Not until he reached verse 11 did he see something that stopped him cold. He read it over again:
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant;its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Wasn’t that exactly what had happened to Gary’s food truck? It had perished even while Gary went about his work. The point wasn’t that Gary had done something wrong, but that the work of a man’s hands was temporary. Only what was wrought for eternity would last. That meant that a hundred years from now, most likely no one would remember a movie called The Last Letter. Certainly no one would remember the trials Keith and Chase had survived as they shot the film.
But generations to come would remember the impact those actions had on the souls of men. Chase would find breakfast and lunch for the cast and crew, and he would do so with his eye on the eternal—on the sharpening of his faith and the message that could change lives for Christ. Everything else would fade away in the end anyway.
Gary’s food truck had proved that much.
By the time Chase called JR’s cell number at six that morning, he felt almost excited about the challenges that lay ahead. Each of them had a purpose, even in this. JR sounded fully awake when he answered the phone. “Hey, how’s my buddy Keith doing?”
“Great.” Chase realized he hadn’t told his friend about the food truck yet. “Keith says you can get it done when it comes to food, is that right?”
“You bet. Best steak and lobster in town.” JR’s confidence rang across the phone lines. “If you’re looking for a nice dinner for the cast, you called the right guy.”
“Actually,” Chase held his breath. “I was thinking more about eggs and turkey sandwiches. Not at the same time.”
Chase explained the situation, and together he and JR came up with a plan. The nearby grocery store was already open, so Chase drove there first and picked up twelve dozen eggs, ten loaves of bread, fifty blueberry muffins, eleven pounds of sliced turkey, and a cartful of sandwich fixings, chips, and salads. The rest of the ingredients JR had at his restaurant.
The shopping happened quickly, and Chase and JR worked feverishly in his kitchen so that by seven o’clock they had a massive container of scrambled eggs and cheese, fresh pico de gallo, warm muffins, a variety of jams and juices, and one filet of salmon. Together they delivered the food to the set. By then, most of the cast and crew had gathered at the tables and were looking around for the food truck.
“Breakfast,” Chase announced as he and JR hurried out of the car. “Come and get it!”
Keith walked up to him, clearly baffled. “What in the world’s happening?”
“I didn’t tell you?” Chase laughed, all signs of frustration gone. “Gary’s food truck burned to the ground this morning. I’m in charge of breakfast and lunch today.”
For a moment, Keith stood there, his mouth slightly open. Then he nodded slowly, saluted Chase, and headed for the back of the line. Chase and JR stayed just long enough to make sure everyone was satisfied. When word spread about the burned up food truck, several cast members came up to Chase and patted him on the back or shook his hand. “You take producing to a new level every day,” one actor told him.
Janetta Drake, the lone Christian among the cast, sat down across from Chase and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “You have no idea the example you’re giving to everyone on this set.” She kept her words soft, her tone intense. “People know something’s different about the two of you.” She grinned at him before she stood and made her way to the next table. “I know you want to change the world with your movies, Chase. But it’s good to know you’re getting a start right here.”
Chase and JR returned to the restaurant to work on lunch. An hour later they had a hundred turkey sandwiches spread across five platters, fruit and vegetable trays, and eight bowls of chips. Chase returned to the set and stored everything in a couple of refrigerators in their trailer, and then hurried out to find Keith. They were doing location shots on the campus of IU today, and his friend was bound to need his help. Whatever the day brought, Chase was ready for it. He made a mental note that later when he and Kelly pulled out their laptops for one of their much-needed talks, he would tell her how right she was. Some days there simply wasn’t time to miss out on reading the Bible. Days like this one. Never mind that short of a miracle they didn’t have enough money to finish the film, or that Ben Adams still hadn’t returned Keith’s calls, or that they were only a week into the shoot and there was no telling what troubles next week would bring.
For now, none of that mattered. Lives were being changed, no matter how crazy the movie shoot was playing out. The message would stay with Chase forever.
