Rising Star (5 page)

She stopped for gas on the way home and
picked up a newspaper for her father. He didn’t often get a chance
to read the Santa Fe Times and she thought he would enjoy it. She
was still thinking of Matt as she flipped through it casually
before returning to the freeway and her heart almost stopped as she
stared in open-mouthed astonishment at the picture on the front of
the entertainment section. It was the picture of her with Matt in
the restaurant. In the black and white picture, Matt was leaning
toward her across the table, his hand over hers and a smile on his
face. She was staring back at him with an innocent smile. The
picture made it look like two lovers sharing an intimate dinner. Oh
my God, I hope no one I know sees this. Selena was aghast as she
quickly stuffed the paper behind the seat of the truck. No way was
she going to let her father see that picture!

Chapter 6

Selena saw less of Matt after their
horseback ride and the conversation they’d had under the cottonwood
tree. Now she wished she hadn’t said anything. What if he’d been
telling the truth? What if he wasn’t just a Hollywood player,
looking for a good time? I bet he really thinks I’m some small town
hick now, she thought. Maybe I blew any chance I had of ever
kissing him again or going on another date. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
It felt almost painful now, watching him filming every day, but not
being near him. She felt like a lovesick fan as she stared at him
surreptitiously from her chair. She felt a stab of jealousy as he
kissed his costar, Brittany, on the set. She was a beautiful
brunette, and she seemed so at ease around Matt and the cameras. It
only served to make Selena feel more ill at ease. Yeah…well, maybe
he would have been kissing you too, if you hadn’t been such an
idiot, she thought angrily as she watched, her homework and writing
all but forgotten on the chair beside her.

Selena finished up her short bit of filming
over the next few days and collected her check. Matt had still been
keeping his distance and she missed hanging out with him. And
kissing him. Yeah, I miss that, too. She shook her head ruefully.
Well, he’ll be gone soon and I’ll probably never see him again
anyway.

Matt had been really busy filming. They were
behind schedule and trying to catch up, keeping the actors going
from early morning until after dark. He saw Selena in passing or at
the catering table, where he was friendly, but distant. He could
feel her eyes following him as the cameras rolled, but he was
determined to respect her wishes and prove to her his intentions
were respectable. And, after all, what were his intentions? She was
right, he would be gone soon, back to his home in L.A. Maybe it was
better this way; keep his distance until he was out of here. He
certainly didn’t want to hurt some innocent teenage girl in New
Mexico. Then why couldn’t he sleep at night? Why did he see her
huge, mysterious eyes with their deep, dark secrets every time he
tried to sleep? And when he did finally sleep, he dreamed of her
slender form racing across the desert on Rusty, her long, thick
hair flying behind her. In his dream, he was riding his horse at a
gallop behind her, but no matter how fast he urged his horse along,
he just couldn’t seem to catch up to her.

Selena was loading Rusty into the horse
trailer for the last time and she jumped when she heard a voice
behind her.

“
You didn’t think you were
going to get away without saying goodbye, did you?”

Selena turned at the sound of his smooth,
sexy voice, her heart skipping a beat. “I know you’ve been really
busy,” she muttered, looking at her feet.

Matt took her chin in his hand and forced
her to meet his eyes. “Screw their movie,” he said as he dropped
his head and kissed her passionately.

She was caught off guard by the unexpected
kiss. It left her breathless and Selena stepped back as she stared
into his blue eyes. He stared back, losing himself in the dark,
secretive depths of her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t feel this way.
He was leaving soon and odds were, she would never see him again,
except maybe on TV. But she couldn’t seem to help herself. She was
inexorably drawn to him and his nearness alone was enough to make
her feel jittery and nervous. There was an electric current between
them, she could feel it now, even without touching him.

He pulled her close again and kissed her,
longer and deeper this time. Selena felt her knees go weak with
passion for him. He broke the kiss finally and backed away from
her, holding her hand until the last second, his smoldering eyes
holding onto hers.

