Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) Page 5

  "That would be fun, I guess. All right, I'll be there. Give me directions."

  * * * *

  Maggie was on the phone to Julia as soon as she ended the call with Beth. "Julia? Have you heard the news?"

  "Yes! I couldn't believe it. And it all happened right out in the open, so everybody knows."

  "Everybody knows?" Maggie said. "What?"

  "The confrontations, both of them. Isn't that what you meant?"

  "What confrontations?"

  "Look, I need to get home and change. You'll be at Frank's, right? I'll explain everything there. Gotta run."

  Maggie stared at her silent phone. A confrontation? Two confrontations? What did that have to do with Beth?

  "Eric," she called down the hall. "We have dinner at Frank's tonight, and a mystery to solve."

  * * * *

  Beth arrived at the same time as Maggie and Eric, and ended up walking up the front steps with them.

  "Beth, were you involved in a confrontation today?" Maggie asked at once.

  "No. Oh Maggie, can you believe it? A real part on a real stage. I'm so excited!"

  They walked into the house and Frank greeted them and led them into the living room.

  "Here she is, everybody. The conquering hero, or is it heroine?" Frank announced.

  "What?" Beth asked.

  "What is going on?" Maggie asked in a rather frustrated voice.

  Frank smiled. "Maelynne was given her comeuppance today in the deli by none other than Beth here."

  "Oh yeah, that," Beth said. She shrugged. "I should have guessed it would get all over town since it was in front of so many people."

  "Tell us everything you said and everything she said," Frank urged.

  "Well, I wasn't the only one to read her the riot act. Mr. Christopher chastised her as well."

  Frank nodded. "Yep, I heard from the folks at the Lobster Shack. He heard them saying bad stuff about you and he jumped up and told them off."

  Maggie looked from Beth to Frank and then to the others who were in the room. Sam and Anna looked back at her blankly. Julia smiled and nodded like she knew what all this meant. Her husband Cody looked like he wasn't surprised either.

  "Somebody, anybody, tell me the whole story," Maggie said, sitting down on the couch.

  Frank proceeded to tell the story he'd heard about Mr. Christopher confronting Maelynne. Then Beth told her part of it.

  "So you see, we each ended up defending the honor of the other, as well as our own. I'm pretty sure I made an enemy today in that Maelynne," she said with a frown.

  Maggie grinned at her. "Don't worry. I already did that when I yelled at her in the street before my wedding."

  By the time Beth had heard that story, Frank was calling them all into the dining room to sit around the large rectangular table. He'd prepared a feast of beef stew with potatoes and carrots, steamed broccoli and rolls from the Bakery. Betsy, Frank's wife, had made fruit compote for dessert.

  As they talked and ate, Beth felt herself relax into the family atmosphere. She had missed being with family. If only her parents and her other sister Rose could be here, the day would have been perfect. Everyone was excited for her about the part in the play. She made it clear that she would still be working as his assistant, even if Mr. Christopher was to be her director.

  "Let's face it. The man may be a brilliant director, but he is awful at organization. Everyone in the project will be better off if I continue working for him."

  "It sounds like you'll be the perfect assistant for him," Maggie said.

  "If we can manage to get along," Beth said. "He can be difficult."

  "I still can't believe both of you smacked down Maelynne today," Frank said, and chortled.

  "All I can say is that I had a very eventful first day."

  Beth left shortly after dinner, dying to get home to read the script. Once back at home, she put on silky coffee-colored pajamas and settled into bed with pillows propped behind her back. She remembered seeing the film version with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, but that was long ago and she was anxious to read Barefoot in the Park with a fresh eye from an adult perspective.

  Hours later she finished and sighed contentedly. It was a great play. Wonderful comedy, with just enough touches of realism to ring true. Corie would be a blast to inhabit on stage. She fell asleep contemplating the character.

  The next morning she was up and at the bakery early. She was anxious to get into the office to start tackling that job. The sooner she had things organized, the sooner she could get to work with Mr. Christopher on her part.

