She eased the car out of the hotel parking lot and headed for the studio. It was hard for her to analyze how she felt about Jake at the moment. Somewhere inside, a spring of logic rose up, and she began to evaluate and comment on each of her thoughts in the same way she had made orderly logic of the stack of manuscripts she had waded through during the past few days.
First, you just turned twenty-five. This panic over your singleness was bound to hit you. Jake just happened to be around when the panic hit.
Second, you wanted Jake to be the answer to all your prayers. You willed yourself into your emotional responses.
Third, you tried to make something out of nothing. Only God can do that. Saving a grape as if it had special meaning is ridiculous. You were setting yourself up for disappointment.
And fourth, this is not the time in your life when you need to be looking for a lasting relationship. Wait five more years.
Meredith watched the car in her rearview mirror as she changed lanes.
Okay, three more years. In three years, you’ll have established yourself with Terrison Publishing well enough so that if you want to take some time off to get married and have babies, they’ll let you work part-time and welcome you back after the kids are in school.
Letting out a sigh and merging onto the freeway, Meredith told herself she was right in her four logical laws. It made good sense to guard her heart as she had all these years. When the time was right, she would know it, and right now wasn’t a convenient time to start a relationship with a man who lived a thousand miles away and was in the middle of working day and night on his video production.
We’ll see each other a lot over the next few months with the books and the video. If I had let my emotions get carried away, it would have only made things more complicated for us to maintain our professional relationship. I’m glad I started to think clearly before it was too late.
Meredith found the studio with no problem and walked into the building at exactly 1:50. She headed for the back corner where Jake had showed her the wardrobe on her first visit. Muriel was waiting for her and was delighted that Meri was early. Handing Meri the blue diaphanous gown that had been created for the actress originally cast as the Maiden of the Waterfall, Muriel showed Meredith to the small dressing area. Meri put on the spectacular gown.
No mirrors were in the dressing stall. Only pegs to hang clothes on. Meredith gave up trying to zip the dress and stepped out, asking Muriel to help her.
With her face to the full-length mirror by the door, Meredith admired the costume while Muriel worked to fasten it in the back. The color was a softer blue than turquoise, more of a robin’s-egg blue. The fabric was as sheer as a whisper with a thin, matching lining. The bodice was showered with tiny glitters and elbow-length, billowing sleeves. The soft blue fabric drifted in layer upon layer down the long skirt, cut in angles like feathery fairy wings. The most amazing part was that it fit so well. Muriel went to work pinning the sides, which needed to be taken in just a pinch. She directed Meredith to stand on a carpeted box to check the hem. It wasn’t a straight hem but was pointed all around from the many layers of sheer blue fabric that cascaded to the floor.
Muriel fussed and pinched and stuck Meredith twice by accident. The seamstress was determined to mark the waist so she could cinch up the skirt at the waistband.
Meredith watched her reflection in the mirror and felt sure she was Cinderella, and at any moment the little mice would come skittering in to help Muriel sew this enchanting dress.
There was a knock at the door. No mice appeared. Only Chad, the big rat, telling Meredith that she needed to stay there so Gina from makeup could come take some “Roids.”
A few moments later a redheaded Gina appeared in shorts, clogs, and a pink T-shirt that said “Mr. Bubble.” She had to be one of the plainest women Meredith had seen during her time in Los Angeles. Gina didn’t wear a drop of makeup, and her eyes looked wide and bulgy like a frog’s. She didn’t appear to have any eyelashes. Her eyebrows were either blond and very faint or she had none.
“Good,” Gina said, checking the light above her head before coming closer to Meredith. “Stand just like that. I need one serious.” She clicked the Polaroid camera and pulled the photo out slowly. “Here, hold this a second. Now, one smiling. Very good. Hold it.”
“Do you need one with the wig?” Muriel asked.
“Wouldn’t hurt,” Gina said. She had a lovely voice with an accent. Australian, maybe?
Muriel took the developing picture from Meredith’s hand and told her to step down. “Now bend down,” Muriel ordered. “Watch the pins.”
Too late. Meredith had already harpooned herself on the right side. Muriel lifted an extremely long white wig and placed it on Meredith’s head. It felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.
“Tuck your hair behind your ear,” Gina instructed. She came forward and began fidgeting with the wig, trying to get it straight. The white wavy hair tumbled over Meredith’s shoulders and down her back until it touched the ground. Muriel pulled some of the long strands over the front of Meredith’s dress.
Meri looked in the mirror and smiled. “I look like something from a fairy tale,” she said, amazed at how much the wig transformed her appearance, especially with the dress.
“That’s the idea,” Muriel said.
“All I need is a wand.”
“No wand. Sorry.” Muriel tried to tuck Meredith’s stray blond hairs under the wig on the side. “We’ll do a proper cap and all for you when the time comes. This is good enough for now.”
“It’s good enough for me,” Gina said, snapping a few more pictures, one from the center and one from either side. “Are you allergic to any cosmetics that you know of?” Gina asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“All right, then. My work here is finished. I’ll see both of you Monday on location.”
Muriel helped Meredith take off the heavy wig. Meredith immediately felt cooler and lighter. “I’ll help you with the dress, too,” Muriel offered. “Those pins might be a problem.”
