“Then we need you to sign the contract. It’s ready to go.”
“Okay.” He glanced at the clock and thought about the four-hundred-plus-mile drive to LA. “I’ll be in your office in the morning.”
“I’ll see you then.”
He hung up, then pushed another couple of buttons and waited. A few seconds later Madeline answered her cell.
“Hello?”
“It’s Jonny.”
“Oh, hi. I don’t think you’ve called me before. That’s why I didn’t recognize the number.”
He’d given her his cell, but she hadn’t bothered to program it into her phone. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was sure typical of Madeline and the town.
“I have to go to LA for a day or so. I wanted you to know, in case you needed something for the wedding.”
She was silent for a second. “Okay. I think I’m going to be fine. Ginger’s gotten back to me on the invitations and the cake.”
He chuckled. “Let me guess. She went for the big one.”
“You know she didn’t. Although she did love the cookies as favors for the guests. I’ve ordered those and the cake. We have colors, by the way. Green and gold. They’re going to work beautifully with the invitations, and the cookie lady said she could do trim in those colors, no problem.”
“You’re taking care of the details. Thanks for that.”
“I’m happy to help. Are you really just going to be gone for a couple of days?”
He started to ask if she would miss him, but stopped himself. Mostly because he didn’t know the answer to the question. It wasn’t the kind of question a guy wanted hanging out there in space.
“That’s the plan,” he told her, realizing he wanted her to miss him. Even better, she could ask to go with him. He knew a great hotel where they could—
Back the truck up, he told himself. No way he was going there. Madeline deserved more than a couple of nights at a Beverly Hills hotel. She was looking for a lightning bolt. And while no guy could promise that, he wasn’t going to treat her like one of his temporary women.
“You need to make sure you’re back before the hayrides start,” she told him. “I know they sound silly, but they are so much fun. They’re out at this ranch and—Oh, it’s where Priscilla the elephant lives. The one from the parade.”
“Is there more than one elephant?”
She laughed. “No. We just have the one.”
“And Reno, her pony.”
“They are a couple.”
“I’ll be back and we’ll go on a hayride.”
“You’ll love it,” she promised. “There’s hot chocolate at the end.”
“Of course there is. Sounds fun.”
“Great, it’s a date. Have fun in LA. Drive safe.”
“I will.”
“Bye.”
She ended the call. He set down his phone and told himself her “it’s a date” comment had been meant in fun. It was an expression, not a promise. Which was kind of too bad.
SIX
JONNY DID HIS best to follow along as Annelise walked him through the contract. They were nearly done and normally he found the workings of Hollywood interesting. Just not today.
He kept getting distracted by the very tasteful holiday decorations in his manager’s office. There was a small tree in the corner, a flower arrangement on her bookshelves.
“You don’t decorate the office yourself, do you?” he asked.
She glanced at him. “It’s two more pages. Let’s get through them and then we can talk about anything you’d like.”
“Slave driver.”
“Always.”
He forced himself to focus on the small print, then when they’d gone over the final page, he pointed at the tree. “Did you do that?”
“No. Caryn takes care of it. Do you need her to find you a decorator for your new house? I thought you had a guy. Won’t he do holidays?”
“He does and he has. I was just wondering about the decorations. Did you know that in Fool’s Gold they don’t decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving?”
Annelise, a pretty woman with long dark hair and an easy smile, gazed at him. “How magical.”
“Are you being sarcastic, because it’s a very nice town.”
“I can tell. I can’t wait to visit.”
“They have festivals. You’d like that.”
“I would. I enjoy visiting small towns.”