Feast of Saints (16 page)

“Another one?” Jake said, not too kindly. When her face fell, he asked, “What kind of favor?”

“If I call someone, would you thank her personally? She didn’t know me from Adam last night yet she rescued me. She helped us both.”

Holding out his hand for her phone, he said, “What’s her name and what did she do for us?”

She smiled, happy that she could do something immediately nice for Jill who would be leaving her shift in an hour or so. Scrolling through her recent calls to find Jill’s number, Lilly pulled it up.

“Here’s her number. Her name’s Jill Mackey. She was my personal shopper – our personal shopper – last night. She got me everything I needed to make today go smoothly and she didn’t even charge me.”

“What does Jill do?” Jake asked.

“She’s the night supervisor at Dow Chemical’s Riverton plant.”

Jake already knew that Lilly had driven to Riverton, just not why.

“Clever girl,” he said, finally smiling. Then, to the phone, “Hello is this Jill? Jill, this is Jake Durant. I’m sitting here with Lilly Rose, who tells me we have you to thank for getting us what we need to film in the Rockies today…. It wasn’t nothing. I would like to repay you for your kindness. Would you be able to join us for dinner this week? …Oh, I didn’t realize. That’s a shame. Is there anything else I can do for you? …Sure, I’ll hold on.”

Lilly raised her eyebrows at him.

“She wants me to speak with one of her coworkers,” Jake said, showing no sign of irritation, which pleased her. Listening to just his side of the conversation, she could imagine how thrilled the women on the other end of the phone were.
If I didn’t work with him every day, I’d be in a pool on the floor if I got a call like this
. Hell, sometimes, she admitted to herself, she did feel like she was going to melt around him, although she clamped down hard on that feeling as soon as it appeared.

“Hello Bridget…. Thank you, that’s nice of you to say.”

Jake laughed, “I’d be happy to.” Then, in an elocutionary recital of an oft-repeated line from another demonic character from one of his early movies, a cult favorite, he said, “I am but one
hell
of a butler.”

She could hear Bridget’s squeal on the other end of the line.

“It was my pleasure. Okay, bye.”

“That was awesome. Thank you! You made those ladies’ year.”

Jake, smiling sideways at her animated reaction, pulled her next to him and used her phone to snap their portrait. Lilly watched, delighted, as he texted it to Jill’s number.

The second day of filming in the mountains went much better. Although the apps weren’t perfect, because nothing was going to completely eliminate the increased hardness of the plastics caused by the cold, they weren’t so stiff as to be pulling against Jake’s skin or popping the adhesive. By midmorning, Lilly began to relax.

Although the apps weren’t freezing, surely Jake had to be, she thought. He performed in take after take, barely clothed in the frigid air. Maya, by contrast, was fully clothed. Without any elaborate makeup, she could slip into a huge downy coat at each break. Jake, however, couldn’t put on the down parkas that everyone else was wearing without ruining her work. He bore it without a whimper. It was terribly uncomfortable and exhausting to be that exposed in this cold. A heated blanket would be nice. It would also help keep the apps pliable. Grabbing her friend Bryce, she asked him to find someone to go into town to purchase an electric blanket and an extension cord.

When it arrived, Lilly made the electrical connections herself to ensure watertight seals, since it wouldn’t do to electrocute Jake. By the next break, she had the blanket ready and wrapped it around him as soon as he walked off his mark. Jake thanked her profusely. She found herself beaming at him for the second time in one day and realized what a rarity that was. Why had their relationship been so strained before?

The following days flew by in blustery beauty. Monty was pleased. Jake was pleased. Lilly was exhausted but pleased. She’d found that it was best to completely remake the applications every night rather than try to reuse them because the freshly cured applications withstood the mountain air longer without becoming brittle.

Lilly suspected the dryness of the air and lack of oxygen was as much, if not more, to blame for the failed applications than the cold. She’d have to do some research on plastics and altitudes when she got some time; it might make an engaging scientific paper for a chemical engineering journal, especially if she threw in some movie-making anecdotes.

