“Have you two had lunch yet?” Martha asked.
“No. We came over as soon as we finished shooting for the day.”
“Well, you should have said something. No one goes hungry around here, but you two have voices, you know. If you’re hungry, you should speak up.”
They’d been given a talking to, hadn’t they? “Yes, ma’am.”
“Now go wash your hands and you can eat with Logan and the crew.”
Des and Colt shuttled off to the bathroom behind Logan. “Guess she told you,” Colt said.
Des nudged Colt with her shoulder. “Shut up. She told you, too.”
Logan stood at the sink and shook his head.
“What?” Des said, hip-checking him to get him to move.
“Nothing.”
She grabbed for the towel to dry her hands. “Oh, I think there’s something on your mind. What is it?”
“No, really. Nothing. I’ll see you in the kitchen.”
He walked away without saying a word. Des stared after him. “I do not understand that man at all.”
“He likes you. And he doesn’t want to.”
Des shook her head. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Honey, men often don’t make sense. Don’t even try to figure us out.”
She put her arm around Colt’s waist. “But that’s why I have you. You have the supersecret code to men.”
Colt snorted. “I’m sworn to secrecy, and to the man code.”
“You’re so full of shit.” Des rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen.
“I made turkey sandwiches,” Martha said. “And there’s iced tea and fruit salad and some chips. Nudge all those cowboys out of the way and help yourself.”
Six sets of eyes looked up from the table at her and Colt. Used to being stared at, Des was undeterred. She found a spot at the table and took a seat, then introduced herself. So did Colt.
“So you’re making the movie?” one of the guys asked. She thought his name was Ayers.
“Yes.”
“That must be interesting.”
“It is. Any of you or your family are welcome to come watch us film. Just let me know and I’ll get you passes.”
“That’s awful nice of you,” Ben said. “I know Martha enjoyed her visit that day. And she couldn’t stop talking about her day as an extra. I loved the photo of her in her alien makeup.”
Des laughed. “I think she and Logan both had fun that day.”
Logan cleared his throat. “The men can’t afford to take days off to go watch you make movies.”
Wow. He was in a mood. “We also do filming later in the day, after you all finish work. And maybe their families would like to come watch.”
Logan shrugged.
“June—that’s my daughter,” one of the guys said to Colt and Des, “she’s a big movie fan. And she really likes Colt’s movies. I know she and her mama would love to come.”
“That’s sweet,” Colt said. “Like Des said, we’re happy to provide passes. You just let us know, or let Martha know and we’ll arrange it through her.”
“You bet I will,” Martha said, then gave Logan a stern look.
Logan ate his sandwich and didn’t make eye contact with anyone. Or add any more to the conversation.
But at least Logan didn’t say no this time.
Des figured he must have PMS—penis malfunction syndrome. Because he was acting like a dick.
After lunch, Logan told Martha he was going to clean the picnic area, then pull the tables from storage and start cleaning them up.
“Can I help you with that?” Colt asked.
Logan gave him a look. “Aren’t you here to help in the kitchen?”
Ignoring the insult, Colt said, “I think Des has that handled. But if you don’t need my help, I’m happy to stay here and assist Martha.”
Des shot Logan a scathing look. Logan shrugged. “Sure. You can come with me.”
“Great.” Colt winked at her.
“This is your way of escaping potato peeling,” she whispered as Colt walked by.
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
Logan had about as much use for Colt as he did a whiny city boy, which he figured Colt was. But if Colt wanted to follow him around, he’d put him to work. He assigned some of the crew to the task of hosing down the cemented area where they were going to organize the picnic tables, while he and Colt headed back to the barns where the picnic tables were housed.
They brought out twelve tables, not an easy feat, because the barn where the tables were stored was about fifty yards away. He figured city boy would give up after dragging the second table.
Colt surprised him. Drenched in sweat, he helped Logan pull all twelve tables, then helped him wash them down without complaint. Then again, he did have some muscle, so maybe all that time at the gym helped with his endurance.
“You always this quiet?” Colt finally asked him as they scrubbed the tops of the tables.
“Usually.”
“Or is it just me you don’t like?”
“I don’t feel one way or the other about you.”
Colt smiled and kept his head down on the task at the hand. “Good to know.”
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Logan used the hose to wash away the last of the grime and dust from the tables. Colt took a step back to get out of the way, then they used towels to dry them off.
“This will do until tomorrow morning. Martha will put tablecloths on them then.”
He saw Des making her way toward them with a couple of beers in her hand.
“I thought you two looked a little sweaty and might want to take a break and have a beer.”
“Sounds good to me,” Colt said. “Thanks, honey.”
Logan was too thirsty to say anything other than “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“How’s it going inside?” Colt asked.
“Great. We’ve got just about all the side dishes wrapped up. How about out here?”
Colt looked to Logan, who’d taken a couple of deep swallows of beer to cool down his parched throat. “Fine.”
“That’s descriptive,” Des said. “Anything else need to be done out here?”
“Not today. We’ll drag out the fireworks and finish decorating in the morning.”