Page 37 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

But that turned out to be a joke. For the next two days, we barely had enough time to breathe, much less see each other.

I was dealing with my mother’s unannounced visit and an overflowing call sheet trying to make up for scenes that I hadn’t shot the day of the tyrolean traverse, and Declan was suddenly inundated with plans for the county event, which turned out to be a big Gold Rats meet and greet in the center of town after we wrapped filming in Aster Valley.

On the third day after waking up at Declan’s and saying goodbye to him in a rush of us needing to get to work, I had just arrived at my set trailer when a production assistant delivered the day’s call sheet.

I blinked at it in shock. Right there in black and white, it showed a reshoot of the entire tyrolean traverse scene.

The weather was completely sunny and clear, but the call for that scene was right after lunch when afternoon thunderstorms were more likely to roll in.

Stop assuming bad weather when there is none forecast.

I checked the weather app on my phone and saw nothing concerning in the forecast.

Still. There hadn’t been high winds predicted the other day either. That kind of shit simply happened at altitude. Weather wasn’t nearly as predictable in alpine areas.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Mom asked before taking a sip of the fancy coffee she’d sent someone to fetch for her from town. I’d already told the PAs to ignore her requests, so if they chose to do her bidding, that was on them.

“I have seen a ghost,” I muttered. “The ghost of climbing scenes past.”

I made my way to the door of the trailer, but she called me back. “Wait. Wait. Explain what’s going on.”

I glanced at her. “I told you the only way I’d allow you to come to the set was if you didn’t interfere. Do you remember that?”

“I’m not interfering. I’m trying to stop you from interfering. You have to trust your director, darling. If he wants a scene shot again, that means he didn’t get the film he needed. You know how this works, Finn. Without just the right shots?—”

I finished the old line with her. “The film goes from wow to meh.”

It was a mantra she’d hammered into me a thousand times since reading some director’s biography years ago.

“Mom, stop interfering in my career. I mean it. I’m not ten years old anymore. Do you know how it makes me look to even have you here on set with me? Remember how we talked about the importance of rebranding me as an adult actor?”

“I believe the term I chose was action hero,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And they don’t think of me as your mother. They think of me as your business advisor.”

I barely contained the eyeroll. “No, they don’t.”

I turned back to the door, intent on finding Nolan’s assistant to ask about the need to reshoot the scene, but the same PA who’d delivered the call sheet appeared again.

“We’re switching things around because of weather concerns.

Here you go.” She shoved a new call sheet into my hand and took away the old one.

This new one showed the tyrolean scene first up this morning after makeup and wardrobe. Great.

At least we’d get it out of the way while I was still fresh.

I studied the sheet some more and noticed a blocking session for the cave explosion scene later this afternoon.

I was nervous about the scene now that I knew they’d be using real pyrotechnics, but at the same time, I hoped to finally have some of the stunt coordinators on hand to direct me in how to deal with something I was unfamiliar with.

I’d never been on a set with so much seeming disregard for protocol. But in order for the film to get approval for the pyrotechnics, hopefully they’d had to prove compliance with all necessary safety protocols.

I shot Declan a text.

I might have to cancel dinner. We’re going to be blocking the cave scene until late.

Declan

I thought you were doing that this morning. Is it going to take that long? Maybe it’s a sign they’re being cautious.

No. They pushed it back because they want to re-shoot the tyrol.

The three dots appeared, disappeared, and reappeared several times before Declan’s response came through.

Declan

10-9

I squinted at the screen and realized it wasn’t the same thing as a 10-4. After pulling up my handy police code cheat sheet, I noticed a 10-9 was a request to repeat previous transmission.

I clicked the button to call him instead.

“Tell me you’re pulling my leg,” he said without greeting me.

“I wish.”

“Why? Did they lose the fucking film canister or something?”

He was very grumbly this morning which made my dick hard. “Pretty sure canisters haven’t been involved much since the last millennium.”

He made another growly noise which brought a smile to my face. “Thank you,” I said sincerely.

“For what? Premeditated homicide?”

“For making me smile. You’re the best. I gotta go.”