  Kayla asked, "What'll it be? Scones are good today."

  Beth looked at the girl quizzically. "Isn't everything in here good every day?"

  "Well, yeah, but I like to say something is good every day. Helps people make up their minds."

  "Good strategy. Okay, I'll take a scone and--oh wow, is that a chocolate frosted donut?"

  "Yep. Want one of those instead of the scone?"

  "No! I want both."

  Kayla frowned. "I thought that actresses had to diet all the time."

  "Not this one. I've always had a lucky metabolism. Although I don't just eat donuts and pastries. I try to eat healthy most of the time."

  Kayla put the items in two separate bags and Beth paid. Before she left, Kayla asked, "What's it like? Working for him?"

  "Mr. Christopher? It's...an experience. He's a busy man so it is a busy job."

  "I don't care what Maelynne says about him, I think he's dreamy."

  "What's she saying?"

  "That he's rude and mean and he should be fired."

  "That woman!"

  "She isn't saying very nice things about you either," Kayla said. "But you seem okay to me."

  Beth grinned at her. "Why thank you, Kayla."

  She left and ran back to her apartment. Coffee and pastry were calling to her. She wondered just what nasty things that awful Maelynne woman was saying about her. Munching on her scone, she decided that whatever it was, it didn't matter. There was always something no matter where you lived, she thought. And at least here, she had family to stick up for her.

  Her closet provided dark brown pants that were comfortable if she had to kneel over boxes. She paired them with low-heeled ankle boots in brown leather, and a silky cream top. A brown velvet blazer finished off her look. A gold bangle bracelet and gold ball earrings shined when she moved. Looking in the mirror as she finished brushing her hair into shiny waves, she decided she was not too casual or too dressy.

  "There," she said aloud to the mirror. "He shouldn't find anything wrong with me today."

  Then she paused and thought about what she'd just said. "Not that it matters what he thinks, especially about how I look!" she said quickly and gathered up her handbag and phone.

  A bit disconcerted by her own words, she left her apartment and decided to drive over to Julia's Place. There was a chill in the air, plus she might want to go somewhere at lunch. The Thunderbird purred to life with the turn of the key. It was a great car. Sam always did have good taste in cars.

  She parked on the street in front of Julia's and realized she didn't know if Julia would be in yet. Fortunately, she was sitting at her desk, and jumped up to come unlock the door for Beth.

  "I didn't expect you this early."

  "I am determined to get that office under control today, so I thought I'd better start first thing this morning."

  "Good idea," Julia said. "Do you want coffee?"

  "Not right now. I'll come down later for a break and get some then."

  "Great velvet blazer by the way."

  "Thanks!"

  Beth went upstairs and began to go through some of the stacks of paper she'd created yesterday. She had been working steadily for some time when Mr. Christopher entered the room.

  "Good morning, Beth. Early start?"

  "Yes. How are you today--what is that?"

  "The tablet. I took it home with me last night."


  "You worked on it? On your own?" She was somewhat incredulous. He'd been a disaster at it yesterday.

  "I took your advice and played some games on it, and that helped me get the hang of working with it. I've decided you might be right about using it for my notes. It's quite easy to get them in here."

  Beth smiled at him. "I'm impressed. I was sure you'd refuse to try it anymore. I clearly misjudged you."

  He gave her a smile and then turned to go. She sighed mentally. He really was sexy in his black clothes, jacket over one arm, walking away from her. He glanced back at her.

  "Was there something else?"

  "What? Oh, no, nothing." Had he heard her sigh?

  "I'll see you later. I'm going over to the Playhouse to meet with Milton. Should be back in an hour."

  Get a grip, girl, she said to herself. He is so off limits!

  She was deep in the spreadsheet that would show all Playhouse costs, when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Her pulse quickened a bit as she realized she'd be seeing Mr. Christopher in a minute.

  But it wasn't Mr. Christopher.

