“I look forward to meeting her.”
“Great.” Isla nodded as she clasped her hands together. “Well, I’m showing Blake around town and wanted to take her to Carlson’s Café for lunch, so we better get going so we can get our tour of the town done before the crazy lunch rush.”
“Yeah, I gotta go too.”
“But we’ll see you tonight, yes?”
“Yep. What time?”
“Seven work for you?”
“That’ll work.”
“Perfect; see you then, Lex.”
“Bye.” Alexis waved goodbye to them as they walked past her. She knew she must look like an idiot standing on the street corner waving, and she quickly yanked her hand down by her side. Across the street at the flower shop, Alexis noticed Maddie standing inside the front door. Her mouth was agape as she pointed to Blake and Isla walking down the road. Alexis crossed over the street quickly as Maddie opened the front door.
“Umm, Emily’s right. She’s even more gorgeous in person.”
“I know, right?” They giggled like teenage school girls. Maddie, Emily, and Mason had all been best friends growing up, and, at three years their junior, Alexis had always been the little sister of the group. “I’m going to dinner with her tonight.”
“What?!” Maddie’s eyes shot wide as she excitedly grabbed onto Alexis’s arm.
“Well, I mean, Isla and Vera and the kids will be there too, but…” Maddie swatted at her playfully as Alexis took a step back, laughing. “I’m sorry; I had to do it.”
“You and your daughter, I swear. Always joking.”
“Hey, Harp’s working on the Death Star right now if you wanna pop over later.”
“Oh, I will definitely be over later.”
“Sounds great.” She nodded a few times as the silence settled in between them. “Well, I was on my way to the store before I got distracted, so I should go before Harper drops more LEGOs on the floor.”
“Over the coffee table.” Maddie shook her head as she laughed. They’d both told Harper the exact phrase so many times over the last few years. “She’ll learn one day.”
“Well, she is my kiddo, so don’t be so sure.”
“Yes, you Hollands are a breed of your own.”
“True that.”
“Enjoy your date tonight.”
“Oh, you know I will.” Tossing a wave over her shoulder, Alexis carried on down the street to the store. She didn’t overthink the spring in her steps; she simply soaked in the happy feeling like she was savoring the warm summer day for a cold winter night.
It’d been years since she’d been in any dating relationship. Since Harper had been born, Alexis’s sole purpose in life was keeping her safe and happy. Dating never factored in. She’d been hurt before and wasn’t willing or ready for it to happen again. No matter how many blind dates her friends tried to set her up on or how many times they tried to get her to create an online dating profile, Alexis had resisted.
She’d been in love once.
Or well, she thought she’d been in love once.
Michelle Johnson has shattered Alexis’s heart into so many pieces she still found herself picking them up off the floor occasionally. She’d been smitten with Michelle since they’d met Alexis’s freshman year of college. At five years her senior, Michelle was insanely attractive to her not only for her beauty but for her mind as well. She was the best writer Alexis had ever met, and she knew Michelle would be a famous published author one day.
Throughout their two-year relationship – if it could even be called that – Michelle had strung Alexis along like a whipped puppy. Alexis would have followed her anywhere. She would have given up anything Michelle asked her to for the chance to get to be with her. That’s how deeply Alexis loved Michelle.
But what she didn’t know at the time and only learned later was that she was in a toxic relationship. Michelle never loved her. She only wanted to be with Alexis when it was convenient for her. After her engagement to a gorgeous Spanish woman, Alexis no longer served a purpose to her and Michelle had ghosted her better than Casper ever thought about doing.
It had taken her years to get over Michelle, years longer to not say her name with spite.
And yet, the pain from their time together had damaged Alexis more than she cared to admit to anyone outside of Sophia and her therapist. If it hadn’t been for Harper, Alexis might not have pulled herself out of the dark days that followed her time with Michelle. Harper gave her hope. Harper gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Alexis didn’t need to be in a relationship. She was happy with her and Harper’s lives.
No matter how tempting it was to imagine herself dating Blake Calloway.
Chapter 7
Blake was nervous.
And she didn’t get nervous.
She wasn’t nervous on set filming her big scenes. She wasn’t nervous standing in front of a room full of people and accepting an award. She wasn’t nervous on a panel with her co-stars in which she knew the questions would get personal.
But sitting across the table from Isla was doing the trick.
Her palms were sweating, and her legs seemed desperate to bounce her to another state.
“So,” Isla tapped her fingers on the table, seemingly as nervous as Blake felt, “are you sure you’re ok being here? We can get this to-go if you want. There are some tables in the park, or we can take it home or…”
“This is fine.” Blake cut her off. She set the vinyl menu down and crossed her arms on the cool metal table. Looking around the room, she could see a few patrons looking her way and whispering and pointing, but that happened wherever she went.
The weird part was that these people knew who she was. Sure, they knew her from her show; they knew she was Captain Avery Romano, leader of the rebellion on the Lorcan Colony on Mars. But they also knew she was Isla McKenzie’s daughter. There was no way to know what Isla had told people about her, putting Blake on edge.
“Hey, Isla.” A redhead about Isla’s age walked over to their table with a notepad in hand. She looked back and forth between them. Her eyes went wide as she looked away from Blake to Isla once more. “What can I get for you two this afternoon?”
“I’ll have a BLT, please, Maggie.”
