Everything Leads to You(66)

“That’s a great idea.”

“I know. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before. I guess I just got swept up in the film and forgot about them for a little while, but their little cottage is sort of perfect.”

“Yeah,” Char says. “It’s totally an old-person house but it’s nice. Is it coral?”

“I can make it coral. That’s no problem. I just don’t know if Edie would be up for it. She seemed pretty set in her ways.”

“We could buy her cookies and drop by.”

“Brilliant. Plain cookies.”

~

An hour later we are armed with a dozen sugar cookies in a pink box, on our way to Long Beach.

“I wonder if Frank and Edie know who Lenny is,” Charlotte says.

“We should ask them. Maybe we should call Ava and see if there’s anything else she wants us to try to find out.”

Charlotte smirks at me.

“What?” I ask. “It’s her family we’re trying to find out about.”

“You’re right. Do you want me to do it?”

“Sure.”

Ava picks up when Charlotte calls, and I listen to Charlotte explain why we’re headed to Frank and Edie’s.

“We thought we’d ask them about Lenny,” she says. “Just in case they remember him. Is there anything you want to know? Yeah, Long Beach. Ruby Avenue. Um . . . yeah, I guess that would be okay. All right, I will. See you soon.”

“She’s coming?” I ask.

Charlotte grimaces. “Not the most professional move on our part.”

“Yeah, not really,” I say, exiting the freeway and turning right onto Ruby Avenue. “But it’s okay. We met Frank and Edie under strange circumstances. We don’t need to get super-professional with them all of a sudden. And at least she’s part of the film now.”

When we get to the house, the station wagon is in the driveway; the front door is open.

“Hello, Frank and Edie,” I call inside. “It’s Emi and Charlotte.”

“Is someone there?” Frank calls. I can see him working his way out of his chair and walking over to us.

“Girls, hello!” he says from halfway through the room. Soon, he is standing in the doorway, welcoming us inside.

“We brought you guys cookies,” I say.

“Plain ones,” Charlotte says.

“Edie will be thrilled,” Frank says. “The perfect afternoon snack. She’s getting her hair done right now. Gretchen, our daughter-in-law, takes her every Tuesday. Such a sweet girl.”

We follow him into their living room and it’s even more right for the film than I’d remembered. The plastic-covered maroon couch, the careful piles of magazines. Frank has the wood-paneled television tuned in to a Dodgers game, a vintage TV tray with brass legs set up in front of a mint green easy chair. Everything is old but in such good condition. I take a closer look at the TV tray—the top of it is a fruit basket design in a muted color palette of gold and—yes—coral.

“Frank,” I say. “I’m here with a request.”

“Oh?”

“Last time we were here I believe that we told you what our jobs were.”

“Yes, you did. Every time Edie reads something about The Agency she talks about you. Very exciting. And you’re both so young.”

“We started working on a new movie. It’s very small but we hope it will get picked up by a big studio after it’s been made.”

“It’s called Yes & Yes,” Charlotte says. “The script is really beautiful.”

“I’m the production designer,” I say, and I get such a thrill from saying it that actually gives me goose bumps. Frank is watching us deliver this information so patiently, looking at us with these wise old-man eyes, turning his ear just the tiniest bit toward us when we speak so that his hearing aids will work.

“I was wondering whether we might be able to use your home in the film,” I say. His white, wiry eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

He turns his head to survey the room as though he’s expecting to find himself suddenly elsewhere.

“Here?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say. “Unfortunately, we have a limited budget and could only offer you a hundred dollars per day, but we have a very respectful crew and we’d only need five days. And maybe it would be exciting to see your house in a movie?”