  Chapter 3

  Andy Benton, the director from L.A. strode into the office and up to her desk. She scrambled to her feet in a state of complete and utter shock. He couldn't be here!

  "Who the hell do you think you are? Nobody leaves me a message and walks out on a part like that. Nobody! I don't know what you think you're doing here in this pissant little town, but you need to come back to L.A. and do my show. Everyone involved expected to see you as the lead, after I told them I had the next big talent. I made up an excuse for this week, but this is nuts."

  "How," her voice faltered. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. "How did you find me?"

  "Your neighbor. You told her you were visiting your famous writer brother. Took me about two seconds on the computer. Then when I got into this godforsaken village, I made some phone calls. Plus I ran into a woman on the street who told me where you were working."

  Maelynne! Beth thought with rising anger.

  "I'm not letting some idiotic little wannabe actress make me lose face. I told them you'd be in the show and you will be! Now, when are you going to get your ass back to L.A.?"

  Shaking, Beth straightened her shoulders and folded her arms across her chest. "No," she said. "I'm not going back. You need to leave. Now."

  There was a slight tremor in her voice, but it was barely noticeable and for that Beth was glad. She didn't want to appear weak to this sorry excuse for a man.

  "Do you have any idea what you're doing? I can crush you! You'll never work as an actress anywhere ever again. You're coming with me or you'll regret it."

  "I said no, and I meant it. Please leave."

  "Listen to me, you stupid--"

  "That's enough!" Mr. Christopher said as he walked quickly into the room. "I overheard everything, and the lady asked you to leave. Get out of here."

  Benton stared in shock at the other man. "What the--I don't know who you are, buddy, but--"

  With a crash he fell to the floor as Mr. Christopher swung and punched him in the face.

  "William!" Beth burst out. "What did you do?"

  Mr. Christopher shook his hand carefully. "I hit him. And maybe I broke a bone in my hand."

  She hurried around the desk to cradle his hand gently in hers. "I have no idea if you did or not. We'd better get you x-rayed. But what do we do about him?"

  "Let's call your brother."

  "I never told Sam what happened between Benton and me. He won't know what's going on."

  "My hand is probably fine. Why don't you run downstairs and see if Julia has any ice? I'll stay here with him. I think he's coming around."

  Beth glanced at the man on the floor, shuddered, and then raced out of the office. Mr. Christopher had hit Benton! And, she remembered, she'd called him William.

  Deciding not to think on that just yet, she ran into the kitchen where Julia was making coffee.

  "Ready for some coffee? What's wrong?" Julia asked after one look at Beth's face.

  "Ice! I need ice for Mr. Christopher's hand. He, uh, hurt it."

  "In the fridge here." Julia handed a kitchen towel to Beth who filled it with ice. "I thought I heard you guys yelling again. Everything okay?"

  "Uh, no, I mean yes, everything is fine. We weren't yelling."

  "But I thought I heard--"

  "Gotta get this up to him," Beth said, and ran for the stairs.

  When she got into the office, Benton was sitting on a chair, rubbing his jaw. He was glaring at William, but saying nothing.

  "I think we're clear now, right Benton? Ms. Carter will be staying here, involving herself with the family business. You'll be leaving."

  Beth enjoyed hearing the icy, firm tones in William's voice directed at Benton.

  "All right. But don't ever think you'll work in L.A., Carter. You're done for out there." He stood up and clearly looked as if he wanted to say more, but one look from William and he ended up stalking out of the room and down the stairs.

  They both listened for the front door to open and close, and then they let out gusty sighs of relief at the same time. Looking at each other they started to laugh, while Beth handed over the ice pack.

  "That was...unexpected," he said. "I came up right after him and heard it all. I wouldn't have stepped in and interfered but he sounded like he was potentially dangerous. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

  "Thanks, I think you were right."

  "Did you call me William?" he asked without preliminary.

  Startled, she said, "Yes. I did. Sorry about that. I won't--"

  "No, I liked it. You can call me that whenever you want. It is my name after all."

  "Oh."

