Page 64 of A Cameo for a Cowgirl

“In addition to that, we have a bit of a snafu with one of our scenes, and now it looks like we’re going to have to reschedule things until we have a stunt woman in place who can do it.” He glanced around the table. “I presume you all know about Brenda?”

Harrison’s heart knotted, and he shot up a quick prayer for her.

“We like to consider ourselves a family here, so it hurts to think Brenda was dealing with this on her own.” Mal glanced at him. “Until Harrison drew this to our attention.”

He shrugged. “My dad wasn’t a nice man, so I’ve come to recognize some of the signs.”

Mal nodded. “So, with Brenda out, and with our strict time frames and no substitute available until the end of next week, we’ll have to reconfigure things.”

Ainsley raised her hand. “I thought you were going to ask Cassie to do it.”

Harrison’s heart thudded. He had?

“I did, but she indicated she would prefer to not be the helpless female in this scenario and declined.”

Hope deflated.

“Well, I don’t blame her,” Dana murmured. “Why does it always have to be the man who saves the day?”

“Exactly.” Ainsley offered Jerry a sweet smile. “No offense, Jerry, but I’m kind of tired of Abigail looking like she needs help from a big strong man all the time.” She gestured toward outside. “The west wasn’t won by weak women. Women have always had to be strong to build families and communities and endure the challenges of life and these conditions.”

“Amen,” Dana said.

Huh. Good on them for standing up for their opinions.

“But this is what our viewers want.” Mal glanced at Jerry who nodded.

“Is it though?” Ainsley folded her arms.

Huh. She sure was going in strong today. But then, as the main character around whom the others revolved, she was least likely to lose a role from butting heads with the showrunner. Ainsley was the heart that drew the most fans. Viewers loved her. Replacing her meant guaranteed audience mutiny and cellar-dwelling ratings.

“Yes, Ainsley,” Mal resumed. “The polls show that our audience wants traditional values reinforced, which means how men and women are portrayed.”

“We certainly don’t think men are superior to women,” Jerry added.

Ainsley lifted her chin. “I’ve played this role for the past four years, and in that time Abigail has been rescued from a coal mine, a flood, a fire, and a bear.” She ticked off her fingers. “Every single time it’s been Tanner’s Mountie character who saved her. I understand the need for dramatic moments to build romantic tension, but I feel like if she was brave enough to come west to teach school by herself, then the audience wants to see that fearlessness again, and not see her perpetually as a weak woman. What kind of message does that send to the girls watching our show?”

Jerry’s mouth tightened. “We need our Mounties to appear strong.”

“And they can, but there are many different kinds of strength. Relationships should be an equal partnership. It doesn’t always have to be at the sake of saving the woman.”

“Are you saying you want Abigail to be in this scene, and she saves Harrison’s character?” Mal asked.

“No. But I do think we need some strong females shown on screen, which is why I suggested Cassie. She’s one of the toughest women I know—”

Yes, she was. Strong, capable, loyal, fierce but in a good way.

“—so I can’t blame her for declining. But she might want to be part of things if it got changed. So is there any way to rework the scene?” Ainsley caught Harrison’s eye, made a gesture, as if wanting him to contribute.

He’d read the scene, knew his character was supposed to save a woman on a runaway horse. And while he much preferred the idea of working with Cassie instead of Brenda, he didn’t blame her for wanting out of a scene that had been portrayed on TV a million times before. He could see Ainsley’s point.

Harrison cleared his throat. “I agree that Cassie is strong, and I don’t mind admitting that I’ve been on the receiving end of her toughness. I think it’d be good to see that portrayed.”

Mal sighed. “I’m afraid we’ll just need to reschedule—”

“What about if she rescues him from the runaway horse?” Harrison interrupted.

Mal’s brow lowered. “Nathaniel is a Mountie. He already knows how to control his horse so it wouldn’t run away.”

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