ELEVEN

K eely stood on the front steps of Moon Manor, waiting, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Darn it,” Jai let out under his breath. “I do hope I didn’t bring you back too late.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, amused at his polite choice of expletives. Jai was through and through a gentleman.

He stopped the jeep at her feet, and I immediately hopped out.

“Here I am,” I declared. “Just in time for our private lunch.”

Keely smiled as she uncrossed her arms. If she had intended to reprimand Jai, she didn’t let on. “Thank you, Jai,” she said.

“It was very much my pleasure showing Ayra around. I’m always proud to show off parts of the property people only rarely see.”

“And I do thank you for bringing her back in time.”

He nodded. “I always do my best to do what’s needed. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have chores to tend to.” And with a slight tip of his jaunty cap, he steered the jeep away and left us.

“So,” Keely said as she turned to lead me around the house to the back. “How was your visit?”

“Magical, Keely. This place is truly magical. I mean, Jane Austin herself could not have found a more suitable location to bring her novel to life.”

“That’s good to hear. And what about the lakes. Which one did you prefer for this all important scene?”

I giggled like a schoolgirl. “When you really get down to it, once Mr. Darcy strips down and dives into that water... who really cares where it is.”

We burst out laughing, each with our vision of Barnaby stripped down and dripping wet.

“Remember back in grad school?” Keely said.

Laughing louder and louder, I nodded as I grasped her hand. “We watched Colin Firth dive into that pond over and over again. “

She grasped my other hand as she faced me. “Not only the dive but...”

“The walk back to the house with that white shirt plastered to his chest,” we shouted in unison.

“Ah,” Keely let out as our laughter died down. “Those were the days.”

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s what prompted us to form the Jane Austen Association.”

Releasing my hands, she laughed. “That’s right. And now, here we are, making a movie of our own.”

“But.” I finally said. “On a more serious note...

“Ladies,” Jai called out as he came around from the other side of the manor and walked to us. He’d discarded his cap and quilted jacket. “Your private table at Moon Manor’s café is ready.”

Keely quickly sobered up. “Thank you, Jai. And the crew?”

“Sandwiches will be served half an hour after you and Ayra have been seated.”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

He left us once again.

“Give me a minute to go change out of this and I’ll meet you at the café.”

“Make it quick,” Keely said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Frowning, I walked away and headed up to my room. I thought our private lunch was simply to establish which lake Barnaby would dive into. What else could she want to discuss?

I opened the door to my room and gasped at the sight of a huge bouquet of colorful flowers set on my dresser.

“Oh, my,” I let out as I walked up to the flowers and instantly shoved my nose into the bouquet. “Barnaby?” I whispered as I looked for a card.

But there was none.

Hmm.

As I shrugged off my jacket and stripped out of my scouting clothes, I wondered who else could possibly bring flowers to my room. It had to be Barnaby. The thought pleased me to no end. How romantic and charming and oh so Mr. Darcy.

I quickly threw on a pretty yellow summer dress adorned with pale green flowers, slipped into leather flip flops and headed downstairs to the café.

“I took the liberty of ordering you a ginger tea, just the way you like it,” Keely said as I sat opposite her.

Hmm? Sucking up? What in the world was all this about?

“Thanks,” I said taking a tentative sip.

“I also took the liberty of ordering our sandwiches and soup.”

“No time to waste, I see.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“No. Of course not... then again. It depends on what you ordered,” I said with a chuckle.

“Roast duck on whole wheat with a vegetable noodle soup.”

“Sounds good.”

Our lunches arrived moments later, and Keely immediately leaned in. “So. How did your surveillance of Moon Manor’s property go?”

“Very well. Jai had shown me a small portion of the property when we first arrived, but the lakes are way out there and quite impressive. The immensity of this property is mind boggling.”

“And which lake do you prefer?”

“I have to say the smaller one... the one with the small wooden bridge crossing over it. Not only is the bridge charming in an old-world sort of way, but at a certain point of the bridge, we see Moon Manor. It really is quite lovely.”

Keely smiled and I knew we were on the same page. “Good,” she said. “That’s the one I preferred, too. There were aspects of the larger one that were appealing, and I was torn between the two. So glad we agree.”

