Chapter Thirty
It took only ten days for Meri and Jake to rewrite the script. They worked side by side day and night. Kyle had let them take over his office, and they transformed it into a dual work space. From the start, Meri and Jake meshed. Ideas from one of them sparked ideas in the other. Their working habits and styles blended, as did their thought processes.
Meri took the time off work as her two-week vacation. Because she had never taken any vacation time since she started her job, it was no problem. Jake sent the crew home and immediately faxed the studio with specifics for cast selection and wardrobe preparations. Jessica and Kyle kept them well fed, and Travis visited them regularly, looking for spaceship rides from Jake and giving Meri sticky, wet kisses on the cheek.
Only once did they take a genuine break. One Friday night, a little more than halfway through the rewrite, they decided they desperately needed a change of pace. It seemed even their tolerance levels were the same when it came to how much they could cram through their imaginations. And Jake was a man with imagination. Meri knew there were many more stories inside him that needed to be written. She served as a propelling force to get his ideas going.
Their break was for dinner at Jonathan and Shelly’s. When they walked in, they found that Shelly had tied Bob Two to a post in the backyard so as not to disrupt the evening.
“Did Mom get ahold of you?” Shelly asked.
“No.”
“She just called here and said the board offered Dad a part-time position at the church as the visitation pastor.”
“Did he take it? It seems as if they’re just tossing him a bone after how everything went down.”
“Mom was happy about it. They will stay in their house, and supposedly Dad will work fewer hours. She’s going back to see Molly next week.”
“I’m glad it’s what they want,” Meri said with a sigh. “I’m all in favor of people getting what they want.”
At the dinner table, Jonathan asked if Jake and Meredith were ready to strangle each other yet, having worked so long in close quarters.
Jake looked surprised at the idea. “No, it’s going unusually well. I feel I’m along for the ride. Meri’s mind is like a waterfall, fresh, flowing, always spilling over. I just get in my little raft and go for a tumble.”
Meri gratefully absorbed his words. For all the closeness of their days and nights of working together, Jake had made no romantic gestures. Meri didn’t feel the need to try to convince Jake that they should have a relationship or to wrestle with understanding or expressing her feelings. In every way she was at rest in hope.
Jake cut off a piece of the tender T-bone steak Jonathan had barbecued for him and said, “If I were rewriting this script by myself, it would take me a year. Maybe two years. It’s astounding how much we’ve accomplished in such a short time.”
“You know what they say,” Shelly interjected. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”
“It wasn’t ‘they’ who said that; it was God,” Meredith said. “I know that verse.”
“You know a lot of verses,” Jake said. He turned to Shelly and Jonathan. “We’ll be writing away, and all of a sudden Meri will add this great line. I’ll say, ‘Where have I heard that before?’ and she’ll go to her concordance and find it.”
“It’s one of the drawbacks of being a P.K.,” Shelly said. “I have the same problem. I know thousands of verses but none of their addresses.”
“Meri is the only person I know who can breeze her way through a concordance and find what she’s looking for in a minute flat.” Jake gave her a warm smile.
It seemed to Meri that he was beginning to feel something for her. Respect and admiration, if nothing else. Those were good cornerstones for a relationship.
By the time they finished the final revisions on the following Wednesday, other details had fallen into place for the filming. The casting director had sent a batch of videos for Jake to review for the part of Hope. Meri and Jessica both sat with Jake to review the young actresses on the tapes. The fourth one they saw was far and away the best choice. Jake immediately made a call to set all the wheels in motion.
“Are we actually ready to call the crew back?” Jake asked as he paced the office.
“I think so,” Meredith said, surveying the mess all around them. “Can we call for a Dumpster to clean this place out?”
Jake was already on the phone, calling the studio to verify that they were ready to call the crew back. When he hung up the phone, he clapped his hands together, grabbed Meri by the shoulders, and did a little dance. It was the clumsiest, most two-left-footed dance Meri had ever seen. She burst out laughing and bumped into a wastebasket, knocking it over.
