with another shrug. “No worries, though.” She picked up her phone and punched a few numbers. “Yeah, this is Diane in casting. Let me talk to Phillip.”
Aurora winced, knowing she was calling Phillip Dubois, the production head.
Diane tucked the receiver in her shoulder and looked back at Aurora again. “I hear Outlaw Shootout will be set to go by the end of this week. It’ll replace Wedding, and in the meantime we’ll fill in—”
“—replace Wedding!”
Diane lifted her hand, speaking into the phone again. “Hi, Phil. We’re going to need to pull Wild West Wedding from the sched—” Her jaw dropped when Aurora’s fingers slammed down on the phone hook. “Excuse me?”
Aurora retracted her hand, flushing. “You can’t just cancel the show.”
Diane gave her a pitying look. “Stuff happens, hon.”
“But Joey might well be back in the saddle, as you say, tomorrow.”
“That doesn’t solve the problem for three more shows today.” Diane started dialing again.
“Please don’t,” Aurora begged.
Diane sighed loudly and looked up through her lashes at her. “Why?”
“The show means so much to, uh, to so many people,” she said weakly. “We’ve got one of the largest casts in all of Cowboy Country’s productions.” The only shows with more parts were the Sunday Go to Meeting House with their choir show and the How the West Was Won Saloon Show, both of which were musicals.
Diane made a face. She replaced the receiver and folded her hands together, leaning across the desk toward Aurora. “You found yourself a Rusty for the noon show,” she advised. “Get him to finish out the day. After that, we’ll see.”
Aurora nodded quickly. “Thanks, Diane.”
The other woman shooed her away with a flick of her fingers before looking at the applicants waiting in her chairs. “You,” she barked at the middle-aged woman sitting closest to her. “Can you yodel?”
Aurora quickly ducked out of the office while the applicant was still stammering.
Being cast as Lila was one of the brightest spots in Aurora’s life right now. If that meant somehow talking Galen into repeating his part in the role of Rusty three more times that day, she was going to do it.
Even if it meant offering to take care of his ranch chores herself!
“No way.”
It had taken her a solid hour, but Aurora had finally found Galen out by the Twin Rattlers.
The roller coaster was the premier attraction at Cowboy Country, and after a start plagued with mechanical difficulties, it was now running perfectly. The line that wound like a serpentine around the base of the behemoth attested to its popularity.
“No way,” he said again. “I agreed to play Rusty once, and that was enough for me.”
“Galen, please. If you don’t, they’re going to cancel the rest of today’s shows.”
“And what happens if Joey’s not back tomorrow? Or the next day?”
“Diane says they can probably bring in a performer from another one of their locations.”
“Probably.” He gave her a steady look. “That’s not a certainty.”
“No,” she agreed unwillingly. She absolutely didn’t want to share with him just how easily the management could supplant one production with another. “It’s not a certainty.” Her hands latched onto his forearm. “But you did a really good job as Rusty,” she said quickly. “And it wasn’t as awful as you thought it would be, was it?”
His gaze flickered over her hands. “I’ve got other responsibilities, too, kiddo,” he said almost gently.
“I’ll help,” she promised even more quickly, letting go of him. She hadn’t even realized she’d grabbed him like that. But now her palms felt all warm and tingly. “You know I’m a good ranch hand. One of me is equal or better to two of someone else,” she added. “Daddy’s always telling people that. You know he is.”
“Why is it up to you to find a replacement for this Joey fella?”
“It isn’t,” she admitted. There was an entire production team, headed up by Phillip Dubois. And he wouldn’t care any more than Diane did which show ran in Wedding’s time slots, as long as something did. She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. “I’m helping to pay for Mama and Daddy’s cruise with the money I’m earning here,” she finally admitted.
It was true. But it wasn’t the only reason why keeping Wild West Wedding going was so important to her.
Somehow, she just couldn’t bring herself to admit to him that being in those four performances every day was about the only thing she looked forward to these days. It would make her sound about as piddlin’ pathetic as she’d been feeling until the role of Lila came along.
He exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, hell, Aurora.”
Relief swept through her. She very nearly grabbed him again, but managed not to. “You’ll do it, then?”
He nodded, though he didn’t look any too happy about it. “I’ll do it for today,” he cautioned.
“Today will do,” she said quickly. “Today will do just fine. And, uh, I meant it. About helping you out at your place. Whatever you need, I’m your girl. I can get Daddy to drop me by, or once they go on their trip, I’ll be able to use the ranch truck.”
His eyes sharpened a little. “You don’t have your own transportation?”
She cursed her nervous blathering. “Until I started working here, I didn’t really need my own vehicle, did I? I mean, it’s not like I do much of anything besides helping out at home.”
Galen eyed her. Her long red hair was pinned into a knot at the back of her head. She wore a pretty white dress that left her knees bare, and a pair of brown, blue-stitched boots that reached halfway up her calves. And even though he had heard Walt McElroy extoll the prowess of his only remaining offspring when it came to ranch work, right now the only thing Galen could imagine Aurora doing was clutching a bunch of daisies in her hands, dancing through some field.
He shook off the wholly ridiculous—and unwelcome—fancifulness.
“You’ve got enough work over at your place,” he said gruffly. “Just consider today my contribution to your folks’ vacation. It’s been too long since they had some fun. And, you know, if you ever need a ride or something, just give a shout.” He had to come to Cowboy Country anyway, at least until Caitlyn Moore, who’d been the one to hire him, decided his job was no longer needed.
“Thanks,
