Rachel practically skipped to her car and drove home in a daze. She had a job—a real acting job on a TV show! In Riston, of all places. Her long-term plan had been to move to Los Angeles, and focus on finding work in television or film, but that was still several years away. She had resigned herself to doing smaller local jobs and community theater until then. It seemed almost too good to be true.

She turned onto her street and waved at Mrs. Murphy, who lived a few doors down and was collecting her mail. All the houses on this street looked similar. They were small, modest homes that were well taken care of. Rachel had lived in this house her whole life and they knew everyone on the street. It was a tight-knit neighborhood. She was the oldest of three children. Her brother Harrison, was in his senior year of high school and Emma was in eighth grade.

They were all close, and ever since their parents divorced when Emma was just a baby, money was always tight. Rachel helped as much as she could, and it was the main reason she was holding off on moving out west. Her mother would never admit it, but every dollar counted and what Rachel contributed often made the difference in keeping the lights on.

She noticed as the sunlight fell upon the house, that the gray paint was beginning to peel in spots, especially along the trim. It would need to be painted, but would have to go onto the list of all the things that needed attention.

Her mother’s car was in the driveway and when Rachel walked into the kitchen, her mother was sitting at the table, counting a stack of dollar bills. She still had her waitress uniform on, so Rachel knew she’d just gotten home a few minutes ago. She worked at a diner on Main Street and also worked a few evening shifts at another restaurant. She looked up when she saw Rachel and brushed a stray chunk of sandy blonde hair off her face.

“Hi, honey. How did your audition go?”

Rachel pulled out a chair and joined her at the table. “I didn’t audition.”

“Oh, well, that’s too bad. I’m sure you’ll get something else.”

Rachel grinned. “I didn’t have to audition because I got the part, Mom. Adiel liked my performance in A Streetcar Named Desire and I’m going to be playing Susan. It’s a big part.”

Her mother’s jaw dropped. “You got the part? That’s incredible. I’m so proud of you honey.”

“Thanks. I’ll have to call the cafe and see if I can drop down to weekends only. I know they just hired two new waitresses, so hopefully they can pick up my shifts. I start next Monday!”

“So soon. And they are doing all the shooting here?”

“Yes. Right at the ranch. If it goes well, and the series gets renewed, I won’t have to leave Riston for a long time.”

“That’s wonderful.” Her mother’s face clouded. “You don’t have to stay here because of me though honey. If you get the opportunity to go somewhere for a movie or television show, you should go. I’ll find a way to manage. I always do.”

“I know. But now I won’t even have to think about it for a long time now. I’d much rather stay in Riston anyway if it’s possible.”

“And I’m happy to have you stay too. We need to go celebrate. We’ll all go out to dinner. Where should we go? You pick.”

Rachel glanced at the stack of money on the table. “We don’t have to go out. We can just order a pizza or something.”

“Don’t be silly. We can do that anytime. Besides, I had an unusually good day today, almost double my normal amount of tips. So, it’s perfect timing. How about your favorite restaurant, the Italian place?”

Rachel smiled. She knew her mother wanted to do this. “I’d love that.”

Adiel met Ben for an early dinner at Mamma Mia’s. He’d quickly become a regular there since arriving in Riston. The show had put him up in the Copper Cabin, one of the nicest and roomiest cabins at the ranch and it had a perfectly good kitchen, but at the end of the day the last thing Adiel felt like doing was cooking. Once he discovered this place, he started coming in several times a week for dinner. Usually he was by himself and just sat at the bar, sipping a glass of red wine while going over script notes and checking email on his phone.

But today, Ben had called and suggested they meet for dinner. His wife Anna had a few of her friends over for their monthly book club meeting and he didn’t want to be in their way. Plus, Ben was one of the show’s investors and they met periodically to discuss how things were going.

“I can see why you like living here so much,” Adiel said as he reached for the bread basket that Tony, the bartender had just set down.

Ben grinned. “It’s growing on you already, huh? That’s how it was when I first visited too. Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“You don’t ever get homesick for Silicon Valley?” Adiel teased him. Ben had once been a hot shot investor who lived and worked in the middle of the tech world in Silicon Valley. He had a knack for investing in the next hot thing and it paid off—hugely. He was a billionaire by the age of thirty. But his life changed even more dramatically when his sister unexpectedly died and Ben became an instant father to his baby niece, Taylor.

That was when he decided it was time to move to the tiny town he’d fallen in love with. Riston was far enough away that Ben fell off the tabloids radar. They used to write about him constantly, who he was dating, where he went. Once he moved and then married Anna, they lost all interest. Which Adiel knew Ben was quite happy about. Anna was a great girl, and he’d never seen his intense friend so calm. He was still busy with his work, but he did it remotely now from his home office and his life seemed to be more balanced these days.

“Not even for a minute.” Ben shuddered at the thought of Silicon Valley. “Why, are you missing the craziness of LA?”

