Wild Action. Dawn Stewardson
His clothes said he wasn’t a man who dressed to impress—tattered jeans, a T-shirt with Two for Trouble printed across it and a bright orange baseball cap pulled on backward.
Luckily Crackers couldn’t see him from the solarium, but she made a mental note to mention the bird’s little color quirk the first chance she got Some of the cast and crew were bound to end up in the house, so they’d all have to be warned.
Glancing at Nick, she whispered, “The one in his early thirties is Jay. And I think the midfifties one must be the producer, Brian Goodfellow.”
“You’re sure he’s not the director?” Nick whispered back. “He’s got that pear-shaped Alfred Hitchcock look.”
“Well, despite that, he has to be the producer. Get Real Productions is his company.”
“Carly, darling,” Jay said, heading for the porch as the limos started back down the drive. “Finally, we meet in person.”
Reaching her, he took both her hands in his and stood beaming at her so warmly that, if she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was positively dying to work with her. For a director, he made a great actor.
“This is Brian Goodfellow,” he added, releasing her as the short, rotund man joined them on the porch.
“Goodie,” he said, nodding to Carly. “Everyone just calls me Goodie.”
“And our stars…” Jay paused and made a sweeping gesture toward them.
Sarina and Garth nodded from the drive, then went back to whatever they’d been talking about.
“And this,” Carly said, “is Nick Montgomery, my new partner in Wild Action.”
“Oh?” Jay extended his hand to Nick, his expression saying he didn’t like surprises.
“Nick will be doing most of the work with Attila,” she added.
“Oh?” Jay said again. “Do you have a lot of experience with bears, Nick?”
“Actually, most of my experience has been with cats.”
“Big cats, he means,” Carly said quickly, shooting Nick a look that said this was no time for humor. “Lions, tigers and panthers mostly, right?”
He grinned at her. “Right. But Attila and I are good buddies,” he added to Jay.
Before there was time for anyone to say another word, a child yelled, “Jay? Look what we’ve got!”
Carly turned, then froze in horror. The two boys had come around the side of the house—Kyle with Crackers on his shoulder.
“We went in the back to get some water,” he said excitedly. “And all I did was say hi to him, and he hopped right on me.”
Behind the boys, their mothers appeared, both wearing “Aren’t they cute” expressions. A split second later, Crackers noticed the orange baseball cap.
He shrieked. Carly dove at Jay.
“Shee-it!” he said, ducking to avoid her hand.
She still managed to grab the cap—but only an instant before Crackers swooped through the air and snatched it from her. Landing on the porch railing, he sat bobbing his head up and down, the cap’s bill securely in his beak.
“Awesome!” Brock said. “Can you make him do it again?”
“Sure,” Nick told him. “Want to see him do it again, Jay?”
The director glared at him. “I hope you’re a better bear trainer than you are a comedian.”
Smoothing his hair, he looked at the mothers and snapped, “Keep those kids away from the animals, understand?”
When they nodded in unison, Jay turned his glare on Carly.
“I’m so s-sorry,” she stammered. “It’s the color orange. It sometimes makes him freak out.”
When Jay glanced over at Crackers as if he’d like to wring his little feathered neck, Goodie said, “You’re lucky he didn’t sink those claws into your head. If he had, I’d be starting to believe this movie really is jinxed. But come on, let’s go make sure all the equipment made the trip safely.”
Jay nodded, then looked at Carly again. “Goodie and I will be back after we’ve had lunch. I’d like you to show us the bear then. And you think you can keep that parrot in a cage for the duration?”
“Well, the bird likes his freedom,” Nick said. “So we’re not going to coop him up in a cage for a month or more. But all you need to do is tell everyone not to wear orange.”
“Or maybe we could see if the chef has a recipe for parrot cacciatore,” Jay muttered.
IT TOOK AT LEAST fifteen minutes for Carly to get Crackers back into the solarium—by which point the baseball cap was in shreds.
Nick had hovered nearby while she’d coaxed and cajoled, but he wasn’t nearly as much help with the bird as he was with Attila. She probably shouldn’t have told him Crackers could amputate a man’s hand.
Just as Crackers finally flew onto his perch, the phone began to ring.
“Don’t you move,” Carly said sternly, pointing her finger at him before she reached for the phone.
“Hi, darling,” her mother’s voice greeted her.
“Oh, hi, Mom, What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I just wondered if you’d heard exactly when your movie people are arriving.”
“Actually, they got here about half an hour ago.”
“Oh, good. And is everything going well so far?”
“Everything’s just fine.” Except for the fact that Attila might not perform for the camera and an unnervingly attractive man was living in her house. Not to mention having an entire horde of people setting up camp in her field and a parrot who’d come close to scalping the man who could make or break Wild Action.
“Well, I won’t keep you, dear. But we were curious about what happened when you met with the lawyers. How did that nephew of Gus’s take to learning that he’d left half the estate to you?”
“Ahh, he took it pretty well.” She glanced over and saw that Nick was still hovering. “Actually, he’s going to be staying here while they’re shooting. He’s helping out with Attila.”
“Really” her mother said, packing about thirteen questions into one word.
Carly had no desire to answer even one of them with Nick standing there listening, so she said, “Mom, things are pretty hectic and I’ve got to run. But I’ll call you in a few days—let you know when you should drive down.”
“All right, dear. We’re really looking forward to it. Your father won’t admit it, but he’s been a little bored since he retired, and he’s really interested in seeing a movie being shot. And Lisa’s just dying to meet Garth Richards.”
“I’ll call as soon as I know what’s what. ‘Bye for now.
“My mother,” she told Nick as she hung up. “My parents and sister want to come down for a few days and see how movies are made.”
“Your sister lives with them?”
“No, she’s a year older than me and married. But she’s a big Garth Richards fan. And she’s a teacher, so she’s free during the summer.”
Wondering what her family was going to think when they got a look at the man who was sharing the house with her, she turned her attention back to Crackers and told him to get into his cage. Instead, he tucked his head under his wing, trying to make himself invisible.
“I thought he hated being