Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Read online

  Chapter 40

  LOLA

  I take the pillow off my head and bolt up from under the comforter when I hear the bedroom door open.

  Arlen.

  My heart stutters when I see how pale and bleak he looks.

  He walks over to the bed and sits down.

  “He didn't get it?” My voice rasps out the words through the monstrous lump in my throat.

  “He got it, all right.”

  Chapter 41

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  When Colin got home, Wendy was coming downstairs with her knapsack. The same one she had with her on the day she arrived.

  A million years ago.

  “All the clothes I bought while I was here,” she said. “I don't have a suitcase to put them in. I left everything piled neatly and sealed in two big garbage bags. They're on the bed in the guest room. Except what's in the washer right now. So, if you could please donate them. Give them to someone you know, if you know someone who needs them, or drop them off somewhere. I'd appreciate it.”

  Colin nodded. She walked down the rest of the stairs and across the hall. She stood in front of the door, peeking out the blinds on the long glass pane on the side.

  “My car should be here any minute.”

  “You ordered a car? Where's Ray?”

  “I said he should stick around in case you needed him. Since he pledged his fealty to you.”

  “I don't need him.”

  “That's between you and him. I'm leaving. For good.”

  Colin nodded to her back. “Wendy.”

  His voice was hard and cold, but Wendy turned to him.

  “Can you answer something for me?” he demanded. “That night, in Lola's office. You said you wanted me then, but I pulled back. This whole fake engagement, was it just a way to reel me in?”

  “No.”

  “And tonight? Your proposal to completely remove me from my life? That wasn't an attempt to get me to Los Angeles? Because if you took away everything I had here, I'd have no reason to stay, would I?”

  “Colin! I offered to remove myself from your life. I offered to give you up so you could have what you wanted most in the world. And you said no. You said you wanted me in your life.”

  “But not JUST you! I didn't want you to destroy everything else I loved!”

  “I was trying to SAVE what you love. You told me that the kids and what happened to them, that the kids had a safe place to land, you told me that you cared about that more than anything. And I was offering a way to give the kids exactly that.”

  “Without me!”

  “What choice did I have?”

  “You have a lot of choices, Wendy. You're rich. And young. And successful. You have a lot of choices for what you want to do with your life. You don't have to glom onto mine and wreck it just so you can rebuild it in exactly the way that suits you.”

  “That's NOT what I was doing. I was trusting in what you said to me.”

  Colin saw the lights pull into the drive. “Your car's here. Good-bye Wendy.”

  Her nostrils flared and she couldn't speak. Why? Why was she letting him break her like this?

  “Good-bye.” But she said it with resignation. Desolate confirmation.

  He shook his head. “Ease up on the drama, okay? You haven't even been here three weeks. This was a short hiatus for you.”

  “I was willing to commute!”

  Colin jutted his head forward. “Commute? Wow. Now you're really slipping right into our story.”

  The tears pushed into her eyes. “It was more than a story, Colin.”

  Colin stood up straight. “Wendy, I can't do this. You told me your life was one bizarre charade after another, and I won't be a part of any more lies.”

  “Okay,” she rasped. “I got it.” Wendy nodded as she looked around her. “You know, I'm going to miss this house. I really wanted to stay. I … well, I might as well tell you since this is the end. I wanted this to be … home. And I wanted you to be mine, and me to be yours.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I want you to know I love you. I want you to know that someone loves you.”

  “Wendy, I can't do this.”

  “I know. But I think you're going to live a lonely life, so I want you to know this.”

  “Me? A lonely life?”

  “Colin, I want you to be happy. Those people who don't make the cut? See what they have to offer.”

  “After everything you've done, you're telling me how to live?”

  Wendy shrugged and turned to the door. “Well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to live a lonely life, too. I just want you to fare better.”

  She stepped out into a barrage of flashes and walked to the waiting car. It pulled away from the curb and she was gone.

