Page 37 of Falling Like Stars

There’s a careful note of triumph in my agent’s voice as he plays his ace. He knows Midnight Skies means a lot to me, and the tiny movie with a dark plot is going to need all the help it can get no matter how much of my own money I throw at it.

“Fine. I’ll fly in that Saturday, fly back out Monday.”

“With a gold statuette in your hand,” Syd says, a victorious smile coloring his words. “Tell your publicist gal—”

“Courtney, Syd. Her name is Courtney and has been for the last six years.”

“Tell Courtney to notify the Academy at once.”

“Now to the matter of who you are bringing,” Chase says delicately. “Eva?”

“No,” I say and grip the armrest as the plane hits a pocket of turbulence. I don’t miss their twin sighs of relief.

“Someone else in mind?” Syd asks.

“I’m going solo,” I say, even as a flash of Rowan Walsh and her striking blue eyes jumps into my head. I smile to myself. “Out of an abundance of caution that you two would badger me to attend, I asked my mother, but she shot me down.”

I’d taken Rowan’s advice and asked Mom, but she said it’s too much glitz and glamour for her. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Dinah Butler watches me live in the spotlight with pride and support, but from what she calls “a safe distance.”

“Well, that makes things less complicated,” Syd says.

“On multiple levels,” Chase mutters. He clears his throat then, brightly, “See you in three weeks, chief.”

I hang up with them and tell Andrew to put the team in motion for the Academy Awards, grateful to outsource this part of the business to others. I like the work, not the glitzy crap that goes with it.

I glance back out the window as a small pain twinges my heart. Eva used to hate that stuff too. But that version of her is dead, replaced by a stranger wearing her face, her smile, her eyes that used to look at me with love instead of scorn. Like Covet, I’ll use the pain. Use it all for Midnight Skies. I can’t fathom losing a child—never mind two—but I know what it’s like to think your life is going to go one way and then have it veer off into the unknown…and feel sure it’s all your fault for taking your eyes off the road in the first place.

February 27th Edition

Breaking: ZACHARY BUTLER Caught in Cozy Encounter With Mystery Woman!!!

The plot twists, my dear readers. In a deliciously surprising turn of events, our beloved Hollywood heartthrob Zachary Butler has found himself at the center of intrigue and has set Tinsel Town buzzing. The dashing leading man, known for disappearing into his roles and captivating audiences with his excessive amount of charm and charisma, was recently spotted in a compromising position with a mysterious new lady.

The photographs, obtained exclusively by The Scandal Sheet, capture Butler in a clandestine rendezvous with a mysterious blonde. The pair was caught in a seemingly intimate moment as Butler draped his jacket over her shoulders, igniting speculation about the true nature of their relationship.

But the plot thickens! Our inside sources reveal that the mystery woman is none other than a member of the production crew from Zachary's latest project, the just-wrapped Covet—a limited series for HBO. Could this encounter suggest a blossoming romance or is it merely a case of friendly camaraderie? We have our theories, but look at the photos (below) and decide for yourself.

Adding fuel to the fire, whispers of discontent are already circulating from those close to his on-again, off-again flame, Eva Dean. Friends close to the actress say she’s devastated that Zachary might already be moving on and leaving their tumultuous relationship in the rearview.

Will this latest development put the final nail in the coffin for the love story of Zachary and Eva? Or will they weather the storm to emerge stronger than ever? Stay tuned!

Chapter Ten

THE COLD WHACKS me as soon as I get off the plane, and I hunch deeper into my Gortex jacket.

“We’re definitely not in California, anymore.”

“You can say that again,” Andrew mutters, gingerly side-stepping a puddle of muddy slush. My assistant was made for posh restaurant luncheons and gallery openings, not icy wilderness and ice fishing.

A production assistant—distinctly not Rowan Walsh—drives us and our luggage in an old SUV from Anchorage to the location shoot. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive along a winding, rustic road. I glance at the all-white vistas. The sky is the same white as the ground—a surreal, unbroken landscape except for the tiny town of Gakona that is our film location.

Gakona is tucked against the banks of the Copper River and is nothing more than a trading post, tavern, restaurant, and gas station. Perfect for our needs. The meager crew is assembled at the tavern—a rustic, wood-beamed place with lanterns offering warm yellow light against the cold. My character—Jacob Ware—will work here while he summons the courage to take what I call his Last Walk. I greet the crew and meet Jan Mikkelsen—the tavern’s proprietor and the town’s default mayor.

He greets me with a meaty handshake and slides me a stein of beer. “I was just telling your crew that this production is the second biggest thing to hit these parts.”

“The second?”

Jan jerks his bearded chin to the wood-beamed tavern’s window. “Just over the mountains, to the east, is Chisana. Some crook from the Lower Forty-Eight set up a kind of torture camp there for teenage boys a while back. The press came snooping around when one of the boys’ rich daddies got the thing shut down.” He grins at me through his salt-and-pepper tangle. “This is much better for business.”

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