When Stars Align

Chapter 3

Gertie

The lake was still shrouded in darkness as I made my way to the dock, the beam from my flashlight bouncing off the trees. I wasn't afraid of the dark, but this was unfamiliar turf. The wildlife in these woods didn't know me. And I was more afraid of people than animals. There were three hundred crew members staying at the camp.

Strangers.

Just because they were working on a movie set, didn't mean they weren't criminals. It was a big production, with lots of subcontracted services.

Elwood was already at the dock when I arrived at ten minutes to five. He offered to come and get me, but I declined. I didn't want people to think I was a fragile woman, who couldn't do anything on her own. And I didn't want the other crew members thinking there was something going on between us.

I wasn't looking for a relationship. Elwood seemed like a sweet guy, but he wasn't my type. I really had no idea what my type was. I'd only ever had one boyfriend. I had no inclination to meet anyone else.

"Good morning!" he called out as I made my way down the rickety wooden steps that led to the shore.

"Good morning," I said.

"How was your night?"

"I slept well," I lied.

I had a terrible night, between the pain from the burns on my thighs, and my confused sex drive, trying to trick me into thinking I was attracted to the miserable ogre next door.

"We don't have to ride on that, do we?" I whispered as I watched some men loading equipment on an aluminum barge tethered to the dock.

"The cast certainly don't," Grove said, appearing behind us. "But it will be used to transport the crew back and forth. Since you don't fit into either of those categories, I guess you're swimming."

A nasty comeback was on the tip of my tongue when Richard clambered down the steps.

"Good morning!" he bellowed. "I hope everyone slept well. We have a full day of filming on the docket today. Time is money."

"It's a movie set, not a courtroom," Grove muttered.

A thin man wearing a three-piece maroon suit picked his way down the steps, muttering under his breath while he slapped at the numerous mosquitos buzzing around him.

"It's your cologne, Issac," Gentry sighed, shaking her head as she joined us on the dock.

"I'm not an outdoors person," he whined. "I had to shower under a lukewarm trickle of water. And I had to settle for regular coffee! I don't know if I can go three months without my Lungo."

"Didn't you bring your Espresso machine?" Gentry inquired.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how to use it."

"Why didn't you get Ginger to teach you?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I'm a stupid, stupid man."

"Issac, this is Gertie," Gentry said. "Otherwise known as Lana Lush."

"Hello," he said, glancing briefly at me with vague indifference.

"Issac is Grove's personal assistant," she explained. "Ginger is my brother's housekeeper. She's younger than both of them, but she functions like their mother, catering to their every need. Without her, they can barely wipe their own asses."

Grove ignored his sister's dig, joining Richard at the end of the large dock, where a fancy speedboat was waiting.

"She's a beauty, Richard," Grove observed.