  Chapter 42

  HAKIM THE UBER DRIVER

  Oh, man, my Mama's going to wallop me upside the head when I get home. Wendy is a skinny white girl, but I'm going to get it. Because she's still a girl. A woman. And I fucked up.

  She's sad. Really sad. And she's not even wearing sunglasses like most Hollywood stars you see on TMZ. She's wearing jeans and a white T-shirt and she has a knapsack. And she's going to the airport. I just picked her up from that dude Coach Colin's house, and she's sad and going to the airport with nothing. She's just leaving. And not even in superstar fashion.

  Damn. I shouldn't have called the papers. The money they wired to me is real nice, but Mama is going to kill me.

  This lady is sad and I'm taking her to the slaughter.

  Chapter 43

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  When the Uber pulled into the departures lane, Wendy could breathe a little easier. A very little. “Southwest.”

  “Yes, Ma'am.”

  The car slowed in the sludge of airport traffic. “Ma'am?”

  “Yes … Hakim?” And she tried on a wan smile.

  “I could drop you at US Airways, and you could sneak through the hallways inside to get to Southwest. You know, so no one will bother you.”

  “Thanks, but it'll be fine.”

  The barely moving car eased to a stop at a red light. Hakim cleared his throat. “Uh … no it won't, Ma'am. I called them, Ma'am.”

  The car eased back into traffic. Wendy looked ahead to where she could see the sidewalks crowded with a flurry of reporters.

  “I'm so sorry, Ma'am. Really, I'm so sorry.”

  Wendy sighed. “You needed the money?” she asked, but she spoke with kindness.

  “Ma'am ...”

  “It's okay. Drop me right at Southwest. I have something to say, so you've actually done me a favor.”

  Chapter 44

  CHARLOTTE

  Oh, Colin. How could you?

  I watched the streaming feed from the town council meeting four times. Everyone had thought it would be so exciting to have Wendy Hunter in town, at the meeting, front and center. But the internet had absolutely exploded when Colin—when Colin—

  I shut my eyes.

  How could he have betrayed her like that, in front of everyone? In front of the world? How?

  Lightning had struck at the wedding, I'd seen that. They'd stayed away from each other, but every time I'd looked at Colin, he was looking at Wendy. And every time I'd looked at Wendy, she'd been looking at Colin. And I knew Colin had been eons more clueless than Wendy about it. But by the adoption party, Wendy had been ready. She'd been ready to deal with all the energy between them. But Colin. Colin still hadn't been ready.

  Colin still isn't.

  I look up at the screen in front of me as the computer pings with an alert about Wendy.

  What now? Good lord, what now? A press conference? A statement? At the airport?

  I click on the link and steel myself to watch.

  After Wendy gets out of a car in front of the terminal, she turns around to face the paparazzi and starts speaking. Her buoyant voice sounds subdued. But strong.

  Atta girl!

 
Wendy: Not everyone wants to be famous. I always knew that Colin was one of those people. But I wanted him in my life, so I worked hard to maintain the secrecy. And when that was shot, I tried to make the best of a bad situation, but I made it worse. And for that I am very sorry. Colin Scott is a good man with a good heart. And I should have been more careful. I may not have fallen in love with Colin Scott, but these past weeks, I definitely fell in love with Rocheforte, and with all the wonderful kids I've met. I wish Coach Scott and all the kids in Rocheforte the very best.

  Then she disappears past security.

  Oh, Colin. What have you done? My sweet boy, what have you done?

  Chapter 45

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  Wendy sat in her trailer but she wasn't thinking about her lines or the upcoming scene. She knew it cold. And so did Arlen. The second episode of Season 2 was as killer as the first. The new season seemed to be coming together as deliciously as a pecan pie. Lola and the writers had managed to keep the underpinnings of humor that made the show so darn watchable week after week, no matter what shenanigans and downright messes Celeste and Sam were getting themselves into. Last season had ended on such a high, with Celeste and Sam finally going to bed together, and now the world was waiting to see if the show could keep its momentum. And it totally was.

