Page 60 of He's The Reason Why

Piper frowned at the note. “As in…it’s popular? Or it’s actually burning to the ground?”

“From the news reports so far, one of the barns is already gone, the second one is about to fall, several acres of brush has gone up, and the fire is creeping toward the main house.”

“Oh.” She took a sip. “So what are you going to do?”

“I have no idea.”

They stared at his note in silence for a minute before Piper took another sip and sauntered away toward the storyboard.

“Does it have to be a ranch?”

“No. Most of it was going to be interior shots. Hotel rooms. Bar. Simulated casino floor. That kind of thing. The place has actually been used for a ton of movies over the years, everything from Westerns to part of a James Bond. It’s versatile space, with a place for the crew to stay, and a lot of desert around it to keep prying eyes away.”

“Hmm.”

Something about the way she made the sound caught his attention. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “Just curious. Maybe what you need is to think outside the box. I mean, the story is set in a small town, right? I was just thinking maybe you could shoot in an actual small town.”

“Well, it can’t be just any town. It’s supposed to be near Vegas.”

It did give him an idea though. There was a small ghost town not far from Vegas that had seemed like too much work to convert to their purposes, but maybe it would be cheaper than a studio in LA.

He crossed to the desk to make a new note about that for Marshall.

“Why does the town have to be near Vegas? The desert doesn’t really feature in the story. At least not according to your cards here.” Piper tapped one of the scene cards. “Weather isn’t really a factor. It’s just this rich asshole owns the town, right? What if the town he owns is somewhere else?”

He leaned against the edge of the desk. “Because it all takes place near Vegas. It’s the whole desert vibe that makes it cool.”

She cast him a skeptical look. “Really? Because I thought the part that made it cool was a con man falling in love with someone out of his element, and then using what he knows to save it as a grand gesture for the girl.”

He blinked at her. “That’s not really what it’s about.”

“Really? What doyouthink it’s about?”

He could rattle off the elevator pitch in his sleep, he knew it so well. “It’s a buddy caper.Ocean’s ElevenmeetsThe Count of Monte Cristowith a small-town twist.”

“I didn’t get that from the story you have here.” Piper took a sip and looked polite.

He could tell she was faking it by the way her lips froze in place. She wasn’t used to movie pitches. Maybe he just needed to explain the premise a little better. “Look, it’s all about a reformed con man who finds out the town he grew up in is being taken over by a developer who’s an even worse con man than he is. It’s a redemption story about a guy and his old high school buddies.”

“Except you have him falling in love, well, lust anyway, with a girl. Unless she’s the buddy you’re talking about, this sounds like a love story with a side of redemption.”

“Or redemption with a side of love,” he insisted.

She gave him a be-serious look. “Love is never on the side. Love isalwaysthe main course. And by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask…are you sure she’d kiss him here? He’s been acting like an ass up to now.”

Piper pointed to a card near the end of act two.

He knew the part she was talking about. It was a pivotal scene, the point where they all walk through a door of no return. “Sure. He’s just told her his plan to save the town. She’s grateful.”

“No she’s not.” Her face scrunched up. “She thinks he’s full of shit.”

His hands clenched the side of the desk. They’d been through so many drafts of this story that hearing someone misinterpret it was stirring all the wrong nerves. “No she doesn’t. She’s the one person who believes in him. There’s chemistry.”

She didn’t look convinced by his explanation. “Just because you wrote it on that card doesn’t mean it exists.”

“That’s literally what it means.”

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