Page 83 of The Summer of Christmas

“What about the winery?”

“You can handle it, Nick. Besides, one day soon I’m going to give it all to you. Relinquish my co-ownership. It was always meant to be yours.” Nick was stunned. He’d never thought this would happen so soon. He figured he’d have to wait until he was at least fifty before his mom handed over her share to him.

Frannie resumed her work and began humming and singing Albert De Paname’s catchy French song “Si t’as été à Tahiti.” As Nick stacked wine bottles, he realized that his life was changing, and it was all because of Ivy. He reasoned that if Ivy and her movie hadn’t come to Geneva for filming, his mother never would have met J. B. Then she’d never talk about leaving. Almost overnight, his mom had changed her life.

Nick hated change. It was always difficult for him, which was also why he’d never wanted to move to Los Angeles. He let the rest of the crew in, and they started working their magic. They’d be filming at the winery for the entire day. Art was going to imitate life.

Amari strode into the winery. Nick went over to her. “Amari…”

“Can’t talk, Nicky. Workday. Not even sure why you’re here.”

“It’s my winery. About last night…”

“Memorable. Definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“Sorry, I got a little crazy.”

Amari chuckled. “You sure did. Why don’t you help me read my lines?” She handed him the scene pages.

“Which scene is this?” Nick asked.

“Last scene with Rick and Ilsa. You go off and die tomorrow.”

“Ouch.”

“Hey, I didn’t write it. Your girlfriend did.”

“Oh yeah, she did,” Nick said.

Amari noticed that he didn’t say “ex-girlfriend.” This confused her.

Nick was surprisingly good at running the lines. When it came time for his character to choke up and get teary-eyed, he did. Amari was impressed with his acting. But Nick knew that he wasn’t actually acting. His tears were real tears. He felt like a mess. Nick learned that they would use stock footage for the snowmobile death scene, and back in LA they’d film a green screen to show a close-up of a stunt double playing Griffin falling off the snowmobile while fake snow was flying around him.

***

Back at Ivy’s parents’ house, Ivy was having a heart to heart with her dad. She wasn’t sure if she should take the rewrite job onCaptain Midnight. She laid out the pros and cons. The pros were: lots of money, the movie might get made, she might get another credit, and she’d be back in LA.

Her dad listened patiently. Nodding. “And the cons?”

There really weren’t any. “Well, I’d be rewriting someone else’s work. Or fixing someone else’s mistakes. And I’d have to work with Drew again, which isn’t necessarily a con. I just don’t know where we stand. He can be controlling. But then again, so can any producer.” He nodded again. He really was a good listener. “So, what do you think? Do I take theCaptain Midnightjob?”

Mitch looked at Ivy thoughtfully. “Well, it’s not always about the money.” Now it was her turn to nod. “And you’ve just wrapped up your first original script which you liked writing. You got to write your own material and not fix someone else’s.”

“That’s a good point.”

“Also, you just paid off your student loans with this movie. So you’re not in debt anymore.” Mitch paused.

“So?”

“I wouldn’t rush to take theCaptain Midnightrewrite. Unless you’re crazy about the script. You’re building a brand, Ivy. Making a name for yourself. Rewriting someone else’s words isn’t going to help you.”

“Wow. I never thought about it that way.”

“Well, you should. You’ve come a long way in the past five years. It’s been a struggle but now you’re in the big leagues. I’d hate to see you take a step backward.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She was truly surprised by his advice. She’d been sure that he’d say to take the money, take the rewrite job. Ivy hugged her dad. “Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, Ivy.”