“I get that, Rina. But why is she concerned about us? Does she have a thing for you or something?”
Rina scoffed. “No! Why would you ask that?”
“Because she acts more like a jilted lover than a personal assistant.”
“She’s never seen me the way I am when I’m with you. Both she and Clay told me that.”
“But Clay likes me. Gigi doesn’t.”
“Don’t worry, Julia. It will be fine.”
“Until it isn’t.”
“I didn’t call to talk about Gigi!”
Julia smiled. “What did you call to talk about?”
“I got a call from Reese after you left. We’re doing the final table read at the end of the week in LA, so I can only stay two nights. You’ll be working Thursday, so I didn’t think it would be a big thing if I left early. Besides, I’m learning lines, but we both know what happens whenever you enter the room.”
Julia didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?” asked Rina.
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
Julia shrugged. “I can’t get the fact out of my head that you and Britney Cavell were lovers—and now you’re going to be on lockdown together.”
“It’s called ‘on location.’”
“You see it your way and I’ll see it mine.”
“Julia, listen to me. I have zero interest in her.”
“Does she feel that way about you?”
Rina hesitated. “It doesn’t matter what she feels. You’re the one I want. How can I ease your mind?”
“I don’t know. I hate that I feel this way. Worse, I double-hate that I just told you I feel this way. I really need to get some game because I can’t act all cool and everything.” She paused. “Damn! Now I’ve told you that, too!”
“Why don’t I fly you in to spend a couple of days with me in Vancouver?”
Julia remained silent.
“You don’t have to answer now—think it over.”
“When on Tuesday will you be here?”
“By late afternoon. I have a car and driver bringing me so I can learn lines on the way. Did you like driving the new car?”
Julia knew Rina was smiling by her teasing tone. “It was different from the old Fiat—that’s for sure.”
“But did you like it?”
“Ugh. What do you think?”
“Good. Then you’ll keep it,” Rina said.
“We’ll see.”
“You can be so hardheaded!”
Julia sighed. “Honestly?”
“Always.”
“I keep waiting for that other shoe to drop.”
“I’m going to fix that.”
“How?”
“By loving you more and better than you’ve ever imagined possible,” said Rina.
“I can’t wait to hold you.”
“What are you doing right now?”
“Sculpting.”
“I’ll bet the first thing you did when you got there was to see Thunder and Lightning.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Then you went right into the casita.”
“Am I that predictable?”
“Yes, thank god. I love that about you.”
“Then you must already know I’m counting the hours until you get here.”
“Does it bother you that I call in the middle of the night and wake you to tell you I love you?”
Julia smiled. “No. I love it.”
“Then I’ll say a faux good night in my most convincing tone.”
“Faux good night back.”
Julia put the phone in her pocket and opened the case of sculpting tools. She studied them before selecting the finest and narrowest blade. With the tiniest of precision strokes, she etched fine expressive lines next to Rina’s eyes—the ones she had kissed in that morning’s light. When she was satisfied that she had captured some of the expression, she closed up the studio and went home.
In the bedroom, Julia unpacked her suitcase. She pressed to her face the T-shirt she had worn on the beach and inhaled the commingling of ocean, Rina, and Malibu embedded in it. Her lover’s words still rang in her ear: “It means I’m taking the leap. I’m falling in love. Crazy, wild, once-in-a-lifetime love…with you, Julia Dearling.” Then, as always in her mind, she heard Rina call her Zhooliah.
About to toss the shirt into the laundry pile, she instead changed into it and wrapped her arms around herself. It was the best she could do to keep from missing Rina all the more. Dinner consisted of a few sips of defrosted minestrone and three bites of a salad while she finished out her night watching her favorite Katarina Verralta movie, Spinning the Light. She was even able to spot the expression that Rina called Turbulent Aunt Zelda.
