The Spiral Path by Mary Jo Putney Read Free Book Online

think more about personal reasons, though she was painfully
accurate in guessing that he hated the idea of being stripped bare emotionally
in front of her. She already knew him too well. "The personal and
professional intersect. The combination of this particular role and working
with you is more than I can handle. You've created a great opportunity for
yourself. Don't ruin it because of some misguided belief that I'm essential to
your success."
    "Unfortunately,
you are essential."
    He
turned to face her. "Truth time. Are you sure your conviction that only I
can play John Randall doesn't have anything to do with our disintegrating
marriage?"
    She
flinched as if he'd slapped her. "You think this is all an excuse to spend
time with you?"
    His
smile was wintry. "Nothing as simple as that. I won't pretend to
understand the workings of your convoluted mind. Only you can say for
sure."
    She
bit her lip and thought about his question. "To the extent that being
married to you gave me a better sense of your talent and potentials, it's
personal that I want you for this movie. And ... there's a small, sick part of me
that loves the idea of working with you again. A much larger part would rather
dodge trucks on the Santa Ana Freeway."
    As
always, her stark honesty undermined his defenses. Taking another tack, he
asked, "Is the potential payoff for this movie worth the psychic cost of
working together?"
    "I
think so, or I wouldn't put us both through this." Her changeable eyes
were pure, cool gray as she regarded him. "Let's take it one day at a
time, Kenzie. Don't think about the whole movie all at once. A day's shooting
only amounts to a few minutes of usable film, and surely for those few minutes
you can handle this role. There's nothing like slicing a story into hundreds of
takes to grind the primal fear away."
    She
had a point. If he thought of this strictly as a matter of craft, performed one
take at a time, it was more manageable. Acting didn't have to be personal, and
probably was better if it wasn't. Maybe American Method actors felt the need to
immerse themselves in ice water before playing a winter scene, but no
well-trained British actor had to do that.
    You're
kidding yourself. The voice in his mind was the one that couldn't be
denied, that knew him in all his weaknesses. He was kidding himself, but
he was caught between a rock and a hard place. Wanting to help Rainey, he'd
given his word without checking the project out carefully enough. It had never
occurred to him that the story would be one that gave him cold chills.
    But
he couldn't back out now without causing enormous damage to Rainey, and that he
couldn't bear. He'd have to make the blasted movie, no matter how painful the
process. "You win," he said reluctantly. "I won't quit, but
don't blame me if my performance doesn't live up to your expectation."
    "Thank
God. You had me scared out of my wits." She approached and laid a hand on
his wrist. "I'm sorry I didn't handle this better. I should have made sure
you'd read the script before sending the contracts."
    "The
fault was mine." He looked down at her hand, feeling her touch burning
through him. More than anything on earth, he wanted to take her in his arms.
Just ... hold her, as they'd once held each other at the end of long, exhausting
days.
    Impossible,
of course. Someday, when the fires of passion had burned out and she'd married
someone else, it might be possible to embrace as friends, but not now.
    With
effort, he moved away. "Even though I trust your judgment, ultimately the
responsibility for reading the work was mine."
    "Apart
from horror at having to play Randall, what did you think of the script?"
There was more than a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
    "Very
powerful. Good characters, good structure. Classic storytelling, which the
movies need more of. I'd love to see it with, say, Laurence Olivier in his
prime playing Randall."
    "I'd
have taken him if he was thirty and available. You're the next