Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
“They don’t even know you, why would they offer to let you stay with them?” Dad asked.
“Hunter was the one who suggested it, and his mother quickly agreed. I must admit, I’d much rather stay there than at the hotel.”
“Will you be able to meet Hunter before shooting starts?”
“We’re set to meet in a couple of weeks, before the filming of the show starts. Don’t ask me how they did it, but they managed to get both schools to allow us to leave a few weeks early, so we’ll be taking the last few weeks of classes remotely, as well as our finals. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw are hosting a dinner for me, Jack Morris, and Travis Ryan—those are the producers. Hunter will be there, and I’ll meet him then. They invited both of you, as well.”
“Jack Morris?” my father asked. “As in Morris Production Company?”
“Yeah, do you know him?” I asked.
My father stared at me like I’d grown two heads. “Kipton, they produce the Miss America competition! That must be where they first saw you.”
“Oh my gosh, they do?” I asked.
“And they’ve produced some of the bestselling movies over the past five years. Jack’s father is an actor. He starred in that big action thriller movie a few years back. The Good Die Young or something like that.”
“That’s right!” Mom said, snapping her fingers. “It was filmed here in Montana.”
Dad nodded. “The family is from Bozeman.”
“Wow, I didn’t know any of that.”
“I have a question,” Mom said, and Dad and I both looked at her. “When is this dinner?”
Dad laughed.
“Sometime in November.”
My mother jumped and spun around to face my father. “I need to go find something to wear!”
I watched as she dashed toward their bedroom. Slowly turning back to my father, I said, “I think she’s on board with this.”
He shrugged and winked before his face turned serious. “Kipton, is this something you really want to do? I don’t want you to think you’re backed into a corner. We can figure out another way to get our heads above water.”
“First of all, I wouldn’t do this if I thought there was something wrong with it. Granted, I’m not looking to go into showbiz, and I told them that. This would be a one-time thing, even though they did offer me the hosting job for future seasons, if it takes off like they think it will. I told them it’s not for me long term. I know how much you want me to keep the house, Dad, for whatever reasons you and Mom have…and I’ll respect that. But in return, I just want you to let me help pay off some of these bills. It will at least pay the lawyer bills, and I hope more.”
I could see it on his face. He didn’t want to admit he needed help, let alone help from his twenty-two-year-old daughter.
“Please, Dad.”
With a frustrated exhale, he finally nodded. “I want you to keep some of that money, though. Put it in your savings.”
I couldn’t help the smile that broke out across my face. “I promise I will.”
He held his arms open, and I threw myself into his embrace. “If this is something you’re sure about, then I’m on board.”
Squeezing him harder, I felt a little bit of the weight of the world lift off my shoulders…and prayed Dad did as well.
Chapter Two
HUNTER
November – Hamilton, MT
“Hunter, is there a reason you’re hovering around the front door?”
Turning, I saw my mother heading down the hallway to the foyer. She wore a navy-blue dress and had her hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head. She looked so beautiful, as usual.
“Mom, you’re breathtaking. You’re going to be the most beautiful woman in the room tonight.”
She smiled. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Your father said nearly the same thing to me only moments ago.”
“It’s the truth,” I stated.
“Kiss-up,” my sister Morgan said, approaching from the same direction as Mom. She must’ve entered through the kitchen. I would know since, like Mom said, I was staking out the front door.
My mother spun around and nearly screamed. “Morgan! Darling, how are you feeling?”
I rolled my eyes. That seemed to be the first thing everyone asked my sister these days, as well as our sister-in-law Georgiana, since they’d told everyone they were pregnant a couple of months ago. Morgan was due May second, and Georgiana on April twenty-ninth. My parents were over the moon. But not as much as Ryan, my sister’s husband, and my older brother, Blayze. Ryan happened to be Blayze’s best friend. They were both excited to be new dads in the near future.
Everyone was also just happy to have Morgan still with us, safe and sound, after she’d been stalked and kidnapped a few short months ago.
“I’m feeling amazing,” Morgan said as she placed a hand over her stomach, where she wasn’t showing yet. Turning to face me, her smile widened. “Are you ready for this, little brother? You’re going to be famous!”