The Cast Page 6

  Anne and Maggie are running the business, and are doing well. Loch and Bill are flying missions in the war as fighter pilots.

  A representative from the military comes to talk to Anne, and asks if she will sign up for the WASPs to ferry planes for the military across the Atlantic, without troops, which is a potentially dangerous mission. The WASP representative explains they are using women for these flights so they can spare the men for combat. She wouldn’t be doing it all the time, just when they needed her. The WASPs are civilian volunteers, and paid a small fee. She agrees to sign up as her contribution to the war effort. She will do it when she is needed, and still be able to run her business.

  When Anne tells her mother, Hannabel begs her daughter not to do it, and insists that she could be shot down by Germans flying over the Atlantic, but she’s a good, steady pilot. Anne is determined, and finally Hannabel agrees to move in, to help her and stay with the kids when she is on missions. We see a softer side of Hannabel, who is terrified for her only daughter. Maggie wants to volunteer too, but she isn’t old enough, and Anne needs her at home.

  We see Anne flying ferrying missions with the WASPs and the other female pilots she meets. Anne and Maggie continue to run the business, which makes just enough to give them much needed additional income. Anne has some close calls while ferrying, but she is never injured or shot down.

  Before the war ends, Loch’s plane is shot down and he is killed. And not long after, just before the war ends, their son Bill is shot down and killed too. Anne receives her last letter from Loch, telling her how much he loves her, after he is dead. Hannabel is now sympathetic and feels sorry for her daughter.

  As Kait wrote the words, tears poured down her cheeks. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath and then wrote on, as the story flew out of her.

  As the war ends, Maggie is twenty-two and a terrific pilot. Anne is forty-four, Greg twenty, and Chrystal nineteen, and both of the younger ones are still trouble. The family is devastated over the loss of Loch and Bill. They have two flags and two gold stars in their window.

  Anne tries to figure out what to do now to support the family. Does she sell Loch’s planes? Get a peacetime job? Continue trying to make ends meet with flying lessons and small charters? She comes up with an idea to use their larger, older planes to start an air freight business, and she and Maggie will fly the planes. They need Greg and Chrystal to help in the office. And Hannabel stuns them all by telling them to put her to work too. She’s on board now, and wants to do everything she can to help. She apologizes to Anne for her criticism of Loch, and says she wanted her to have an easier life, but realizes now that he was a good man and how much they loved each other.

  Anne calls the freight business Wilder Express. They get a few small jobs at first and then bigger ones, and charge handsomely for them. Every job is a victory for them, as they carry cargo and are doing well. Hannabel is ornery with clients, but funny, and she works hard, and has her granddaughter Maggie give her flying lessons. Hannabel is feisty, ballsy, and tough, but also wonderful and speaks her mind. Anne is tireless and brave, and the business is holding its own. They’re able to buy larger surplus planes now to carry larger cargo. They fly in tough weather conditions. Anne and Maggie have some close calls in bad weather but always make it through. They hire a terrific young male pilot, Johnny West, when they can afford to. He’s a great guy, helps them immensely, and he and Maggie fall in love. (The younger two, Chrystal and Greg, continue to have misadventures.)

  There is resistance from other men in aviation to two women running an air freight business that is becoming noticeably successful. They deal with threats of sabotage to one of their planes, and Johnny, their young male pilot, is beaten up. The competition is nasty and rough, and tries to drive them out of the business, but Anne hangs on. And Hannabel is bold about confronting anyone she has to, and fearless, and maybe pulls a gun on one of them, some night when they are threatened. Hannabel, Anne, and Maggie are running the business, making money at it, and become profitable. They sell some of Loch’s planes to buy better ones. It’s a bittersweet moment for Anne when she parts with some of Loch’s beloved planes to help the business. Hannabel tells Anne one night that Loch would be proud of her, and Anne tells Hannabel he would be proud of her too.

  They trade some of Loch’s old planes for more war surplus aircraft they can use, but save one or two of his very favorites. Anne constantly has to deal with Greg and Chrystal’s bad behavior while running the business. And Maggie and their young male pilot, Johnny West, have a strong romance.

  As time goes on, they have a very, very successful business, which becomes a real money maker. Five years after the war, in 1950, it is a booming business they fought hard to build, and they still deal with constant prejudices against women. They hire more pilots, and maybe Hannabel flies a mission for them one night when they’re shorthanded. She’s a decent pilot now, and a feisty old woman we come to love. She has mellowed a little.

  We see them running the business through the 1950s, fighting for women’s rights and succeeding in a man’s world. In time, it is one of the most successful air cargo companies in the country, hard earned and hard won. They hire more male pilots, some of whom they have to fire when they give them a hard time. Maybe they hire another female pilot. They hire a war-hero pilot who knew Loch and applies for the job. He and Anne spar, but respect each other. They have some battles and eventually fall in love. He is the first man in Anne’s life since Loch died. It’s 1953 to 1955. Their relationship is heated and passionate from the first. The business is run by three generations of strong women: Hannabel, Anne, and Maggie.

