Loving (3 page)

“We will.” Again, Brandon got it. There were other actors, other deals to be made. If Brandon waited four months then just maybe the deal would disappear or be cut in half. Anything could happen. That was fine. No matter how great the deal, there would be others. Besides, West Mark Studios wasn’t going away that easily.
Despite his obvious frustration, Jack Randall had made that clear.

Chin Li shut the door behind her a little too hard. In the silence that followed, Brandon looked at his agent and manager and reached for a kindness he didn’t feel. “Look … I’m sorry you didn’t know about this.”

No immediate response came from his team. The three of them sat down and Chase was the first to speak. He was in his late fifties, a veteran in the business. His tone remained even despite the white knuckles on his clenched fists. “You could’ve told us before the meeting.”

“I haven’t had it long.” Brandon put the file back in his bag and set the bag on the floor. “I’ll forward you the email from Luke Baxter tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve preferred to see it
this
morning.” Chase gave a shake of his head. “You realize they could pull the offer.”

“They won’t.” Brandon felt like they’d switched roles, like he was the one in charge, calm and cool. “Four months will be good. I’ll be in Montana for half of it.”

Both men were quiet, staring at their hands. What could they say? Brandon had already made up his mind. They’d have to live with the fallout.

Chandler spoke with a softer voice. “The contract would’ve been a nice sendoff to Butte.”

“I can see that.” Brandon didn’t fault them for wanting a signed deal. They made their living signing deals. And this one would’ve been the pinnacle of both their careers. He crossed his arms. “The time away will be good. I mean … guys, it’s a great contract. I get that.”

Chase jabbed his pointer finger at the air in front of him. “Best contract. Not just a great contract, Brandon. Best one West Mark’s ever put on the table.”

“I believe it’s the best any studio’s put on any table.” Chandler’s tone remained understated. “For what it’s worth.”

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Brandon breathed in slowly and all he could see were the pine trees of Montana. Maybe Bailey could spend more than a few weeks there, work on the book she’d been talking about writing lately. The time away from LA would be good for both of them. Otherwise he’d fly home each weekend. “Listen.” He looked from Chase to Chandler. “You guys are on my side. I know that.” He smiled. “Trust me. I’ll get creative control, and then we’ll throw the biggest party this town has ever seen.” He paused. “Okay?”

“Fine.” Chase sighed like he had two people standing on his chest. “I’ll call you in a few days.”

“I’ll talk to Randall.” Chandler stood first and gathered his things. “Calm him down.”

“He’ll be fine.” Brandon rose to his feet. He wondered how Bailey’s meeting at NTM was going. “Four months is nothing in this business.”

Neither of them could argue with that. Brandon shared a cursory couple of hugs with his team. They left West Mark’s executive offices and rode the elevator down together in mostly silence. But as Brandon went his own way out of the building and walked to his waiting ride, his steps felt lighter, the air a little sweeter.

Like he was already with Bailey in Montana.

T
HE FIRST HOUR OF THE PRODUCTION MEETING INVOLVED
little more than small talk, but the longer Bailey sat at the oversize picnic table on the back lot of NTM Studios, the more uncomfortable she felt. They gathered on a grassy knoll overlooking the set where half a dozen recent movies had been filmed, but Bailey didn’t feel excited about any of it. She was homesick and hot and unsure of her commitment to the movie. On top of that the sun had shifted since they first came outside, and despite the trees around them Bailey could feel her forehead getting burned.

At the meeting was producer Mel Kamp, his assistant, the director — a woman Brandon had worked with twice before — and Bailey’s two young teenage costars.

“… Which is why, when I pull a cast together, I expect teamwork.” Mel had been droning on for some time. He struggled with charisma, and the past hour was proof. “Teamwork creates synergy and chemistry. We become unbreakable and believable.”

In front of the producer sat a stack of scripts — the latest rewrite. A more compelling version, apparently, because he’d already mentioned the fact countless times, both today and at earlier meetings. But either he was afraid of what they’d think or he had no sense of time, because he hadn’t made a single move to pass them out.

Bailey shifted and took stock of her costars. They’d both been in previous NTM films, and now they would play two of the toughest gang members in what would be Bailey’s inner-city
classroom. From the beginning, she hadn’t been given a full draft of the script, since a rewrite was in progress. But she’d been given the sections that involved her character and she loved what she’d seen. The story was inspired by true events out of Miami and as far as Bailey knew, she would play an idealistic new teacher who believed in compassion and prayer and helping kids care about each other. But not until one of her students is killed in a drive-by shooting does the class begin to turn around.

But at each meeting lately, though Bailey pressed for more information, none was given to her. Not only that, but at the last four meetings, Mel Kamp had said things that concerned Bailey. Even now he was talking about pushing the envelope.

