Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(88)

“Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“I did.”

“When? Because I’d remember something like that.”

“You were pecking away on your computer, and I told you about it as soon as I got off the phone with Ryan. You said, and I quote, ‘Sounds like a good plan’ so don’t blame me that you tuned me out again.”

Before she could apologize, Chase said, “I’m whupped,” and wedged himself between the passenger door and the seat, pulling his hat down over his eyes.
Ava had just walked out of a truck-stop bathroom, when her phone rang. Her belly tightened at the caller ID: Marnie Driscoll. Her agent. “Hello?”

“Ava, dear, it’s Marnie. I’m so happy to hear your voice. That secretive assistant of yours wouldn’t tell me where you’ve been hiding yourself.”

Thanks, Hannah. “I’m taking a vacation at an undisclosed location. Why? What’s up?”

Marnie sighed. “Well, I’m afraid I have bad news. The movie shoot in Mexico has been postponed indefinitely.”

“What happened?”

“Something with illegal permits and the production company’s insurance carrier refusing to cover people and equipment in that part of Mexico due to previous issues. It’s all very complicated, and evidently Lynch is incensed enough to completely rewrite the screenplay with an entirely new location. With as slow as that writing process is for him, you could be in limbo on this project for at least a year.”

She slumped against the concrete wall. “Damn. I really looked forward to that role and working with Lynch.”

“I understand. But to be perfectly blunt, dear, I’m not terribly unhappy about it. I know everyone is vying to work with Lynch because he’s on his way up, but the pay was total crap. You’d signed on for slave wages, with less-than-decent living conditions in a dangerous part of Mexico for several months. And we both know the backend profit deal I negotiated for you wouldn’t amount to much without major distribution, which Lynch still lacks with his small production company.”

Marnie had lobbied hard for Ava not to take the part. But Marnie’s bottom line wasn’t Ava’s—Marnie looked solely at dollar signs. That trait made her a great agent, but caused friction on occasion. “So what now?”

“This is actually very happy news for us. Since you were committed to that movie, I couldn’t suggest you to casting agents for any new mid-season TV productions. Now that stumbling block is out of the way and I can let everyone know you’re available.”

Maybe it made her a diva, but Ava couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for signing on for another series. Yes, it’d been upsetting when Miller’s Ridge had been cancelled, but without being tied to a weekly TV show, she’d finally had the chance to branch out. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes. Say you’re excited.” Marnie sighed again. “Look, Ava, I know you’ve mentioned that five years of working on television was enough. But sweetie, that was before this thing happened with Jake. You’ll be lucky if anyone shows an interest in hiring you, even for TV.”

That stung.
“We need to rebuild your name. It might take a couple of years, but you’ve given your all to your career, we both know it’d be suicide to stop now. I’ll make the rounds. Throw out a few hooks to see who bites. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Yes. Thanks, Marnie.”

“It’s my job. But just so we’re clear, if we do get lucky and land you an audition, I can count on you to be there, right?”