Rina had already ruined her for anyone else for a lifetime. Not because she was the famous Oscar-winning actress. Or because she was the most gorgeous woman ever created. Neither was it her extreme warmth and genuine nature. It was rather that Julia couldn’t fathom being with anyone else—ever. In that moment, she understood how Rina’s inner beauty far surpassed her good looks. Rina knew how to love her. That was all she needed to know. Still, no matter how predestined their paths crossing seemed, she couldn’t quite envision a smooth road ahead.
Julia yawned and lazily climbed the stairs to go to bed.
Does love really conquer all, or does it simply vanquish those who get in its way?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Before the sun completely lifted the new day above the mountain, Julia raced the sports car down a back road on her way to work. She arrived at the Starlight with a bounce in her step, made coffee, and immediately began her prep work.
The photo Vitty had taken of Grandmother Lucia at her final birthday hung in the frame Julia had made for it—Lucia’s eyes ever watchful from the wall behind the counter. She poured a cup of coffee and stared at the photo, lost in thought—wondering if Lucia was indeed watching over her; wondering if her grandmother would be proud of her and would have approved of the changes that she and Isabella had made to the diner. “I can’t even imagine what you’d think of my relationship.”
The few days Julia had spent in Malibu had been her longest vacation since owning the Starlight. While Rina occupied most of her thoughts, she was glad to be home and sporting her work ponytail and sneakers. She issued a sigh of relief and took great comfort in the fact that she didn’t have to dress up today—or deal with Gigi’s attitude and forbearing expression. Or pretend to like restaurants whose fancy presentation far outweighed the overpriced food.
Rina’s world had drained her—but waking on this day to see her horses had repaired her. She flashed on Rina and their jaunt to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Could our lives be any more different! She scratched her head. She shops at all the “Cheez”—GucCI, VersaCE, GivenCHY! I shop at Ronnie’s Tack and Feed.
By the time Isabella arrived, Julia had finished most of her work too.
“Buenos dias, Julia, you’re here awfully early.”
Julia beamed and hugged the woman with the short gray hair, who barely made it to Julia’s shoulder height. “Buenos dias, Tia.” Julia had grown up seeing Isabella as her aunt even though she had been Lucia’s friend and was not a blood relative. Tia Isabella had been real family to her—after her father had died and especially after her mother subsequently left Desert Bluff for a job in New York.
Christmas visits, birthday cards, phone calls she’d tried to avoid, and Lucia’s funeral were all she really knew or wanted to know of the woman who had given birth to her. Maria—the woman who had decided to stop being a mother when her twins were twelve. The reason for her leaving remained unconfirmed, but Julia knew somehow that her attraction to other girls had figured into it. At the time, Maria had told her and Vitty that she needed to support them now that their father was gone and the opportunity to do that was in New York. Whatever the reasons, all Julia knew now was that she had left and pretty much stayed gone.
Lucia and I
sabella were the ones who had thrown her and Vitty the birthday parties and baked the cakes, shopped for school supplies. She remembered her and her sister’s art accomplishments tacked to the walls of the diner’s kitchen. If it hadn’t been for her grandmother, she and Vitty wouldn’t have known what it meant to have a real mother after the age of twelve.
“Did you have fun in Los Angeles, mija?”
“I had a wonderful time. Thanks for picking up the slack for me so that I could go away.”
Isabella flashed her warmest smile. “You should go more often. You look happy.”
“I do?”
Isabella laughed nostalgically. “Yes, you have the same smile you had as a teenager when you got away with something!”
Julia acted innocent. “Like what?”
Isabella narrowed her stare. “Like when you and Cass stole Lucia’s car to go joyriding in the middle of the night. Same smile.”
Julia feigned shock. “I never stole Grandmother Lucia’s car!”
Isabella shook an accusing finger at her. “Fine—borrowed it. She always knew what you were up to.”
“She did?”
“We both did. But she always said you were the responsible one. You had her love of the ranch and the diner—always did your chores and got good grades. She said that Vitty was more like your mother—needed a bigger place and a more exciting life.”