“Finding art sometimes means trying new things, venturing into places other people wouldn’t go.” He drummed his fingers on the stack of scripts.

Bailey squinted at the man through her sunglasses. What was he trying to say? Why this sense of impending doom? Like God was trying to warn her about something. Whatever was coming, the new script made her uncomfortable.

Finally Mel slowly, almost reverently, began passing out the scripts. “Anyway … here you go.” His phone sat on the other side of the stack, and as he gave out the last one he checked the time. “I’ve kept you long enough.” He smiled and slapped his palms on the table for emphasis. “Take the scripts home. Give them a read and drop me an email.” His look said he was absolutely confident they would like the revisions. “Feedback is important. Garners teamwork.”

He stood and checked something else on his phone. “We’ll shoot this in New Mexico, the way it looks now. Great tax incentives. You’ll have a production schedule well before that.”

Her costars stood and thanked the producer, and Bailey did the same. But the two of them looked beyond bored as the trio headed through the back of the building to the parking lot. One
of the guys smiled as he rolled his eyes. “There’s two hours we can’t get back, huh?”

“Exactly.” She tried to return his smile, but it fell flat. “I hope the script’s more interesting.”

“For sure.” The other guy looked confident. “They used a team of writers. Some of the best.”

“The writers specialize in award-winning films.” The first one tucked his copy under his arm and opened the door for the group. “It’ll be amazing. I guarantee it.”

“I hope so.” When they reached the parking lot, Bailey waved. “See you soon.”

The taller of the guys returned the wave. “Tell Brandon we said hey.”

“I will.” Bailey liked the guys. They both dated NTM actresses and had known Brandon for several years. She hoped maybe she and Brandon could hang out with them and their girlfriends during the shoot, if Brandon’s schedule allowed for it. Maybe even before the movie while they were all still here in Los Angeles. Other than Katy and Dayne Matthews, there were no other couples Brandon and Bailey hung out with. She didn’t know much about the guys, but they seemed nice. Maybe they’d become lifelong friends.

That would help LA feel more like home.

Bailey walked to the car — she was using Katy’s Navigator today. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she headed south to Will Rogers Beach, closer to Santa Monica. At this early hour on a Thursday, the beach would be deserted.

Along the drive she turned on her radio as an old Newsong hit came on, “When God Made You.” Bailey felt yesterday rush in like air through the open window of the SUV. She’d been, what, maybe eighteen or nineteen when she first heard the song? And all she could think about then was Cody, how they’d play this song at their wedding someday.

Bailey smiled at the memory. She’d been so young, just a kid, a high school girl who saw Cody Coleman as bigger than life.

She fixed her eyes on the winding turns that made up Pacific Coast Highway, turned up the volume, and sang along. Her voice stayed soft, the memory of the song as much a part of the past as any photo or letter. She loved the lyrics — how they spoke of God’s hand in finding true love and the promise of forever. Bailey had never shared the song with Cody. She’d found it when he was little more than a secret crush, and by the time they finally admitted their feelings for each other, they ran out of time before it came up.

Where Cody was concerned there was never enough time.

Tears filled Bailey’s eyes and she blinked so she could focus on the road. She could still see herself cleaning her room while the song played from her iPod speakers, still feel what it felt to believe he was the one, to believe God had created Cody for her.

She dabbed at her cheek and let the ocean air dry her face. The tears surprised her, because she didn’t love Cody that way anymore, the way she thought she did back then. She knew that now. He was more of a big brother to her, someone she looked up to. The same way she’d been only that for him. But still, she missed those days. Missed the way he’d always been around back then. He made her feel safe and protected and the fact that he adored her family was part of it too. How could it not be?

The two of them hadn’t talked since Bloomington, when they took a walk around Lake Monroe a few days after Cody’s girlfriend, Cheyenne, died from her brief battle with cancer. He was finishing up the semester teaching at Lyle High School an hour outside of Indianapolis, but then what? Bailey had Brandon now. But since God hadn’t made her and Cody for each other, who would Cody find? And without meaning to, Bailey slipped into a silent prayer for her old dear friend.

That God would comfort him in his season of loss, and that
in time He would give to Cody what He had so clearly given to Bailey.

A love that had been created for him since the beginning of time.

A
LL NIGHT THE CLOCK ON
A
NDI
E
LLISON’S COMPUTER
seemed to be racing in double-time until finally a few minutes ago she submitted the online test for her business marketing class. She leaned back in her chair and for the first time in two hours she felt herself relax. More than that, she felt great about herself. She was doing something she had doubted she’d ever do: Finishing school.

