CHAPTER FORTY
Shooting started on a crisp fall morning that had the edges of gold and ruby leaves tipped with frost. Gannon wiped his palms on his jeans. It wasn’t nerves. It was excitement. He always loved the first full court press on a project. And this one was the most important one he’d ever tackled.
This was a new beginning for him, one he finally felt ready to embrace.
The shooting schedule was more forgiving than Kings of Construction, and at the end of the day, he got to grab a beer from his own fridge and put his feet up on his own couch. He was a producer this time around, and Eddie Garraza handled the executive producer duties. Both were stipulations Gannon had insisted upon. He wasn’t about to let the production company play fast and loose with the drama like they did with Kings, but he could use some guidance from a pro.
Eddie fit the bill.
The man was currently poking around the soaring wreck of a staircase, ball cap fitted over frizzed gray hair that needed a trim, glasses sliding down his nose.
Paige looked up from her tablet in what would someday be the dining room, caught his eye, and flashed a grin.
As expected, she’d thrown herself into the work, and with her careful scheduling and handpicked crew, they were ready to roll. She’d gone with mostly women, he noted, including Felicia for sound mixing. Well, women and Tony who’d jumped at the chance to pick up some local work for a change.
He knew what Paige was doing, giving a hand up to crewmembers that probably got passed over due to gender. She was giving them experience that would jump off their resumes when it came time for them to move on to their next project.
It was part of what he loved about her. Paige was never just out for Paige. She was a team captain ready to drag the rest of her team into the end zone for a victory. He could count on her, and he hoped she’d learn that she could count on him, too.
He picked his way through cables, tools, piles of production and construction paraphernalia to Paige’s side. “You ready?”
“The question is, are you ready? This is your baby.”
If she only knew, Gannon thought.
She must have read the change in him because she took a small step back and slid back into business mode. “Since we’ve got the light and the weather, we might as well start with your intro on the stoop. Then once we move inside, I’ll have Chantay shoot some B roll outside. Façade, park, etc. Now, with the walk-thru…”
It had been Paige’s idea for Gannon to give Cat and Nonni the grand tour before demo. That way they could bring them back for the finale for an actual reveal. And, while part of him wanted to protect his little Italian grandmother from the public eye, he knew Francesca Bianchi would get a huge kick out of it.
Paige finished briefing him on the timeline, and he nodded as if he’d been listening raptly. She’d keep him on course, on schedule. She always did.
“If we can wrap up the shooting of the walk-thru by five, I think we can do an hour or two of demo before wrapping,” he predicted.
“Lighting’s going to be a pain especially on the first floor. It’s like a dungeon down there, so we’re going to need extra setup time down there.”
“No problem. We can run out, pick up lunch for everyone while they set up, eat when we come back, and then start there.”
She eyed him. “Look at you being accommodating.”
“I can be accommodating. Charming, too. Handsome, strong, fairly intelligent, high tolerance for pain, I can hold my liquor, and I make a decent red sauce.” He counted off his attributes.
He saw her lips quirk, knew she was fighting to stay cool, and he pressed his luck. “I don’t know if you know this about me, but I can also burp the alphabet. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”
She made a strangled sound that she tried to cover with a cough. “Damn it, Gannon.”
“Princess, all’s fair in love and war.”
“If that isn’t the biggest misstatement ever, I don’t know what is.”
“Biggest demo bang for this floor is the kitchen and that horrible fridge. Then we can hit the master bath,” Gannon said, switching gears to throw her off balance.
“Don’t destroy that tub,” Paige warned him.
He held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Let’s rally the crews,” she said with a curt nod.
He listened in as she talked her crew through the day, answering questions, delegating. She knew what she was doing. Giving everyone specific roles, detailed instructions. Paige wasn’t big on ambiguity. He’d learned that a little late.
“Tony’s first unit this morning, and we’ve got Chantay and Nina on second unit. We’ll switch up this afternoon. Felicia’s our sound wizard for the duration, and Bradley is our very energetic production assistant. He’s also going to be equipped with a GoPro so he can pick up any behind-the-scenes stuff we might miss with the first or second unit.” Paige consulted her tablet. “Everyone set?”
They nodded, glancing around their little circle.
“Good. Let’s do the best job we can, be safe, learn something good, and try not to piss off Gannon. He can be temperamental.” She winked at him.
“If I’m temperamental,” Gannon interrupted, stepping into their circle. “It’s because it’s warranted… mostly.”
They grinned at him. He motioned his crew over and made the introductions. And for those of you who don’t know, this is Eddie. Eddie’s our EP and money man, so definitely don’t piss him off.”
Eddie doffed his cap affably.
“And just so we’re on the same page,” Gannon continued. “We’re all going to get to know each other real well over the next few months. It’ll be hard work, but worth it. At least for me since I get to move in here in the end.”
There were a few smiles, snickers. “Paige and I are going to treat you like family, and we expect you to return the courtesy. That means, what happens on set is family business, and it stays here. Got me?”