“That was never a secret. Vitty wanted different things than I did…do—than I do.”
“But she didn’t worry about Vittoria the way she worried about you.”
“Why would she worry?” asked Julia while filling the omelette station containers with freshly chopped vegetables.
Isabella placed the omelette pans on the counter. “She said Desert Bluff didn’t have much to offer a young beautiful girl who neither wanted nor needed a man.”
“But I love sculpting in the casita and riding my horses and cooking.”
“That’s wonderful, mija, but you do it all alone. Do you think your girlfriend in LA would ever want to live in such a quiet place as this?”
“I doubt it.” Julia felt a pang of guilt, not yet having shared with Isabella that her girlfriend was Katarina Verralta. She tried to picture it—Rina out here in the desert, without her driver, her entourage, and without the life-saving transfusions of Rodeo Drive. But the actress barely primped when she stayed at the ranch.
That wouldn’t last for long! She told me I need to get more mirrors. And better lighting!
While Julia loved how natural it felt when Rina came to visit, she also knew she was kidding herself to think that a woman like that could be satisfied with this for longer than a couple of days at a time. How long would it take for her to get bored with me? I already get bored with me.
Now that she had spent time at Rina’s, she understood how much of life didn’t happen here in her little world. Still, she couldn’t exactly see herself living the Malibu lifestyle either. There wasn’t even a stable on the property! That’s probably because there’s nowhere to ride.
Isabella touched her shoulder. “Come look at the new item I made. If you like it, we can add it as a special.”
Julia followed her to the walk-in cooler. “What is it?”
Isabella removed the pan, placed it on the counter, and opened the lid. She cut a square with the spatula, put it on a plate, and heated it in the mini-oven.
“Here, try it. It’s a lentil, vegetable, and rice loaf. We’ve been getting a lot of requests for vegetarian dishes. Also, it freezes well.”
Julia took a bite. “Isabella, this is delicious. I was a little skeptical when you told me what it is, but this is really good!”
“What do you think about giving out little samples of it at lunchtime?”
“Great. We can get some feedback, and if it’s a go, we’ll put it on the menu, pair it with a salad or soup. You know, I thought about what you said—packaging our food for retail. I like the idea, and with our catering, we could expand the business and make good money.”
“I’m here! I’m here,” Cass blurted out as she raced through the kitchen and dumped her belongings in the office.
“You okay?” Julia asked.
“Couldn’t get out of my own way this morning!” Cass looked at the plate. “You tried the lentil loaf?”
“Yes. Love it.”
“I didn’t want to talk business with you when you got home—” She glanced at Isabella. “Poor thing was so tired last night.” She looked back to Julia. “I picked up two catering jobs while you were gone.”
“That’s great. Gee, you guys do better without me here.”
“Hardly,” said Cass. “But the first job is next Sunday so we’ll need to get the order in to the distributor today. Totally manageable, though—twenty-five people for a brunch birthday party. The other job is later this month. Also on a Sunday and it’s a buffet, which will make it easier since it’s for fifty people. I have both customers’ requests, but we’ll need to plan the menus.”
“Fifty people? That will be our biggest party yet!”
Isabella interrupted them. “Someone needs to go out front. I heard the bells on the door.”
“I’ve got it.” Julia tied her apron and grabbed a couple of trays to leave by the coffee station. When she pushed open the swinging door and saw Nicki enter behind a group of women, she froze until the door swung back and whacked her in the noggin. “Hey, Cass,” she said rubbing her head, “Nicki’s here with some friends. Will you take their table for me?”
Cass picked up her order pad. “That girl has some kinda persistence—gotta give her that much.”
“Persistence?”
“She stopped in again while you were gone, asking questions about where you were and what you’ve been doing.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her to ask you!” Cass entered the diner.