“You are a klutz!” she told him.
“But I’m a happy klutz,” he said, letting go of her shoulders and righting the wastebasket. “The crew will be back up here by Saturday morning, and we should be able to start shooting on Monday, if our little Hope is ready. I think it’s time to celebrate!”
“As long as it’s not dinner and dancing,” Meri teased. “I’ll take the dinner but pass on the dancing.”
“How about a picnic at the waterfall?”
Meredith felt her hopes rise. He wanted to go back to their spot. With the pressure off, they could relax and talk. Wonderful conclusions could be drawn when a man had a chance to reflect and eat at the same time.
“I’ll see if Jess and Kyle want to come with us.” Jake hurried from the office.
Meri kept her brave smile showing as he left, but her heart was fainting. I’ve been very patient, Lord. Nearly two weeks alone with this man, and I’m desperately in love with him. I’ve kept all my love hidden away. Why can’t he see how perfect we are together? Lord, when will you open his eyes?
She comforted herself with the thought that God must have put Jake’s emotions in a deep sleep. She tried to convince herself that everything God had revealed to her that afternoon in the library was still true, even though Jake hadn’t yet responded.
What was that saying Dad used to tell us? “Never doubt in the darkness what God reveals to you in the light.” I won’t doubt. I’ll stay faithful, and I will rest in hope.
By six-thirty the extended party had gathered at the waterfall and spread a grand picnic. Jake had invited Jess, Kyle, and Travis. They, in turn, had invited Kyle’s brother, Kenton, and Kenton’s wife, Lauren. Meri had called Shelly, and she and Jonathan showed up with Bob Two. The June evening was perfect, and the abundance of food amazing considering the quickness with which it had been prepared. Jonathan and Kyle went swimming; Bob Two jumped in with them. Jessica tried to restrain Travis, who was wailing that he wanted to go with his daddy.
“I’ll take you in, Tiger,” Jake said, pulling off his T-shirt and slipping out of his loafers. He pulled off his leather belt and emptied his pockets onto the blanket. Scooping Travis up in his arms, he waded out slowly.
Jake’s wallet had fallen open when he tossed it, and Shelly was the first to notice the picture beside his driver’s license. “Meri,” she said, picking it up and taking a closer look. “That’s you. Where was this taken?”
Meredith grabbed the wallet. The picture appeared to be cut from a larger photo. She was sitting in a rowboat with a big smile on her face. The morning sun poured through the trees, showering her with golden radiance. It was a stunning picture. And it was in his wallet. Glimmers of hope raced down Meri’s spine.
“Here,” she said to Shelly calmly.
Shelly handed the wallet to Lauren and Jessica. Kenton looked over their shoulders. “That’s a very good picture,” they all commented.
“Are you two getting pretty close?” Lauren asked. She looked quickly at Shelly and Jessica to make sure she wasn’t out of line in asking such a question. “I mean, of course you are. You’re a writing team now. Words can draw two people together very tightly.”
Shelly leaned a little closer and seemed ready to hang on every word o
f Meredith’s answer. Shelly had reminded Meri more than once during this past week and a half that she had been extra good about not asking how things were going between them. She had promised Meri she would wait until Meri had something she wanted to tell her.
Meredith Graham, the queen of coy, slipped off her sandals and tucked her tank top into her jeans shorts. “Anybody else going in?”
“You’re going in with your clothes on?” Shelly asked.
“They’ll dry. Life is too short to sit on the shore and only wonder.” With that, Meri stood and with light steps entered the water.
“I was never such a free spirit,” Meri heard Jessica say. Slowly walking in, Meri felt the water reach her knees. Jake was a few feet away, in water up to his waist, holding Travis and dipping his little bare legs into the water.
With one graceful motion, Meri stretched out in the water. She caught her breath at the shock of the cold water. Closing her eyes, she submerged, feeling the chill as it penetrated every pore.