Food trucks were temporary. People, the souls of people, were eternal.
Twelve
KEITH WASN’T SURE HOW CHASE HANDLED the food truck disaster, but everyone was happy with the meals at breakfast and lunch, and by two that afternoon the new truck was in place, Gary and his guys working on the dinner meal. Now most of the cast and crew were gathered in a shady grass area on the Indiana campus waiting for the next scene. Chase had shown up, and he and Keith needed to meet before they started filming. Meanwhile, Keith’s wife, Lisa, was trying to reign in a couple hundred students who had descended upon them to be extras. Keith gave her a knowing look as he headed off with Chase. She had flown in a few days ago, and Keith was grateful. She’d helped out on Keith’s shoots before. She seemed to know just what to do, how to keep things moving.
“You ready?” Chase was breathless, but he looked happier than he had all week. The story about his meal-making would have to come later.
“Ready. Jake’s here, and he’s been completely on for every scene.” Keith shook his head, amazed that they’d landed a talent like Jake Olson. “The kid’s got chops, that’s for sure. He’s giving us his best work yet.”
“Great.” Chase looked over the clipboard. “You knocked out four scenes this morning. That’s amazing.”
“Without my director.” Keith gave him a wry smile. “We could write a book about this when we’re all finished.” He looked at his notes. “Obviously this is the part of the movie where Jake’s character does the most soul-searching. He’s arrogant and self centered, and that comes painfully to light while he’s talking to his friends on campus. Especially in light of the letter he’s just received from his father.”
“Andi’s in these next few scenes, right?” Chase looked over the list and then peered at the group of college kids gathered around Lisa.
Keith followed his gaze, and only then did he see Andi and a girl who must’ve been her roommate, Bailey, set apart from the other kids, talking to Jake Olson. He frowned. “Great.”
“Hmmm.” Chase saw it too. For the first time that day, he looked concerned. “Not exactly the guy I’d want my nineteen-year-old daughter talking to.”
A sigh escaped from Keith. Lisa didn’t see what was happening with Andi, because she was too busy organizing the other extras. Keith set his notes on his chair. “I’ll be right back.” He crossed the grassy lawn, his eyes on Andi the entire time. Her body language wasn’t suggestive but it was flirty. No question about that. The way she held her shoulders and her chin, the toss of her hair that could be seen forty yards away. This was what he’d been worried about all along with Andi, that here at IU she’d fall headlong in love with the world. Not that she’d given him a reason to doubt her faith and commitment to living right. But the world had a way of drawing in girls like Andi, girls with a voracious appetite for life. As naïve as Andi was, she wouldn’t know trouble like Jake Olson until it was too late.
“Andi …” he called to her, and she turned immediately, her sunshiny smile all his.
“Daddy, hi!” She grabbed hold of her friend’s hand and the two of them ran up, laughing and giddy with excitement. “I told Bailey about the couple lines we might get to say and—” she stopped herself. “Wait, I ha
ven’t introduced you.” She laughed at herself. “Dad, this is my roommate, Bailey Flanigan.”
“Hi, Bailey. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Keith felt his concerns for his daughter cool some. Maybe Andi was only being friendly. Certainly she knew better than to show interest to a guy like Jake Olson. “You ready for a few lines today?”
“Definitely. Thank you, sir.”
Keith was relieved that this girl was Andi’s roommate. Bailey’s eyes shone with an unmistakable light. There seemed to be nothing flirtatious or pretentious about her, and Keith had the strong sense she was the real deal. Not just a roommate, but hopefully a lifelong friend for his daughter. Yesterday when they talked on the phone, Andi had told him how neither of them had been lucky enough to have had a sister.
“But now we have each other,” she’d said before they hung up. “Isn’t that wonderful, Daddy?”
