Wandering Heart (9781101561362) Read Online Free Page A

“but I think it’s only fair to warn you, this is a big group that includes some prima donnas. It will be challenging.”
    “We can handle it. No worries,” Liza replied, sounding far calmer than she actually felt.
    Judy sat back, looking reassured. “Let me start at the beginning. When we came to the island the first time, we were scouting for outdoor scenes. We found the beach below this property. It’s perfect. We’ll definitely shoot down there.”
    “Really? That’s exciting,” Liza said, feeling the same goose bumps she had felt earlier that day, seeing all the cameras set up on the village dock. It was silly she knew, but she couldn’t help it.
    “We’ve heard that the road between the mainland and the island washes out pretty often. So we thought it would be more efficient ifwe housed the crew and some of the cast out here. Right now the crew is in a motel just outside of town. But it will cost tons of money if they can’t get over to the island to work when we need them here.”
    “I see your problem. There has been a lot of rain this summer. How many rooms do you need?”
    Judy told her the number. “Some of the guys can bunk together. They’re used to that.”
    “I think we can accommodate that number of guests. No problem.”
    They would have a full house, packed to the rafters. But Liza was thrilled. She hadn’t had that many people staying at one time since June, when the inn had hosted a wedding, and that was just for a long weekend.
    “The big stars and the executive team will be staying in Newburyport. So we don’t have to worry about them,” Judy added.
    Liza had been worried about entertaining the big stars and was honestly relieved to hear that they were taken care of. There were several far fancier hotels in the nearby town, some with spas and all the amenities. She could even guess where the stars might be staying.
    “We sometimes have long breaks between shooting, especially outdoor scenes. The light and the weather … who knows what. Normally, the actors rest in their trailers, but it’s hard to bring the trailers out here. There’s no place to hook them up and other complications. So we will need rooms for the stars just for pit stops. Nice rooms,” Judy added, smiling a little too widely.
    Liza guessed she was wondering if the rooms would be up to her standards. Liza was wondering the same thing. She had only taken over the inn in March, after her aunt died, but she had renovated almost every room.
    “I can show you the rooms as soon as we’re done here,” Liza promised. “Almost every room has been freshly decorated.”
    “That sounds great. If it’s anything like the downstairs, I’m sure it’s lovely,” Judy said quickly. “There is also the matter of feeding everyone while we’re filming,” she continued. “We normally do that with catering trucks but it’s hard to get those out here and up and running as well.”
    “So you need the inn as home base while you’re shooting, and some of the crew will stay a few nights. Is that it?”
    Judy laughed. “Basically, yes. But you make it sound so easy.”
    “That’s what we do here.” Liza shrugged. “We give people a comfortable place to sleep and plenty of good food. And a little peace and quiet,” she added.
    Before Judy could reply, Claire appeared again, carrying a tray of dessert dishes. She served Judy, Zach, and Liza and poured the iced tea into tall glasses decorated with sprigs of fresh mint and thin lemon slices.
    “Wow … this is … outrageous,” Judy said between mouthfuls of crumble. She pointed at her dish. “I bet it has a million calories, but I can’t resist. You really made this?” She stared up at Claire in disbelief.
    Claire nodded. “And the ice cream. Though it got a tad frosty in the freezer. It’s best right out of the churn.”
    “Tastes fine to me,” Zach said. He looked over at Judy, and they seemed to silently agree on something.
    Once the crumble was finished, which