Chapter 13

Filming in Wyoming ended Friday morning with the last of the dawn light. Lilly was beyond ready to get off the set and out into the mountains when Monty finally yelled, “Cut!”

Unfortunately, Mike had cancelled on her. Not to be denied, she had decided to set out on her own. She’d turned in her rental car. All she had to do was pack up her supplies and belongings and leave them in the makeup trailer. The trail she planned started only a mile from their location; so she could set off on foot as soon as she packed up.

As the rest of the crew boarded the bus, Lilly grabbed her backpack and hoisted it on, waving as they pulled away.

Bryce rolled down the window and yelled out a parting shot, “Don’t get eaten by bears!”

Turning, she ran smack dab into Jake.

“Why aren’t you on the bus?” he demanded.

“I’m taking a couple of days off. I’m allowed, right?” She meant to tease him, but he didn’t seem amused. Feeling like she had to explain, he was her boss after all, she patted her backpack, “I’m hitting the trail for a couple of nights.”

When she moved to step around him, he stepped in her path.

“By yourself?”

“Well, I had a hiking partner, but he got called in to work.” Taking in his creased brow, she added, “I’ll be fine. It’s supposed to warm up today and be in the fifties this weekend. The nights will be cold, but I’ve got brand new below zero gear.”

As he continued to frown down at her, she said, “I’ve done this before, Jake, so don’t worry.”

“Well I am worried, and not just about you. You can’t pull something like this on a film with this kind of budget. Do you know how many people depend on us?”

Lilly glanced at the departing bus full of crew then looked longingly at the mountains. Hiking in the wilderness was an acceptable risk to her, but she was the only one who would reap the benefit. Without Mike, maybe it was a bit too dicey.

She turned her gaze back to Jake’s exasperated expression. “Okay, I’ll take your caution to heart and adjust my route to make it plain vanilla: no glaciers, no shale, no climbing. Just some fresh air and a couple of nights of sleeping on the ground. Bears really will be the only hazard and I’m well aware of the precautions to take when hiking in bear country.”

“I’m coming with you.”

What? – No
. Half the reason she wanted to get out into the woods was to shake him out of her head. How the hell was she supposed to do that with him looming along beside her? She struggled to hide her dismayed expression. No way was she taking Jake on this hike with her.

Thinking fast for excuses, she said, “Jake, I’m already ready to head out. You’ve got no pack, no boots.”

“We’re in a mountain town, Lilly. I saw two outfitters on the same street. Anything I need can be bought. It’ll take an hour. While I’m stocking up, you can rework your route.” Not giving her a chance to argue, Jake grabbed the back of her pack, nearly pulling her over as he pulled it off of her and slugged it toward his waiting car and driver.

“Change of plans, Wil. We’re headed to town. Ms. Rose will be joining us.”

Wil hopped out of a rented Explorer to relieve Jake of the backpack.

Jeez, that guy
. Lilly was still staring after him as Wil opened the door. Both men stood by the SUV waiting for her to get in. Cursing under her breath, she gave up, and got in the car.

Lilly stewed in silence while Wil drove to the Marmot outfitter in downtown Jackson Hole. When they got there, Jake commenced to unpack her carefully packed backpack and rummage through it to see what she had and what else would be needed. He handed her the map and park guide from the side pocket of her pack.

“Nothing dangerous,” he said imperiously, obviously assuming she’d do as told and rework the route she’d planned while he stocked up.

It’s my trip you’re crashing -- you’ll take what you get and like it!
As much as she wanted to spit out some horrible comments to him, her livelihood depended on him. And, truth be told, she did owe him for covering for her blunder this week. That thought softened her resentment slightly, and with a purer heart, she reexamined the map and park guide.

Her goal was usually to pick the trails least travelled. That was going to be hard if they were taking it easy. The easier trails were well-populated by sightseers and inexperienced hikers. After twenty minutes of study, she thought she might have come up with a route that would actually be quite nice. Just enough of a challenge to scare off the novices.