It was indeed. Maybe Bailey would help add a voice of reason to Andi if she started letting herself wander toward Jake or any other actor on the set. He was about to address the issue of Jake, and his thought that Andi should keep her distance, when Chase came jogging up.
“Keith, we need you.” He nodded at the girls. “Sorry, something’s come up.”
“We’ll be over here.” Andi pointed to the place where they’d been standing before. “Just tell us when you want us.”
Keith nodded, distracted. Then he turned to Chase, concern already tightening his stomach. “What happened?”
“Some rumor on the set.” Chase raked his fingers through his dark hair. His words came fast, his mouth dry from this most recent sudden problem. “I guess the actress playing Jake’s girlfriend started telling everyone we’re marketing this movie only to the Christian market. She’s already walked, told the DP she wanted nothing to do with some sort of God movie.” Chase’s face had lost a few shades of color. The Director of Photography wasn’t bound to care for the rumor either. “Now Rita Reynolds is locked in her trailer talking to her agent, threatening to do the same thing. The DP’s worried that Jake’ll walk too. He wants one of us to stand up at break in half an hour and make an announcement, telling the cast and crew not to worry, that this isn’t being marketed as a Christian film.”
Keith ordered himself to exhale. In a matter of minutes everything they’d worked toward, every bit of fund-raising and convincing investors, the time spent with the screenwriter and getting everyone out here on location, all of it was on the brink of destruction. If the cast walked, their movie would become little more than a mention in Variety magazine, another independent filmmaker having failed royally. He put his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Pray with me. Right now. God knows the answers even if we can’t see them.”
Chase bowed his head, neither of them even the slightest bit concerned that they were praying publicly about an accusation of making a Christian film. There was no time for irony or scrutiny or doubt. They needed a miracle, and they needed it now.
“Lord, we don’t know the enemy we’re up against. Give us wisdom, give us words … give us a movie. Please, Father, let us remain in this mission field, and we promise to make it all for You, through You … to Your glory, amen.”
“Amen.” Chase looked doubtful. “You’re going to do it, right? I mean, what are our options?”
“What, stand up at dinner and make an announcement that this isn’t being marketed as a Christian film?” His nerves were stretched, but not so far that this was a tough question. “Watch me, Chase. Then you’ll know.”
“Come on, Keith. I want this movie to change lives just like you do. But it isn’t a Christian film. Not the way they’re worried it’ll be—playing only to the church crowd.”
Break wasn’t for thirty minutes, and they had at least one scene to shoot in the meantime. Keith started walking toward Lisa and the group of extras. “I’ll handle it,” he looked at Chase over his shoulder. “Don’t worry.”
The first campus scene was a simple one, and Keith was able to spend much of the time mentally rehearsing how he would handle the coming announcement. The scene had Jake, distant and distraught, walking across campus ignoring everyone he passed by. After crossing a section of pathway, he dropped to a bench and pulled out the letter—not to read it again, but to remember the words he’d just received, the news that had changed his life. The extras were wonderful, great kids who cooperated and didn’t pull anything funny. Keith and Chase got the cut on the second take.
“Great work,” Chase used his megaphone to get the word out to the crowd. Then he lowered it and turned to the DP. “Check the gate.”
Keith waited while the director of photography did as he was asked. All film ran through a small metal gate in the camera, and when they got a take they liked, the last thing they needed to do was check the gate for stray fuzz or hairs, anything that would mar the footage.
“Gate’s clean.” The DP raised his fist. “Good stuff, guys. Good stuff all the way around.”
Keith didn’t let his anxiety show. If the director of photography was worried about the rumor, he wasn’t showing it. The fact gave Keith at least one reason to hope that his cast and crew weren’t on the verge of mass panic. Even so, the meeting was essential and Keith was only going to do this once. He picked up Chase’s megaphone. “Okay, extras take twenty and meet back here. I need the rest of the cast and crew to meet at the tent near the food truck. I have something to share with everyone.”