Adiel laughed. “No, not at all actually. I’m hoping this show is a big hit and I get to hang out here for a few more years.” Ironically, it was the one thing he wasn’t all that excited about at first when he found out they were going to shoot the show on location, in Riston, Idaho of all places. He’d been happy enough in Los Angeles. It was the heartbeat of the entertainment world where everything was happening. But now that he was here, well, he wasn’t in any hurry to return.

“The air is so much cleaner here,” he said.

Ben nodded. “I don’t miss the smog, that’s for sure. So, fill me in, any new developments with the show? Did you ever meet with Rachel? The one we saw in that play? I liked her.”

“I liked her too.” Adiel had been surprised that he liked Rachel even more on their second meeting. “I hired her for the role of Susan. She starts next week.”

Ben was about to take a sip of wine and set the glass down instead. “You cast her in the role of Susan? I thought you had a smaller part in mind?”

“I did, initially. But the more I thought about it, the more clear it became that she had to be Susan. It could be huge for her and for us.”

Ben furrowed his brow and lifted his glass again and took a long, slow sip. Adiel knew him well enough to know he was processing what he’d just been told, analyzing all the potential implications, the benefits and risks. Casting an unknown actress with no television or film experience in such a critical role was definitely a risk. But Adiel was confident that it was a well calculated one.

“If it doesn’t go well….” Ben began.

Adiel just nodded. He understood that Ben was just being his usual cautious self—cautious until he got behind something and then it was full steam ahead. He sensed that Ben would come around.

“Well, I trust that you know what you’re doing,” he finally said and lifted his glass. “To Rachel…”

Tony delivered their meals a few minutes later, lasagna with meatballs for Adiel and a ribeye steak for Ben. They finished eating and were about to pay the check when a party of four walked in, Rachel and her family. She didn’t notice them at first and Adiel watched as the host sat them at a corner table. She looked so much like her mother, except she was taller and slimmer. Rachel was so thin that she had a delicate look to her. Her younger sister was a carbon copy, except she was sporting dimples and a ponytail.

He was struck as he had been before, by Rachel’s calm beauty. He was much too old for her of course. He doubted that a pretty young girl in her early twenties would really be interested in an old man of thirty-five. Although in L. A. they often pretended to be because they wanted something. While he wasn’t as successful as Ben, Adiel had done well for himself financially too. But more importantly, he also had power, which attracted women more than anything else.

He had the ability to help them with their careers, and when he’d been younger and more naive, he’d thought they were genuinely interested in him. After being burned more than once, he decided not to date actresses anymore. And aside from the age difference, assuming Rachel was even interested, he knew it could be messy to start something with an actress that worked on one of his shows.

“Isn’t that Rachel?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, we’ll have to stop by and say hello on our way out.”

Ben looked thoughtful as he glanced their way and then turned his attention back to Adiel.

“She’s a beautiful girl. There’s a certain quality about her. Hard to explain. She’s pretty but somewhat fragile looking too, if that makes any sense?”

Adiel grinned. “And now you understand.”

“I think I might, yes. Hopefully that will all translate to the screen.”

“It will. I haven’t been wrong yet and I have that feeling about her.”

“Good. I trust your instincts and I’d love to see this show be a hit.” Ben was quiet for a moment and then added. “It’s too bad she’s off limits for dating. Assuming she’s even single?”

“I have no idea. But yeah, totally off limits.”

“How long has it been since you broke up with Bethanne? It’s time for you to get back out there. There’s a lot of nice girls here in Riston. I could introduce you to some if you’re up for it?”

“It’s been almost a year. I suppose I should start getting out there again.” Adiel sighed. He was mostly an introvert, more comfortable playing with his stories and on set with his shows. First dates and making small talk with strangers was never something he’d enjoyed.

“I’ll talk to Anna. She knows lots of people here. Wade does too. Why don’t you start by coming to trivia with us this Thursday? That’s always a fun time.”

Adiel had gone to trivia once before with the group from River’s End ranch and enjoyed it.

“That sounds more my speed. And the pizza is good too.” He signed the credit card slip, and they walked over to say hello to Rachel and her family. She looked surprised to see him.

“I didn’t notice you over there!” she said as they reached the table.

“We were just having an early dinner. You know Ben?”

“Yes, nice to see you again. This is my mother, Lauren, my brother Harrison and sister, Emma.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Rachel’s mother said. “Thank you for hiring Rachel. We’re out celebrating now.” Her smile was warm and friendly and it was obvious how excited they all were. Adiel was glad to see it.

Rachel smiled shyly. “This is our favorite restaurant.”

Adiel laughed. “I think it’s become mine too. Nice to meet you all. We’ll leave you to enjoy your dinner. Rachel, I’ll see you next week.”

“I’ll drop my paperwork off tomorrow.”