12. Miles

12

MILES

"Okay, Miles, we're thirty seconds out. Can you hear me?" The producer's voice came through my AirPods, but it was a little quiet.

I adjusted the earbuds in my ear. "Yes."

"And is the picture up?" she asked.

"Yep," I confirmed as I stared at the screen on my computer, which changed from displaying a hold screen to the set of the Australian morning talk show.

I glanced behind me to make sure that my background was neutral. I was in my room at the boarding house. The only things that were in frame were a large painting of the Ferris Wheel at the Firefly Island Pier that looked like it was taken in the fifties and a plant in the corner.

"Okay, Miles, I'm going to switch you over to the live feed in five, four, three…"

As I turned back to face the screen, I heard a loud click a second before the host's voice came through loud and clear. "Welcome back to G'day Mate! I'm Matilda Williams, your host, and this morning is a very special morning because we are joined by a very special guest. So would you please put your hands together and join me in welcoming, via Skype, all the way from the US of A, your favorite Happy Trails star and mine, Miles Ford!"

Canned applause combined with live studio audience cheering came through my earbuds. I smiled widely as host Matilda Williams took a seat on her trademark tufted, cobalt blue couch that was a stark contrast to her canary yellow skirt, jet-black hair, and bright pink lipstick.

She extended her arms out to the screen that I assumed my face was being projected on. "Miles, my lovely, it's been a while since we've seen you in person!"

"It has," I agreed.

I'd been a guest on the Australian morning chat show several times to promote my long-running television series Happy Trails , but it had always been in person. This was the first time I was not in the studio. The landscape for doing press junkets had changed significantly post-lockdown. There were a lot more remote interviews happening, which I was grateful for.

"What have you been up to? Tell me absolutely everything!"

"I've been keeping busy, Matilda." I went on to tell the "off the cuff" anecdotes that had been approved in the pre-interview that Braxton had done with one of the show's producers. The final story seamlessly segued into the movie I was promoting, Long Way Home .

"And when will that be out in theaters?" Matilda rubbed her hands together excitedly.

"Long Way Home will be exclusively in theaters here in the States on Memorial Day weekend and internationally on May 25th."

"Well, I can't wait to see it. From what I've heard, there is Oscar buzz. Now, Miles, before I let you go, I know my viewers would not let me have a moment's peace if I didn't ask, Is there anyone special in your life?"

"I have a lot of special people in my life," I responded purposefully vaguely with a half-grin.

Matilda wagged her finger at me. "You know what I mean, you cheeky boy. Any special, lucky person of the romantic variety?"

Flashes of Zoe filled my head. When she came to the door in her sweats. When she was sitting on the bleachers at the baseball game. When she was standing on the deck overlooking the ocean.

I blinked and erased those images from my mind.

"I've always liked to keep my personal life personal." It was the patent answer I'd given ever since I was fourteen, and people had started asking me those types of questions.

"Well, I had to try. Oh, one more thing, I read that you are going to be starring in a biopic about an American soldier. Is it true that you will also be producing and directing the film?"

"I can confirm that there is a project currently in development, but you never know with these things."

"Oh Miles, always the man of mystery. You know how to keep us wanting more! Doesn't he?"

The audience applauded and chuckled.

"Well, I hope you'll come back and see us in person next time."

"I hope so, too, Matilda."

"Thank you for joining us, Miles! G'day mate."

"G'day Matilda!" I smiled and waved until the screen went back to the waiting prompt.

Once it did and I signed off with the segment producer, I closed the screen to my computer and removed my earbuds. During the time I was doing my interview, I'd gotten four missed calls and six texts. Over half of them were from my agent, Tyler. Unfortunately, none of them had been from Zoe. She'd told me that she'd let me know her answer by the end of the week. It was Sunday night at ten p.m.

That didn't bode well for her decision.

Or maybe it did.

I really had no idea. To be honest, I would have thought I'd have heard from her by now. It really surprised me that I hadn't.

Leaning back in my chair, I ran my hands through my hair. The question that Matilda asked at the end of the interview came back to me. Did I have anyone special in my life?

It had been four days since I'd seen her. I would have thought the potency of her effect on me would have begun to dissipate. If anything, it had only increased. She'd constantly been on my mind. She was the first thing I thought about when I woke up. The last thing I thought about before I drifted off to sleep. She was always in my thoughts, no matter what else I was doing throughout the day.

I'd even started dreaming about her. Some of the dreams were innocent. We were doing regular things like walking on the beach, riding bikes, and going to AJ's baseball game together. Other dreams were more adult in nature. Those were the ones I had some guilt over.

I'd never considered myself a method actor. But maybe all the research I was doing to try and get into Austin's mindset also made me have feelings for Zoe.

No . I shook my head as I leaned forward and rested my forearms on my knees. That was ridiculous.

The moment she came to the door, and I saw her for the first time, something happened that had nothing to do with Austin. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to explain it even if I had the rest of my life to try and figure it out.

