I miss him.
“We’re going to start with you today,” John tells me, giving me a once-over. He smiles appreciatively. “Looking good. Let’s get you on set.” He takes off, leaving me to wait for hair and makeup to finish up. Then Alexis comes to take me to the set. This afternoon we’re filming on the back patio, by the pool. They have two chairs positioned in front of the camera, their backs facing the house.
Alexis tells me to have a seat in one and then she takes her position out of the shot, next to one of the cameras, and starts asking me questions about what’s been happening since the wedding. How I’m feeling. What I’m thinking. She asks about my past. My family. It’s a long interview and a little intrusive. But I make it through okay.
Just as I’m finishing up an answer to a question about Reid’s career plans, I hear footsteps coming from the house, behind me. My heart literally jumps in my chest. And my palms get sweaty instantly. I feel a flush bloom on my face.
Reid. It has to be Reid.
Then the person steps into view, and that flush cools.
It isn’t Reid.
It’s a woman.
A very beautiful woman.
She smiles at me. “Hello.”
Alexis tells her to sit in the chair next to mine, and she does.
Then Alexis steps back into her position and asks this strange woman I have never seen before what her name is and what her relationship is to Reid.
“My name is Emma Fiorenza. I met Reid Carter, my fiancé, on the set of the film, A Beautiful Shadow. Available on Amazon, NetFlix and iTunes. We were engaged before Reid started filming this show. I’ve come to talk to him about our plans for our wedding. We will be getting married when his contract is up in October.”
Suddenly I feel sick. Very, very sick.
Reid has a fiancée? He never mentioned a fiancée. Not during any of our scenes together. Or during our private conversations when we weren’t on set.
Why didn’t he tell me? Why has he been making me think he wants to stay married?
Alexis says, “Kate, you look upset. Didn’t Reid tell you his plans?”
My throat constricts. I can’t answer the question. I don’t even want to. I want to leave. Now. And go…I don’t know where. I don’t know if I want to talk to Reid about this or not.
Why didn’t he tell me about her?
Emma Fiorenza. Fiorenza. Her name is very glamorous. Like the rest of her.
She’s so much more glamorous and beautiful than me.
I blink and realize the conversation has carried on without me. I’ve just been sitting here, probably looking dazed and confused. And stupid.
Figuring I’m done with this interview, maybe the whole show, I stand up.
“Wait, Kate,” Alexis barks. “Don’t you have anything to say about what Miss Fiorenza has been telling us?”
I manage, somehow to mutter, “No.”
Then I stagger away, heading back to my room.
I need to think.
Was that woman the reason why Reid has suddenly been avoiding me? Did he know she was coming? Was he feeling guilty about what he was doing with me?
I don’t understand any of these people!
Blinking back tears of confusion, I stumble through the house, banging into furnishings and tripping over rugs on my way back to my room. I nearly make it there without meeting another human being. Nearly.
Of course, I practically crash into the one person I don’t want to see or talk to.
Reid.
“Kate!” He catches my upper arms when I jump backward too fast and nearly smash into the wall. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I sputter, flicking my eyes at the cameraman who has followed me. Humiliated, I wrench my arms free, dive into my room, and slam the door.
Nothing’s wrong. Absolutely nothing.
My heart is shattering. It’s fracturing into a million tiny pieces. But nothing is wrong.
Because now I know the truth.
I’d believed the fairy tale.
Silly, gullible, stupid me.
But now I know better.
All of this, everything, is make-believe.
It’s all for the cameras. For the audience.
None of it is real.
Especially the happily-ever-after tale that Reid has been telling.
I won’t cry.
Not one tear.
Instead I’ll do what I’ve always done: I’ll get busy. I’ll make plans.
As soon as we’re through with this three-month farce of a marriage, I’m going back to Ruth’s. And I’ll use this experience. For my first book.
First, I write Ruth, letting her know when to expect me. I also write a letter to Sarah. I don’t tell either Ruth or Sarah about my pulverized heart. Or the agonizing pain it’s causing me. What good would it do? No, I keep to the facts.
When I’m done, I fold the letters, seal them in envelopes, and paste a stamp on them. Then I get ready for tonight’s filming.
I’m guessing Emma, the real future Mrs. Carter, will be there tonight.
I’ll be ready this time. They caught me by surprise this afternoon. It won’t happen again.
I get it now. I see what they’re doing. They don’t want to watch two happy people fall in love. No, that’s boring.
They want to see pain. Anguish. Misery.
Well, they won’t get it from me.
I was raised in a strict, conservative Amish family. My parents did not show emotion. Ever. I can be just as stoic. At least, on the outside.
Deciding I’ll put Reid through a little anguish, I pull out the sexiest, most extravagant gown they gave me and shimmy into it.
Reid Carter isn’t the only actor in this cast.
Now I know. I can play a part, too.
I glance at my reflection in the bathroom mirror before I leave for hair and makeup. It’s strange, how different the girl in the mirror looks today. I see so little of the terrified, unsure ex-Amish Kate who’d left home a year ago.
This girl is not terrified. Of anything.
She can handle anything.
Especially a third-rate English actor and his make-believe world.
Yes. I. Can.