“
See ya,” he said finally,
his voice gruff and his blue eyes sparkling as he turned and walked
away.

Selena stood as if in a trance, watching him
go. What had he meant by that? He hadn’t said goodbye, he’d said
‘see ya,’ which implied what? He was going to fly back and forth
from Hollywood to New Mexico to visit her? Not likely. She watched
until he disappeared into the crowd of actors and crew, her heart
sinking at the thought of him leaving. Why did everything have to
be so complicated? Why couldn’t they just be together and see where
this strange attraction led them?

Selena drove home slowly, a huge check in
her hand, but her thoughts in a turmoil. She’d known this moment
would come and she’d tried to steel herself against it, but now it
was here and she missed Matt already. There had been something very
special between them, a spark, a chemistry, she wasn’t sure what to
call it, but she had certainly never felt it before. And of course,
she had no way of knowing if he felt the same, but the way his blue
eyes sparkled whenever he looked at her, Selena knew he was
attracted to her. And obviously, she’d been wrong; he hadn’t just
been looking for a desert fling before returning to L.A. She wished
she’d never said anything to him about it. She’d probably hurt his
feelings.

Chapter 7

Selena was working on her detective story a
few days later when the phone rang. She ran to answer it, her mind
still embroiled in the adventures of Trish. She’d given Matt her
phone number and email, but she knew he was really busy with
filming right now. Even still, she held her breath and hoped as she
lifted the receiver.

“
Hi, it’s Don Broward,”
the voice on the phone said.

“
Hi, Don. How are you?”
Selena was surprised to hear from him again.

“
Wonderful. We’re just
finishing up filming in Santa Fe. We’ll be heading back to L.A. in
a couple of days.”

Selena’s heart fell as she thought about
Matt flying back to California, never to return. Even though she’d
been expecting it, she still felt a little tug at her heart when
she thought of never seeing him again.

“
I got an email from a
friend in L.A. yesterday,” Don continued. “Her name is Angelique.
She’s looking for someone to do a magazine layout on horseback,
wearing designer dresses. She said she’s looking for a young girl
who can actually ride, not just someone to sit on a horse, and I
immediately thought of you.”

Selena was quiet as she listened, her
thoughts tumbling across each other.

“
Would you mind if I send
her a clip of the film and a couple of still shots?”

“
Sure. I guess that’s
okay.” Although why some lady in L.A. would have any interest in
her, she couldn’t imagine. Whatever must Don be thinking? She was
not an actress and she was most definitely not a model.

“
Great Selena, consider it
done. And I thank you for your participation in the movie. It
should be coming out soon.”

“
Thank you, Don, for the
opportunity. It was quite an experience.”
And one I don’t really
wish to repeat.
She had no interest in acting and she was
grateful her part had been small. Getting her few lines right with
so many people watching had been harder than she’d thought it
would. It wasn’t the lines; that was easy enough. No, it was all
those people and cameras.

They hung up and Selena quickly forgot about
Don and his crazy ideas as her mind reentered the land of Trish.
She had finished the story while she sat around the movie set every
day; now she just had to get it transferred onto her computer. She
read through her scribbled notes, editing and making changes as she
transferred it to her computer.

She had also stopped on her way home from
school and bought several of Matt’s previous movies. She watched
each one at night, after her parents had gone to bed and the house
was silent. She hadn’t even told Beth she was watching them. It was
something she wanted to do alone and it gave her a nearness to Matt
she wouldn’t have had otherwise. She could see why all the teenage
girls in the country, and even the older women, had fell so in love
with Matthew Mason. He was gorgeous on screen and his acting was so
well-performed, she tended to forget the Matt she had known and
fall in love with his on-screen character. His love scenes were so
romantic and so intense, she felt a jealous pain as she watched him
kissing starlets on the screen. No wonder Beth calls him a
‘hottie.’ She dropped her chin into her hands as she stared at Matt
on her small TV screen, his sexy musical voice filling her room as
if he were there with her. She had trouble sleeping each night
after watching his movies. Visions of his sexy, romantic characters
on-screen filled her thoughts as she tossed and turned and, when
she could finally get to sleep, her dreams were filled with Matt,
only it was she kissing him in front of the cameras, instead of
those silly starlets. Yeah, like that would ever happen! She lay
awake thinking about him every time she woke from her restless
dreams.