Trying to push her out of my mind, I sat up and pulled up my schedule on my phone. I had press starting at four a.m. tomorrow and lasting until two p.m., which meant I needed to be up by three to run, shower, and eat so I would have enough stamina to get through the day. Even though I wasn't tired at all, I knew I needed to try and get some sleep. After heading to the bathroom, I brushed my teeth, stripped out of my shirt and jeans, and had just crawled into bed when I heard a knock on the door.

My eyes closed as I exhaled a long sigh. Since I didn't respond to Tyler's messages, he'd called Braxton, and now she was here to get my answer. I stood up and walked to the door.

"Can we do this tomorrow?" I asked as I opened it.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry." Zoe's eyes widened, and she nodded and quickly turned.

"No!" I reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.

She froze and looked down to where my fingers were wrapped around her wrist. I could feel her pulse beating rapidly beneath the pads of my fingertips.

"Sorry." I dropped my arm. "I thought you were Braxton. Come in."

I stepped back, and her eyes met mine before they dropped lower down to my chest. When they did, her cheeks flushed with a crimson color, and I realized I was wearing only boxer shorts.

"Shit. Sorry." I grabbed my jeans from the floor and quickly put them on.

Braxton and I had worked together for so long, and she'd been to so many fittings and photo shoots that she'd seen me in various stages of undress; I didn't think twice about answering the door in my boxers. As an actor and model, you tend to lose all sense of modesty when your body becomes a product that is scrutinized and prodded.

Thankfully, Zoe was still standing in the hallway after I zipped them up. "Come in, please."

She turned her head, looking left and right down the hall both ways before walking into my room. I shut the door behind her. Her eyes were wide as she glanced around the room. She looked like a trapped animal ready to bolt, which led me to believe this was not going to be the answer I was hoping for.

To be honest, I wasn't fairing much better than she was. As I stared at Zoe, I realized that my heart was beating rapidly, my palms were sweaty, and nerves were flooding my system. It was exactly how I felt when I saw her for the first time at her house. The same thing happened when I saw her at the baseball field and at the pizza parlor. Being in Zoe James' presence was like a drug to my system. Just the sight of her was a shot of adrenaline.

"Please, take a seat." I hoped to mask the internal chaos that being near her set off in me as I offered her the chair beside the round table next to the picture window. "Can I get you anything? I have water and tea."

"No. No, I'm fine." She didn't sit. "I'm not staying long. I was just coming to tell you that, um, I spoke to Walter and AJ, and we've decided that you have our blessing. You can move forward with the movie."

"Really?" I was shocked.

She nodded and gulped audibly. As an actor, I studied people's body language. But it didn't take an expert to see that her words and body were telling a very different story. She looked like she wanted to throw up.

"Are you sure?"

"No. I'm not sure. But I know that Austin would have wanted the movie to happen. And I know that AJ and Walter want the movie to happen. And, for some reason, I trust you. I believe that you will make the movie the right way. And I would love to give some input on it if I can. He didn't really talk much about his time overseas, when he was deployed, even in his letters. But anyway, if I can help, I will so…"

Hearing Zoe tell me that she trusted me was better than winning any award, the World Series, or the lottery. From spending time in Firefly over the past week, from speaking to people who had grown up with Zoe, from the little bit of time I had spent with her, I had a sense that she didn't trust people easily. I'd been told as much by both Harlan and Dawson. Not in so many words, but they said the only person they'd ever seen her open up to was Austin and that she'd basically shut down after she lost him.

"You can have as much input into the story as you want to have. I would love for you to work with our writers, Andy and Shania. If it is okay with you, I'll give them your contact info, so they can send you what they have."

"Yeah, that sounds good." She nodded. "Okay, well, I'll let you go back to bed. I mean sleep," she quickly corrected herself, and gulped audibly as she moved away from the bed.

The way she did it made me wonder if she'd had the same wayward thoughts I'd been having. If maybe she felt the same magnetic pull that I did. If maybe this attraction wasn't one-sided. I opened the door, and as she walked past me, her fruity, linen-fresh scent drifted through the air. For the rest of my life, her scent would be imprinted on my brain.

As she stepped into the hallway, she glanced over her shoulder, and her eyes met mine. There was so much vulnerability yet so much strength in them it broke my heart as she said a soft, "Goodnight."

Her sweet, melodic voice wrapped around me like a warm blanket. As I stared down into her large emerald gaze, there was so much I wanted to say and even more that I wanted to do. None of which was appropriate.

"Thank you for trusting me," my voice was gravelly and rough.

Zoe's chin dipped in a nod before she turned and walked down the hallway. As I watched her leave, I knew that whatever happened with the movie, my life would never be the same. There were certain defining moments in a person's life—pivotal events that changed everything. From now on there would only be before Zoe came to her front door and I saw her for the first time, and after.