The number didn’t register on her phone.Grrr. “Look, I don’t need an extended warranty for my vehicle, and I don’t want to answer your survey.”
The line was silent.
“Umm, I’m looking for Natasha Newberry?”
Natasha chewed the inside of her cheek, weary but ready to block the number if needed. “You found her.”
“Hello, ma’am, my name is Jack Nicholas.” The silky smooth voice that flowed through the line was like warm maple syrup on a stack of hot pancakes slathered in hazelnut spread. “I believe you talked to my mom about filming on our ranch. Well… you talk to my dad first, but he’s sick, so….”
Natasha squeezed her eyes tightly shut, all wound up. “Sorry about that. I didn’t recognize your number.” Her upbringing kicked in, and she quickly added, “And I’m sorry to hear about your dad. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.” She smacked her hand to her forehead. What was she going to do, send him a casserole from California?
“Thank you,” he sounded surprised. He should be; she was all over the place. “If you really wanted to help, you could call off the movie–or postpone it until he’s better.”
She began massaging her forehead. “Anything but that. Our production schedule is pretty tight for the next year, and moving dates could cause major conflicts with other projects. Not just for filming, but for post-op as well. We’re a fine-tuned machine.” She clamped her mouth shut before she babbled on.
“I hadn’t thought of all of that.”
No. He wouldn’t. He was a rancher, not a movie maker. “I hate to bring this up, but your mom said–.” She couldn’t bring herself to say that the show might not go on and let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.
“Yeah. So that’s what I called to talk about.”
Nat sucked in air.
“With my dad under the weather, I’m taking over as the ranch representative.”
Nat ran that idea around and over in her mind. Nowhere in there did she hear the word: cancel. “You mean… you’ll let us come?”
“Yes.”
She bolted out of her seat and jumped up and down with glee.
“You should know that my top priority is the reindeer. Under no circumstances will they be in dangerous situations, and if I say no, then it means no.”
Nat balked and grabbed her chair, pulling it under her as she sat down. “Of course! We would never want to hurt the animals.” She sat tall. “We come with specialists who watch out for the animals too. I noticed in the contract that you will provide a reindeer for the movie. Is that right?”
He chuckled. “We have a few camera hounds around here who will enjoy the process, I’m sure.”
The idea of a camera-happy reindeer made her smile, and she joked. “How about one of the flying kind? That would be a whole lot easier than CGI.”
He sputtered. “W-we didn’t don’t have reindeer; er f-flying reindeer.”
She pulled her phone away and looked at it. Weird. “I was joking. I’m sorry if it seemed inappropriate. Of course, reindeer can’t fly.” She couldn’t get off this phone call fast enough. “I will save your number and contact you if I have any questions, comments, or concerns. You feel free to do the same.”
“Oh. Okay, if that’s all you need, I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’re busy.”
She wasn’t. The copier was full of paper, the coffee was fresh, and the plastic plants didn’t have a spec of dust on them. Talking to him was the most important part of her day. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. “Thank you very much.”
They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
She sagged into her chair, a giant weight lifting off her shoulders and evaporating into the stale office air. She’d get to keep her job. Not only that, she’d handled her first crisis in favor of the production house. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. Yes, sir, she was well on her way to making Ralph look like an amateur. Not only had she saved the day, but she’d also established a working relationship with the client.
Clicking on the Reindeer Wrangler Ranch website, she looked through the photos. Yikes! These wranglers were trouble in cowboy hats. They wore jeans that hugged their backsides and flannel shirts rolled up over their muscular forearms in the fall. The winter pictures were even better as they sported groomed bears and leather gloves.
Man, she missed the smell of leather in her life. Her whole body reacted to these men, humming to the tune ofI’ll be Home for Christmas.
Dang! She forgot how weak she went for cowboys.
Intrigued, she looked for a caption and found Jack. Well, if he wasn’t a hot potato! Golden blonde hair and matching stubble. His deep blue eyes were happy and open. In the picture, he had on jeans and a white tee shirt. He stood next to a black reindeer, power radiating from them.
