Page 34 of Mistletoe Sky
“I was indeed,” Willa said. “And it’s been complicated, to say the least.”
“You couldn’t get out of the gig?”
“Nope.” Willa adjusted her hat, tugging it low over her ears. “The guy who owns the horse stables is, um, also complicated. For me. If you get my drift.”
Steve threw his head back in disbelief. “Willa, in all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never mentioned anyone complicated in your life. No boyfriends. No family. Nothing.”
“It’s all here,” Willa said, gesturing around at the trees, laden with snow.
“Not a bad place to have baggage,” Steve said. “You need my help with anything?”
Willa shook her head. “Let’s just make the best commercials we can and get out of here. Chicago is calling! Maybe I’ll work all through Christmas and have a lonely January, like always. I can’t wait to get back to my old life.”
“Aye aye, Boss,” he said, winking.
But even as Willa said it, her heartstrings felt tugged.
After the carriages arrived at the stables, Willa got out to oversee the setup and address any questions her crew had. At a distance, she could see Marius, talking with a few of his stable hands, gesturing toward the camera crew. He was probably telling them where they could go to avoid being in the shot. She and Marius had had a long phone conversation about it last night. Willa was jittery with nerves, and Marius was calm and collected, eager to lend a hand. They hadn’t seen one another since last week, and now, Willa fought the urge to leap over the fence that separated them and burrow herself in his arms.
On the phone, she’d said to Marius, “I saw my dad.”
And he’d said, “How did that go?”
She’d said, “We were all at the house where I grew up. I couldn’t eat anything. I didn’t know what to do.”
And this was true. She’d sat at the table, surrounded by family members, her father across from her. She’d alternated between thoughts of anger and resentment and thoughts of fear and love and sorrow. With her fork, she’d traced lines across her chicken, avoiding Amelie’s eye. She knew that Amelie wanted totalk more about this, to discuss what was wrong with their father and how they could fix it. But what if none of this was fixable?
“My grandmother said they don’t know if he’ll get better,” she’d told Marius. “They still don’t really know what it is.”
“It came on fast,” Marius had said. “That’s why he closed the fudge shop the way he did. The whole island’s worried about him. But you know how beloved Frank is.”
Willa hadn’t known how to respond to that, so she’d gotten off the phone as quickly as she could.
Now, Marius strode toward the camera crew, raising a sturdy hand in hello. Steve sidled up to Willa, muttering, “Well, he’s handsome, all right. What a person to have a past with!”
Willa groaned. “Don’t be weird.”
“Never,” Steve promised.
When Marius reached the crew, Willa made a big show of shaking his hand and introducing him to everyone. Very soon, the customer and makeup artist rushed him away for prep. The horses he and Willa had selected for the shoot were waiting for them in the first barn, cleaned up and ready for their close-ups. Willa led Steve into the bar, where she put her hand on Brax’s nose and breathed in his warmth.
“It’s like a fairy tale, Willa,” Steve said dreamily. “Why won’t you ride with Marius into the sunset?”
Willa rolled her eyes and kept working, ordering her team about in a way that was constructive and kind, she hoped. Within two hours, they were ready for their first shots: Marius riding on horseback across the fields, Marius brushing their gleaming coats, and Marius feeding them. After that, he got in the carriage with a camera operator beside him, behind him, and to the left of him, and they filmed him as he drove from the stables and into downtown. Willa, in a carriage behind him, watched the monitors on several different screens and was grateful that they didn’t have to do more than seven takes toget enough footage. She didn’t want to take up more of Marius’s time than necessary.
They finished just before nightfall. Steve and the camera crew hurried to put everything away and check into their hotel, where they’d already promised each other several rounds of beer, a warm, roaring fire in the fireplace, and maybe a few games of cards. Willa thanked everyone for the wonderful day and said she’d have information for their next day of work by tomorrow morning. “In the meantime, enjoy the island!” she instructed. “And get warm!”
With the carriages stocked and headed off for the hotel, Willa hung back, surprised by her desire to talk to Marius a little bit more. Mostly, she wanted to thank him for his cooperation, for taking the entire day to accommodate her “creative vision,” or whatever. She also wanted to show him the footage because he looked good. That wasn’t just the cameraman’s work, wasn’t just the cinematographer’s, wasn’t just hers. That was Marius’s excellent genes and sleek, athletic way of moving. That was Marius, pure and simple.
Marius was waiting for her on the front porch with two mugs of hot cocoa and a mysterious smile. They hadn’t talked all day, beyond what they’d needed to say professionally. Willa felt a smile tugging on either side of her lips. She gave it to him, if only momentarily.
“Let me show you what we did,” she said, when she couldn’t think of anything else.
They went inside, where Marius built a fire and ordered Willa to get cozy. Willa was reminded of romantic novels, cabins, forests, being snowed in and falling in love. She reminded herself that she wasn’t the type of woman to fall for such things. With the fire roaring, Marius sat in the chair beside hers and leaned over to see what she’d shot that day.
Within seconds, he gasped. “This is incredible! But Willa, it’s a lie!”
Willa blinked at him with surprise. She stopped the film. “What do you mean? A lie?” Her thoughts raced.