  "Unless you'd rather call me Mr. Christopher."

  "No, I'd like to call you William."

  "Fine, that's good. Fine." He looked down at the ice pack on his hand. "I suppose I should go get this looked at."

  "Let's ask Julia where you should go. Maybe there's some kind of clinic nearby," Beth said. She knew she'd been blushing, and just hoped he hadn't noticed. It was only a name for goodness sake!

  They trooped downstairs, where Julia rushed over to ask what had happened.

  "I hit something," he replied.

  "An accident?"

  "No, it was on purpose. The jaw of that fellow who just left."

  Julia looked from Beth to William and back to Beth. "Who was he? I hadn't seen him come in and he surprised me when he came downstairs."

  "He was nobody," Beth said quickly.

  "Beth, you might as well tell her," William said. "Remember what he said? He ran into Maelynne, I would bet. She's the one who told him you were here. It will be all over town that a man was asking about you. You need to clear it up with your family."

  "Damn, just...damn."

  Julia watched Beth's face but didn't say anything else.

  "Look, I'll tell you everything, but I need to tell my brother and sister first, or they will be totally pissed at me. Plus, we need to get William to a doctor to look at his hand. Is there a walk-in clinic somewhere?"

  Julia nodded. "Go over to Doc Watson's office, just off the square, the street that runs next to the movie theater. He can fix you up."

  "I'll drive you over there, William," Beth said. "After all, it was my honor you were defending. Tell you what, Julia. Why don't you call Maggie and Sam and see if they have time to come over here. I'll talk to all three of you when I get back."

  "I can do that. You have me very curious."

  Beth ran upstairs to grab her handbag and then led the way out to her car.

  "Nice car," William said.

  "It belongs to Sam, just a loaner I'm afraid."

  They caught Doc Watson as he was leaving his office on a coffee break. "Come on in, I can get coffee later. Let's see what we have here," he said.

  He took one look at William's hand and chuckled. "Hit something did you? Or was it someone?"


  "A person, yes."

  "Thought so." He manipulated the hand to a few winces. "I don't think anything is broken, but let's get an x-ray to be sure. Walk out that door there, through the walkway into the building next door. They have the testing equipment over there. A new feature in town since the Grainger Foundation got started."

  Within minutes, the hand had been x-rayed and Doc Watson was looking at the result. "You were lucky. No bones broken. Keep ice on it today. Should be fine." He sent them on their way with a smile.

  "Nice doctor," William said. "A no nonsense kind of man."

  They drove back to the office in silence as Beth tried to think of the best way to tell the story to Maggie and Sam. Finally, she decided to just be honest. She walked into Julia's Place and saw Sam, Anna, Maggie and Eric sitting on the curved couches in the bay window. Julia was bringing in cups of coffee and Cody was right behind her with a tray of cookies.

  "I didn't expect such a crowd," Beth said as she sat down.

  "You don't hear of Mr. Christopher beating up on someone very often. We thought we should all be here," Cody said.

  As they turned to face her, Beth took a deep breath and began her story about the director named Andy Benton. She saw outrage on Sam's face and confusion on Maggie's, who probably couldn't believe someone could be so awful.

  "So you see, I had to figure it out, figure out what to do. Then I realized there was no way I'd sleep with him for a job, and that's when I knew I needed to just get out of there. It was the last straw for me with L.A. and that's when I called you, Sam, for the airplane tickets."

  "That much we understand," Anna said. "But what happened today?"

  "Somehow Benton found me."

  "Oh my God, that was me!" Maggie said, all in a fluster. "Someone called at Sam's house the other day when I was babysitting Josh. They said they were calling for you, Beth, with a part. The man sounded so nice, I told him he could reach you at Julia's Place. I never dreamed...oh Beth, I'm so sorry!"

  Beth shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. It's his fault. But that does explain how he knew to come here. He was confronting me and telling me I had to come back to L.A. with him and when he threatened me, William, er, Mr. Christopher, walked in and punched him in the face."