  Wendy smiled, so psyched for when the season opener would air in three weeks.

  But then her smile faded. Celeste and Sam were having sex now, but their relationship was still so messed up. And Celeste still couldn't admit that Sam really meant all that much to her.

  Wendy sighed.

  She missed Colin.

  Kind of.

  She didn't miss the man who'd thought her capable of intentionally destroying his life so she could have him all to herself. But she missed all the other moments with him. Seeing him, running with him, talking to him, laughing with him, eating with him, working off the calories with him.

  Some nights, she lay in the dark in her bedroom in Beverly Hills and peeked over the side, wishing he'd be lying there on the floor. And sometimes she even stretched under the covers and talked out loud, as if someone might be lying on the carpet next to her bed listening to her.

  Wendy started out of her reverie when she heard a knock on the door.

  “We're ready on set, Miss Hunter.”

  “'Wendy,' Gina. Call me Wendy. And thanks.”

  She stood up. Time for the kissing scene in Celeste's kitchen. No problem. Water off a duck's back. Sure, Peg Zimmerman was directing again this week, and she always liked so much coverage on the kisses, but Wendy could handle it.

  But an hour later on set, Wendy thought she would scream when Peg decided to do a sixth take. Another one! When every one so far had been PERFECT.

  The kitchen scenery didn't look anything like Colin's outdated kitchen with its cracked walls in Rocheforte. Arlen wasn't anything like Colin and neither was Sam. The lines were nothing like anything Colin had ever said to her. But Wendy wanted to be done with the scene.

  “Everybody quiet!” As Mackie cracked the slate, Wendy's nerves jumped. But she said her lines. Kept her composure.

  Until the kiss. Arlen reached out to take Wendy by the hips to pull her to him. But Wendy couldn't stand it and she broke away.

  “Okay,” she shouted. “Enough, already!” Everyone got quiet and Arlen got still. “How many of these damn takes are we going to do? And Jesus, Arlen! Do you think I can't tell that you flinch every time you have to touch me? I get it, okay? I'm skinny and bony and I'm nothing like Lola and you can't stand touching me. I GET IT. But this has been going on for a year. Act a little, can you? Jesus!”

  And she flew off the set and all the way back to her trailer.

  Chapter 46

  LOLA

  I can't believe what I'm seeing. What I'm hearing. Wendy's freaking out. At Arlen.

  When Wendy runs out, I let the air settle as I send a quick text, then I get up and walk to the middle of the set. “Okay, everyone,” I call brightly, as if nothing just happened. “Take ten.”

  Arlen is standing as still as a marble statue, and he's as pale as one, too. Even with his make-up.

  “I have to go talk to her,” he says, looking right at me.

  “No, Arlen. I'll talk to her. You know, you have to know, that this had nothing to do with you. And she's going to be so upset with herself over this. Give her a few minutes. Let her come to you.”

  “Lola, she's right, though. I do always flinch. I always have. From the very first. Whenever I have to touch anyone I'm acting with. Any woman. You know.”

  “I do know,” I say, and I can't help but smile. “But it's not you that's upsetting her.”

  My phone pings. I look at the screen, at the answer to my text.

  I hold out my phone toward Arlen. “I told you. This isn't about you.”

  He looks at the screen. “Oh, no.”

  I take my phone back and send one more text in the string.

  Lola: Dude! Have you ever, by chance, called Wendy “skinny and bony”?

  Colin: Yes. Why? Lola, what the hell happened?

  Lola: You hurt her. Fix it.

  Arlen folds his arms and bites his bottom lip. “So, what are you going to do?”

  I shrug. “Talk to her. Listen. Whatever.” I put my hand on his arm. “It'll be okay, Arlen. I know Wendy. It'll be okay. At least the acting part. The her and you and me part. It'll be okay.”

  Arlen gives me a look filled with such despair. And I know what he means. The most important part? Wendy's heart? Whether that's okay or whether it ever will be again isn't up to me and Arlen. Not even the littlest bit.