She knew the crew had finished filming and
returned to Hollywood. She had heard nothing from Matt before he
left and nothing since. And, as she watched his movies, she didn’t
really expect to hear from him. What would a superstar like him,
who could have any girl he wanted, want with someone like her? She
began to assume, much as she had before, that she had just been a
‘spring fling,’ someone to occupy himself with, until he had
finished shooting the movie.

Chapter 8

Selena celebrated her eighteenth birthday
with her parents and Beth. They took her out to dinner and the
waitress brought a cupcake with a candle in it.

“
Open mine first,” Beth
said as she pulled a gift from underneath the table. Selena ripped
open the package. Beth had bought her a journal with her name
engraved on the front. “It’s for recording your adventures, the
next chapter of your life after we graduate,” Beth told her. Selena
hugged her friend. “It’s perfect, Beth. Thank you.”

“
Now mine,” her mother
said as she produced a large box. Her mother had bought her a new
pair of cowboy boots. Selena was near tears as she hugged her mom.
“Thank you, mom. You know how much I’ve wanted these.” She hugged
her father too. “Thank you, dad.”

Her dad looked embarrassed and said,
“They’re from your mother. I have your gift at home.”

The staff at the restaurant, many of whom
were Selena’s classmates, brought out a cupcake with a lit candle
stuck lopsided in the icing. They sang Happy Birthday as Selena’s
family and even other restaurant patrons joined in. Selena was sure
it was the single most embarrassing moment of her life. Why
couldn’t they just give her the gifts at home, over a nice quiet
dinner? She thanked everyone, hoping the dim light of the
restaurant hid the deep red flush on her face, and blew out her
candle.

When they returned home, her dad disappeared
and she heard his old truck start up in the driveway. The
embarrassment she’d suffered at the restaurant had caused her to
forget about her dad telling her he had another gift for her. Hmm,
I wonder where he’s off to, she thought as she heard the old truck
rattle down the drive, this is not his night to play cards with his
cronies, I don’t think.

Selena was listening to music with Beth when
he returned a few minutes later.

“
Okay, Selena. Your
birthday gift is outside,” her father said when he entered the
house.

Selena stared at him, a surprised look on
her face, until she remembered what he’d said at the restaurant.
Although she had enjoyed her birthday dinner with the three people
she loved most in the world, she had been incredibly relieved when
the evening ended and she could relax. “What could you possibly get
me that has to be outside? It’s not another horse, is it? Selena
looked at Beth and saw excitement almost bubbling over on her face.
She followed her dad outside and stopped in amazement. There was a
bright, shiny red car parked in the drive.

“
Are you kidding me?” Her
dad was smiling happily when she looked at him. She ran and threw
herself into his arms and hugged him tight. “You’re the best dad
ever.”

“
Enjoy it, Selena. Just
promise me you’ll be safe, okay?”

“
I will, dad. I
promise.”

Selena and Beth jumped in the car, playing
with all the knobs and gadgets. The car was several years old, but
in really good condition. It must have cost a fortune, Selena
thought as she walked around the car, running her hand down the
fender. She knew her dad couldn’t afford this. Had he been saving
up for it? Or did he owe money on it? I’ll get a summer job, she
thought as she stared at it. No way I’m going to let him take on
another bill. She knew her parent’s barely made enough to cover
expenses now. Her dad made a decent living as a mechanic, but she
knew her mother’s receptionist job didn’t pay very well. She had
the check in the bank from the movie, but she knew her mother
wouldn’t let her touch it. “It’s a good start for college,” her mom
had told her.