Hollywood Hills

Chapter Forty

She didn't cry all the way home or even most of it, but she did have to stop and vent her tears several times, and it took the better part of a day to get herself fully under control. By any standard, no matter how demanding or ludicrous, Eli Pitt-Rivers owed her nothing. He'd promised her nothing and never made the slightest pretense of leading her on. He'd been kind, honest, and generous. Even more, he'd been a friend to her at a time when she'd had no other and had helped her through some of the hardest days of her life. By the end of that day, she'd come to realize there was nothing for which to forgive him.

From that point forward, she got back to work. She built a budget for their filming, got some estimates on the rental of movie equipment they might need, and researched what festivals to which their small team might submit their movie. When she wasn't at work on those problems, she tended to the horses, ran her lines for the voice work she was starting in January (though she really needn't bother), and made plans for her future.

It all seemed a little flat and empty, but it filled her days. Five days after she'd returned from LA, the fencing she ordered arrived in two large trucks. The men were kind enough to unload it near the sites she'd selected. Three days after that, a local contractor dropped off the equipment she would need to dig post holes. She'd spent time online learning how the equipment worked, not wanting to depend entirely on Eli's kindness, or even on the generosity of the Sanchez's, who had also agreed to help, but was disappointed when she found the post-hole digger required two operators.

She heard from Eli from time-to-time in their usual fashion. He texted occasionally, and they spoke twice on the phone. She put up a good front, and he was his usual funny and friendly self. Still, part of her didn't want him to come again. The other half couldn't wait to see him.

Maybe I should just ask him to invite his friend, she thought at one point, and get it over with.

When the day they scheduled for the job finally came, Eli rolled up to her home at his usual ungodly hour. Daisy Sanchez and family would arrive later, but for the time being it was just the two of them. Her heart had never been so torn, but she put on her very best face and went out to meet him. He was his normal happy-go-lucky self and seemed excited to see her when she greeted him with her usual peck on the cheek and hug.

She hadn't yet prepared anything for breakfast, so while she went to throw something together, he went out and inventoried and inspected all her deliveries. Twenty minutes later, he returned with the happy announcement that everything had arrived in proper condition. She rewarded him with a warm plate.

"I have everything else we need," he said deliberately as he took a seat at the table. He then counted off. "I have one heavy mallet, more than enough rebar stakes and tape to mark out both pastures, and I have one laser-measure that I can teach you to use like a pro in about ten minutes."

"Is it really that easy?"

"Well, I could teach a chimp to use it in about five minutes, but anyone with a college degree might take a little longer." He smiled at her. "I'm banking you could best the chimp."

She couldn't help but laugh. It was typical Eli, and his joke earned him light pinch on the ribs. After they moved out the meadow and Eli began showing her how to take measurements, she discovered it was foolishly easy. It pleased the smartass in her that she was at least as smart as a chimp. By the end of two hours, when Daisy Sanchez and her three sons showed up, Eli and Kate had finished measuring out the post holes for the first fence and had started on the second.

After she introduced Eli to her neighbors, they chatted briefly and then divided their labor, with Kate and Daisy's oldest, Jake, continuing the measuring. Middle son, Everett, did the spiking, and Daisy supervised Eli and Phillip, the youngest, at working the post-hole digger. Daisy's day job was veterinarian, but she was a ranch kid through and through for whom this was all old hat.

The goofy dog even showed up and began pacing about, inspecting each post hole in turn and following the assembled humans about as if he were their supervisor. Nothing remained unsniffed or uninspected.

Kate had heard the word 'bromance' before, but it was the first time she'd ever seen it in action. All of Jan's brothers took an immediate shine to Eli, and, in turn, he seemed to revel in working with the youth. It was fun, and after a short lunch and an impromptu game of football, they began work in the afternoon at the same sedate pace. They never seemed to work hard, but before long, the measuring was finished, the post holes were dug, and the fence began to fly up.

Al and Jan arrived at about 2:00, and work went even more swiftly. Kate kept them fed and watered, and about an hour before sunset, they completed the first fence. She couldn't believe it all went so swiftly but put a stop to further work, nonetheless.

"It'll be dark soon," she said to their protests, "and everything is laid out for tomorrow. If we start when we planned, we'll have the second fence up by early afternoon."

As they moved back to the barn, the boys continued to horse around with Eli and Al, and Daisy coached Kate on a few things, including laying water troughs and the need for some horse shelters.

"The most important thing, don't pasture any livestock there for at least a day, day and a half. The instructions say six to eight hours, but don't mind that. Even that quick setting mix needs more time to dry in this soil. You get a big animal scratching up against it before it sets, and you'll have a lumpy, crooked fence, if they don't knock it down entirely."

"I can't thank you folks enough," Kate replied. "Eli has been great, but this would take forever with just the two of us."

"Oh, he's a keeper," Daisy agreed. The older woman, she'd found, was from a family with a long military tradition and had insisted on calling Eli 'major' despite his protests. She gave Kate a curious look. "Is he your fella?"

"Ah ... no, he's just a friend." Kate wanted to barf.

"Is he, now?" Daisy glanced over at her daughter but said nothing else. It was obvious Jan had been making eyes at Eli since her arrival.

"Let's go, woman," bellowed Al as he ran up with a son under each arm. The boys were near full grown, and Kate couldn't believe the feat. Al wasn't big, but he was strong ... and didn't like standing around chatting once the job was done. Ten minutes later, after Daisy finished her say, the Sanchez family finally left to her and Eli's warm goodbyes.