  By the time I get to Wendy's trailer and she lets me in, she's crying her eyes out.

  Holy fuck.

  Superstar though Wendy is, she does not take tantrums on set. Ever. She is professional to the very bone. And she does not wreck her make-up in the middle of a shoot.

  “Wendy?”

  She cries harder.

  So I sit, deciding it's enough to be there.

  Wendy finally sniffs and grabs a handful of tissues from in front of her mirror. She wipes her eyes and nose. “I'm so sorry, Lola. I'm so sorry. I wrecked the shoot. And now my make-up. And oh, God! I yelled at Arlen. At Arlen! Oh, God! About his acting! And his kissing! Oh, God!” And she dissolves into wrenching sobs once again.

  I reach out and take her hand as she cries. “Do you want to talk?”

  She sniffs, takes a deep breath, and shakes her head. Then she looks at my T-shirt. My smurf-blue New York Giants T-shirt, and starts crying again.

  “I'm sorry,” I say. How could I be so stupid to wear this shirt? Colin has so many Giants T-shirts. And a big blue Giants comforter on his bed. The one I got him as a house-warming gift when he bought the place in Rocheforte four years ago.

  But Wendy marshals herself and stops crying. “No. It's me. My fault. I'm the one who's sorry. I've messed up so many things.”

  “So what?” I say. “We all mess up. It happens. It's life. It's what you do about it that matters.”

  Wendy turns her teary face to me. “But what if you don't know what to do about it?”

  I shrug. “Start with doing what you do know, whether it fixes anything or not. Put one foot in front of the other.”

  Wendy nods. “Right.”

  In less than an hour we're all back on set. Wendy's re-made up and ready to go. But before Peg can call action, Wendy clears her throat. “I apologize to everyone here,” she says. “I acted completely unprofessionally earlier and I'm sorry. I promise it will never happen again. We all get along so well on this set because we respect one another to do our jobs and do them well. And I disrespected you all today. I'm sorry.” She turns to Arlen. “I'm so sorry, Arlen. The truth is, I like how you flinch when you touch me. I've always liked it. It tells me we're acting in a safe space. It tells me you're not Arlen kissing Wendy, you're Sam kissing Celeste. And that's exactly how it should be. You're not the one wh
o needs to do some acting, I am. And I will, from now on. No more tantrums, I promise.”

  The whole crew murmurs its assent and then they grow louder, calling out that it was no big deal. Wendy looks around at everyone and smiles. Everything is okay. More laughter. They say they wanted to get the season off with a bang, anyway. The tense vibe on set disappears.

  Wendy turns to Arlen, who's just looking at her. He pulls her to him in a bear hug, and he doesn't flinch. Because it's not Sam hugging Celeste. It's Arlen hugging Wendy, and he knows her heart is breaking.

  Chapter 47

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  Colin: Lola, I'm here. Can you call the gate and get me in?

  Lola: You're HERE here? At the lot?

  Colin: Right outside.

  Lola: One second.

  Lola: Done.

  Colin: Thanks.

  Lola: Meet me in my office.

  Colin: Okay.

  * * * * *

  Wendy stretched her neck as she stepped into her trailer. It had been a long day, which was actually a good thing, she decided. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd melted down on set, when it had only been six hours. But the cast and crew had had her back, business as usual, acting as if she hadn't really screwed the pooch and put them over an hour behind schedule. And sure, shows and stars did stuff like that all the time, but not Off the Beaten Path. Not Wendy. Not anything or anyone Lola was in charge of.

  Wendy checked traffic on her phone and sighed. She felt so tired, but she had to get down to Watts to meet with Joanne. The kids were interested, the building was bought, the community-run refurbishment underway. Her idea to start a youth theatre where kids could work out their problems or vent or find some attention was taking form. And that was such a huge reason to be happy.

  Wendy couldn't put off starting the rest of her life, and she wasn't.