“Were you ever able to find your birth mother?” Kristin asked quietly.
“Unfortunately, by the time I'd found her and she agreed to see me, she lay dying in a hospital.” Johanna's lips trembled. “She passed away literally only moments before I arrived.”
Tears sprang to Kristin's eyes. “How tragic. I'm sorry.”
Johanna drew a shuddering breath. “It wasn't meant to be. But I still have the parents who raised me and I wouldn't trade them for the world.”
“That's how I feel about my adoptive parents,” Kristin admitted.
“You're adopted?” Frankie asked, surprised.
“Yes.”
Frankly looked intently at her. Hopefully this was the opening they needed to find out exactly why she was in Charlestown since they already knew her adopted parents were from Philadelphia. “Are you originally from Charlestown?”
“No. I was born and raised in Philadelphia.”
Frankie lifted an eyebrow. “This is a beautiful hotel.”
She laughed softly. “I love it. I could never afford to live in a place like this. Maybe if I become a big star I could. My fiancée is taking care of my expenses while I'm in town. I'm actually here for two reasons,” she explained.
A baby's cry sounded from one of the bedrooms. Kristin looked toward the door. “Please excuse me for a minute.”
They nodded as Kristin hurried to the first door.
After she closed the door, Frankie turned to Johanna. “Some place.”
“I'll say.” She frowned. “I need to find a way to get her to tell us the baby's father's name.”
“She might not,” Frankie warned. “Tread lightly.”
“I'll give it my best shot.”
Frankie looked admiringly at her. “I love the synopsis of the movie. You almost had me in tears.”
“I had to go with something off the top of my head.”
“Well, I couldn't have done it any better. You went right to the emotions. She'll feel that bond with you. You're doing a fantastic job.”
The door slowly opened and Kristin appeared with a chubby baby in her arms. “This is my daughter, Chloe,” she beamed looking down at the child who was waving her chubby arms.
“What a beautiful baby,” Johanna said. “How old is she?”
“Thank you. She's three months old,” she replied. “Will I get enough notice for the screen test so that I can make arrangements for her care?”
“Yes,” Frankie said. “Kristin, as far as we're concerned the part is as good as yours. And we do have a lot of input into who will be in the movie. When filming begins you can bring the baby with you and arrange for her care.”
“Where will the filming take place?”
“Seattle. We hope it will take no more than three months, but of course, that's if everything goes according to schedule. We're still looking to fill minor character parts before we can even begin filming.” Frankie made a cooing sound as her eyes drifted to Chloe. “Are you going to be in Charlestown indefinitely?”
She cleared her throat. “It's hard to say. I hope my business here will be wrapped up in the next few weeks. I'm not sure if I'll stay or go back to Philly. Things are a little shaky right now between my adoptive parents and me. They're old fashioned and wished I was married before having a baby.”
“I'm sure they'll come around in time,” Johanna said. “How can they not, with such a beautiful granddaughter.”
“Oh, they do dote on Chloe. They're just upset that I haven't introduced them to her father or really said much about him to them. He thinks it's better to wait until he can meet them in person. But he has to take care of some personal details first.”
The more Kristin talked, the more intrigued Frankie became. But then of course, she reasoned, Thatcher Longman wouldn't want his relationship with Kristin made public or he'd lose everything. Kristin was forced to keep his secret. And Johanna and she had to dig it out of her somehow. They had to find a way to get Kristin to mention Thatcher's name.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Johanna asked.
“How did you find me? I mean I've had to bust my butt tracking down auditions. I never dreamed a producer would actually come to me. That only happens to big stars and all I have are a few local commercials to my credit.”
Johanna smiled warmly. “You just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It does still happen. We've been scouting locations in Charleston for a couple of other projects our parent company is involved in. We stopped into Kramer Insurance Company to pick up our insurance papers and the minute we set eyes on you we remembered seeing the commercials you'd done. You have the look we've been searching for, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised we were. We knew then and there that we wanted you for our picture.”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “I don't remember seeing either of you at Kramer's.”
“You were with a very nice looking gentleman,” Johanna went on. “In fact, Alex and I mentioned how we hoped we could catch the same chemistry between the main characters in our movie that the two of you so obviously have.”
Kristin smiled broadly. “Very few people know this, but he's my fiancé and Chloe's father.” Her face reddened. “Thatcher's good to me and our baby. We met a couple of years ago. He was married then. In fact, I met his wife once. She actually tried to help me to get my career started. I thought she was gentle and kind, but I never knew the hell she put Thatcher through. I don't know how he stood it.”
Frankie lifted a skeptical eyebrow.
“So, he's divorced?”
“Well, not quite, but he might as well be. He hasn't had a relationship with his wife in years. Shortly after they married, he realized too late that they had nothing in common. She never wanted kids and that just about killed him. He loves kids and he dotes on Chloe.” She
