Runaway Actress (19 page)

She cleared her throat, not daring to catch Euan’s eyes. She could feel her face flaming with embarrassment and stared out of the window. There was nowhere to go, of course. She couldn’t exactly run out into the storm. This wasn’t
Wuthering Heights
and she wasn’t Catherine Earnshaw. She was just Connie Gordon, runaway film star, who’d made a mess of her life and now had to face the consequences.

She took a deep breath and turned to face Euan.

‘I shouldn’t have said all that, I’m sorry.’

‘There’s no need to apologise, lass,’ Euan said in a voice that was low and soothing. ‘We all need to talk now and again.’

‘You won’t say anything, will you? To anyone?’

Euan’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘I wouldn’t betray your trust.’

Connie nodded. ‘I’m sorry to ask, it’s just—’

‘You don’t need to explain,’ Euan said. ‘I know what’s happened in the past. I know how many people have betrayed you.’

Connie gave a small smile. ‘That seems strange. You know so much about me and I don’t know anything about you.’

For a moment, they held each other’s gaze and Connie felt quite sure that he was about to say something when they heard a car horn.

‘Ah,’ Euan said, ‘Alastair to the rescue.’

Connie turned and saw Alastair’s Land Rover pulling up alongside them with Maggie waving wildly from the passenger seat.

‘Well,’ Connie said, ‘looks like we’re out of here.’

Euan looked at her. ‘Connie,’ he said.

‘Yes?’

Euan rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Be happy, lass. That’s all that counts in this world.’

Connie looked at him as if expecting more but was then startled by a mad knocking on her car window. It was Maggie and she was holding a huge umbrella that was threatening to take off – Mary Poppins-like – across the valley.

‘Come on, you two, before you’re drowned in all this rain!’ Maggie shouted as she opened the door. Euan grabbed hold of the shopping bags and he and Connie ran towards Alastair’s car.

‘Hi!’ Alastair called from the front.

‘Alastair!’ Euan said.

‘Oh, Connie!’ Maggie cried as she saw Connie’s long red hair plastered to her face and neck. ‘You’re soaked to the skin. Let’s get you back to the B&B.’

‘What about your car?’ Connie asked.

‘Alastair will tow it home later,’ Maggie told her. ‘But we can’t have you all wet like that.’

‘I’m fine – don’t fuss, Maggie.’

‘You’d better let her fuss,’ Alastair said from the front seat as he turned the Land Rover around. ‘It’s what Maggie does best.’

‘Alastair, it might have slipped your notice but we have a drowned Hollywood star in the back of your Landy,’ Maggie said.

‘It certainly hadn’t slipped my notice,’ he said with a grin.

‘Good. Then put your foot down and get her back to the B&B before she freezes to death. I don’t want to have to announce on the fan site that I’m responsible for the demise of Connie Gordon.’

Alastair got them back to Lochnabrae before the cold and the wet got the better of them.

‘I’ll see you guys for the hike, right?’ he called as they bundled out of the car.

‘Right!’ Maggie called back. There was then an almighty scrum to get into the B&B.

‘You’re a star, Euan,’ Maggie said as he placed the innumerable shopping bags in the hallway and left with a brief wave. ‘You two looked as if you were getting along,’ Maggie said once the door had closed behind him. ‘What were you talking about?’

Connie could feel her colour rising again. She’d never blushed so much in her life since she’d left America. ‘Oh, you know – the usual.’

Maggie looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I think he’s rather taken with you.’

‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous!’

‘No, really!’ Maggie said. ‘There was a look in his eyes.’

‘Whose eyes?’ said a voice from the sitting room and Isla appeared in the hallway. ‘Och! Will you look at the state of yous twos!’

‘My car broke down,’ Maggie said. ‘Alastair had to come and rescue us.’

‘And is it
his
eyes you were talking about? Is he after our Connie?’

‘No!’ Maggie laughed. ‘Not Alastair!
Euan!
’

‘Euan Kennedy?’ Isla said in disbelief. ‘But he’s way too old for Connie!’

‘That doesn’t usually stop men, does it?’ Maggie said.

Connie took her coat off and put her hands on her hips. ‘I don’t know why you’re both making such a fuss. We were just talking – that’s all. He’s a sweet guy.’

‘Oh, aye. He’s that all right. Sweet on
you!
’ Maggie teased.

‘Ah, leave the poor gal alone,’ Isla said. ‘And let her get out of those wet things. You too, our Maggie – before you catch your death.’