The height elevation would be strenuous but nothing that she and Jake shouldn’t be able to handle. Except for the wildlife, there was nothing hazardous and there were two campsites near what looked to be some beautiful high country lakes. Lilly marked the map and then looked down the street where she was pretty sure she’d seen a park visitors’ station. She looked in the window of the store, caught Wil’s eye and pantomimed walking down the street until he got her drift and nodded.

At the ranger’s desk, she went over her route and with a few adjustments for closed trails, had the new plan. The ranger even commented that it was going to be a beautiful walk and since the hike wasn’t described in the park guide, should be fairly unpopulated.

Jake and Wil were at the open rear of the SUV repacking her pack when she returned. She watched as the last few items went in. She was about to insist on pulling everything out so she could be sure she had what she wanted and needed for the trip, but just then Jake shut the back door of the SUV and turned to get in. Passersby and some of the store’s customers had recognized Jake and a cluster of fans had started to accumulate around the Explorer. If they didn’t move, it was going to be a mob scene in a few minutes. At least she’d seen the cooking gear and knew her sleeping bag and sleeping pad were included.

In the car, Lilly looked over at Jake, who looked like an advertisement for Marmot. Before she could chastise him for rooting through her pack, he cut her off, “Where to, Ranger Rose?”

“If Wil could take us to Jenny Lake, we’ll hit the trailhead there. It’s a two-day hike in a circular route. He can pick us up in the same spot Sunday midmorning.”

At the trailhead, to her surprise, Jake declined her offer to review the planned hike and with a simple nod of his head, said, “Lead the way.”

“Okay, let me know if you need a break. We’ll stop every hour, and more if you need it. Drink plenty of water even when you’re walking. Since we’ve been here a week, we shouldn’t get altitude sickness, but being well-hydrated at this height will keep you from getting sick if you do. Also, keep your eyes peeled for moose antlers,” she said.

She had talked to the ranger about bear sightings on the trail and was consoled that they were not likely to meet the “big boys,” as the rangers called them. This time of year, most bears had begun to hibernate. However, they could meet up with moose, which could be just as dangerous.

About a half hour into the hike, Jake asked, “Aren’t you supposed to sing? I thought singing alerted the bears to our arrival and made them more likely to move off before we get close.”

“No,” she snorted. “I mean, yes, you are, but the ranger I spoke with said we’re not likely to meet up with bears. He did warn us to be wary of moose, and not to approach if we saw them.”

Lilly looked back at Jake, who was pursing his lips at her, not convinced.

“Did he say there were no bears?” he asked contrarily.

“Well, no.”

“Then I think you should sing. You’re the guide after all. Isn’t it your job to keep us safe?”

She narrowed her eyes at Jake, knowing he was toying with her. Deciding to give him a taste of his own medicine by playing along, she turned back around and broke into a round of “Jingle Bells,” then “Deck the Halls,” then “Silent Night.” After twenty minutes, Lilly had exhausted her repertoire of Christmas carols.

Apparently Jake was done with them too, because he didn’t ask for more. But after a few minutes of silence, she heard him softly begin “Wassail”. He had a beautiful voice, another talent overshadowed by his sinister looks and evil characters.

When they arrived at the campsite, Lilly checked the GPS to be certain, but there was no mistaking the beautiful lake setting the ranger had described. There was a shelf overlooking the lake with loads of aromatic pines and soft beds of needles. She dropped her pack and Jake followed suit. After five hours of hiking, on top of a long week, she felt tired and exhilarated at the same time.

Taking a big swig of water, she looked Jake straight in the eye for the first time since the bus departed. He looked at her, too, and for a moment she felt a connection and peace she didn’t remember ever feeling with anyone. Jake’s expression was softened by the late afternoon sun and the whisper of a smile played around his lips. When he did smile wide, instead of his trademark smirk, he had dimpled cheeks. She wondered how often he smiled wide to let them show.

“Let’s set up camp then walk down to the lake,” she suggested.

At play or work, she liked to get the hard work over with first, so she could relax. Jake didn’t protest when she started pulling items out of her pack, then his. She laid them out in the center of the campsite. She was looking for the ground sheet, which provided a barrier between the tent bottom and the moist, rough ground, when she realized there was just one tent.

