Reading Online Novel

Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(19)



"Beckles." Brian's voice was soothing and calming, the way it always was when he was trying to talk her off the ledge.

She couldn't count the number of times she'd heard that tone. And each  time, whether it was because she was sure she was going to bomb on a  huge test, scared to get on a plane, or afraid to walk on the stage at  graduation to deliver the valedictory speech, it had had the desired  effect. Becca would immediately feel centered, calmer, steady.

More than once, she'd told Brian that he should consider being a hostage  negotiator for the police. She felt a little guilty that his talents  were wasted on her. He could probably talk jumpers off ledges and  convince hostage-takers to surrender.

He didn't need to say any more. The rest was implied. Becca knew that he  was calling her on the fact that there was no way she was doing this  for the money.

Okay … what would Brian believe? What … what … what …

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. She had it.

Becca's hands grew damp as she began the big-fat-whopper-of-a-lie story  she'd come up with on the fly. "I just …  I always do what everyone  expects me to do. I don't ever take chances or … go out of my comfort  zone. I thought that, even though, or actually because, this scares me  like nobody's business, I should do it." Taking a breath, she paused and  looked over at Brian's profile.                       
       
           



       

He was listening, and she saw that his shoulder's had relaxed. Whenever  he was worried, they tensed up. Yes. Hook. Line. And big-fat-lie sinker.

Figuring she was on a roll, she kept on rolling like Tina Turner. "I  mean, let's be honest. My life has a fairly predictable path. After I  graduate and complete my residency, I want to start my own, settle down,  and have a family. When would I ever get the chance to do something  like this?"

She was still turned, looking at Brian when his eyes cut over to her.  She didn't look away, even though that was exactly what she wanted to  do. She held her lying ground like a pro. Krista would be proud. She,  however, was surprised that her pants hadn't spontaneously caught on  fire because she was definitely a liar, liar.

Brian looked back at the road in front of them. Becca hoped it was  because he actually believed what she had told him, but it could just be  that he needed to keep his eyes on the road. Either way, she thought  that this would be a good chance to change the direction this  conversation was going.

"Is your mom excited that you're going to be on a reality show?"

Maggie Scott, Brian's mom, loved reality television. Growing up, Becca  always remembered Maggie talking about her ‘shows.' She'd loved Days of  our Lives, General Hospital, and One Life to Live. But when reality  shows splashed onto the scene, Brian's mom had definitely caught that  wave and ridden it.

"Yeah, she is." Brian smiled, a real smile, and Becca realized that it  was the first one she'd seen from him since he'd picked her up at the  airport the day before yesterday.

She loved Brian's smile. It wasn't just because of the deep dimple in  his right cheek. It was also because of the way his eyes lit up with joy  and no matter how old-or manly-he became, when he smiled, Becca still  saw the four-year-old boy who had saved her from certain embarrassment  when she'd gotten her dress stuck in the slide in pre-kindergarten.

The first day of pre-K, Brian had been coming down the slide right  behind Becca when she'd gotten stuck. Instead of crashing into her, he'd  stopped himself by positioning his gym shoes on the sides so he was  wedged in place. Then he'd gently held her arm so that she didn't slide  any farther down the slippery steel slide and carefully pulled the hem  of her dress from the crevice it had gotten stuck in. Once they'd slid  down, she turned to tell him thank you. The sun had shone through his  long, straight, light-brown hair, and he smiled at her and told her that  it was no problem, that it was his job to help because he was a ninja.  Then he asked her if she wanted to swing. She wasn't going to pass up  the opportunity to swing with a ninja (her own personal hero!), so she  happily agreed. It had been one of her ‘handful' moments.

They'd been inseparable since that day.

Until they'd left for college. That first year, she'd honestly thought  that the hardest part of being away from home would be that she'd miss  her family. Which she had. A lot. But to her surprise, the thing she'd  cried herself to sleep at night over, had felt like an open space of  deep ache inside of her chest, had caused her to totally lose her  appetite, had been the fact that she'd missed her best friend. She'd  missed Brian so much more than she'd ever known it was possible to miss  someone.

And that was before she was head over heels in love with him.

Or was it? Becca thought.

Before she could delve any deeper into that particular line of  questioning, Brian said, "After she got over the shock of you agreeing  to be a part of the show, she started talking to me about strategy and  how I should play the game."

"Strategy?" Becca asked.

Sure, she knew that this was a reality show and that there was a lot of  money on the line, but strategy had never even crossed her mind. Maybe  because the last thing she wanted to do was actually win.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. It's a dating game. How much strategy  could there possibly be?" Brian let out a forced laugh before  continuing. "But believe me. There is a lot. It all depends on what the  elimination process is. If it's challenges, if it's pairs, or if it's  individual. If there is voting. If the voting is from the other  contestants or TV viewers. I couldn't believe it when she started  breaking it down."

"Wow," Becca breathed out. She hadn't thought of any of that.

As she looked out the window, her stomach dropped when she saw the  ‘Welcome to Whisper Lake' sign on the side of the highway. She wasn't  the competitive type. Her head felt like it was a balloon about to pop.  Pairs. Individual. Internal voting. Viewership voting.                       
       
           



       

What had she gotten herself into?





Chapter Nine





"Whoa," Brian said as they pulled into what could only be described as a three-ring circus.

There were people everywhere carrying various pieces of equipment, four  large Star Waggons, and several large production trucks parked in front  of Stone Castle, which sat on a bluff overlooking Whisper Lake.

Brian had to admit that he was happy he'd finally get to see the  interior of the castle. Growing up, he'd always been curious about it.  The stories of the massive castle that overlooked not only the lake, but  also the town, were legendary. He knew that it was owned by the Stone  family. But that's about all the concrete knowledge he had. Of course,  he'd heard things growing up, especially around the campfire.

The one he'd heard the most was that an English Duke, William Stone, had  built the castle when he'd been banished to America in the late 1800s.  The story went that he'd been in love with a chambermaid and refused to  marry the woman his family had chosen. He'd smuggled the young maiden  he'd fallen in love with, in a crate on the cargo ship he'd sailed over  in. They'd lived happily as man and wife for over a decade before, one  day, like any other, he'd returned home to find the gruesome discovery  that his wife, Emilia, his one true love, had been brutally murdered.

The story went that William Stone, mad with grief, searched the woods,  the town, and the lake surrounding the castle day and night, looking for  her killer, until he finally dropped dead from malnutrition and  exposure. Supposedly, his mother heard of what had happened and, feeling  guilty for having sent William into exile, bought the land and the  castle in order to keep the last piece of her only son. And no one had  lived in it since, except the ghosts of William and Emilia, who roamed  the halls searching for each other in the afterlife.

Once, when Brian was up at the lake during the summer before sixth  grade, he and a few of his friends had scaled and then climbed over the  large, brick barrier that lined the property up to the drop-off of the  bluff. When they'd snuck up next to the house and were about to look in  the windows, large, white lights had shined down on them. Before you  could say, "Boo," he and his friends had been back up over that wall,  and they ran all the way down the hill without stopping until they  reached their camp.

As an adult, Brian realized that the lights that had shone on them were  probably just motion sensors, but as a kid, he and his friends had been  convinced that William's or Emilia's ghosts had been chasing them.