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“We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.” – Patrick Rothfuss
“So, now that the filming is over, what are you going to do?”
Grant sighed. “I don’t know. I need some time away, but…. You know how it us. There are always people around who want something: a picture, an autograph, a comment…”
“Your dick,” Katie chimed in, causing them all to laugh.
Grant groaned. “Oh, don’t remind me. That blond…”
“Oh, she was going to rape your ass,” one of his co-stars commented. “I swear, she would have drugged you to get you in bed.”
“Didn’t she go to jail,” Katie queried, lips pursing.
“Oh, yeah,” the man responded, pushing the hat back off his forehead. “She was certifiable. He was her destined love, she was going to have his babies and all that.”
“God. That’s horrible! Fans are great, but sometimes they can be a bit much,” Katie commented, collecting her things.
“Do they take reservations in Antarctica,” Grant asked facetiously.
“If you really want to get away, I know a place,” Katie said as she collected her things. “It’s a friend of mine’s place. She doesn’t allow many people there, and you really can’t just happen upon the place. It’s literally out in the middle of nowhere.”
“What, like a cabin in the woods?”
Katie snorted, trying not to laugh. “Yeah, no. More like a mansion in the forest. All the luxuries of a resort, with none of the pitfalls. No cameras, no fans, no intrusions. Just six weeks of peace and quiet and freedom.”
“So, is your friend some kind of wealthy recluse,” the other man asked, his grin never lessening, “or is it just a vacation home?”
“I think she’d agree with recluse,” Katie admitted. “But aren’t a lot of big name authors a little quirky?”
The three of them laughed before Grant and Katie parted ways to head for their trailers.
“Your friend won’t mind you bringing a guest?”
Katie looked over at him and smiled lightly. “Nope. I bring people from time to time. Some of them have become good friends with her, too, and go visit her from time to time.”
“Sounds friendly for a recluse,” he teased.
Katie’s smile retreated a bit. “She…. Does it out of necessity, I guess you could say. The idea of random people coming up to her asking questions, taking pictures, finding out where she lives and all of that just terrifies her.”
“Oh,” Grant said in realization, “she doesn’t like the spotlight.”
“Not even a little,” Katie confirmed. “She even writes under two different pen names.”
“I can appreciate the want for privacy. I mean, I love the attention, most of the time. There are a lot of really cool people who just appreciate your work, and it’s fun to meet them. But, it’s definitely not for everyone,” Grant admitted.
“So, you in or out?”
Grant chuckled. “I guess I’m in.”
That was how Grant found himself in the back of the third vehicle since they arrived in Maine seeing nothing but endless trees for at least 20 minutes, next to Katie who had dozed off over an hour ago. Outside, it was all but untouched forest, consisting of pine, spruce, and a lot of paper birch along the sides of the road. Beautiful, but monotonous after a while. He went through his phone, checking his messages and emails to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. He was hoping he wouldn’t be bothered for at least a month. Neither had any immediate projects, so their vacation was open-ended.
“We will be arriving in about 10 minutes,” the driver announced.
Grant reached over to shake Katie’s shoulder gently. “Hey. Wake up, Katie. We’re almost there,” he called quietly. “Wake up.”
Her eyes opened and she shifted to sit fully upright. She took a deep breath, glancing out the window next to her. “We’re about there?”
“Less than 10 minutes, ma’am,” the driver assured her.
“Oh, yea! I’ve missed this place,” she said with a happy smile. She turned to look at Grant. “Trust me when I say there is more than meets the eye here.”
Grant wasn’t sure what she meant, but it seemed the driver turned straight into the treeline, causing Grant’s heart rate to spike. That was just before he realized that instead of forest, he saw a long driveway that cut through the line of trees. Katie began to laugh.
“She likes the driveway to be hidden, to avoid people finding it easily,” she explained. “Like I said, she likes to keep unwanted people from finding her place.”
“That was crazy. How does anyone know where it is?”
“There’s a tree that works as a landmark,” she informed him. “It stands out from the others around it, because it’s the only one like it near the road.”
Grant looked back, though he realized he wouldn’t be able to see it as he did. He turned to look ahead again, only to see them pass an intersection in the middle of the tree-lined road. He frowned and looked at Katie. “I thought you said this was the driveway?”
“It is,” she acknowledged. “She built her workers houses on the land and they are set apart from hers, to let them have their own lives outside their jobs.”
“Oh,” he said, considering that for a moment before he looked back at her. “Just how big is this property?”
Katie shrugged, her lips twisting in thought. “Um… like 100 thousand or something like that, I think. She had to agree to conserve most of it and not to develop heavily. She has her own forestry team who does things like clean-up and surveys and all that stuff.”
“So, sort of like a private reserve?”
Katie nodded. “Yeah. She wanted to keep the majority natural to begin with, so she laid out her pans and the state ok’ed it.”
“Maine wants to keep most of the land undeveloped,” Grant asked, puzzled.
“They are proud of the nature aspect of their state. People still make homemade everything from soaps to candles to furniture. It’s part of why Dee set up here, in fact.”
“So, kind of old country type people.”
Katie nodded, looking around the driver to see ahead. “It should be coming into view in just a minute.”
Grant leaned forward to see the place they would be staying for at least the next month. All he saw at first was the trees and then flowers began to appear among them for a little while before they abruptly stopped and the area opened up to reveal a clear area, with a driveway circling in front of the driveway and a side building that looked like a garage for a half dozen vehicles. Both it and the house were made of wood and stone, with vines of morning glories, moon flowers, and roses covered the outside between windows and doors. It appeared the roofs of each were covered with solar panels.
“It’s way bigger than it looks,” Katie said, as if reading his mind. “These are just the top two floors. Half of the house is partially underground.”