Everyone nodded, and he caught Paige shooting him a warning look.
“Here’s your first bit of family business. I’m in love with Paige here, but she won’t give me the time of day. So I’m going to be wearing her down during the course of this shoot, and I’d appreciate you all singing my praises to her.”
“He isn’t totally hideous-looking, Paige,” Flynn called from the fringe of the circle.
The crews chuckled, and Paige shot poisoned darts at him from blue, icy eyes.
“Try a little harder than Flynn,” Gannon suggested. “Now, let me apologize to Paige for bringing up personal business, and then we can get our day started. Everyone can move out. I don’t know if this floor can hold all of us for much longer.”
They dispersed, and Paige scowled at him. She yanked her headset off. “What the hell was that, Gannon?”
“I’m putting everyone on the same field.”
“I’m directing. I’m the boss.” She drilled a finger into his chest. “How am I going to be the boss when everyone has just been given permission to stick their noses into my private life?”
“Honey, I don’t want to sneak around. I didn’t say you were panting after me, begging me for a quick bang.”
She slapped a hand over his mouth. “Just. Stop. Talking. Or I’m going to use a nail gun to shut your mouth.”
“We don’t have the air compressor hooked up yet,” he murmured against her palm.
“I hope you fall through all four floors of this hellhole,” Paige snapped and started to walk away. But she spun around, stomped back. “You’ve told me that you love me twice. Once when I found out you’d lied, and again making a joke in front of my crew. For future reference, that’s not the best way to do it.”
She whirled around, snapped her headset back in place, and strode out the front door.
“Got your work cut out for you,” Eddie said, clapping a hand on his back.
“I don’t mind getting dirty.”
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Gannon’s sledgehammer bit through the plaster sending dust and chunks flying. He yanked it back out of the ragged hole he’d created and swung again. Flynn was muscling away on the other side of the opening to the kitchen. They had a bet. Whoever busted out their side first won. Loser had to strip down and sit in the claw foot tub upstairs on camera.
Gannon struck again and heard the unfortunate clang of metal. “Shit.”
The clang was followed immediately by a different noise. An explosive gushing. Water—thankfully not sewage—spewed forth from the broken pipe, soaking Gannon and spraying in all directions.
Chantay, in cargo pants and work boots, danced sideways out of the blast zone and continued to roll.
“Who the fuck didn’t turn the water off?” Gannon yelled, stripping off his shirt and wrapping it around the busted pipe. His job, his house—it was his responsibility to double check that the water was off. At least it wasn’t a gas line.
Flynn, a shit-eating grin on his face, continued hammering away at his portion of pipe-less wall. Mickey, a scrawny high school drop out with piercings all over, hustled down the basement stairs in search of the shut-off valve.
The water mushrooming out of his shirt slowed to a trickle and then a seep.
“Done!” Flynn flipped his sledgehammer in the air, caught it one-handed. “And you’re already halfway to the bet.”
Gannon flipped him the bird and caught Paige’s smirk from where she watched the footage on a little monitor. It would end up on the show, pixelated of course, but Gannon found she seemed more interested in letting him be himself on this set than any Kings episode.
He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes, but Chantay grinned behind her camera. He was winning them over, one-by-one. They’d all be Team Gannon by the time they wrapped, he predicted. And he was going to need all the help he could get.
So far, Paige was proving to be resistant to his irresistibility. But he’d win. He had no intention of losing now. Not with so much at stake.
While his guys cleaned up the mess, Gannon trudged upstairs to pay up. Chantay followed with Paige, and the women didn’t bother hiding their laughter as he stripped out of his soggy jeans. He kept his safety glasses on and did a slow turn in his boxer briefs. He saw the spark in Paige’s eyes as her gaze skimmed him head to toe and back again before she tamped it down.
Yeah, she wasn’t quite as walled off as she pretended to be.
Gannon climbed into the stained tub. “There. Happy, asshole?” he asked Flynn.
“Pretty roomy,” Flynn mused.
“Bet you both could fit in there,” Paige said innocently.
Flynn, still wearing his tool belt and work boots, obliged. He climbed in the opposite end, sending Gannon scrambling up the back of the tub to get out of his way.
“I think we can fit more in here,” Flynn said slapping the side of the tub.
The abandoned claw foot was a clown car for construction workers. In the end, they fit six of them in the tub doing an off-key rendition of “Rubber Ducky.” Paige laughed so hard off camera she was crying, and Gannon’s gut did that slow roll into happiness watching her.
They were making so much noise they all almost missed the warning creak of the floor under the tub.
“Abandon ship,” Gannon ordered, sending bodies scrambling for safety.
“Better shore that up,” Flynn said.
“Add it to the list,” Paige said, wiping her eyes.
“That list gets any longer, we’re gonna be here for the next twenty years,” Flynn predicted.
That was the plan, Gannon thought.