The Road Home

Chapter 21

Brett had informed Mel that under no circumstances were they to bring a helicopter anywhere near his set on Thursday so she made sure that a limousine was ready and waiting when they landed. Soon, the white fence told Harper they weren't far from the lot.

"Oh, look! There he is." She pointed to the Palomino. It galloped across the field and as the dust settled on the ground behind him; she realized that something had changed her in this trip. She had found herself hating being away from South Dakota. She laid her head back and smiled.

"What's with you?" Mel asked, snidely.

"I'm just glad to be home."

"Home?"

"You know what I mean." Harper tried to justify her statement even though it did feel like home or at least what she thought home should feel like.

It wasn't long before the stretched limo parked in front of her trailer. Harper saw Ben's Jeep parked next to the main building. He shouldn't be here, yet, she thought as her heart began to pound. She jogged to her trailer, threw her bag on the couch and quickly left, walking in the direction of the fort. She stopped when she noticed the small village to the left. A dozen large tepees had been constructed in a semicircle with small fires burning in front of their openings.

Eric and a few technical members were near the cameras with Brett standing between them. The cameras and crew were all positioned in a neat line opposite the village as if filming had recently been taking place. She scanned the crowd then saw Ben talking to some of the actors. He held a script in front of them as he talked and occasionally would point to something on the page.

"Harper!" Brett quickly came towards her.

She briefly turned to see him then looked at Ben. She returned his smile with one of her own.

"We need to talk," Brett said, blocking her view of Ben." Let's go over here."

Harper glanced back at Ben who had resumed talking then turned to follow Brett to the picnic table. Once they made their way, she turned towards Brett and braced herself for the conversation.

"I've added a new scene for you," Brett began. "I want you to get with the Professor as soon as possible and learn your lines." He tried to hand Harper the papers that were in his hand.

"A new scene. Really?" Harper kept her arms crossed, refusing to take the script. "What's it about?"

"It's a tender moment between Cynthia and her husband." Brett was nervous. It was one thing to change a scene during filming. That was common and usually expected but it was completely unprofessional to add an entire new scene, especially a love scene. He looked off to the side to avoid making eye contact.

"A tender moment?" Harper's head bobbed with each word. She tried to hide how mad she was. "You need to be more specific."

"Okay, it's a love scene," Brett was visibly annoyed. "A love scene. Are you okay with that?"

"No, I'm not okay with it. I'm not doing a love scene."

He seemed shocked at her brashness.

"I'm not doing a love scene. There wasn't a love scene when I accepted this role and I'm not doing one."

"You've done hundreds of love scenes!" He stepped forward and lowered his voice as if he had it all figured out. "Is it because he's an Indian? Is that the problem?"

Harper rolled her eyes at his racism. "You're such an idiot."

Brett took a deep breath. "I don't see the problem here. It's not a big deal so don't turn it into one."