Lacy (The Doves of Primrose) by Krista Kedrick Read Free Book Online Page B

sit? These chairs are really comfortable.” He motioned to the chair beside him.
    “No, thanks.”   She looked from the chair to her clothes and patted her hair with her free hand, pulling some kind of small twig from it and flicking it away like a slimy worm. She had to hate it here; her skin had practically peeled off when he told her where they would be going for the film. Then she had surprised him by doing her research on the place. Turns out there really was some great history here. He had spent his entire life thinking it was something the people in town had made up for some excitement.
    He looked at Lauren’s snug skirt wrapped around her skinny legs , considering the likelihood of her sitting in it. Everything about the woman was uptight. He often wondered if she went home every night and refolded the clothes in her drawers and vacuumed the curtains for entertainment.  She never mentioned dating or friends. Not that they were on a friendly level. She was his assistant and seemed to like her distance. Which was just fine by him, he didn’t like anyone getting too close. That was how private information leaked out. He had enough of that spread on the covers of magazines and all over the internet already.
    Lauren poked the screen of her iPad before looking at him again. “Marcus would like to meet with you and the cameramen in the barn in ten minutes.”
    “Okay. I’m sure you don’t have to attend that one. I’ll let you know if there’s anything important you might have missed.” Even though her rigid exterior didn’t show it, he was positive she was jumping for joy on the inside. Now she could retreat to the safe, clean indoors.
    “Thank you, Mr. McClintock.” She nodded her perfectly coiffed head.
    “Lauren, I’ve asked you to call me Kyle. We’ve worked t ogether for almost three years. I think it’s time.”
    A strange flash danced across her green eyes.
    “That’s okay. I like things the way they are.” She turned and went into the house, letting the screen door slam behind her.
    He shook his head. Women were an anomaly no man would ev er figure out.
    The meeting in the barn turned into a four-and-a-half-hour tour of the grounds and a detailed outline of every scene and every set. They went from the barn to the pond as Marcus described every angle to encompass the swaying of the trees, the rustle of the tall grasses. He discussed lighting to draw out the shadows and make it appear ominous to the hero’s predicament.
    Kyle believed Marcus would have to be a genius to get that accomplished. This part of the country was just about the most beautiful he had ever seen. Contrasts were the language of the land tucked against the river that fed into Sunset Pond with rising hills a mile in the distance. It was a large pond with deep, cool water and a cove of cottonwoods. An oasis in a sea of prairie.
    The blend of yellows and greens sweeping over the prairie was vibrant this time of year and the cottonwoods with their glossy green leaves rustling in the wind were like wise old friends standing sentinel to the pond and the old dock.
    Kyle had to stop when they reached the dock as Marcus droned on about the atmosphere for the pivotal betrayal and shootout scene to be shot in this spot. He remembered Lacy as a feisty teenager lying on the cotton blanket with her ankles crossed, shaking her head after he invited her to join him in the water. He stared at the mossy shoreline dotted with the sun filtering through the leaves and the rays glinting off the water. The wisp of wind brought the echo of Lacy’s laugh.
    His breath hitched in his chest. He had thought it would be fun coming back to this place . It was time to come home, and before now he had vague memories of all the time he spent with Lacy. It was a time of discovery for him, she was his first everything. He had written it off as first love and first heartbreak. Everyone went through it. Now he didn’t know what he was feeling, but it wasn’t