Page 43 of Sean

“Already in your inbox. I need it back pronto. Filming starts day after tomorrow.”

“Got it. I’ll let you know if I have questions,” Sean said and hung up. He gave Maverick one last pat on the neck and headed for the house and his laptop. He’d have to review what the writers provided him about the scenes. He’d make suggestions about the dialogue to give it a more authentic feel and certainly supply information about the action of the scene. Might require some research.

He was deep into his work when there was a pounding on his door. Glancing at the clock, he was surprised to see that three hours had gone by.

“You in there?” Tara demanded in her bossiest voice. Not what he needed at the moment.

“It’s open.”

She burst into the room, and the look on her face made it clear he was in for it. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Sorry about the chores.” He’d caught Willy on the way back to the house to let him know that he couldn’t do the work. “I can do them later if that helps.”

“I’m not here about the damn chores—although you might have found me or Mom to let us know that you weren’t doing them.”

“Then, what is it? I’ve got a deadline.” A tight one.

“Maverick,” she said like he’d get it from one word.

“What about him? I got the vaccine in him.”

“Right.” Tara stalked toward him. “You vaccinated him today. What about the next time we need to give him a shot or deworm him? You’re supposed to be getting him acclimated to other people. So far he only likes you. That’s not going to help me when you’re no longer here. I need him to trust my hands or me.”

“Julia was able to touch him,” he said. “That’s progress.”

“Is she going to become one of my ranch hands?” Tara’s hands were on her hips. “I don’t think so.”

“I get your point,” he said.

“Do you? Or are you playing at being helpful?”

“I’ll work with Maverick,” he said. “But at the moment, I need to get through two more scenes. I’m under contract here, Tara. I’ve got to do my job.”

“Okay, I can respect that,” she said on her way to the door. “But if you’re going to help me while you’re here, I need to know I can rely on you.”

“You can. You’ve got my word on that.” He didn’t give his word lightly. As soon as the door closed, he returned his attention to his work, determined to pound it out. The hours slipped by as he went back and forth with the director and the crew that would stage the scenes. Finally, he finished everything they needed from him. There might be questions during filming, but that was a problem for another day.

He glanced out the window and saw that it was dark outside. His stomach growled at the same time. No surprise since he’d worked through lunch and dinner. Then, he remembered his promise to the kids to watch the scary movie with them in the basement. The film was probably long over, and the kids headed for bed.

When he went to the kitchen, he found it deserted and the house strangely quiet. He had the distinct feeling that he’d screwed up with the kids and with his family. He was standing there processing that when Julia came into the kitchen, wearing her pajamas.

“Hi.” She walked toward him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

“I screwed up,” he said, wanting to take her in his arms and resisting. “I was supposed to watch the movie with the kids in the fort.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. They’re probably mad at me. Tara is—not about the movie but about me falling into a work pit today and not doing any of the things I’d planned to do.”

“No one’s mad.” She went around him and opened the refrigerator. “Let’s get you something to eat.” She got out meat, cheese, and bread and started assembling a sandwich for them.

“I hate disappointing the kids.” He grabbed a couple of beers. “Are they in bed?”

“Yes, but they aren’t disappointed. Right now, they’re too worn out to be anything but tired. I had them outside most of the day.” She plated the sandwich and put it on the island. “Amos didn’t even make it through the second movie.”

“I’ll make it up to them.” He took a seat and patted the one next to him for her before opening a beer for each of them. “You could have come and gotten me, you know.”

She scooted in beside him. Just having her close was a comfort. “The kids wanted to, but Tara and I told them you were busy.”

---