Meri had just removed the dress and was in the stall putting on her clothes when there was another knock on the door. This time it was Jake, not Chad, who entered. She hurried to pull on her jeans skirt and T-shirt.
“Do you need to make many alterations, Muriel?” Jake asked.
“Enough,” the practical woman said flatly.
“Did Gina take the shots yet?”
“She just left.”
“Great. Where is our Maiden of the Waterfall?”
“Right here,” Meredith said, shaking back her mussed hair and opening the door to the dressing stall.
When their eyes met, Jake’s smile spread across his face. His gaze softened. He definitely gave her a tender, appreciative look.
And why shouldn’t he be appreciative? I just saved him from holding up production while he tried to find a Maiden of the Waterfall.
“Do you have a minute?” Jake asked. “We have some paperwork to go over.”
Meri glanced at Muriel, who gave a silent nod that she was finished with her. “Sure. I’m all yours.”
Oh, that was good. I’m all yours. Why couldn’t you just have said “yes”?
Jake led her upstairs to a long, narrow room that had been transformed into office space. The place was crammed with four desks, a copy machine, a fax machine, several computers, and a large television set in the corner.
“Not very glamorous, I know,” he apologized as they slid past two other people. One was tapping away on a laptop computer, and the other was on the phone. “These guys can’t wait for us to go on location so they can have their space back. Let’s sit at the desk in the corner.”
Jake cleared a place on the desk and pulled some papers from the drawer. “This is the standard contract. You’re welcome to take it with you, but we need it signed before we start to film on Monday.”
Meredith nodded.
“Here’s our production schedule and your s
cript. The script is the same as the one you read for the screen test. There aren’t any changes yet. Did I leave anything out? Oh yes, Monday. The crew will all be in Glenbrooke by Friday or Saturday at the latest. If you could get away for the weekend and come, it would be helpful. I’m asking all actors to be there by Sunday afternoon. I want to catch the morning light, so plan on being in makeup at three o’clock on Monday morning.”
“Okay,” Meredith said, taking in all the information. “Anything else?”
Jake paused and looked at her. He leaned forward across the desk and lowered his voice. “I’ve been thinking about something you said, and I think you might be right.”
Meredith couldn’t imagine what she had said. The only thing that came to mind was when she told him he was crazy about her but too legalistic to admit it.
“You said something was missing, and I think you’re right. But I can’t figure out what it is.”
Meredith didn’t know what to say. Something was missing from their relationship? What relationship? They weren’t having a relationship. When did she say something was missing?
“I went over the script again last night, and I can’t see it, but I know what you were saying. There is something missing in the story.”
Oh, the story!
“If you have a chance to give it another look, or if you even have time to think about it in the next few days, and see anything we could improve on, would you give me a call right away?” He handed her his business card. “My cell-phone number is on the back. Call me anytime.” That warm grin rose on his handsome face, and he said, “I’d love to hear from you. Anytime.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Late Friday night Meredith held Jake’s business card between her thumb and forefinger and examined it the same way she had examined the grape. She hadn’t taken him up on his invitation to phone during the past few days simply because she had so much to do. Work and calls had to be caught up, and she had had lengthy conversations with Shelly and Helen about this Maiden of the Waterfall twist of events. Helen had recommended that a lawyer in Seattle look over the acting contract, and Meri had met with him that morning. He advised her to go ahead and sign and charged her a hundred bucks for his time.
Then she had packing to do. Not only clothes for the week she planned to stay in Glenbrooke, but also all her business paraphernalia. She had her calls forwarded to her cell phone and packed her computer and two boxes of manuscripts. She decided she didn’t want to leave Elvis at home alone again, so she arranged his fish bowl inside her small ice chest and secured it on the floor of the backseat, where she thought he would feel the least amount of bumps.
Everything was set. She was ready to sleep and then hit the road when her alarm went off at five in the morning. She would arrive in Glenbrooke close to noon on Saturday, giving her a chance to settle in at Kyle and Jessica’s.
Something inside her wanted to call Jake. She looked at his cell-phone number on the back of his business card, closed her eyes trying to memorize it, then checked it again. What would she say if she did phone him? Since saying good-bye to him in L.A., she had put him out of her thoughts and emotions. He wanted to know what was missing in the screenplay. She still didn’t know. She had no reason to call.
Turning off the light and praying in the stillness of her bedroom, Meredith fell into a deep, sweet sleep. The alarm jolted her out of bed at five, and she went into action, readying all the last-minute things. She decided to throw in a warm jacket and went to the guest-room closet to pull it out. When she opened the closet door, Guard Man Fred popped out, scaring the stuffing out of her.
“What? You want to come with me so we can play a joke on Shelly? Okay. Glad you thought of it, Fred.” Meredith packed the inflatable dummy into the backseat, laying him on his side so he could keep an eye on Elvis in his ice-chest domain.