‘You can change in my room,’ Connie said. ‘Give us the opportunity of trying on some of those new clothes.’

‘Clothes?’ Isla said. ‘Maggie never buys new clothes.’

‘I know,’ Connie said. ‘But all that’s gonna change, right, Maggie?’

Maggie nodded, her hair glistening with rain.

‘Come on, then,’ Connie said, grabbing some of their bags. Maggie followed her up the stairs with the rest, placing them on the floor of Connie’s bedroom. ‘I’ll take the bathroom,’ Connie said. ‘You have the bedroom. Here’s a towel,’ she said, throwing a fluffy white bath towel at Maggie.

‘Thanks,’ Maggie said.

The bathroom door was slightly ajar and Maggie could see Connie dropping her clothes in a wet sodden heap at her feet. She didn’t mean to stare but there, in the Lochnabrae B&B, was a Hollywood movie star and she was standing right before her in her underwear.

Connie looked up. ‘Maggie!’ she said. ‘Get those things off. What’s the matter with you?’

Maggie gasped at having been caught. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered.

‘What is it?’ Connie asked, walking out into the middle of the bedroom in her knickers and bra.

Maggie turned away and hid her head in her towel. ‘It’s just—’

‘What?’

‘You’re in your undies,’ Maggie said.

‘You’ve seen me in my undies before,’ Connie said. ‘Blimey, if you’ve seen
City of Broken Hearts
, you’ve seen more than my undies!’

‘Yes, but—’

‘What?’ Connie said. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You’re – like – in the flesh now. I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just – you’re Connie Gordon. I didn’t think – I didn’t imagine—’

Connie stepped forward and grabbed Maggie’s shoulders, then slowly lifted the towel from her head. ‘Maggie,’ she said softly, ‘you’ve got to stop doing this.’

‘Doing what?’

‘This! You keep treating me as if I’m some sort of goddess. Well, I’m not. I’m just a normal woman. Look!’ Connie stepped backwards and pointed to her thighs. ‘Cellulite.’

‘Where?’ Maggie said, not convinced.

‘Right there.’

Maggie peered closer and saw a slight wrinkling of skin. ‘That’s not cellulite.’

Connie frowned. ‘Well, whatever it is, it’s damned well not perfection. And look at these,’ she said, pointing to her eyes. ‘Wrinkles!’

‘You haven’t got wrinkles!’ Maggie said.

Connie’s eyes widened and then she gave a broad smile whilst pointing to her eyes. ‘See?’

Maggie took a step forward. ‘Oh, aye. I can see them now.’

Connie laughed. ‘I’m just like anyone else, right? A woman with wrinkles and cellulite. It’s just I can afford to hide them under layers of designer make-up and clothes. That’s all.’

‘Okay,’ Maggie said at last. ‘I get it this time. You want to be treated normally, right?’

‘Because I
am
normal!’ Connie said.

Maggie nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said.

‘Okay, what?’ Connie asked.

‘You’re normal.’

Connie nodded. ‘Good! I’m glad we’ve
finally
got that sorted out.’ She grabbed a sweater from her suitcase, pulling it on and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Her legs were bare and looked snowy white.

‘I’m
far
from wonderful, Maggie,’ Connie said. ‘I’ve done dreadful things.’

‘No!’ Maggie said. ‘I don’t believe you. You couldn’t do anything dreadful.’

Connie shook her head. ‘There you go again – believing the very best about me when I don’t deserve it.’

‘But—’

‘No,’ Connie interrupted, ‘listen. Just listen.’ Connie took a deep breath and, for a few seconds, all that could be heard was the rain on the bedroom window.

‘I’ve done some things in my time that I’m not proud of,’ Connie began. ‘I’ve discovered recently that I’ve been more ambitious – in my past that is – than I ever realised. When I first started acting, it was almost like a game. It was fun and I loved it and I did it because of that love. Then something changed and I can’t really pinpoint exactly when that happened. I started reading my reviews. I became obsessed with them. Most of them were good but there were some dreadful ones too.
Gordon should be better than this. Her talent is wasted in this ridiculous vehicle.

‘I became competitive. I started looking around me and seeing what my peers were doing. Why did she get that role and not me? Wouldn’t I have done a better job? Why haven’t I worked with this director yet? I had so many questions all the time and it was driving me mad and it was affecting my performance too. Remember my reviews for
Autumn Serenade
?’

Maggie nodded.

‘Well, I got pretty annoyed after that and really started pushing things. One of my friends at the time – you know the actress Jay Royale?’