  Kait sat at her computer, thinking about what she’d written, and was stunned by the story that had suddenly come to her. It was midnight, and she had been writing for fifteen hours. She called it The Wilder Women. It was the story of a family of women who had built an exciting business in a male-dominated industry and world.

  After she read it, Kait pulled out Zack Winter’s card and sent him an email to tell him she’d written a story and wondered if he’d like to see it. He responded two hours later that he would, and told her to email it to him. She hit the send button, and then wondered what she had done. What if he hated it? But even if he did, she knew she loved it. The Wilder Women had come to life for her. Kait was overwhelmed by pride and panic, and had no idea what Zack would think.

  The next day when she woke up, the snowstorm had turned into a blizzard and her office was closed. She read the story again and was excited by it, and she sat looking out at the snow and wondered what would happen next. But one thing she did know, she hadn’t had as much fun in years as she did writing about the Wilder women the day before. She dedicated it to her grandmother, and she knew in every fiber of her being that her grandmother would have been proud of her too.

  Chapter 5

  The blizzard took two days to clear, and when everyone went back to work, Kait said nothing about what she’d written, not even to Carmen. She was waiting to hear from Zack. And there was no word from him for three weeks. By then she had gone through various phases of embarrassment, certain that her story was terrible and he’d hated it but was too polite to tell her. So much so that he didn’t even respond to her. She was trying to forget she wrote it when he called her three weeks later.

  “I think my spending New Year’s Eve with Sam and Jessie turned out to be fortuitous for both of us,” was the first thing he said to her, and she didn’t dare ask him what he meant, or if he liked what she had sent him. She could barely focus on his words and braced herself for the worst. “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I’ve been busy,” he said, sounding rushed. “I’m coming to New York tomorrow for a meeting. Do you have time for a drink?” She assumed he wanted to tell her in person what was wrong with her story, and why it wasn’t suitable for a bible for a show.

  “Of course,” she said, still embarrassed to ha
ve bothered him with it. She’d been so excited when she wrote it, but had had time to cool off and doubt herself in the three weeks since she’d sent it. She was mortified, and it must have looked like an amateurish attempt to him. She thought that now, after reading it over several times. “Where should I meet you?” He suggested the Plaza and said he was staying there.

  “Six o’clock?” he offered.

  “That’s great.”

  He told her which bar to meet him at, and she sat at her desk at the magazine, staring at the computer, bracing herself for bad news the next day, and heavy criticism, despite his gracious opening when he called her. She couldn’t imagine him liking the story she’d written. She was a nervous wreck that evening in anticipation of the meeting. It took three episodes of Downton Abbey to calm her down late at night. But all she could think of was her own story now, trying to guess what he was going to say about it. Surely nothing good.

  She wore a serious black suit to work the next day, and looked like she was going to a funeral. She’d worn black stockings and high heels with it, and Carmen stared at her in surprise when she stopped in to see her that afternoon.

  “Did someone die?” she said half seriously. Kait was pale and seemed distracted, and there was terror in her eyes.

  “I have a meeting after work.”

  “It can’t be a happy one,” judging by the strained expression on Kait’s face.

  “Probably not.” Kait didn’t elaborate, and then Carmen left, without prying into the nature of the meeting.

  She took a cab to the Plaza after work, arrived ten minutes early, was seated at a table, and felt panicked when she saw Zack walk in. She was surprised to see him in a suit, with a pale blue shirt and a tie. There was no trace of his trendy style on New Year’s Eve. He looked like any New York businessman, which set the tone for their meeting as they shook hands.

  “Is everything all right? You look so serious,” he said, as he sat down across from her at the table in the Oak Bar.

  “So do you.” She smiled at him, and he could see that she was scared. They ordered drinks before he said anything, he asked for scotch, and she for a glass of wine she was too nervous to drink. Nothing in years had frightened her as much as this meeting. She was convinced he was about to tell her how bad her story was, and had probably decided to meet with her in person out of respect for his old friend Sam.

  “Did you hear what I said when I called you yesterday?” he asked her with a smirk. “I told you that our meeting was fortuitous. I get the feeling that you missed that word, and didn’t hear me.”

  She looked like she was about to cry. “I thought you were just being polite,” she said honestly, and he saw that her hand was shaking when she took a sip of her wine.

  “I’m not that polite in business.” He smiled at her, and wanted to put her out of her misery quickly. “You wrote a terrific story, Kait. It would make a fantastic bible for a series. The female characters in it are wonderful, and you could go on for years with the subplots after the backstory. I didn’t want to get back to you until I had something concrete to tell you, and I think I do. I took two meetings last week about it, and another one two days ago. I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but I think you may be my new good luck charm. I went to the cable networks I thought were right for it, and one of the major networks that I wanted can really use a show like this. They just had a series fall apart on them, and they canceled it. They have a gaping hole in their programming for next fall. They want to go with this, Kait. The Wilder Women is just what they need. It’s still a little rough around the edges and it needs some work, but the right screenwriter can do it with you. They want us to develop it and get them a script as soon as we can.” He beamed at her as he spoke, and Kait looked like she was in shock.

