Chapter 2
David boarded the plane and discovered that he shared the flight with Rick and Jacqueline. He would have liked to sit with them, but the flight was booked solid and they were all scattered about, so he took his seat and spent the time working on some script edits. He burned up cell minutes talking to Ian and Charlie, his new location manager. Ever since the ink dried on the new contract, a crew was working hard on Ian's property preparing sets, scouting locations, and doing all that tedious pre-production work that made Burned look so good. He was glad for their talents, because if he had to do it himself, he would be a nervous wreck. For two weeks, he'd spent late nights second guessing himself and having nightmares that the whole thing would fall apart. The only thing that kept him sane was the thought of the protesters' faces as he left the offices to head for the airport. They heard the news. It was impossible to keep it quiet, especially once the city of Miami discovered how much money they stood to lose because Burned was shut down in their town. Angry faces that registered betrayal stared at him. Well, if they hadn't turned their backs on him and betrayed the show, this never would have happened. They had only themselves to blame.
David smiled as he looked out the window and bid the sun goodbye. He knew the weather would be cloudy once they pierced the thick blanket below the plane, but he didn't expect to see a new cover of white over everything. "Oh crap," he whispered.
"Isn't it gorgeous? I love coming home to snow," the woman beside him said with a light tone as the wheels bounced on the runway once before hitting hard.
"I was told the snow was almost gone."
She shrugged. "Welcome to March in Oregon. You never know what you're going to get."
He rubbed his eyes and asked himself why he listened to Ian.
David spent just enough time at his hotel to check in, throw his suitcase down on the bed, and call his wife to let her know he made it okay. He tried to keep the tone of his voice positive, but there was no way he could hide his reticence. "I think I made the biggest mistake of my life agreeing to this."
"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic? You just got there! How bad can it be?"
David glanced out the window and saw a few flakes flutter to the ground. "It's snowing, Suze. It's snowing! It's like, what, 85 degrees in Miami right now?"
"Not exactly. It's 72. The sun went down and it got cold."
"Cold." He laughed thickly. "That is not cold. Thirty two is cold, and that's what it is right now. The bank across the street has a thermometer, and that's what it says!" He let out a long breath. "This was a dumb idea."
"Honey, it's all going to work out for the best. Just plow ahead...um...you know what I mean."
"If that was meant to be a joke, it wasn't funny."
"Sorry." The line fell silent for a few seconds. "Just relax, okay? After you left, Murray called. He said that the crews are talking about starting up negotiations again, so maybe this will be over by the time you get one episode in the can." He heard her smile over the distance. "Then you can bring Michael, Fiona, Sam, and Jesse...and Maddie...home."
His phone beeped, letting him know that another call was coming in. "Yeah, we'll see, honey. Keep me informed, okay?"
"Will do, sweetheart. We miss you."
"Miss you too. Give the kids hugs for me. I gotta get going. Love you."
"Love you too." The phone went dead, literally.
"Crap, I forgot to charge it." Grumbling under his breath, David searched his luggage for the charger, but he couldn't find it. He checked his carry on, but it wasn't there either. His shoulders slumped, and he glanced up at the ceiling as he muttered, "Okay, why is this my life?"
Discouraged, he left his gear in chaos, stuffed the phone into his pocket, and decided to head out to Ian's place. He owned an iPhone too, and no doubt he could bum a charge there. The snow was falling thick now, and the roads were icy. He wasn't well versed in driving in this kind of weather, since he was a SoCal boy, and with all the time spent in Miami, snow was a very rare commodity in his life. He probably irritated a couple dozen drivers, but he played it safe driving out of town and onto the rural road that would take him to Ian's wild, sprawling property. A small part of him had to admit that it was kind of pretty how the snow stuck to the evergreens, but he was too busy to study it. With the way the road curved, on a good day he would have to keep his eyes on where he was going. Today, he had both hands tightly gripping the wheel.
He missed the simple, nondescript entrance and cursed under his breath as he jammed on the brakes. Despite the anti-lock system, the light compact car fishtailed, and as he tried to straighten it, he unintentionally parked it in a ditch.
"Great! Just great!" He banged on the steering wheel in frustration before trying to back it out with no success. He turned off the engine, unlatched his seatbelt, and carefully opened the door and climbed out. The vehicle was at such a steep angle, nose first, which made it difficult to keep the door open and escape. But he made it. He slammed the door a little too hard, swiped a few flakes off his new winter jacket, and walked back to Ian's drive. He was glad he bought the jacket, because it wasn't like he could just walk up the drive a couple hundred feet and get to the front door in short sleeves.
It wasn't even paved and was more like a trail than a driveway; and he was wearing sneakers. The two ruts bore the tracks of several vehicles, and he got a little satisfaction when he saw a deep tire track to the side where a large pickup must have slipped off the beaten path. So he wasn't the only one with issues in this weather. As he neared the house, which he saw on an incline and tucked away behind the bare trees and some evergreens, he heard the sound of chainsaws, power tools, and hammering. He smelled the freshly cut wood. It was a sign of progress. Now, if he could just get some help to pull his rental car out of the ditch, maybe the day wouldn't end on such a sour note after all.