Maggie nodded again. ‘She was in
Milly in the Morning
with you. She was great.’

‘I know,’ Connie said. ‘And I adored her. We got really close on that film. Well, as close as you can be in LA. She was my only real friend when I come to think of it. Isn’t that sad? A place as huge as LA and I only really had one friend there. No wonder I used to get lonely. I was so busy working all the time that I never had time to make proper friends.’ She shook her head at the realisation. ‘Anyway, we used to share information about the business – you know, like different roles that were coming up, which directors to avoid and which actors tried to stick their tongues down your throat during love scenes.’

Maggie laughed.

‘It’s really unusual to make a friend on a film set – in my experience, anyway. Usually, you’re close for the duration of the film. That’s the nature of the business. A film set is like a family but then the director says, “that’s a wrap” and the friendships are pretty much wrapped too but Jay and I kept in touch.’

Connie was silent, staring down at her hands and idly twisting a gold ring she was wearing.

‘So, what happened?’ Maggie asked in a soft voice.

‘I betrayed her.’ Connie said, her voice subdued. ‘There was this film coming up,
Just Jennifer
. It was such a great role. I knew I had to have that part as soon as I saw the script and I didn’t tell Jay about it. I’ll never forget. She rang me the night after I’d auditioned and asked me what I’d been up to. I told her I’d been in bed all day with a migraine. I feel just awful about it now. I should’ve told her. She would have been amazing in that role.’

Maggie shook her head. ‘But that was
your
role, Connie. You were amazing in it. It’s one of my favourites of yours.’

‘But Jay would’ve been better. I know she would have and that’s one of the reasons I didn’t tell her about it. I was jealous of her. I didn’t want her to have that role.’

‘No,’ Maggie said. ‘She wouldn’t have been right for it. You were the right person for it. You, and only you, were Jennifer.’

Connie bit her lip. ‘No. That’s not true. And I’ve never been able to talk to Jay since. I’ve felt so guilty.’

‘Did she ever find out?’

‘No,’ Connie said.

‘Then it seems to me that you’re worrying about nothing. It’s all a business, isn’t it? And I’m sure there are people who have done the same thing to you.’

‘I know,’ Connie said, ‘but that doesn’t make me feel any better.’

‘That’s because you’re nice. You worry about people and care about them too. You’ve got a conscience,’ Maggie said, ‘and that’s a rarity.’

‘Then you don’t think it was wrong of me?’

‘No,’ Maggie said. ‘That film was so amazing and I can’t imagine anyone else playing Jennifer. I mean, you did get that Oscar-nomination.’

‘Oh God!’ Connie said, running her hands through her hair and then standing up. ‘I did! And I wanted that more than anything but was it all worth it? Was it worth losing a friend over?’

Maggie watched as she paced the room, her legs still bare.

‘I just feel that was so wrong of me and that’s not who I am now,’ Connie said. ‘I can’t tell you how much I feel I’ve changed – I mean my whole attitude. I’ve been there and done it and the magic seems to have vanished for me. Does that make sense?’

Maggie nodded. ‘You want a new magic, don’t you?’ she said. ‘That’s why you’re here.’

‘Yes!’ Connie said and, suddenly, she was sitting beside Maggie and clasping her hands excitedly. ‘I’ve heard so much about this place. It’s always been in the back of my mind like a sort of dream world.’

‘Like Disneyland?’

Connie laughed. ‘Perhaps.’

Maggie squeezed Connie’s hands. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’

‘Me too,’ Connie said. ‘I really need a friend right now and I feel as if I can trust you, Maggie.’

‘You can. Of course you can.’

Connie smiled. ‘Now,’ she said, ‘let’s unpack those shopping bags. I can’t wait to make a start on those clothes.’

Isla was sitting downstairs with a cup of tea and a copy of
People’s Friend
when Maggie walked into the room.

‘Well now, will you take a look at you!’ she said, looking up from a recipe for coffee cake.

Maggie did a little twirl. She was wearing the burgundy dress from the boutique. ‘It’s a wee bit old-fashioned but Connie’s going to fix it.’

‘Fix it? How?’

‘With your sewing machine. You do still have it, don’t you?’

Isla looked confused. ‘My sewing machine? I gave that away years ago, Maggie. Did you need it?’

Maggie flopped down into a chair opposite. ‘You could say that. I don’t suppose anyone else has one?’

Isla rested her magazine on her lap. ‘The only person I can think of is—’