CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Cat pushed through the door of Merry and Bright, ignoring the jingle of bells. Instead she zoomed in on the scent of hot, fresh caffeine. It was eight a.m. on a Saturday, and for the second day in a row, she’d been up for nearly four hours dragging debris and downed tree branches out of what was left of North Pole Park.
It was par for the course when it came to her jobs. As a general contractor, she knew how to do everything from demo to finish carpentry. As a TV star, she was used to long, monotonous hours. On a typical shoot, she worked like a dog for eight or ten days straight and then had a week or two off to sleep, eat, and get a half-dozen massages. In Merry, she’d be pulling thirteen and fourteen hour days for three weeks.
Her new holiday plans included sleeping through Christmas.
“What the hell is a butterscotch latte?” she wondered out loud. And was it as carby as it sounded?
“Cat! Hey, Cat!”
Cat grinned at the frantically waving Sara Yates. Stylish as always, the girl was wearing a long flannel tunic over textured leggings. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head in a cute ballerina bun. She bore a striking resemblance to the woman next to her with a gingerbread man in her mouth.
“Come meet my mom,” Sara said, waving her over. The gingerbread feet fell out of the woman’s mouth.
Cat abandoned her carb concerns for the moment and joined them.
“Cat, this is my mom, Mellody.”
Mellody wiped her hands hastily on a napkin. “It’s really nice to meet you, Cat. I’ve heard a lot about you from my daughter who rarely stops talking.”
Sara grinned, unaffected by the comment.
“It’s great to meet you, Mellody,” Cat said, holding up her dirt-stained hands. “I’d shake but…”
“That’s all right. I’m covered in icing and forbidden carbs that I’m not going to tell my personal trainer or the seamstress about,” Mellody announced.
A kindred spirit in the carb department.
Cat grinned. “Sara’s a pretty cool kid.”
Mellody had rich dark hair like Sara’s and wide brown eyes. Cat could see more of Noah in Sara’s nose and jawline. But she clearly got her pleasantness from her mother. “She is cool if I do say so myself. I hope my ex-husband isn’t giving you a rough time while you’re here.”
“Why would Dad give Cat a hard time?” Sara wanted to know.
Mellody grinned at Cat in commiseration. “Oh, you know your father, sweetie. He likes to have everything a certain way.”
“His?” Cat suggested.
“That’s our Noah,” Mellody laughed. “Don’t let his stubbornness throw you. Deep down, under his crabby exterior, he’s a wonderful man. Isn’t he, Sara?”
“Well, he’s no Drake or Henry,” Sara sighed dreamily, and Cat laughed.
Mellody’s phone rang from the depths of her purse. She dug for it. “Oh, crap. The venue. Please don’t let this be bad news. Hello? Oh, no.”
Sara looked at Cat and whispered. “Mom’s getting remarried. It’s making her anxious.” Sara circled a finger around her ear and then pointed at her mom. Cat bit back a laugh. They listened to Mellody’s side of the conversation, a series of “oh nos” and “what can we do about its?” followed by an “I’ll be right there.”
“Mom,” Sara groaned when Mellody hung up. “We’re supposed to have Girl Day. I don’t want to go wherever you’re freaking out about going.”
“Sorry, kid. I don’t think we have a choice. Your dad is working today, and the venue called. They had some water damage and need me to check out the secondary ceremony site.”
Sara groaned, melting to the table like a dejected pat of butter. “But it’s an hour away!”
“Sara,” Mellody said, going for stern but still sounding panicked. “You know how your dad and I feel about you being home alone by yourself for hours.”
“I’m twelve, not four,” Sara pointed out. “Besides, Dad’s house is full of neighbors.”
Mellody brightened. “Then maybe Kathy can watch you? You can hang out with April.”
“Kathy and April are shopping to replace some of their stuff they lost in the flood. Ugh. This was supposed to be a fun day, Mom.”
“Sara can come hang out with me on set for a bit if she wants—”
“Oh, my God! Yes!” The acceptance was out of Sara’s mouth before Cat could even finish the offer. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“If it’s okay with your mom?” Cat finished.
“That would be amazing and save me from dragging Pouty MacGee around on a wasted Girls Day,” Mellody said biting her lip. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be any trouble?”
“Well, I’d have to put Sara to work. Getting coffee and donuts, maybe holding the boom for sound? The production assistants have lists a mile long with things that they need help with.”
“Mom, please?” Sara squeezed her hands together under her chin. “This would be the most amazing Girls Day Present ever even though you bailed on me.”
“Sure know how to make a mom feel special,” Mellody groaned, poking Sara in the shoulder.
“Come on, Mom. You know what I mean. If I can’t spend the day hanging out with you, maybe I could hang out with Cat. I might learn things about responsibility.” Sara dangled that morsel in front of her mom.
“For the record, that argument would work better with your father. Cat, if you’re absolutely positive she wouldn’t be a bother...” Mellody looked at her pleadingly.
“I could use an extra set of hands on set. Let me give you my number in case you need to check in. We’ll be filming at the diner all morning, and then we’re touring the Hai house. Sara can be there for moral support for April.”
Mellody looked elated as she entered Cat’s number into her phone. “Thank you, so much! You don’t even know. And you.” She pointed warningly at her daughter. “None of that really annoying squealing. Don’t tackle any of Cat’s co-stars and profess your love for them. Be helpful and quiet. Got it?”
