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She irritably brushed away his words like a cobweb in her path. “Do not even try to charm me. I can assure you it won’t work.” Another lie.
“That wasn’t charm. That was honesty.” He said the words simply, and if she hadn’t known better, she might have believed him. “I need to talk to you about something that will make you very happy.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “If this is about breakfast—”
He laughed. “While I would hope breakfast with me would make you more than very happy, that’s not it.” The grin faded. “Could we talk somewhere?”
Eve was just inside, probably watching them from the window.
“Down by the creek,” Faith said, and turned toward the copse of cottonwoods that stood along the banks. She planned to set the man straight once and for all. The last thing she needed was him showing up on her doorstep again.
While he’d promised to keep her secret, she knew given the way he’d blackmailed her into dancing with him last night that he couldn’t be trusted. What was he doing here? And what could he possibly have to talk to her about? Whatever it was, she was on her guard. She wouldn’t put anything past him.
When they reached the creek and were out of sight of the house, she turned to face him, hands on hips, her expression as impatient as she could make it.
“This had better be good,” she warned him.
“Our stunt double was bitten by a rattlesnake this morning. She isn’t going to be able to finish the shoot.”
“Brooke Keith?” Faith said on a surprised breath. She’d heard that the stuntwoman was working on the film. An old flame of Jud’s, according to the tabloid movie magazines.
He raised a brow. “You know her?”
“Know of her. I’ve read about her.” The moment those words were out, Faith wanted to snatch them back.
Jud’s brows shot up. “So that’s it. You don’t really believe that stuff Hollywood gossip rags print, do you?” He shook his head as if disappointed in her.
“Where there’s smoke, there is usually fire,” she said, grimacing at how much she sounded like her sister Eve.
“Look, I’d like to try to convince you that you’re all wrong about me, but I don’t have the time,” Jud said. “We need someone to fill in for Brooke and finish the film. There are only a few more days of stunts to be shot. I suggested you to our director.”
He rushed on. “The director checked and found out that you already have a SAG card.” His gaze narrowed. “Apparently you’ve done some ride-on parts in movies, not stunts, just horse-related shots—this woman who shuns the spotlight.”
He held up his hand to stop her from commenting. It was a wasted effort on his part. She’d opened her mouth, but nothing had come out. A small gust of wind could have knocked her over.
Jud Corbett hadn’t just known her secret heart’s desire—he’d just offered it to her.
“If you pass this up,” he said. “You’ll regret it the rest of your life.”
“I…”
“Just think about it.” He thrust a business card into her hand. “My cell phone number’s on it. I’ll just need to know by noon.” With that he turned and walked away, leaving her too stunned to move.
DIRECTOR ERIK ZANDER couldn’t believe his bad luck. Just the thought made him curse as he poured Scotch into his fourth cup of coffee of the morning. Probably wasn’t the best way to start the day, but what the hell, given the way his life was going.
Last night Keyes Hasting had called.
“I heard about the film you’re making and am intrigued,” Hasting said. “You don’t mind if I come up.”
Like hell he didn’t mind, but he’d been too shocked to say so, especially when Hasting had added, “The theme of this film is close to my heart. Retribution, isn’t it?”
Those last words registered like a gun to his head.
“I heard your stuntwoman was bitten by a rattlesnake,” Hasting had said. “I hope you can find someone else so you can finish the film.”
“My stunt coordinator has someone in mind,” he’d said, all the time thinking, That son of a bitch Hasting has a spy on the set.
Hasting was an old reprobate with too much money and alleged mob connections. Zander had hung up the phone and gotten skunk drunk. And this morning, hungover, he was dreading Hasting’s visit like a root canal.
Snapping open his cell phone, Zander checked to see if Jud had called. No voice mail. Jud had promised to let him know the moment he had a verbal agreement from the new stuntwoman. Why hadn’t he heard something yet?
Fortunately, he would be able to shoot around the problem today, but by tomorrow when Hasting arrived…
“Anyone seen Jud Corbett?” Zander bellowed as he stepped out of his trailer, wishing he’d never laid eyes on the script for this film. It had arrived on his doorstep. Along with a blackmail threat.
