Page 22 of Dumbstruck
I smile as I sit on my porch with a pinch of tuna, trying to coax Samson out of the bushes. I don’t know why I even try, when he hasn’t shown any signs of warming up to me. I guess I’m feeling weirdly lonely. Probably because Hank has been spending all his time with Bonnie, and he’s the one person in town I ever talk to.
That’s not true. I’ve talked to a lot of people around town the last few days, trying to get any hints at who might be sabotaging the movie set, with no luck. What a waste of limited small talk energy.
“I don’t know if I would call an entire field a small space,” I tell Jonah.
“It is when you have several hundred people all trapped together. And even with all of Beckett’s precautions, we still ended up with a busted water tank this afternoon.”
Samson pokes his head out of the leaves, nose working hard, but his eyes are locked on mine, and he seems to be saying,I won’t fall for your tricks.
I toss the tuna onto the sidewalk and roll my eyes when the cat darts out to grab it before returning to his hiding spot. “Did no one see who did it?”
“You can’t see ghosts, June Harper. That’s the problem.”
I laugh. “Okay, but you said I could help you figure out who’s causing all these problems, and so far I am missing out on all your promises. The chance to solve a mystery, ice cream…”
“Making out with a super hot movie star?” Jonah adds.
Heat flushes through me, and I’m so glad he can’t see me right now. We video chatted last night, but I didn’t want him to see my pitiful attempts at buying Samson’s love tonight, so I stuck to a phone call. “Making out?” I repeat. “Jonah James, that is quite a leap from a simple kiss.”
“There is nothing simple about the way you kiss.”
I am so glad he can’t see me blushing. “Bonnie’s leaving tomorrow, right?”
My question makes him laugh, though maybe that’s because my voice came out strained. I wouldloveto make out with Jonah James, and somehow over the last few days he’s come to know me too well for me to hide that fact. I didn’t realize it was possible to get to know someone this well over the phone, but this man gets me talking in a way no one ever has. “Yes, she’s leaving tomorrow, which means Beckett will be focusing on all the side character scenes and filler shots over the next few days. And that, June Harper, means you can have me all to yourself.”
Every time he says my full name like that, another part of my wall crumbles. Although, I think it would have started collapsing anyway after I told him about my ex. His initial reaction was so perfect, even without knowing the things my ex did or said, and I’m pretty convinced now that I don’t have anything to fear from the charming Jonah James.
I didn’t think anyone would ever convince me to try dating again, but Jonah has been building up an impressive case in favor of giving him a chance while he’s here.
“What’s your real name?” I ask.
No matter how many times I’ve asked that question over the last few days, his answer has always been the same. “You gotta earn it. You know that.”
At this point, I’m not sure I’ll ever learn his real name. Maybe his name is actually Jonah James and he’s messing with me, but I wouldn’t even care.
Scooping out another chunk of tuna, I hold it toward Samson’s bush and try not to think about the fact that Jonah’s life is in Los Angeles while mine is in the middle of nowhere, Colorado. We are from two completely different worlds, and as soon as he finishes filming, he’ll have no reason to come back here.
“You haven’t had any trouble today, have you?” Jonah asks. He does this all the time, asking questions out of nowhere and changing the tone of our conversations, but I kind of love it. He is so easy to talk to, and we can go from teasing to serious and back again without any awkwardness in between.
I shake my head, forgetting I’m talking to him on the phone when Samson pokes his head out again, this time taking a step toward me. “Oh, um, no. I was at the store all day, and it was pretty dead.”
A little too dead. Business is always slow in a small town like this, but the last few days have felt extra quiet. I may not make enough to cover overhead next month, but I’m not too worried. My profit margins have always been small, and I still have some money in savings to cover a bad month here and there.
The perks of winning a lawsuit after your ex trades emotional abuse for physical abuse and pushes you over your limit. In a strange way, I’m glad he was my boss. Because we were at the office, he was on camera when he hit me; I never would have had any proof otherwise, and I might not have had a way to start a new life if not for that lawsuit.
“Why did you decide to buy a hardware store?” Jonah asks.
Samson gets close enough to reach the tuna with his tongue, but as soon as my fingers twitch with excitement, he vanishes back to the bush.
I groan.
“Sorry,” Jonah says. “Should I not ask about that?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s Samson. I nearly had him before he bolted.”
Jonah laughs, and I try to picture his wide grin. It’s only been a few days, but the details of his magnetic smile are already fading—seeing him on a phone screen isn’t the same. I hope he’s right about being able to get away from the production field tomorrow. “I wish I knew how to help you with that cat, but I’m as baffled as you are.”
“Says the cat whisperer.” I squint as a car turns onto my street, the headlights blinding until it makes the full turn and passes my house. I should go inside—it’s after eleven and too cold to be outside—but I am determined to make some progress with this dumb cat. “Did you have any cats growing up?”
