“I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet,” Penny said, “but Cliff taught me a whole lot about lighting when I helped him with his documentary on Bath. Not that I want to take your regular guy’s job, but if you need a helping hand...”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” I looked at them all, then glanced back at Hugh, smiling as he gazed at me.
“Of course, I’ll still be able to tend to the accounting,” Penny added.
“And you know that I’ll continue to work to turn Moon Manor into Mansfield Park,” Jai said. “Anything you need, props, repairs, a drive into town, anything...you just let me know. And of course, I’ll take care of the catering.”
“You all are just so impossible,” I said. “How did I ever get so lucky as to have a gang of friends like you to rely on?” I ran my hand over my small but very important belly. “My child will be so blessed to have such an extended family. So many wonderful aunts and uncles.”
Hugh wrapped his arms around me, his hands landing on my belly. “I can’t begin to tell you what this means to us. Keely has been fretting about this for weeks.”
“Well,” I argued. “I wasn’t exactly fretting...but, you know.”
Everyone laughed.
“Yes,” Ayra said with a teasing wink. “We know. The invincible and all-powerful Keely never frets.”
“Well, now that that’s settled,” I said as I sat back down, and Hugh returned to his seat. “Let’s enjoy this very festive and very delicious feast.”
A huge roasted turkey was brought in as well as a goose, creamy mashed potatoes, plenty of veggies, cranberry sauce and, of course, a very tasty gravy.
“So,” Holly said. “Tell us about the cast.”
“Are there any actors we know?”Penny said between bites of turkey.
“If you mean any major names, no. Not really. I don’t think you’ll know many of the actors.”
“Who’s the biggest, most well-known name?”Holly said with anticipatory excitement.
“Well, let me see now.” I quickly went through the cast. “Oh, that’s right. She may not be a super big star, but she did just finish her big action movie, and you all know her; Susie Sweet.”
“Oh, Susie!Wasn’t she inEmma?What role did she play?”Abbie said.
“Emma, I believe,” Ayra said.
“That’s right. And I do think she did a wonderful job,” I said.“Even as an American actress, she finally got the British accent down right for her role as Emma.”
Hugh laughed, “After a lot of tutoring, though.”
I smiled at him, remembering how he stepped up to help save the filmEmmathat I was directing.
“What role will she have?”Holly said.
“Mary,” I said. “Mary Crawford.”
“Perfect,” Ayra said. “She is indeed perfect for that part.”
“And,” I went on. “Her brother will be played by her superhero action movie co-star.”
Holly gasped. “You mean, Mr.Maximum Overdrive himself?”
I nodded.
Penny and Susan also gasped.
“You got Ricky Stone to sign on to this movie?”Susan said. “What a coup.”
I was pleased with their reaction. I’d feared they’d doubt his capabilities after being in an action movie.After all, Jane Austen was about as far from a superhero action movie as you could get.
