Playing House Away From Home

Chapter 8

Arthur Hillbrook continued, "That scene is the only one I thought I'd warn you about since..." His gaze trailed toward Loretta's trailer.

"Then maybe Loretta is who you should talk to," Elvis managed, "And she said it was fine when we last talked."

"Fine? Having to run all over the place to find my lead actors isn't fine. The havoc your companions wreck on this set isn't fine. None of this is fine. We're on a tight schedule, Parker is driving me insane-"

"That's not my fault."

"And now your wife is here, on set..."

Elvis practically felt his own face pale for a small part of him had still been hoping to be able to hide this from Arthur, to ship Priscilla off to the house before they started filming and have no one be any wiser. Elvis' head whipped around when Loretta's trailer door was pushed open and she emerged, a combination of dread and surprise evident on her face.

"What is goin' on?" she asked.

"We're getting ready to do a couple of pick ups. The kissing scene..." Arthur paused, waiting for her reaction- or rather, her lack thereof. She was either very good at hiding her emotions or completely fine with this.

"Okay," Loretta said when Arthur did not continue. Her head twisted to the side, where Elvis still stood, when Lisa began to wiggle in his arms. The little girl had been quiet up until now, but her very limited patience was running out.

"I'll just take her to the trailer with her mom," Elvis said, addressing Loretta more so than Arthur. Loretta gave a curt nod while Arthur groaned.

When he walked into the trailer, Elvis found Priscilla in the same position she had been in when he left, a frown on her face. Lisa twisted herself out of Elvis' arms. The moment her feet hit the floor she was off, exploring the trailer as though it was unlike anything she had ever seen.

"I like it Daddy," Lisa chimed. "I like your twailer."

Elvis managed a small smile. "Glad you do. Now-"

"We're not going to the house now, Elvis," Priscilla cut in, causing Elvis to spin around to face her, his smile vanishing in a matter of seconds. For a moment their stubborn gazes refused to falter, neither daring to so much as blink. Lisa continued to prance around the trailer, hopefully as oblivious as she appeared to be.

"We're gonna stay here," Priscilla said firmly.

"And do what?"

"Well, what does the Mafia do? They're here all day, aren't they?"

Elvis snorted. "You don't even like the Mafia."

"Which has nothing to do with this. Lisa and I haven't seen you in-"

"You're not gonna see much of me when I gotta work," Elvis hissed. "You're never gonna understand, are you?"

"Yeah, I missed you too. Thank you for asking."

"Don't you even try-"

"Daddy!" Lisa's little voice rang.

Elvis twisted his head around. "Yes, honey?"

"I have this?" She held up an unappetizing cracker.

"No!" Priscilla exclaimed before Elvis could open his mouth. She strode over and pried the crumbling cracker out of Lisa's fist. "You don't eat things like that, Lisa Marie. That's just nasty."

"Callin' your baby nasty now?" Elvis said, unable to hold his tongue.

"No. You're the one who is being nasty, leaving things like that laying around."