His tone was ominous, which he intended. He wanted everyone to take what he was about to say seriously. He walked alongside Chase, saying nothing. If he were honest with himself, he was disappointed in Chase’s reaction. They needed faith to stand up to moments like this, or they might as well pack it up and head back to Indonesia.
“You’re mad at me.” Chase seemed like he was working to keep up. They’d moved the tent and food truck to a field across the street. It’d remain there a few days, as long as they were filming on campus.
“Not mad.” Keith smiled at his friend the way he might smile at a younger brother. “As long as one of us keeps our focus, we’ll get through this. Today it’s me. Next time it might be you seeing clearly when I’m ready to throw in the towel.”
“I’m not ready to—”
“Chase.” Keith stopped and leveled his look right at his friend’s eyes. “If you’re even for a minute thinking about standing in front of our cast and crew and telling them this isn’t a Christian film, then you’ve lost something.” He held up his hand. “Now I know you’ve had a long day.”
“A good day.”
“Right, a good day. I can’t wait to hear about it back at the hotel. But how we handle the next fifteen minutes will define us from here on out. It’s that important.” He put his arm around Chase’s shoulders and the two started walking again. “Pray God gives me the words.”
Chase sighed, his eyes downcast. “I’ll pray. I’m sorry.”
Keith met quietly with Lisa before he walked to the center of the eating area and waited. Gradually the tables in front and on the sides of him filled up until everyone was present. Gary and the other cooks were barbecuing ribs out back, and the smell wafted in, lending promise to Keith that they’d all still be there three hours later for dinner—whatever the reaction to this announcement. Keith thought about using the megaphone, but he knew how to project his voice. Under the tent, he was sure he could talk loud enough for everyone to hear. He took his place and noticed where people were sitting, who they’d grouped together with. At one table sat Rita Reynolds, whispering to Jake Olson and three other leads. Keith could tell from the looks on the faces of his key grips and electricians, his lighting and cameramen, that word had gotten around to them too. This was the moment when the producer was going to banish the thought of this film being marketed as a Christian movie. A hush fell over the cast and crew.
“Okay, most of you know why we’re having this meeting.” Keith silently asked God for direction. He caught Chase standing next to Lisa at the far side of the tent. Chas
e’s arms were crossed, his head bowed. He was praying, he had to be. Lisa, too. Keith raised his voice, encouraged. “Apparently our young actress has left the set because she doesn’t want to work on a Christian film.” Keith felt a calm come over him. With each set of eyes he looked into he prayed that calm would be contagious, that levelheaded behavior would rule the moment for all of them. He looked around the entire seating area. “How many of you read the script before taking on this assignment? I’d like a show of hands.”
Hands slowly came up around the tented area until every single person had theirs high in the air. Keith nodded. “That’s what I thought.” He felt God breathing strength into him. “Now another show of hands. How many of you read the script and thought that this movie was exclusively a Christian movie—whatever that means?”
One at a time every hand came down. Keith stood a little straighter than before. Across the area, Chase had his head up now, and he seemed less afraid than before. Keith felt pride building in his chest. “Now let me be very clear about one thing. I am a Christian. Make no mistake.” He kept his tone warm, the confidence in his voice warm and unwavering. “My co-producer and the director of this film, Chase Ryan, is also a Christian. For those who don’t know it, Chase and I spent seven years in the mission fields of Indonesia, telling people about Jesus Christ.” He lifted his hands in an unaffected manner. “If you want to know about going to heaven or having a life-changing relationship with God, please … by all means come see one of us.”
Around the eating area a few chuckles rose from the crowd. Keith saw only a few people squirm in discomfort at the direction of the talk. He looked directly at key people, the ones he was most concerned about. “You want to know my dream for this movie? I hope people walk out of theaters changed forever because they saw our film. I hope this movie makes them want to improve their character and deepen their love for this country. I hope it makes them stronger in their commitment to faith in God, and in their commitment to family.”