Chapter Twenty-One

By the time the teens woke up the production crew was in full swing. Charlotte didn’t tell the kids she’d already spent the morning talking with Shae Lynne. She just enjoyed the surprised looks on her grandchildren’s faces when Shae Lynne approached her and offered a big hug.

“Charlotte, please would you introduce me to everyone?”

Charlotte introduced her grandchildren first and then Jordan. Finally, she introduced Nicole, Lily, and Kaitlin, who looked as if they were going to burst with excitement.

“Can I get my photo taken with you?” Nicole nearly squealed the question.

Shae Lynne chuckled. “Sure, why don’t I get one with each of you?” She glanced at the boys. “Then you can have something fun to post on MySpace.”

Jordan’s jaw dropped open as if he wondered how she knew that’s exactly what he planned on doing.

Shae Lynne posed with each of the teens, and Charlotte had to admit that if it weren’t for the wide smile she would have a hard time believing it was the same girl she’d talked to that morning. Shae Lynne must have added extensions to her hair because it seemed to have grown six inches in the last two hours. Not only that, it was teased up and sprayed. It had sort of a wind-blown look, but the wind wasn’t blowing. More than that, it didn’t move an inch as she smiled and posed.

Her makeup was thick and rather dark, and Charlotte guessed that it was done that way for the cameras. She wore skinny jeans and a white, flowing blouse.

When the photos were done, Shae Lynne clapped her hands together. “Y’all are welcome to stay and watch, but you have to be as quiet as possible. Most videos use soundtracks recorded in studio, but I like to actually sing when we film. It prevents me from looking like I’m lip-synching.” A laugh split the air, and Charlotte looked behind her to note Pete approaching.

He pushed his John Deere cap back from his forehead and smiled. “No lip-synching, huh? Now, that’s refreshing.” Pete stretched out his hand. “I’m Pete by the way.”

Shae Lynne’s eyes brightened. “Pete. It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Shae Lynne.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I know. My girlfriend has one of your CDs.”

“Really? Wow, I’m honored.”

Charlotte took a step back, noting the interaction. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that Shae Lynne was actually blushing.

Shae Lynne looked down at her outfit. She placed a hand on her hair. “Oh, sorry for my getup. You know how the video thing works.”

“Actually I don’t. This is the first time I’ve ever experienced anything like this.”

“Really?” Shae Lynne cocked her head. “I thought you were the actor to play …” She paused. “To play my love interest in the video,” she cooed, smiling.

Snickers came from Sam and Jordan, and Charlotte immediately turned and narrowed her gaze at them.

Pete laughed. “Now that’s funny. No, I’m just Farmer Pete.” He spread his arm. “And this is my place. Or rather it’s my parents’ place, and I help out around here.”

Shae Lynne touched her neck, and Charlotte could clearly see the red creeping up to her face.

A horse that looked similar to Britney rounded the corner; the hunky-looking man with the vest was still riding her.

Charlotte pointed. “That’s probably your leading man.”

Shae Lynne’s nose scrunched in disapproval. “Please tell me that’s not so.”

Charlotte shrugged.

“Shae, do you have a minute?” Will was carrying a clipboard in his hands. “I wanted to go over the shot list with you before we get started.”

“Sure, and there’s, uh, something I wanted to talk about with you too,” she said, striding off.

“Wow, Uncle Pete. Shae Lynne thought you were going to be the main guy in her video, not just the dude driving the tractor.” Emily seemed impressed.

He shrugged. “That’s only because she had all that goopy makeup on her eyes and wasn’t able to see clearly.”

“Uncle Pete.” Emily slugged his arm. “I think she’s beautiful.”

Charlotte hung out with the kids for the rest of the morning. They watched as Shae Lynne sang in front of the barn. And during her break they watched as the crew shot more video inside the barn.

They spent at least an hour shooting the stalls and hay loft from various angles. They even made Trudy a star by filming her.

“Is our cow going to be in the video?” Christopher walked over and scratched behind Trudy’s ear.

“Yeah, she most likely will be. We’re taping all this as background. Then if we need to green-screen it later we can go back and do that.”

“Green-screen it?”

“Shae Lynne likes to feature her band in her videos. As you can see, they’re not here, and they won’t be here until they fly in to do the concert on Saturday night. So we videotape the barn and then we videotape the band against a green screen and splice them together.”

“Wow, I wonder what Trudy will think about that.”

“Do you think she’ll know?” Nicole frowned. “Honestly, she’s a cow. Don’t be so dumb.”

“Nicole.” Charlotte tried to keep her voice calm. “We don’t talk to each other that way.”

“Uh …” Nicole got a sheepish look on her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

“I know. I think we’re all getting a little tired and cranky around here. It was a long night of anticipation and a lot has been going on around the farm this morning. It might be best if you and your friends head home. We’ll just let the video crew finish up what they’re working on.”

Nicole frowned and opened her mouth. Charlotte was wondering what was going to come out, but instead of arguing Nicole turned and headed toward the house.

“Who cares? I got my photo with Shae Lynne, which means I won fifty bucks,” Charlotte heard her saying.

“Are the girls leaving?” Shae Lynne strolled into the barn.

“Actually, they are. They slept over last night, and now that they’ve seen you, they’re ready to head back to the fair.”

Shae Lynne nodded, but Charlotte could tell she wasn’t listening.