Sara threw her arms around her mother. “You’re like literally the best human being on the planet, Mom!”
Mellody pumped her fist in the air. “Score one for Mom!”
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Sara turned out to be an excellent addition to the set. She ran water and coffee service for Reggie while field producer Jayla walked him, Cat, and Drake through the opening sequence. She stood guard next to the sawhorses and made sure no Merry residents accidentally walked onto the scene when shooting started. She even grabbed Cat a carrot and hummus snack to go along with her protein shake when they broke for a late lunch.
“You get yourself something?” Cat asked, slipping into a heavier jacket to ward off the chilly breeze. Her on-set wardrobe was a little too light. She made a mental note to switch off to her Duluth branded coat for the shoot this afternoon.
Sara held up a panini and a Coke.
“Awesome. Let’s eat.” Cat led the girl to the curb so they could sit. “So, what do you think so far?”
“I think your life is so cool, and there’s a lot more that goes on behind the camera. Like everything takes forever. Seriously, how many times does it take Drake to say, ‘We’re going to get this done for you.’?”
Cat snorted and took a long pull of unsatisfying smoothie.
“Drake’s used to working with more of a scripted story,” she explained. “It’s a huge transition coming from ‘read this, say this’ to winging it. But we’re on a tight timeline, and we need the before shots so we can jump right into construction.”
Sara nodded and took a generous bite of sandwich. “Makes sense,” she said through her full mouth. “You work a lot harder than I imagined. It’s a lot less glamorous than I thought being a TV star would be.”
Cat grinned. “It is, isn’t it? But if something’s worth doing, it’s worth working really hard for.”
“I like that. But I bet a lot of people don’t realize how hard you work.”
Cat shook her head, bit into a carrot. “They don’t. But the point of working hard isn’t really getting people to notice how hard you work. It’s about giving it your all and being able to walk away with no regrets. Doing a good job shouldn’t be so someone else tells you that you did good. It should be about you feeling good about your effort.”
“That’s deep,” Sara grinned.
“It’s all about effort, sacrifice, and reward,” Cat said, straightening her legs out in front of her and brushing at some of the dirt streaks. “You have to decide how much you’re willing to sacrifice and how much effort you’re willing to put into something. And those two things usually add up to the reward you get.”
“Give me an example,” Sara demanded skeptically.
“Okay, sometimes it means enduring some pain now so you can enjoy yourself later.” Cat wiggled her smoothie. “Now, I don’t particularly like smoothies. I’d much rather eat three slices of greasy sausage and green pepper pizza. But part of my job involves me staying in shape—not just for looks mind you. Beyond making good-for-you nutritional choices, you shouldn’t be worried about food, weight, or diet. Got it?”
Sara nodded earnestly.
“In my case, I’m older than you, and my metabolism doesn’t want me to eat pizza for lunch and fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. Because I’ll fall asleep in four seconds. So, I’m choking down my carrots and hummus and this disgusting smoothie because I know that it will fuel me for the rest of the afternoon, and then I’m going to have a couple of glasses of adult beverage with my leftover fettuccini tonight. So, I’m enduring a little pain now for a bigger payoff later.”
Sara laughed.
“Ah, you laugh, but it applies to much bigger lessons. It’s all about keeping your eyes on the prize.”
“You grown-ups really like to deliver the life lessons, don’t you?”
“Kid, if I had someone giving me this life lesson at your age, I’d be a lot further ahead. You should probably be taking notes.”
Sara mimed scrawling frantic notes, looking enthralled, and Cat laughed.
Paige wandered over, her long legs wrapped in festive reindeer leggings to ward off the chill in the air. “Mind if I join you, ladies?” she asked, holding up a hoagie.
“Just the perfect woman to join the conversation,” Cat announced. “Sara and I were just discussing hard work and dreams.”
“Oh, my fave! What do you want to do with your life, Sara?” Paige asked.
“Mmm, well. I’m really into fashion,” Sara shrugged. “But I think my dad wants me to find something serious to get excited about.”
“Fashion can be serious,” Cat argued.
“Dad doesn’t think so. He’s all like ‘Why don’t you try accounting or neuroscience or physical therapy?’” Sara mimicked.
Cat snorted and Paige elbowed her in the side.
“Ouch! Fashion can be very serious. What parts of the industry do you like the most?” Cat asked, rubbing her ribs where Paige’s bony elbow connected.
Sara furrowed her brow. “You know, it’s not so much the modeling that I like. It’s like the stuff that goes into magazines and commercials and when you see someone wearing it on Instagram or TV.”
“Ah, the branding,” Cat nodded. “Fashion branding and marketing is a huge, serious industry.
Sara brightened. “Really?”
“There’s so much more to fashion than just clothes and accessories. There’s art and business and accounting and international relations.” Cat counted each one off on her fingers. “It’s a huge, important industry.”
“My dad doesn’t think so.”
“Well, maybe your dad just doesn’t understand how much work goes into fashion,” Paige pointed out. “Sometimes it’s our job to educate people on what they don’t understand.”
Noah Yates didn’t understand anything he didn’t want to, Cat thought uncharitably.
“What if they don’t want to be educated?” Sara asked.
“Then you do it anyway and rub their faces in your success in a really graceful way,” Cat told her.