I am alive! I am fully alive, and I love experiencing every sensation there is on this planet!
Surfacing for a breath of warm air, Meri found to her surprise that Jake was right beside her. Kyle had taken Travis from him, and Jonathan was on his way out of the water.
“Come with me to the waterfall,” Jake said. His wet hair was slicked straight back, and drops of water glistened on his eyelashes. Meri thought she had never seen a more appealing sight. It was all she could do not to take that handsome face in her hands and kiss those perfect lips.
They swam together in steady rhythm, the roar of the waterfall growing louder as they approached. Jake pointed to the side and then yelled, “Let’s try to go behind it.”
Meri followed. They broke through the pounding water, receiving a full, freezing scalp massage in the process. Then they discovered a little pocket where the stones were worn away. A space of about a foot lay between the cold, gray rock wall and the sheet of water. Meri and Jake shivered, treading water while the pounding waterfall echoed in their numb skulls.
Meredith laughed. She couldn’t help it. This was such a wild, invigorating experience. Jake laughed with her. They didn’t say a word.
Unable to stand the cold another minute, Meri bobbed her way out, under the pelting water. She swam as fast as she could with Jake right behind her, both eager to get out and warm up. Shelly tossed Meri a tablecloth they hadn’t used, and she wrapped herself in it. She sat on the shore shivering.
“What a rush!” Jake said, flipping his hair back and wiping his face with his hands. Jonathan tossed him a towel.
“It’s used,” Jonathan said. “Better than nothing.”
Jake dried off and wrapped the towel around his shoulders. “Could you hear us laughing?”
“It sounded really strange,” Jess said. “As if the waterfall had come to life and was laughing.”
“That’s it,” Jake said, looking to Meri for support. “We’ll have Tom do that. We’ll record your laughter and get him to mix it with the sound of the waterfall. What a great idea.” He sat down beside Meredith, closer than he ever had before. “What would this project have been like without you? I don’t want to know.” He put his arm around her shoulder appreciatively and gave her a buddy squeeze the way a coach congratulates the kid who just made the best play of the day.
Everyone was watching. The women gave Meri subtle sympathetic glances. They could now see for themselves how close she and Jake were. It was all business and no romance at all. “Such a pity,” Meri could almost hear them say.
“Yeah, Jake,” Shelly said, jumping in with both feet, “where would you have been on this project without Meredith? And a bigger question is, where will you be the rest of your life without her as your partner?”
Everyone looked at Shelly, surprised at her bluntness. Then they looked at Jake, then back at Shelly.
“You’ll have to excuse my wife,” Jonathan said. “She was absent on subtlety day.”
“Jonathan!” Shelly said, swatting him. “Why did you say that?”
“Why did you say what you said?”
A spat ensued. Meredith thought, Oh, great! Instead of helping nudge Jake in my direction, these two are only proving his theory that falling in love is a chemical reaction that wears off, and these two are about to hit their expiration date.
“We’re ready to head back,” Jessica said. Travis was sitting contentedly in her lap, sucking his first two fingers. “I have a sleepy boy here.”
“Yeah,” Kenton quipped, “and Travis should probably get to bed, too.”
The gang gathered up the remains of the picnic and made their way back down the trail to the cars. Shelly and Jonathan emerged from the hushed forest trail holding hands and appearing to have made up. Not that it mattered to Meri if Jake noticed their starry eyes. She had a calm, settled confidence that when the time was right, Jake would wake up. If they were going to get together, it would be God’s doing and not anyone else’s.
Chapter Thirty-one
As the days wore on, Meredith was beginning to rethink her option of having her sister help out a little on this going-nowhere romance. Maybe with a few extracurricular lessons in subtlety, Shelly could have a more positive influence on Jake.