Just one tent. Lilly tried to wrap her mind around it. What was she going to do when she woke screaming in the night from her repeated nightmares featuring Jake, only to find him lying there beside her? Trying to keep down rising panic, she ventured, “Um, what happened to my Clip Light?”

She was referring to the one-person tent she had packed when Mike bailed on her. Lilly continued to look around as if another ground sheet would magically appear. Finally, she just glared at Jake, who had the audacity to walk away, down to the beautiful lake, leaving her to set up the tent that they would be sharing for the night.

Fuming, she snapped together the tent poles. It was an expensive tent at least: roomy and stupidly easy to set up. It practically popped up by itself. She pushed in a few stakes to anchor it against any unexpected bad weather and then she was done. Stewing over her predicament, she thought, how could something as simple as a desire to commune with nature have gone so wrong?

Lilly set off to walk around the lake in a direction opposite from Jake’s, to regain some sense of peace. She had to admit it made more sense to pack just one tent. When hiking in the thin mountain air, what to pack was measured in ounces. An extra tent would have taken up space and added several pounds to their packs. She and Mike would have shared a tent and they weren’t romantically involved, although Mike had made a few half-hearted passes over the years. She’d easily deflected him with no hard feelings.

She stopped in her tracks and stood with her mouth open, “catching flies,” her mother used to say, as she pictured Jake making a move on her. She had expended so much energy squelching her attraction to him, she was afraid what she might do if it was reciprocated.

Resuming her trek, she reached the opposite side of the lake where she saw a young couple just setting up camp. She waved at them, feeling a small sense of relief. At least she wasn’t completely alone out here with Jake.

Still a good distance away from their campsite, Lilly rounded a bend to find Jake coming toward her. He’d obviously been checking on her because as soon as he saw her, he turned on his heel and walked back the way he’d come. She followed slowly, and it dawned on her that with his extremely long stride he could have easily outpaced her on the trail, but he had let her walk in front to set the pace for the hike.

By the time she made it back to camp, she was feeling more kindly toward him. But when she saw him sitting on a log scrolling through messages on his smartphone, she frowned automatically. To her, the woods were not for electronics. Jake looked up at her and frowned right back.

Lilly had two choices: she could give in to the miserable mood that started when he horned in on this trip, or she could change things right now starting with that damn phone. Jake’s schedule was grueling. And she started well before him, and stayed long after. Before he even arrived on set every morning, she had already been at it for an hour, setting up. After he left at the end of each day, she worked at least another hour, and often two to three hours, cleaning and prepping for the next morning. Much of what she did was so that he wouldn’t have to be in the makeup chair any longer than absolutely necessary.

She needed this break. She did not intend to spend it worrying about work, and she couldn’t let it go with a tent mate constantly checking his cell phone.

Choice made, she marched to stand right in front of Jake, who had turned his frowning face back down to the tiny screen. She glared a hole in the top if his thick, dark hair until he looked up.

When his frown deepened, and she was sure she had his full attention, she said, “You have as many minutes as it takes me to pull the pots out, walk down to the lake, filter some water and walk back here to send however many messages to your top people telling them that you will take care of everything on Monday morning, and then turn that phone off. If the power is still ‘On’ on that thing when I come back, I’m going to throw it in the lake…. I estimate it will take me about fifteen minutes.”

Lilly continued to stare at him, determined to prevail. When he just sat there frowning at her, she put her hands on her hips and gave him her best glare, reserved only for her brother’s cantankerous six year old.

“I don’t make idle threats,” she said sternly.

Jake slowly raised his phone and took her picture, making a show of forwarding the pic to someone as he typed and sent some humiliating message. Without looking up again, he resumed scrolling through his messages, picking up where he left off when she walked into camp. When she continued to glare at him, he looked up again.

“Come on,” she said, “it’s not like you’re the prime minister.”

“No. But I own seven production companies with twenty current film and TV projects, a restaurant chain, a tech company, a record label, a pro football team, about eight resorts around the world and thirty-five other smaller businesses. But I’ll have it off when you get back, so stop glaring at me, and go start dinner.”