Despite her rebellious choices back at Indiana University and her wrong relationship with a guy she barely knew. Even after getting pregnant and giving her baby up for adoption to Luke and Reagan Baxter, when the enemy of her soul wanted her to believe her life was tarnished forever, God had done the unthinkable.

He had breathed fresh hope into her soul.

She was taking small parts in Christian films and working as an assistant to her producer father. But now she was also tackling online courses, working to finish her marketing degree. Something she wasn’t sure she’d ever do again.

The reality made her feel wonderful, even if it didn’t quite take the edge off her loneliness.

She moved her mouse to the Safari browser and opened Facebook. Her life involved very little social interaction, and for a long time Andi could feel God working in the silence: the nine months when she carried her firstborn son, the year of moving to Los Angeles with her family and finding her way back to the heart of God; and now the busyness with acting and working. All of it had left Andi with few chances to meet people.

Her Facebook newsfeed popped up, and she scanned a few status updates from acquaintances she’d met on a handful of sets.
But her time with the cast and crew was always too brief to establish real friendships. Whether with guys or girls. Her only real and true friend was Bailey Flanigan. The two of them talked a few times a week, and they planned to see each other more often now that Bailey lived in Los Angeles. But with LA traffic there was still more than an hour’s drive between them.

Andi scrolled down the list and stopped cold the way she always did when his face appeared. And like every time, Andi could feel her eyes meet his through the window of the computer screen. She could remember his voice and feel his arms around her the few times they shared a hug. She could see into his soul the way she always could.

The soul of Cody Coleman.

For the longest time Andi hated herself for having any sort of feelings for Cody because he belonged to Bailey. Always and only Bailey. But all that had changed in the last year or so, as Bailey clearly had moved on. Still, her admiration of Cody Coleman wasn’t something she shared with anyone — not even Bailey. It was a dream, a figment of her imagination. Something she refused to even entertain except for moments like this. When his face was there before her. Cody in his Lyle High coaching shirt and his hat — the one with the
‘W’
on it. Bailey had told her Cody wore it in honor of his friend Art. The hat was from the University of Washington, a school that had recruited Art for its football program. Art chose the Army instead, and when he lost his life on the battlefield, Cody took possession of the hat.

Because that’s the sort of guy Cody had always been. Loyal and caring to the depths of his being.

A sigh eased itself up from the unsure places of Andi’s heart. Cody had suffered a lot lately. His Facebook posts had been erratic, but Bailey had mentioned that Cody’s girlfriend had died of cancer. Maybe that’s why Andi found herself thinking about him these days. Because she hated the thought of Cody hurting.

Andi read his status a couple times, mainly because soaking in the words he’d written allowed her for those few seconds to hear his voice again. The post read, “Headed to Liberty University with DeMetri, getting him ready for college. Crazy how fast life goes.”

Yes
. Andi agreed with that. Even when she thought she’d live forever in the dark shadows she’d created over her life, time moved on. No season — good or bad — lasted forever. All of which made her wish for the sort of loving Bailey had found with Brandon. For a guy who might think the world of her and understand about her past and feel dizzy at the thought of walking alongside through her tomorrows.

Andi drew a slow breath and closed out of Facebook. For a long time she closed her eyes and remembered back. When she first returned to her family and her faith — after she avoided aborting her unborn baby — she had been reading the Bible when a single story changed everything about the way she thought, everything about the way she would love God from that point forward.

It was the story of the rich young ruler.

In the story, a guy who had lived a fairly good life came to Jesus and asked what more he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus, knowing the guy, looked straight into his soul and told him to sell everything he owned and give the proceeds to the poor. The man went away sad because he had great wealth. Andi had known the story since she was a little girl, but she always had breezed past it.

Her parents were missionaries, after all. They understood the principle of giving. But that day, with her life in disarray, Andi read the story in a new light. The story didn’t mean all people should sell their belongings. It meant Jesus had a way of looking deep into the soul and asking people to give up the one thing they wanted more than Him. For Andi, once she returned to the faith
she’d been raised with, she absolutely knew the desire God wanted her to give up. The one thing she had sought after more than she’d ever sought after Him.

The desire to be loved.

Her hope for a boyfriend had led her down crazy paths when she was at Indiana University, and after she returned home she determined that she would not pursue guys again. The next time — if God allowed a next time in her life — the guy would pursue her. Like Bailey’s mom had said: “Like a dying man goes after water in a desert.” Until then, she was content to be lonely.

At least she had been content.

Seeing Cody on Facebook reminded her that she needed to keep praying. Not only that God would give her contentment in her loneliness, but that He might work a miracle in her life.

So that someday, somehow, someone might love her.