FAITH WAS STILL standing by the creek when Jud Corbett drove away in his pickup. He had her stirred up good, and no matter how hard she tried to put him—and his offer—out of her mind, she couldn’t.
She’d always dreamed of being a stuntwoman, specializing like many did with horse trick riding.
But it had only been a dream. She’d told herself her riding gave her so much pleasure, she didn’t need to take it any further. Only men like Jud Corbett needed the applause and exaltation.
But he’d called her on it and now the truth was out. She wanted this more than she’d ever wanted anything, she thought, as she walked back toward the house. She’d just never admitted it. Until now.
Faith looked up to see her sister waiting on the porch for her, a worried look on her face. Faith swallowed and said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
As she took a seat beside Eve, she spilled it all, the years of practice and Jud Corbett’s offer—her most secret of all desires.
“I wondered how long it would take you to tell me,” Eve said when Faith had finished.
“You knew?”
“Oh, Faith, I’ve known since that time when you were a girl and you broke your arm. I’d hoped you would outgrow it. I was afraid for you. But when you didn’t…It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”
She nodded, tears in her eyes. “When we were kids, I thought you’d tell Mother, then after I went away to college, I just didn’t want to worry you.”
“You’ve been headed in this direction for a long time.”
Just as Jud had said, in college Faith had done some ride-on parts in movies being filmed around Bozeman. None involved stunts, though.
“Don’t think it doesn’t worry me,” her sister continued. “Stunt work is dangerous.”
“It can be,” Faith allowed. “You have to use your head, expect things to go wrong. It’s all part of it.”
Eve shook her head. “McKenna will probably have a fit, not to mention what Mother will have to say about it. But Dad, well, he’ll just be proud of you.”
Faith smiled. If she had expected anyone to have a fit, it was Eve. Life was just full of surprises. She hugged her older sister. “Thank you. I have to call Jud and tell him I’ll do it.”
“You hadn’t already agreed?” Eve asked in surprise.
“I wanted to talk to you first.”
Tears welled in her sister’s eyes. “I would never stand in your way. But just so you know, I intend to be on that set every day you’re doing a stunt.”
Faith laughed and went to make the call. Jud answered on the first ring as if he’d been waiting for her call.
“So you’re going to do it,” he said before she could say a word. He sounded pleased, an underlying excitement in his voice that tripped something inside her.
“You’re that sure I can do this?” she had to ask.
He chuckled. “You know you can or you wouldn’t have called me back.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.”
“We resume shooting in the morning, but come over this afternoon. I’ve made sure there will be a trailer here for you to stay in so you’ll be ready for early shoots. Bring your horse. There will be time to get in some riding.”
He had everything arranged already? “What if I hadn’t called?”
“I saw you ride, remember? You and I are cut from the same cloth.”
“Except I will never be as cocky as you are.”
He laughed. “Trust me, you already are.” She could tell he was smiling. “This is a great break for you. I’m as excited about it as I was when I did my first film.”
Faith swallowed, thinking that her break had come at the expense of the stuntwoman who’d been bitten by a rattlesnake and said as much.
“Brooke’s going to be fine. The doctor said she’s one of those rare cases. She had an adverse reaction to the snakebite antidote. Fortunately, we have a helicopter on the set and rushed her to the hospital.”
“Once she gets better, she’ll want her job back,” Faith said, worried that was true.
“Nope. You’ll be doing what’s left of her stunt work for the remainder of the shoot. She talked the director into hiring her as assistant stunt coordinator. She can’t do stunts, but she can help set them up.”
Faith swallowed back her guilt at that news. She couldn’t help but be anxious and thrilled at the same time. Jud had seen to everything. “Are you always so accommodating?” she asked only half-joking.
“I made an exception just for you. I should warn you,” he added, “this film is pretty low budget. As well as doing stunts, I’m also the stunt director. But don’t worry. I think you’ll be pleased with what I got you for pay.”