It was so good to see her laugh and enjoy herself. It really was like back in grad school where life was fun and easy and relatively stress free.

“Well then, it’s settled. Right?”

“Right.” She took a bite of her sandwich followed by several spoonfuls of soup.

Sensing she had so much more to say, I watched her carefully. If she did have something else to say, what was holding her back?

“Filming is going so well,” I ventured, hoping to spark her need to talk.

“Very well,” she said with a nod. “I’m pleased with the way everything is going. The crew gets along well and work well, and the actors get along pretty well and...”

“Pretty well?”

She pulled in a long breath, and I knew we were getting close to what was truly on her mind.

“Yes,” she said, almost to herself. “The actors get along fairly well.”

Pretty well and now only fairly well?

“What about Barnaby and Rhonda? Do you have concerns about them?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. Those two were meant to play those parts. The chemistry between them is absolutely off the charts. It’s amazing how sparks fly whenever they’re in the same scene. In person it’s electric but even through the lens it’s unmistakable. They’re the most perfect pairing we could have hoped for.”

All her gushing was starting to get to me. Okay, so they were good together. That was great news. Movie goers would love them.

Then why did I feel so... icky. My stomach churned. I pressed an unconvincing smile but had to admit to myself that I was filled with... No. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t let it happen.

And yet there it was; the ugly face of jealousy. And that jealousy was aimed at Lizzy... a character that I loved so dearly.

“Are you okay?” Keely said.

I waved at my throat. “I think a piece of duck went down the wrong way. You know how excited I get when talk of Mr. Darcy comes up, I virtually forget how to function... how to swallow.”

She let out a light laugh that quickly subsided. “Truth is, I need your help with something.”

Looking at her curiously, I cocked my head to the side. “My help? With what? The cast?”

“Not the cast... just one member of the cast.”

“Oh? What sort of issues are you having?”

“You know how I hate to complain about this sort of thing...”

“Spit it out, Keely.” I quickly checked my watch. “Another five minutes and the rest of the crew will be coming in here.”

She nodded. “I’m getting push back from one of the actors. Every direction I give is questioned. In one instance, he even insisted that I change the position of the camera in order to get him from another angle and when I argued that the lighting was set up to shoot from the planned direction, he insisted I change the entire lighting.”

“Did you?”

“Damn it, I had to. He refused to do the scene if I didn’t make the changes. It took over half an hour to get everything set up in the other position only to have him realize that I was right to begin with.”

“I know how hard-headed you can be, Keely. Just hold your own. Don’t let him win or he’ll step all over you. After all, you’re the one with the vision for this movie. He’s only an actor.”

“Yeah... well, he’s a pretty big actor; not big enough to have learned any modicum of humility or kindness, mind you. Just big enough to think that he can get whatever he wants. And who am I? Just a first-time director trying to make a name for herself.”

“No matter how many movies he’s acted in and how many you’ve directed, he still owes you some respect. You shouldn’t have to placate him.”

“Yeah. Well, why don’t you tell him that.” She looked me straight in the eye.

“Do you really mean that?” I said. “Is that what all this is about? You’d like me to talk to this actor?”

She nodded only slightly. “It would be better coming from you. That way he couldn’t take it out on me.”

I bit my bottom lip as I considered her request. Confrontations weren’t my strong suit. In fact, I tended to shy away from them whenever I could.

“Ayra,” Keely went on, “if he continues to argue every scene with me, he’s going to cause endless delays. This guy literally thinks he could direct this movie better than I can. This afternoon he actually gave an actor a direction that was precisely what I had asked that actor not to do.”

“I see.”

“I need you to just step in... gently, politely... just to let him know that I know what I’m doing. If you could just be there as we shoot a scene and point out that I’m a damned good director and I’m doing what’s best for this movie.”

I smiled. “Well, that wouldn’t be too hard, after all, you are the best director for this movie.”

“Does that mean you’ll do it?”

“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

“And I know how tactful and diplomatic you can be. Not only that, but as a producer on the film, you have a say... a substantial say in how things run around here.”

“Okay. So who is this busybody who’s giving you such a hard time.” But it suddenly struck me. A well-known actor, a big name, head strong and think he knows how it all works. It could only be... “It’s Barnaby, isn’t it?”

“Who else?”