She hit the road right on schedule, made the early ferry, and didn’t hit any traffic through Seattle, which amazed her. By the time she arrived in Portland three hours later, she was ready for a stretch. She pulled off the freeway and bought gas. As the attendant filled her tank, he kept looking in the backseat at Fred. Meredith rolled down her window and asked where she could find a good cup of coffee and some pastry. The attendant looked at her suspiciously and told her about a place called Mama Bear’s. He said it was about a mile or two away on Hawthorne, but he guaranteed her they had the best cinnamon rolls in the city.
Meredith didn’t mind the little jog if it meant award-winning cinnamon rolls. She found the bakery in a row of charming shops and parked a few doors down in front of a flower shop called ZuZu’s Petals. Before she got out, she decided she had better cover up Fred so passersby wouldn’t notice him lying there. The only thing she had handy was a black garbage bag. She opened the back door and quickly put the bag over Fred’s head and pulled it down. It only came to about his knees, but she figured it was okay. Nobody would notice jeans and two feet with ratty tennis shoes. It was the face they always noticed, and that’s what startled people.
She locked the car and stepped into the bakery. The warm, welcoming aroma of cinnamon greeted her, and she drank of its fragrance deeply. A round woman in a bright apron called out, “Good morning.” The apron was green with yellow pears all over it. It reminded Meredith of her lemon apron at home, and she had to force herself to shake away the image of Jake in her kitchen wearing her lemon apron.
Meredith ordered a regular coffee, milk, and a cinnamon roll. The roll was huge and delivered warm on a plate with a fork. She moved to the register where a cute teenage girl with wild, curly blond hair took her money. The girl had on the same bright apron and a row of jangling silver bracelets up her arm that clinked merrily like a wind chime when she gave Meredith the change. The teen’s cheery smile invited a return smile from Meredith.
Ah, to be young and innocent. Now there’s a Young Heart. It shows all over her face. Not a care in the world, I bet.
A jar by the register had a sign attached to it that said If You Fear Change, Leave It Here. Meredith smiled and dumped her change into the tip jar. She took her roll and coffee to a side table and went back for the milk. Glancing up at the clock on the wall behind her, she noticed it was a brown bear with the clock’s face on his tummy.
Nine forty-five. I have plenty of time.
She enjoyed every bite of her roll and watched the young girl at the register. A line of customers had formed, and every table but one was taken.
In the back of her mind, Meri started to put a few thin strands of an idea together. Maybe what was missing from the Young Heart script was that it was only about a boy. What about bringing a girl into the story?
Meredith couldn’t quite put all the pieces together, but she knew the granule of a good idea was there. The soft, female element would give the story much more dimension. With a final glance at the girl at the register, Meredith headed for her car, eager to return to the road. When she exited Mama Bear’s, she noticed a crowd of people gathered around her car. A short, spunky woman with jet black hair stood by the side of Meri’s Explorer. She held a baseball bat and was ready to swing at the back window.
“Hey!” Meredith yelled, running to her car. “What are you doing?”
“Is this your vehicle?” a man in the crowd asked.
“Yes! What’s going on?”
Everyone looked at her and at each other, none willing to speak up.
“I’ve called the police,” the feisty, dark-haired woman said, still wielding the bat. She looked willing to swing at Meredith.
“What’s the problem? Did I park in your space?”
“You have some explaining to do when the police arrive,” the woman said. “Watch her. Make sure she doesn’t bolt.”
Suddenly it dawned on Meri that all these people were peering in the back window, looking at Fred with the garbage bag over his head. She broke into her shimmering laugh, and everyone looked even more frightened. More people gathered.
“That’s my Guard Man
,” Meredith said lightly. “He’s one of those inflatable travel companions. I’ll show you.” She stepped through the crowd and unlocked her back door. Lifting Fred and pulling off the garbage bag, Meredith showed him to the leery bunch of spectators.
A ripple of laughter made its way through the group.
“Charlotte,” one woman said to the feisty gal with the bat, “you have definitely had way too much coffee this morning. Anyone could tell it was a mannequin.”
Charlotte looked humiliated. She put down the bat. With a shrug and a weak giggle, she said, “Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Meri opened the front door and positioned Fred in the passenger seat, complete with shoulder-strap seat belt. The crowd dispersed, and Charlotte went back inside ZuZu’s Petals still arguing with the other woman that she had had no way of knowing it was only a dummy.
Eager to get out of the Saturday-morning hubbub on Hawthorne, Meri drove back to the freeway and didn’t stop again until she reached Glenbrooke. All the way down, she thought about how to add the female element to Young Heart.
Kyle was the only one home when Meri arrived in the early afternoon. He helped her carry her things in and had a good laugh over Guard Man Fred. Meri decided to leave Fred in the car so she could take him over to Shelly’s that evening. She hoped to get some work done before then. Kyle offered Meredith his office and set up an extra table for her to use as a work station. Elvis’s fishbowl was the first thing she placed on the corner of the table.
As she set up her laptop computer and plugged her phone in to recharge it, she asked Kyle, “Do you by any chance happen to have a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan?”
Kyle smiled. “What language would you like it in?”
“What?”
“Up there,” he said, pointing to a row of books on the top shelf. “It’s been my hobby ever since we moved here. I’ve collected thirty-four copies. Seven of them are in different languages.” He seemed proud of his collection, and rightly so.