Summer (17 page)

The sensation that someone was always watching her, always taking her picture, was a constant feeling, one Katy was getting used to. Even now, when Dayne was nowhere near and she was working closely with the horse trainer—the one hired by the production company.

Rick Elliott was the trainer, a local guy in his early twenties who seemed more comfortable on a horse than anywhere else. He’d worked with Dayne earlier in the week, and now, on the first day of June, it was Katy’s turn.

She was in a dusty arena on the horse they were going to use in most of the scenes, a sorrel with a beautiful coat and mane.

Rick was facing her on a horse a few feet away. “The goal here is that the horse’ll sense your body, your movement. On screen we don’t want you to look like you’re working hard to make the horse respond.” He grinned at her. “Horse and rider should move like one. Remember that.”

Katy wiped her brow and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “You mean by leaning forward?”

“The movement is more subtle than that.” Rick climbed down off his horse. He put one hand on her lower back, the other on her knee.

She could feel the cameramen moving in, could sense them recognizing a photo opportunity. She wanted to pull away, but that would only make the moment more awkward.

Rick applied a slight amount of pressure to her lower back. “Press in like this.”

The guy wasn’t suggestive or flirty, but the connection between them felt more intimate than Katy liked. She did as he asked, shifting her pelvis. At almost the same time, the horse began walking forward.

“There!” Rick stood back. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

The lesson continued, the cloudless sky offering no protection from the sizzling Santa Fe sun. She wished Dayne were going through the training with her, but he was in meetings with the producers, and this afternoon he was flying to Los Angeles for a meeting with the financial backers of the film.

They’d been working on the movie for less than a week, and she felt like she hardly saw Dayne. So far the experience was fun and even exhilarating—as an actress, anyway. But it wasn’t at all what she’d pictured. She and Dayne were exhausted by the end of the day when they dropped into bed at the suite the studio had rented for them. It was part of a hotel complex that the production company had reserved entirely for the cast and crew. That gave them some time without the paparazzi, but it didn’t matter. Cameras were aimed at them every hour they were on the set, and what was left was barely enough time to sleep.

For the next twenty minutes, Rick led Katy through a series of exercises until she had the hang of making the horse move with little work on the reins. The horse had obviously done this sort of training before, which made it easier for Katy.

When Katy was finished, Rick came to her side and slipped his hands around her waist. He helped her down and gave her a crooked grin. “You know this picture’ll be on the covers of every tabloid next week.”

Katy laughed. “They can print what they want.” She used her eyes to tell Rick she wasn’t interested—whether he was or not. “It won’t change the truth.”

“That’s what your man said too. One of the stable girls was talking to him, and he told me later that it didn’t matter what pictures the press took.” Rick tipped his hat to her. “See you after the break.”

Familiar feelings of love and assurance wrapped their arms around her. Dayne was missing her as much as she was missing him. The news was good to know. She headed across the arena to the buffet spread out on three different tables. The cameras stayed on her as she walked, and she turned and smiled at them. “Anyone seen Dayne?”

“He’s in his trailer talking to Randi Wells,” one of them called back.

A round of laughter came from the group of photographers.

Very funny
, Katy thought. Dayne was meeting with the producer. But the paparazzi loved a conflict. First they snapped a hundred pictures of her in the arms of Rick, and then they suggested Dayne had his attention somewhere else.

She shook her head, her smile still in place. “Always full of good news, right, guys?” She waved and then turned her back. At the first table, she found a paper plate and piled it high with fruit salad and a few chicken wings.

“They were telling the truth.” One of the bit-part actors approached her and filled his own plate. “Dayne’s been talking to Randi for the last hour.”

Katy didn’t let her surprise show. Was Dayne really in his trailer talking to Randi Wells? And why now, just hours before he was scheduled to board a plane for Los Angeles? “Amazing how news travels around a location shoot.” She tried to look unconcerned.

“This ain’t nothing.” The guy was a ranch hand from Santa Fe, a local who would be one of the cowboys working the livestock in a few of the horse scenes. He took a napkin and grinned at her. “I’ve been on movie shoots where couples got divorced then and there. You never know what’s going to happen.” He wandered off and joined a group of extras.

Katy found a chair by herself and kept her back to the paparazzi. As much as the reality show gave them open season to take pictures and video footage during the filming, they couldn’t get to this part of the set. She stared at her fruit, and suddenly she wasn’t hungry. Every photographer was still watching, waiting. Looking for a sign that something wasn’t right.

Dayne and Katy had separate trailers for the location filming, and Katy hated that too. It had made sense at first. They would each need a place where makeup artists could do their work and where changes of clothing would be readily available. Katy assumed that when they weren’t getting ready for a scene, they’d spend time together in one trailer or the other. But it hadn’t worked out that way. Their schedules were different almost every day.

Katy wanted to talk to Dayne right now, but she had the feeling that by knocking on his trailer door, the paparazzi would smell a problem. Why else would she be checking in on her husband only minutes after learning that he was on the phone with one of America’s favorite actresses?