The crew arrived Saturday with the new actress and her mom. Filming began Monday, and Jake was on the go all day, every day. Meri used the time to catch up on her work for the publishing house. With the changes in the script, Jake didn’t plan to film the waterfall scene with Meri until the fourth day of shooting. It turned out to be the fifth day because it rained on Wednesday.
The cast all hung out at the lodge on Wednesday, waiting for the rain to clear and acting thoroughly bored. Meri took Guard Man Fred out of her car and thought she could play a little joke on Chad. She had intended to use Fred to surprise Shelly, but teasing Chad would be much more fun. They told Chad a cast member was waiting in the van for a ride to the airport. Everyone watched as Chad ran outside the lodge in the rain and got into the driver’s seat with Fred strapped into the passenger’s seat. Chad started up the van and pulled out.
“He’s not much of a conversationalist,” Meredith said with a giggle. “Chad probably won’t notice that Fred doesn’t talk until they reach the airport and he finds out that Fred doesn’t move either.”
The crew peered through the curtains at the lodge. Brendon, the child actor who played Young Heart, was the first one to see the returning van. Chad drove back up to the lodge, parked the van, got out, came inside without a word to any of them, and went back to work on his newspaper crossword puzzle. Everyone busted up. Everyone but Chad.
The next day they were filming in the woods. Brendon and Emilie, the girl cast as Hope, played a trick on Jake. They had gotten into the helium tanks in props, filled some balloons, and then sucked in the helium. When they took their mark, and Jake called action, their words came out as squeaky mouse sounds. Meredith noticed how well Jake rolled with the joke in the midst of all the frenzy to get back on schedule.
Meredith liked Brendon and Emilie and thought they were perfect for their parts. When they asked to borrow Fred to play a joke on someone, she agreed and handed him over to them.
Thursday night during dinner at the lodge, Jake sought out Meri to ask if he could speak to her. They stepped out of the dining room into the hallway.
“How are you doing?” Jake asked.
“Great. How are you doing?”
Jake nodded. “It’s coming together.” He looked down at his feet and then back up at Meri. “It’s been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to talk with you in more than a week. I mean, I’ve seen you around, but it’s not at all like it was the week before.”
“No, it’s not. You’ve been running at full speed. I didn’t want to get in the way.”
Jake’s eyes searched hers. “Thanks,” he said.
“For what?”
“Thanks for coauthoring the screenplay with me. Thanks for being honest and telling me what was wr
ong with it, even though you probably knew I didn’t want to hear it. Thanks for being there for me.”
“It was all my pleasure,” Meri said. “I’m sure you have many more stories in you that need to come out. This is only the beginning for you. I honestly feel honored to have been a part of the process.”
He looked thoughtful. “You’re amazing. You know that, don’t you?”
“Sometimes I forget,” Meri said playfully. “So it’s nice to be reminded every now and then. Thanks.”
Jake smiled. “Hey, I wanted to tell you I was able to get the budget adjusted. There’s a check coming for you to cover your time and work as a consultant on the project.”
“I didn’t expect any payment.”
“I know. But you earned it. You earned twice what I have to pay you. Three times.”
“Thanks,” Meredith said. “I appreciate it.”
It was silent for a moment. He kept looking at her as if he had something more he wanted to say but couldn’t figure out how to say it. He was like an actor who had forgotten his lines and was keeping his eye on the target but had an ear to the prompter in the orchestra pit, waiting for a cue.
When no words came to his lips, Meredith said, “Have you had a chance to eat yet? It’s pretty good tonight. Pork chops.”
“No. I’ll be there in a minute. Could you tell them to hold some dinner for me?”
“Sure.” She turned to go. If he thought this close encounter was easy for her, he was mistaken. Her heart was pounding, and her eyes were tearing up. How could he be so close and not be able to say anything personal like “I’ve missed you. I want to be with you”? Those phrases burned the roof of her mouth as she kept them inside.
“Meri?” he said.
She turned, blinking away the tears and putting on a smile. He was standing where she had left him, looking lost and unable to move from that spot until she released him.