“Be safe. Do you understand me? Tell those fuckers to?—”

I cut him off before I came in my pants. “Enough dirty talk, Sheriff. You should get back to work, too.”

“Text me when you’re off the mountain.”

“10-4.”

When I ended the call, I felt grounded and ready to tackle the challenging scene again. An hour later, we were on the road toward Tempter’s Chimney.

It took three hours to get all the shots Joel and Nolan wanted on the tyrol.

Thankfully, the ropes were still in place, and Bo and Sara had both traversed them to check their integrity before I clipped in.

The weather was gorgeous, and the wind wasn’t high.

The camera operator in the helicopter was able to get the angles she wanted.

Both directors were chatting happily about the successful shoot.

When I joined them in the craft services tent set up on the floor of the ravine, I thought I heard them mention making some changes to the final climbing scene on Slye Peak.

Crystobell came up to congratulate me on the shoot, so I didn’t get to hear the rest of the directors’ conversation about it.

I hoped there’d still be time for Kramer to return before the Slye Peak shoot since it was a technical climb that involved a twenty-foot fall on the ropes.

I’d feel better if he was there to triple-check all of the equipment before I put the stress of a fall onto the ropes.

After being trained not to fall on the ropes and rely on your rigging, it was hard to do it on purpose.

Thankfully, that climb had a top rope I would be using as one of my redundancy anchors.

We’d already gone over the choreography of the climb during some of the preproduction meetings, and Kramer had signed off on everything.

My character had left his climbing gear bag in the back of his SUV before racing toward the mountain to rescue Crys’s character, so we had an excuse to have high-end gear at hand for the stunt.

I blew out a breath and enjoyed the slightly shaky feeling of exertion in my muscles. It had felt good to be up high again in the gorgeous Colorado sunshine. What a difference a few days made.

I chatted with Crys for a little while before it was her turn to film.

People came and went as I took a break at a portable picnic table with my plate full of grilled chicken salad and a couple of bottles of water.

This really was a beautiful place to live.

I couldn’t imagine being so close to this many incredible climbs and being able to tackle them whenever I wanted.

Declan had mentioned mountain biking, and I wanted to try that, too. Colorado was like a playground for people who liked to be outdoors and active.

After another hour and a half, we were ferried over to another part of the mountain where the cave scenes were filmed.

I’d already blocked and shot a hand-to-hand combat scene with Logan there and was very familiar with the layout of the area.

The temporary set structure was in place, and I assumed that would be the structure they’d blow up for the explosion scene.

It was made to look like an old hunter’s shack near the mouth of the cave.

Crystobell’s character would be held in the shack until I rescued her, and we’d have to evade Logan’s character in the cave.

Blocking the explosion scene ended up taking four hours, so when I returned to the set trailer, I was dead on my feet. All I wanted was a shower, a light dinner, and an early bedtime. Preferably with a certain bossy law enforcement officer plastered to my back in spoon fashion.

I picked up my phone to text him that I was finally off the mountain.

Am dead on my feet. Tell me you have sandwiches and a desire to stare at a sleeping actor for hours on end.

Declan

I definitely have a desire to stare at a naked actor for hours on end.

I laughed.

I think you got part of that mixed up.

Declan

I don’t think so.

Can I stay at your place? My mom refuses to leave and the sofa isn’t as comfy as your squishy body.

Declan

Is this how you woo a man? With dirty talk like “your squishy body”?

I laughed and began to type a response, not realizing Kix had appeared at some point and was helping himself to a snack basket on the little kitchen counter in my trailer.

You didn’t say you wanted dirty talk…

“Who are you texting?” Kix asked.

I lifted my head up from the phone and grinned at him, feeling my face heat. “Hey. I didn’t know you’d still be on set. How’d your day go? You were filming that scene at the baseball field, right?”

He nodded. “It was hot as hell, and all they had for us was bottled water. There was some mix-up with craft services. Anyway. Sorry about tonight. That sucks.”

“What sucks about tonight?”

Kix looked surprised. “Your scene. The one on the rock face.”

I got an uneasy feeling in my gut. “What are you talking about?”