Why bother eating?

Sam signaled with a thumb up. “I know, Kelly. I remember.’’

“He remembers a lot of things,’’ Tilton muttered under his breath. “What’s he even doing here, besides shadowing you? That guy’s totally in love with you, Kelly.’’

Watching Sam disappear into the trees, she shook her golden curls. “I doubt that, Greg. Even if he is, what am I supposed to do about it?’’

“You could try telling him the truth.’’

I was hoping they’d forgotten I was there, and would reveal something interesting. But Kelly whispered, making a joke. “Please, Greg, not in front of the children.’’ Her gesture took in the raccoons and me.

He laughed, and the secret confessions mood was broken. I was still racking my brain for the scoop on these two. Had they ever been a couple? Mama had nothing stored in her vast reservoir of Greg Tilton trivia, which made me think they hadn’t. Or, at least not publicly. I decided to find out if maybe all those People magazines stashed at Hair Today might have missed something.

“How long have you two worked together?’’ Starting innocently, I’d inch my way to more personal questions.

“Don’t Go in the Water.’’ Tilton mimicked a deep-voiced movie announcer.

“Say what?’’

“That was the title of our first film together. What was it, Kelly? Fifteen, sixteen years ago?’’

“Twenty-one.’’

“Man, we’re old!’’

“Speak for yourself,’’ she said. “I’m ten years younger than you.’’

He gave her a long look.

“Well, almost.’’ She smiled slyly. “Anyway, all I remember from that shoot is I nearly froze my ass off, and I screamed a lot.’’

“You were a great screamer. Not bad in a bikini, either.’’ He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“How’d you have time to notice? You got killed in the first reel.’’

“Yeah, my character didn’t even have a name. I was Surfer No. 2.’’

As they went deeper into memory mode, I studied their body language, searching for outward signs of their relationship. Were they friends? Foes? Lovers? Tilton had joined Kelly on the fallen log. Their knees weren’t touching, but they were close. The two of them seemed more chummy today than they had the first time I saw them together.

“So, you’ve been friends a long time?’’

“Long enough,’’ Kelly said.

“Long enough to know where each other’s skeletons are buried,’’ Tilton added.

Before I could start to unearth some of those skeletons, Kelly looked at her wristwatch. “Gotta shove off,’’ she said. “I don’t want to keep Sam waiting.’’

“You’ve kept him waiting for years. What’s another few minutes?’’

She punched her co-star in the arm. Judging from his grimace, it wasn’t a playful punch. “You must not have heard me ask you nicely to stop discussing private matters.’’ Her voice was cold; no trace of the famous laugh.

“Don’t mind me.’’ I made the lock sign over my lips. “I’m a vault.’’

“Yeah, we’ve heard that before, haven’t we, Kelly?’’

She ignored him, turned to me. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice woman. But people like us don’t spill our guts to people like you.’’

People like me?

“People like you,’’ I drew out the words, “who don’t know enough to stay away from wild animals, shouldn’t be allowed out into the woods. By the way, those adorable little critters you love so much can also carry rabies. Be careful.’’

“Are you taking notes, Greg?’’ Kelly asked sweetly. “Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if the world’s most famous action hero was done in by a raccoon?’’

I’d almost reached the corral when a snippet of conversation floated toward me through the trees.

“I’m not saying you should be a nun. Just don’t make a fool out of me.’’

The voice was Toby’s, striking a note between defiance and desperation. I ducked behind a myrtle bush, scaring a redbird into flight. Peeking through a branch, I saw the young star, still wearing his cowboy hat from the night before at the Eight Seconds Bar. A waterfall of red hair revealed his partner.

Looking nothing like a nun, Jesse wore a spaghetti-strap T-shirt, braless, and a pair of skinny jeans. A snake tattoo curved up around her belly button above the jeans’ hip-hugger waist. She leaned against the fence of the corral, right next to Toby. They held hands, fingers entwined.

“I’d never make a fool of you, Toby. I made a promise.’’

Whatever her vow had been, Jesse sounded like she sincerely meant to keep it. Then again, she was a professional actress. And I’d seen her performing last night at the bar.

They stood for a few moments without talking. The clouds in the sky were darkening. I noticed a fire ant mound on the ground just a foot or two away from my hiding spot. If these two weren’t going to reveal anything more compelling, staking them out wasn’t worth getting soaked by rain or feasted on by ants.

“Hey,’’ Toby’s face lit up with excitement. “Wouldn’t it be cool to take a couple of these horses out for a ride?’’

Jesse turned to survey the animals inside the corral. She shook her head. “No way. We’ll get into trouble.’’

The surprise I felt showed on Toby’s face, too. “Since when has getting in trouble ever stopped you? C’mon, Jess!’’

When he started to clamber up the fence, I knew I needed to put a stop to his plan. Stepping onto the path, I called out, like I’d just happened upon them. “Can I help you with something, Toby?’’

He quickly jumped off the fence. Sticking his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he shot me a guilty look. Now I knew how my sister, the principal, felt when she busted kids for sneaking cigarettes in the bathroom.

“I just wanted to pet some of the horses,’’ he lied.

“That’s fine. But I need to be at the corral if you want to get close to them. I’m responsible for making sure none of the horses—or the humans—get hurt out here.’’

He tugged at Jesse’s hand. ‘’Let’s go inside and check them out. Okay if we do that, Mace?’’

“It’s okay with me.’’ I looked at Jesse. It didn’t seem okay with her. She held on to Toby’s hand, but dug in her high-heeled boots when he tried to lead her to the corral’s gate.

“You know, we should really get going.’’ She shot a nervous glance at the biggest horse, a Percheron that had been cast to pull a plow in a farm scene.

“You can stay on this side of the fence,’’ I said to Jesse. “I’ll lead him over to you, if you want.’’

“Nah, I’m not in the mood.’’ She waved her hand like she couldn’t be bothered with the big draft horse. I’ve been around enough horse-shy people to recognize the signs, though. Jesse was afraid of horses.

“No problem,’’ I said. “Maybe another time.’’

“Whatev.’’ She tugged Toby away from the fence, and then turned to me.

“Besides, I’d rather talk to you than to some stupid horse. I’ve been wanting to ask you something since this morning.’’

“Ask away,’’ I said.

“How did it feel when that light almost killed you?’’ Her eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“Well, I’m not sure I had the time to really ‘feel’ anything at that moment. I can tell you I’m feeling a little stiff right now, from taking that tumble onto the hard ground.’’

“But what were you thinking? Did you think you were about to die?’’

“That’s a weird question.’’

“Well, did you?’’ she insisted. “Did you think about all the things you wouldn’t ever get to do? Did you feel sad? Were you frightened?’’

I glanced at Toby. He shrugged, seemingly embarrassed by her burning intensity.

“How the hell do I know?’’ I snapped at her. “Listen, even on my best days, I’m not big on talking about how things ‘feel.’ Plus, it happened so fast, I didn’t have time to get all emotional.’’

“Oh.’’ Her face fell.