Raul Roderick is a famous action movie star. He’s known for being in rom-coms where he’s often undressed, and action movies that don’t demand acting skills. He’s always in the tabloids for bedding beautiful women, but there are whispers of a drug and alcohol problem that intrigue his many fans who want to “save him” from his demons.
When an indie director gives him the starring role in an adventure movie set in Minnesota, Raul is shocked that anyone actually thinks he has talent. He’s determined to show he does…until his demons remind him who is in control. The director bails him out of jail and to keep him alive until he can do the movie, sends the misbehaving actor up to stay in a cabin at the resort owned by his grandmother. He asks his favorite cousin, the woman who taught him to fish, hunt and camp when he was younger, to keep an eye on the bad boy so he doesn’t get into trouble again–and to try to teach him how to appear at home in the wilderness.
But is Raul, a city boy raised by a single mom, a Las Vegas showgirl, ready for the great outdoors? Or for people who really are what they seem? Can he learn to be honest, or is he doomed by his past? And when he falls in love for the first time in his life with the director’s cousin, will she ever believe a man she says, “lies for a living”?
Excerpt from when Veronica, the cousin, and the resort owner, Gram-Marie, meet Raul for the first time.
  Veronica was going through some of the bills as she sat in the kitchen chatting amiably with her grandmother. They both looked up when the outside door slammed loudly open, then shut. When Raul’s voice bellowed, Veronica was first shocked at his bad manners, then amused by the look on Gram-Marie’s face.
“I’ll go get him some coffee,” Veronica began, trying not to smile.
Marie’s eyes narrowed. “You do that. I’ll be out in a minute, once I get control over my temper so I don’t just throw him out on his spoiled-bratty ass.”
Veronica pushed open the swinging door and went out into the restaurant, trying to compose her face so that the anticipation she felt at watching Gram-Marie put someone in his place wouldn’t be too noticeable.
****
To Raul, the look of anticipation was what he was used to seeing on the face of his fans, so his ego being stroked like that made him somewhat more polite than he had intended to be. Besides, the woman really was good-looking, in a Nordic, blond-princess kind of way. She looked tall enough to be an Amazon, but light-skinned enough to actually have her light-blond hair be her natural color. She wore jeans tight enough to show off her ample curves, but too baggy to have been chosen to entice him. She had a sleeveless tee shirt on that said, SLR in big letters, with an asterisk to indicate that the smaller writing underneath it explained, Sorrenson’s Lake Resort–you’ve stayed at the rest, now try the best!
He became aware that he was staring at her breasts and cleared his throat before he spoke.
“Do you work here?”
She nodded slowly.
“Is there any coffee?”
“Sure. There’s some old stuff left in the pot, but I can get a new one going if you like. Not many folks come in for coffee in the middle of the afternoon…but then most of us have been awake for a long time.”
Sensing he was being criticized by the blond, pony-tailed waitress, he went on the offensive.
“I need some coffee and lots of it. Give me what’s left and make more. And I need a phone. What the hell is wrong with my cell phone? I can’t get a signal at all.” He glared at her as if this was her personal fault.
Unconcerned she poured him a cup of coffee and slid it onto his table before she turned to go back to the counter to start another pot.
“We don’t get any cell phone signal up here. You can get wi-fi if you are in the cafe here, but only in the main building…and it’s really slow. Most people who come up here like the fact that they aren’t reachable. It allows them to really relax, knowing the rest of the world can’t find them.”
Raul retorted, “Well in case you hadn’t notice, sweetie, I’m not most people. I need to be able to access my agent and my people whenever I want them. I want room service available, and I need to call that boy who has been driving me around, because once I’m done with my coffee and a few phone calls, he needs to drive me into town to the bars. There are some drinks and some hot women waiting for me, and I don’t wanna be late.”
Veronica snorted. “Hot women? In the local bars in Grand Marais? Maybe from their hot flashes! The young women around here are mostly married with babies. The rest of us work hard for our money. The only ones who have the time to hang around in bars have grown adult kids, so they are probably old enough to be your mother!”
Since he had no memory of what had happened in the bars in town, Raul was taking a moment to think up a retort, sipping at the over-cooked coffee in his cup, when the kitchen door swung open and a tiny elderly woman with white hair braided and piled on top of her head strode purposely into the restaurant.
“Gram-Marie, this is Raul Roderick, the actor that Jared is going to have star in his next movie. Mr. Roderick, this is Marie Yvonne Sorrenson, my grandmother and the owner of the SLR.”
Raul nodded politely at the old woman then turned back to the more interesting young blond to ask, “How do you know Jared?”
She smiled. “He’s my cousin. His mother is my father’s sister. He’s been coming here to spend the summer with us since he was a little boy.”
Marie spoke sharply, “And he learned better manners than you obviously did. He knows enough to show respect for his elders and look at them when they speak to him.”
Raul turned in surprise at the tone in her voice and before he could say anything she continued speaking, while staring him down.
“What did you say his name is, Ronnie?”
“Raul, Gram-Marie.”
“How is that spelled, girl?”
“R-A-U-L. It’s Hispanic.”
“Hmm, it’s spelled just like my late husband’s name was, only his started with a P. So I guess I’ll just call you Rall, so it rhymes with Paul.”
Shocked, Raul began to sputter, “But that’s now how you say it, old woman…”
Marie leaned over the table he was sitting at, and despite his size and his age, he immediately felt like an errant schoolboy about to be punished by the teacher.
“Let’s get something straight right now, young man! This is my place you are staying at, and only with my permission, and only because I have a soft spot in my heart for my grandson Jared. But that soft spot only goes so far. He asked us to keep an eye on you so you don’t kill yourself before he can direct you in his next movie. But after meeting you, I can’t figure out what he sees in you. Personally I don’t care if you have a death wish and want to drink and drug yourself to an early death, as long as you don’t take anyone else with you.”
She stopped to take a deep breath.
“And that’s another thing, Rall. My father was a Canadian Mounty and I was raised to follow all of the laws of the land. If I even suspect that you have brought anything illegal, like drugs, onto my property, I’ll have you escorted out the door and leave you with your suitcase out on the highway. It’s a long walk, about twenty miles, to get to Grand Marais. But don’t worry–by the time you have walked a few miles, the police will get there to give you a ride the rest of the way. Only problem is that if you think the service around here is slow, wait’ll you get some of their hospitality in the local jail, where they’ll be glad to make you feel as welcome as any other drug addict they pick up.”
Raul began to defend himself, “I don’t have any drugs here…what little I could find in town I did there, in the can…”
Marie pointed a finger into his face.
“Are you sure? You’ve been so messed up when Jake drives you back home after closing time, I don’t think you can even remember your own name. You’d better be sure, because if you do bring drugs onto my property I will have you arrested.”
Suddenly Marie smiled.
“Ronnie? Why don’t you go get our guest some of my soup, then he can have a piece of your sour cherry pie. He looks like he hasn’t eaten in a while. I’ll bet his disposition and manners will improve once he gets something in his stomach.”
Watch for the next excerpt, when Raul tries to kiss Veronica for the first time.
Leave a comment here if you’d like to read For the Love of His Life, in which a bad boy learns what’s really important in life, but almost loses it when his demons act up again. I’ll choose a winner to get the eBook from the comments later tonight.
Learn more at: www.fionamcgier.com
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