“They’re reaching out, asking where you’re at mentally.”
This was huge.The role he’d wanted, and not only did the query mean they were making the movie—finally—but they were interested in him.A tingle crept up his spine.
“What did they say, Cammie?Did you tell them I’m up here?”
“No, of course not.I told them you’re prepping for a role.Let me be clear, they want to work with you, but they’re not sure you’re at—these are their words, not mine—the right stage of your life and career to take this seriously.”
“Dammit.”He’d been dying to get on a project like this.Now he had a chance, and his chain dating after a heartbreaking split from Harley was going to stand in his way?When he was done selling his dad’s estate, he wanted to move on from everything in his past, including hangups around his personal life.Until then, he’d fake whatever he needed to make this work.“I’m not sure how my dating life affects my work.”
“They want a known asset, Jace.If you want to be taken seriously, you need tobeserious.”
Shit.She had a point there.“Okay.I’ll think through how to fix this and get back to you.Let them know I’m taking it as seriously as I can, though.”Like there was anything more serious than burying his father and the way he’d let the man down.“And Cammie, drop me a line in the next couple of days if anything pops up on your radar about the property.”
Why he cared was the real question.His cowboy days, off-screen at least, were behind him.
“Will do, Jace.And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, Cammie.”He hung up.He inhaled, and a hint of creosote tickled his nose.It was like being injected with a syringe of concentrated nostalgia.Not exactly an antidote for the conflicting emotions making him uneasy.
He was sorry, too, for so many things.
Almost hitting the mystery woman for one.
Letting Harley into his life, absolutely.
Allowing himself to get typecast because of his history on ranches, sure.The money was good, but Jace was running from that life and had landed square in it, albeit a fake version where he only played a watered-down role of the title he’d held his whole life until then.It made figuring out how to move on more difficult, that was for certain.
Then there was the biggest regret, sitting square in his view, cramping his vision of what came next.He’d let his father pass without making things right.Jace had left because his dad had tried to shovehislife onto his son, a life that would have stifled him when he was barely a young man.But he’d loved the guy for trying to raise a kid without help in rural Montana.It’d been enough, at the time.
Until it wasn’t.
And now?
The possibility of a new role was exciting, or at least he thought so.The idea of getting on a plane headed south made him nauseated, though, and not even the role and what it meant for him was enough to stave off the feeling.
Why couldn’t he be sure what was right or wrong for him?Which direction was his true north, and which way led straight to damnation?Hell, the only thing he was certain of was the fact that being home didn’t feel as awful as he’d imagined it would.The air actually cooled his skin, felt fresh in his lungs.A decade in LA had made it hard for him to draw a breath.
Now, though, he sucked as much mountain oxygen into his system as he could.Who knew where he’d land next—especially if he didn’t land that project—and he wanted to appreciate what he had while he had it.
You do not get the chance to defend yourself!Not when you show up with your power and your money and take people’s farms out from under them to build huge monstrosities that no one wants here anyway.
Jace kicked at the loose stones around an overgrown grassy patch.Small violet poppies had pushed up along the deck, and he smiled as a memory warmed his heart.He’d picked those for his first crush at the tender age of five, and she’d given them back to him a week later, dead, announcing she liked Tommy Reynolds instead.She and the mystery woman would have a thing or two to agree on, he figured.
No one in town appreciates what you’re trying to do here.
Could it be that his father had warned people his son might be coming home to offload the business?No.His dad hadn’t approved of his choices, but that didn’t mean he wished him ill.
Then what had she meant?
Jace had a sneaking suspicion he’d landed right in the middle of something bigger than him, something that would make finishing his time here, if not an impossibility, at least more interesting than he’d first thought.
With that, and more questions about who his mystery woman was, Jace went to check out his childhood home.Well, what there was of it until demolition crews got there.
It was time to start tearing down his old life so he could build something new, something he could be proud of.
Maybe then he’d know how to feel about the biggest news of his acting career, news that wasn’t nearly as exciting as it should be.
CHAPTER THREE