Julia waited a few minutes for the usual crowd to filter in before Isabella pushed her out of the kitchen. She seated two parties as far from Nicki as she could get and took their orders. On one of her trips back to the kitchen, Nicki intercepted her.
“Julia, hi.”
If Julia had learned anything during her time spent with Rina, it was the value of having the right expression to go with a reaction. All the better if it were natural. Indifference it is, then. “Hi, Nicki.”
Nicki shifted her weight to her opposite leg. “It’s good to see you. How’ve you been?”
“Good. Kind of busy right now, though.”
“Oh, sure. Is there a time when we can talk?”
“I don’t have anything to say.”
Nicki tried harder. “I do. I want to apologize.”
Julia tossed a pleading glance at Cass when she came out of the kitchen.
“Jules,” Cass said as she passed by, “Isabella needs you in the kitchen.”
She glanced back at Nicki. “Don’t bother. It won’t change anything. And as usual, your timing sucks.”
“How about if I come out to the ranch?”
Julia didn’t answer and left her standing there.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
With the rush behind them and the tables cleared, Julia and Cass took their coffee break at the counter under Grandmother Lucia’s watchful eye.
“So Nicki said she wants to apologize, but I wonder what she really wants,” said Julia.
“My guess? She wants you back.”
“I’m not giving her the opportunity to apologize for how she treated me. Now that I know what it’s like to be treated well, I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“As you well know, Nicki is pretty persistent when she wants something.”
Julia rolled her eyes. “Then I guess she’s in for a surprise because, and I repeat, I don’t want to have anything to do with her.”
Cass poked Julia’s leg. “I can’t believe my best friend is dating you know who. Forget Nicki—when do I get to meet her?”
Julia giggled. “I don’t know. So
on, I guess. She’ll be here tomorrow night, but that’s the last time we’ll be together until who knows when.” Julia fielded an imaginary bad taste in her mouth. “Ugh, she’s leaving to go on location for her new movie with Britney Cavell.”
“Britney Cavell? Why do you say it like that? Have you met her, too?”
“No, I haven’t. But you don’t know the half of it.”
“Tell me!”
“Let’s just say I’ve never met the woman, but I already despise her.”
“Are you going Hollywood on me?”
Julia grinned. “Doubtful, but I could go a little bit Malibu from time to time.” She sighed. “You should see Rina’s home. I’ve never even imagined anything that beautiful. You wake up and the Pacific is staring at you from the other side of the wall. Hot tubs, private chef, entourages, and ohmigosh, the art on the walls! She has one of those built-in bookcases with spotlights showcasing her Oscars and Golden Globe awards—and ones I’m not even familiar with. She took me to one of those fancy restaurants in Beverly Hills—a place whose food has nothing on ours except that it’s ten times the price. But the dinner party she threw?”
“Yeah?” Cass sat on the edge of the seat waiting.
“Reese Collingworth, Monty Callan, Pinna Goddard…”
“Get outta here!”
Julia nodded. “Then Rina thanked everyone for coming to,” Julia made air quotes, “‘our first soirée as a couple.’”
“Ooh. Fancy. A soirée!”
Julia shook her head. “Soirée was your takeaway there, Cass? Really?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m stuck on the word ‘couple.’”
Julia glanced up when the bells on the door jingled. “I’ve got it. Enjoy your coffee.”
Julia seated two tables of four and took their drink orders. As she stood filling the glasses behind the counter, Cass leaned in from her right side.
“So she’s really coming here tomorrow?” Cass whispered excitedly.
“Yes, but she has to cut her time short on account of the new movie.”
“Okay, but promise me I get to meet her even if you break up.”
Julia flashed her pal the girly smile, loaded the drinks onto her tray, and served them. She felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket while taking lunch orders. Walking back to the kitchen, Julia glanced at her phone and met up with Cass at the salad station. “I think you might be right. Nicki just called.”
Smile Number Seven Page 18