“Uh, do you know where Pete is?” Shae Lynne asked.

“I think I saw him behind the barn changing the oil in the tractor.”

Shae Lynne turned to leave the barn, and Charlotte’s gaze moved from Emily to Sam. “What do you think that was about?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know, but I want to find out.” He nodded to Jordan, and the two boys sauntered outside as if they weren’t following.

EMILY JOGGED UP THE STAIRS to see if Nicole, Lily, and Kaitlin needed any help loading their things into Kaitlin’s car. Emily had tried to enjoy the morning with them the best she could, but the only thing on her mind was calling up Ashley and Hunter and trying to fix things.

“Oh, my gosh!” Kaitlin’s voice caused Emily to pause at the top of the steps, right in front of her bedroom door.

“What?” Nicole sounded upset, most likely because she’d been asked to head home.

“Look at Emily’s closet. I’ve never seen such a sad bunch of clothes in my life. Is this honestly all she owns?”

“Yeah, well, what do you expect, living with her grandparents, being totally poor, having no fashion sense.” It was Lily talking. “I mean she’s so skinny and plain. If you ask me, I feel totally sorry for her. I mean, she’s never going to get a boyfriend. Never going to—”

“Emily?”

Emily had been so focused on the conversation in the room that she hadn’t heard Christopher approaching.

“What?” she snapped, turning to him.

He took a step back. “Man, I was just going to ask you if you wanted your CDs signed by Shae Lynne. She said she’d sign them for us.”

“Not now,” Emily hissed. She turned toward the door, and then to Christopher again, unsure of what to do, what to say.

The door swung open, and three faces stared at her with looks of half-pity and half-annoyance. She could tell that they knew she’d heard every word.

“Hey, Emily.” Nicole swung her backpack over her shoulder. “I think I got everything, but if I left any clothes or whatever, you can just keep them.”

Nicole smiled, and Lily snickered. Emily didn’t even want to see Kaitlin’s reaction. But with Christopher blocking the stairway, Emily turned and ran into the one place she could go to be alone. She darted into the bathroom and slammed the door, leaning her back against it and sliding to the floor.

Suddenly nothing good that had happened that week mattered. Her ribbons didn’t count. The fact that she had one of her favorite singers at her house didn’t matter. All Emily knew was that her heart hurt. Bad. And that she’d messed up, big time. She had totally ruined things with the friends she did have while trying to befriend the girls who lived to make her life miserable.

Emily pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. Her lower lip trembled, and she wished she could cry. Wished she could release the pain. Instead she just sat there and wanted everything to be different.

OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS, Charlotte learned that the video crew taped hard, fast, and continuously. She enjoyed watching the process, as did the kids. Sam and Jordan liked talking with Shae Lynne during the breaks, and Christopher had a hundred and one questions about how the cameras and other machines worked. The best part was that other than a few more cars driving down their country road, it seemed like the attention given to the video shoot had died down.

Reluctantly, Charlotte glanced at her watch after lunch, realizing she had to get to the fair for her shift at the Amen Pies booth. She had headed inside for her purse when she noticed Emily sitting by herself on the couch. It was only then Charlotte realized she hadn’t seen Emily outside all day.

“Emily?” Charlotte approached, sitting beside her. “Is everything okay?”

Emily shrugged but didn’t comment.

Charlotte patted her granddaughter’s hand. “Are you feeling bad about Ashley and Hunter?”

Emily nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“And did something else happen with Nicole? More than her winning that bet, which really made me mad, just so you know.”

Emily nodded again.

“Well, maybe tonight, after I get home, we can talk about it.” Charlotte rose, glancing at her watch again. She knew if she didn’t leave now she’d be late.

“Grandma, no. Wait.” Emily grabbed her arm. “I need you to help me. I need you to fix things. Can you call Mrs. Givens for me? She likes you. Maybe …”

Charlotte shook her head and brushed a strand of Emily’s blonde hair back from her face. “Oh, Emily. I can’t fix things for you. As much as I love Ashley and Hunter, they are your friends, and—”

“And I need to make things right?” Emily mumbled.

Charlotte squeezed her shoulder. “Yes, you need to make things right. And while I commend you for trying to reach out to Nicole, I’m sorry that so many other things went wrong.”

“Yeah, I wish I could go back and do it over. I would rather have gone to the barrel races and had Ashley spend the night.”

“Well, it’s not too late to create new memories. The fair isn’t over. Summer isn’t over. Why don’t you think about what you can do to show Ashley and Hunter how much you care?” Charlotte tucked her hair behind her ear. “And I want you to know something else too.” She paused, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. “You reached out to Nicole. You did what was right. You forgave her for her words at the fair, and you tried again. And even though things didn’t work out the way you wanted them to, I’m sure God is smiling down at you because you chose to love someone who is very difficult to love.”

Charlotte looked at her watch and noticed she was late. “And when I get back tonight you can tell me about what your plan is to make things right with Ashley and Hunter. Deal?”

“Yeah, okay.” Emily smiled. “Deal.”

Charlotte turned to leave and then paused. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Remember, Emily. You messed up, but they are your friends. They will still love you.”

Emily nodded, and Charlotte could see tears springing to her granddaughter’s eyes. Then she turned and left, knowing, trusting, that Emily could take it from here.