  “But I can’t write a script, I don’t know how,” she said as she set her glass down and stared at him, trying to understand what she’d just heard. It was the last thing she had expected to hear from him.

  “I don’t expect you to write the script. We’ll get a screenwriter for that. I already talked to the one I want. She’s finishing a project right now, which is lucky too. She’s young, but she’s very good. You have to trust me on this, I’ve worked with her before. I sent your story to her, and she wants to do it. She’s already written two successful shows. The network canceled one of them because they had trouble with the star, not because of the writing. I think she could do a fantastic job for you on this.” He was all business as he talked to Kait and had thought of everything. He was brilliant at this.

  “Okay, wait a minute. I’m trying to understand. A cable network wants the story, and you already have a screenwriter to write the script?”

  “Basically, yes. We have to see what the writer gives us, and if we’re happy with it, and if the network is. If we like it, we lock her in. If we get the right screenwriter, they want thirteen shows initially and nine more after that, if we get lucky.” He was used to success, but Kait wasn’t, this was all new to her.

  “Oh my God,” Kait said and closed her eyes, and then opened them and looked at him. “Are you telling me that they’re going to turn my story into a series, just like that?”

  “We have a few hurdles to get over first. We all have to like the script. We’ve got to find the right actors for it—that’s crucial, preferably some really strong female leads who can carry the show, and a director who’s good with women’s shows. The stars have to line up just right. If we can’t get the script to work, or the right cast, we won’t get the show on the air by October, which is what they need. But if everything falls into place, you could have a series on the air by next fall. And I have some ideas for a director, and someone I want to approach to play Anne Wilder. It’s a long shot, but I’m going to give it all I’ve got. She’s never done a series before, only feature films, but she’d be perfect for this if she falls in love with it. The screenwriter I have in mind can start working on it in two weeks. She wants to meet with you first.”

  Kait was smiling by the time he finished. It all sounded tentative and precarious, but it was actually possible that the story she’d written on New Year’s Day might wind up on the air.

  “We’d have to start shooting by the first of July, which doesn’t give us much time. I have a lot of work to do. And you need an agent to get the contract and money side of it set up. I can recommend several to you.”

  She didn’t want to tell him she would have done it for free, just for the thrill of it, but obviously she wanted to be paid, and had no idea what to expect financially. More than anything, she was ecstatic. The details could fall into place later. She wanted to savor the initial excitement of what was happening to her. And he was touched by how moved she was and how much it meant to her. He could see it in her eyes and the stunned look on her face.

  They spent two more hours talking, and he raved about the screenwriter again. Kait trusted his judgment. He knew everything about the business and she knew nothing. He wouldn’t tell her about the actors he had in mind. He wanted to do some research first about their availability before he got her excited for nothing, and he didn’t want to throw out names who might not be a real possibility.

  Kait thanked him profusely when they left each other in the lobby. He was going to a dinner meeting, and she wanted to go home and just enjoy the moment or run around her living room screaming. Nothing this exciting had ever happened to her before. And this was only the beginning. It was hard to imagine what would come next. He had explained it all to her, but she had forgotten half of it by the time she got home. She was feeling dazed. And she didn’t want to tell her children yet, until she was sure everything was moving forward. Maybe after they knew the screenwriter would work out, and she had signed a contract. Maybe then it would feel real. For now, it felt like a dream she was having, and she was afraid she would wake up. She had forgotten to ask Zack how much time would be in
volved, and if she would still be able to write her column. She would have to. She wasn’t going to give up her job of nineteen years for a pipe dream that might fall apart.

  When she got to her apartment and took off her coat, she sat down on the couch and tried to imagine what all of it meant. She felt like she was traveling in a country where she didn’t speak the language and needed everything interpreted for her. She was suddenly a stranger in her own life. But whatever came next, she knew it was going to be one of the most exciting things that had ever happened to her. She could hardly wait for it to start. She lay in bed for hours that night, wide awake, running everything Zack had said through her mind. What she could remember of it. There was so much to think about. She didn’t even watch Downton Abbey to calm her down. She laughed to herself, thinking that soon she would have her own series. How amazing was that!

  * * *

  —

  Zack called her the next morning to go over some of the details again. He wanted her to come to L.A. to meet with the screenwriter in two weeks, and spend some time going over everything with her. And he wanted to introduce her to two agents while she was in L.A. and said she would need one quickly for her contract. And by then he thought he’d have a better handle on what actors were available, and they could work on the casting together. That was an important part of the package for the network, and so was the director. He said he was planning to go top-of-the-line, which sounded great to her. It was all thrilling. She thanked him seriously again before they hung up and she left for work. They had agreed that she should take two weeks off to go to L.A. if possible, and she had to ask the magazine for the time. It shouldn’t be a problem, but she had to let them know. They were always flexible about her days in the office, and she could take her work with her, and write her column and blogs on the plane or in L.A.