She picked up her fork and stirred the fruit. The entire notion was ridiculous, a waste of time. If Dayne was talking to Randi, then he must’ve had a good reason. She was his friend, after all. Back when he was in the hospital, Randi had admitted her feelings about Dayne to Katy. But she had also admitted that she wanted to buy a Bible because she admired Dayne’s faith.

Maybe that’s what the call was about.

Katy would eat her lunch and then find her husband. Never mind what the paparazzi thought. If she had the right look on her face, they couldn’t dream up more than a midafternoon rendezvous. She and Dayne had nothing to hide. No, they weren’t spending as much time together as she wished. But their feelings for each other were stronger every day.

No horse trainer or lonely starlet was going to change that.

Katy waited an hour before heading to Dayne’s trailer. She followed her plan and gave the paparazzi who trailed her a sly smile as she knocked on the door and proceeded up the two steps and inside. When the door was closed behind her, she turned, and there at the back of the trailer, she saw Dayne.

He had the phone pinned between his ear and his shoulder, and he was packing a small suitcase. He smiled at her and motioned for her to sit down.

She did as he asked, but her heartbeat felt erratic and unsteady. She gripped the arms of the chair and watched him.

If he was talking to Randi, the conversation wasn’t a private one. He was laughing and saying something about the film, about the craziness of the press and how he was glad it wouldn’t last much longer without a break. Another month, maybe. The conversation ended, and he snapped his phone shut.

“Hi.” He pulled her to her feet. “Is it my imagination, or do we hardly see each other?”

“It’s not your imagination.” Katy didn’t want to be angry or short with him. Still, she wanted to know, and there was only one way to find out. “Who was that?”

“One of the backers. He’s got dinner planned for seven tonight.” Dayne kissed her and then studied her eyes. “Something wrong?”

Here it was, her chance to let it go or make herself look like she was doubting him. She took a steadying breath and made her decision. “I wish you weren’t leaving.”

Relief seemed to come over him. He smiled at her before he turned back to his packing. “I wish you were coming with me.”

Katy watched him. Funny how their roles had changed. When they first returned to the house in Malibu, Katy had been the calm one, the one ready to take on the press and make the best of the situation. But now that they were on location, the cameras were wearing on her.

“You seem better about the paparazzi.”

“They can’t chase us.” Dayne shrugged. The sun had been good to him. He looked tanned and relaxed, more handsome than ever. “That’s the only thing I worry about, Katy. They can take all the pictures they want, but when they put our lives at risk . . . that’s when I draw the line.”

“Oh.” She angled her head. Hopefully Dayne would have an equally relaxed attitude when the tabloids ran pictures of Rick helping her off the horse.

Dayne asked her about the horse training, but before their conversation really had a chance to take off, he looked at his watch, then zipped his bag shut and picked it up. “I’ve gotta run.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Call you tonight, okay?”

“Dayne . . .”

He already had his hand on the trailer door, but he stopped and looked at her. “Yeah, baby?”

“Why am I feeling scared about us?”

“Katy . . .” His tone softened, and he set his suitcase down. He held his arms out to her, and she went to him, slipping into the familiar feel of his embrace. “This is what it’s like on a movie set. Crazy busy, rushing every which way.”

“I don’t like it.” Her voice was a whimper against his chest. “I miss you.”

“The best part’s just ahead.” He crooked his finger and lifted her chin so he was looking straight into her eyes. “Everything’s been building up to the scenes between you and me.” He hesitated. “Hey, I hate it too. I could drop it all and fly home to Bloomington tomorrow.”

“But we have a promise to keep.” Katy knew the right answer, and now, lost in his eyes, safe in his embrace, she felt her world straighten once more on its axis. “Thanks.” She touched her lips to his. “I needed this.”

Dayne held her eyes a few seconds longer. “I’ll call you tonight.” He grabbed his bag and stepped outside.

She waited a few beats, then chided herself. The press would see them leaving separately and wonder if trouble was brewing. She hurried out the door behind him, the familiar smile plastered on her face. “Love you,” she called after Dayne.

He was already climbing into the limo, but he turned around and waved. “Love you too.”

The cameramen caught every moment, and the video crew that was almost always running film captured it too. As Katy headed back to the arena for her next horse lesson, she heard two of them talking.

“No trouble in paradise,” one called out.

“Not yet, anyway.”

Laughter came from the group, but Katy didn’t turn, didn’t let them see her reaction. By now she was getting good at hiding her real feelings, but if she turned around, she had no doubt they’d see the truth. She was furious. Was this what the reality show was all about? Staying on the lookout for trouble between her and Dayne? She should’ve expected that they’d want conflict, but she never imagined this. Almost as if the cameramen were taking bets on when the first cracks would appear.

For Real
had a reputation for giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at a work situation. A husband and wife starring opposite each other in an upcoming blockbuster movie was just the sort of show they were known for. So why the push for some kind of rift in her marriage?

Katy was glad she had the next two hours scheduled with Rick. Otherwise she’d be tempted to march over to the photographers and ask them what they were trying to pull off.

Everything feels out of control, God.
She kicked at the dirt as she walked into the arena. It was soft and fine, and a cloud rose as she shut the gate behind her.

“Whoa there.” Rick held the reins of her horse even as the stallion jumped. “Save that for the movie, okay?”