As if she wouldn’t have done it for free, Faith thought.
“Celebrate,” Jud said.
Again she felt that small insistent thrill that seemed to warm her blood. “Jud?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
He laughed. “Thank me after this film is over. This will either cure you of your need to trick ride or—”
“Or kill me?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
“Or hook you so badly you won’t want to ever quit,” he said. “Either way, you may not thank me when it’s over.”
She wondered about that as she hung up and felt like pinching herself. Her secret desire was about to be realized. She just had to be careful that Jud Corbett didn’t ignite any other secret desires in her.
As she started to leave, she noticed some wadded-up papers in the wastebasket near the phone. She pulled one out and saw that it was the list of numbers for Constance Small and C. Small. Every name had been scratched out.
Dropping the paper back into the trash, she glanced toward the porch where Eve was still sitting and felt an overwhelming sadness for her sister. If only her dreams could come true.
MARY ELLEN HATED FLYING. She’d brought along some needlepoint for the flight, but she hadn’t touched it. Her mind was reeling. What did she hope to accomplish by flying to Montana? Just the thought of returning to Whitehorse made her blood run cold.
Had she been able, she would have gotten off the plane and gone home where she belonged. But as she felt the plane begin its descent into Billings, Mary Ellen knew she’d come too far to turn back now. She had to see why after all these years someone would call about Constance.
There would be a rental car waiting for her at the airport on the rock rims above Montana’s largest city, but she was arriving so late that she planned to spend the night and drive the three hours to Whitehorse in the morning.
From Billings she could drive north through Roundup and Grass Range, the only two towns for hundreds of miles between Billings and Whitehorse. Roundup was small, and Grass Range was even smaller.
Mary Ellen tightened her seat belt and closed her eyes. She hated cold even more than flying. At least it was July in Montana. Had it been winter like the last time she was in Whitehorse, Mary Ellen knew she wouldn’t have come.
It would be hard enough returning to the past.
As the plane began its descent into Billings, Mary Ellen wished she were on speaking terms with God. But she suspected any prayers from her would be futile given all her sins—her greatest sin committed in Whitehorse, Montana, thirty-four years ago.
AS FAITH TOPPED THE HILL in her pickup, her horse trailer towed behind, she saw the movie encampment below: the two circles of trailers and past it the small town that had been erected. All of it had a surreal feel to it—not unlike this opportunity that had landed in her lap.
Captured in the dramatic light of the afternoon sun, the small Western town in the middle of the Montana prairie looked almost real with its false storefronts, wooden sidewalks, hitching posts with horses tied to them and people dressed as they would have been a hundred years ago.
She’d barely gotten out of her pickup when Jud Corbett walked up.
“Feel like saddling up and going for a ride?” he asked.
“Sure.” She hadn’t been on her horse all day, and the offer definitely had its appeal. Even more so because it would be with Jud, although she wasn’t about to admit that, even to herself.
They saddled their horses and rode along the edge of the ravine overlooking the movie camp. She and Jud compared childhoods, both finding that they’d grown up on ranches some distance from town, both loved horses and both had begun riding at an early age.
“I can’t believe how much we have in common,” Jud said, his gaze warming her more than the afternoon summer sun. “Do you believe in fate?”
She chuckled. “Let me guess. It’s fate that you and I met?”
“Don’t you think so?” he asked. He was grinning, but she saw that he was also serious.
“I suppose I do.” If he hadn’t taken the back road to his family ranch that evening, and if Laney and Laci hadn’t gone into labor when they had so Faith could go riding, then what was the chance that she and Jud would be here right now?
“Fate, whatever, I’m just glad you and I crossed paths,” he said, then drew up his horse, as below them the ghost town came into view.
Jud leaned on his saddle horn to stare down at it. “Spooky looking, even from here.”
She felt a chill as she followed his gaze. A tumbleweed cartwheeled slowly down the main street of the ghost town to come to rest with a pile of others against the side of one of the buildings. Remarkable there were any buildings still standing.
“So are the stories true?” Jud asked.