Up ahead, a pickup truck sat in the driveway. The garage was open, and an Outback and F-150 were housed inside. He decided to go towards the noise and approached the clearing to the right of the house where he found Ian and Charlie overseeing the work. They were appropriately bundled up for the weather in parkas, thick gloves, and heavy boots. Ian said something to Charlie, then turned. His face lit up at the sight of the show's creator.
"Hey, Dave, you made it! I was trying to call you earlier but you didn't pick up. I was starting to worry about you, like maybe you changed your mind about this." He looked beyond David and his brow furrowed. "Where's your car? Or did you take a taxi out here?"
His teeth were starting to chatter. "My car...is in a ditch...just past your driveway." The beauty around him almost made David forget his misery, until Ian brought up the missing vehicle. He should have held out for a 4x4, but he was trying to be frugal. Now it was costing him in pride, if nothing else.
Ian grimaced. "Yeah, if you miss the curve, it can be hard to get in here in this weather."
"Can someone get me out, or do I have to call a tow truck? Which I can't do because my stupid phone died and I couldn't find my charger!" He wanted to punch something, but he restrained himself.
"No problem, Dave. Follow me." He turned to Charlie. "Chucky, think you can handle things here?"
Charlie gave him a look. "Of course, Ian. I've got everything under control."
"Awesome. Okay, Dave, let's go rescue your car." Ian led David to the garage, and he got into the passenger side of a black Ford F-150. Ian expertly drove him back out to the road without a single slip, and David figured it must have been Charlie who slid off the path. A couple of cars on the main road passed by slowly, the drivers gawking at the vehicle in the ditch, and when they were safely past them, Ian pulled out onto the snowy road.
"That's it right there," David muttered, embarrassment staining his cheeks.
"Oh, that's not so bad. Look on the bright side, you missed the tree!" Ian pointed to a tamarack that was a little too close for comfort near the car's right fender. "See that nasty gash? That's where my son hit it once with his car. It wasn't pretty." He pulled the truck ahead of the car and put it into park. "I've got some ties that we'll hook up to the front end and slide it out of there like it's no big deal."
"Just be careful, it's a rental."
Ian waved a hand in dismissal. "No problem, Dave, I've done this before. You just get used to it." He paused and looked up from his work. "But if I were you, I'd get something a little more...solid...for driving around here."
"No wonder the rental agent looked at me funny when I insisted on something small because it was cheap. Now I know why it was such a bargain."
"Everybody has four wheel drive. That's just the way it is."
"But it's March. Shouldn't the snow be gone?"
Turning from hooking up the car to a couple of heavy duty nylon straps, Ian replied, "Dave, we're in the freakin' mountains. Snow happens. Not like the rest of winter, but yeah, we sometimes get snow until April or May, but that's pretty rare." He absently swiped a couple flakes off his nose before they melted. "I thought you planned for that in the scripts."
"Well, um...not exactly." He shrugged. "Hey, give me a break! Most of our writers are natives of areas that don't get this cold! They don't know how to write snow, and I didn't tell them to plan for it." He rubbed his forehead to try to stem the rising headache. "Why did I let you talk me into this?"
"Hey, it's not my fault. You're the one who said this was a...creative...idea. You liked it." He tightened the ends that were attached to the trailer hitch. "Okay, I'm ready to pull it out. You just have to steer. And make sure it's in neutral first, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. No problem." David got into the car, shifted it into neutral, and gave Ian the thumbs up.
The truck engine roared and the tires slipped on the snow, but he continued to slowly give it gas. The car's front end rotated around and up the embankment. All the while, David watched the rest of the body slide toward the tamarack. The gash mocked him, daring him to get closer. He cringed and waited for the distinctive crunch of pricey body work, but it didn't happen. The car followed the path the truck's tires blazed and soon it was free of the trap.
Ian left the truck running and hurried to undo the straps. "Think you can get that little peanut car into my driveway without another incident?" He winked at David to let him know he was just teasing him, but little did he know just how frazzled the poor guy was.
He just glared at Ian. "I'll have no problem." He didn't wait for him to put away the ties and get back into his truck. David turned the wheel sharply, slowly entered the drive, and carefully drove the lane up to the house. He parked in a cleared space next to the garage. Ian came barreling down the drive close behind and pulled into the open garage like it was no big deal to drive in snow. David remembered that Ian was a Michigander. He hated Michigan drivers. Showoffs.
"You know what, Dave? You look like you could use a nice warm fire and something hot to drink. Come on inside."
Okay, so this Michigander wasn't so bad. He smiled even as his shoes squeaked from the dampness caused by melting snow. "That's the best invitation I've had all day, let alone this week. Thanks."