“Absolutely. And for you, dear?”
“I’ll have the same, thank you.”
“And make the bacon extra crispy, please.” Isla and Blake said the exact words in unison, and it startled them both. Their eyes widened for a moment before they both laughed nervously. Maggie chuckled as she wrote down their order and walked away.
“That was Maggie Carlson, by the way.” Isla picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. “She owns this place with her wife, Amy.”
“Geez, is this whole town gay?”
“It seems that way at times,” Isla chuckled. “Our mayor, Jamie, is gay…”
“Of course, she is.”
“…and she often jokes that the town slogan should be ‘Moonflower Cove: The gayest spot in Maine.’” A roll of her eyes coupled with the uptick of her lips told Blake the town appreciated their unintended slogan. Blake appreciated that there was such openness in the small town, though; it gave her hope for the future.
She had grown up not knowing that some people hated other people based solely on their race or sex. Looking back, Blake knew she had been naïve. At the ripe age of six, she’d been fortunate enough to land a gig on one of the biggest family comedy shows of the decade that featured a variety of different families from different socioeconomic backgrounds in their interconnected, everyday lives. Blake had played the youngest daughter of a gay couple and grew up with her character. By the time the show wrapped over a decade later, Blake was sixteen and one of the most highly sought-after young actresses.
Over the next seven years, Blake built her resume by taking a few episode-long stints on shows and co-starring in movies to get her name out there. She was twenty-three when she’d landed the role as A
very Romano on The Things We Left Behind, and it had turned into the job of a lifetime. Although the show’s ratings started low, they quickly skyrocketed to number one on the charts in the second season, and everything exploded after that. Blake went from being the girl on a show or movie whom people vaguely recognized to not being able to walk down the street without being noticed.
Blake had enjoyed it; it was what she had worked toward her whole career. She’d been so blind that Blake didn’t realize the people she’d surrounded herself with only wanted her for what she could offer them and not for who she was. Even Blake’s ex-girlfriend had been that way.
And then there was her dad.
He’d used her more than anyone, and Blake hadn’t even realized it.
“So,” Blake popped her lips together, “Vera said we needed to talk.”
“I guess after twenty-something years, we probably should.” Isla set down her mug of coffee and nodded as she leaned back in her chair. She pursed her lips together for a moment before letting out a slow breath. Reaching out across the table, Isla started to put her hand on Blake’s arm before stopping short and letting her hand fall to the table. “And, before you ask, I texted and called Mason and asked her to join us, and she said she would try to come by later.”
“Oh.” Blake nervously stirred the straw around her drink. “Does she not want to see me?”
“Mason’s skeptical.”
“Of me?”
“Of everything.” She dryly laughed and shrugged. “Mason’s reserved and quiet but insanely funny and smart and so loyal once she gets to know you. She felt betrayed by your father.” Her words cut Blake unintentionally. “She’s struggled with the fact he took you and left her.”
“God, I hate him for doing this to our family.” She slammed her hand down on the table and Isla quickly covered it with her own. “Why would he do this? I don’t get it. I would give anything to go back and change the way things played out.”
“Do you remember anything about me? About your life with me?”
“Vaguely.” Blake shrugged. “It’s all kinda hazy. My memories on the show mix with my actual memories sometimes, and I can’t remember which happened in real life and which happened on the screen.”
“I can see how that would happen. You were a kid when,” there was a sadness in Isla’s voice, “well. I always watched your shows—every week. And I followed you throughout your career.”
When Blake had found the letters, it’d broken her heart that Isla knew where she lived – or at least knew how to find her – and never came after her. Was she afraid that Blake wouldn’t be what she was expecting? And why hadn’t she fought harder for her?
That question ricocheted from her brain to her mouth without any more thought.
“Why did you let him do it?”
“Excuse me?” Isla seemed surprised and on edge by the anger in Blake’s voice.
“Why did you let him take me from you?” She was aware her voice was laden with anger, and she worked to keep it from rising too loudly. The café was not the place to air out her dirty laundry, but she wanted to talk to Isla. Blake didn’t have any idea how long she’d be in town, and if she didn’t ask when she had the chance, she didn’t know if the opportunity would present itself again. “You didn’t even fight for me.”
“Oh, bullshit.” Isla waved a dismissive hand before pointing a finger at her. The anger and frustration in Isla’s voice matched how Blake felt. “Don’t forget, you only know one side of the story. A side of the story that I had no control over how the narrative was being told. I fought like hell for you. I fought until Mason and I were literally homeless and penniless. I sold everything I had to fight the courts, but your dad always had more money.”
She opened her mouth to respond but stopped herself. Her mother was right; she only knew one side of the story. The side her father had told her since the night he put her in the back of his car and drove them from upstate New York to LA without ever looking back. Until she found the letters, she had no reason to believe her father’s story wasn’t the accurate one.
Blake was convinced that her mother was satisfied with only having Mason in her life and didn’t need or want Blake anymore. She believed her mother was crazy because how else would her father have been able to block at least split custody of her or visitation at the minimum. Blake thought Isla didn’t love her because she never came after her, although Blake waited and waited for her those first few months for her to show up. If she closed her eyes long enough and let her mind wander back to that time, Blake could still feel the same emotions of complete and total abandonment and betrayal by the person who gave her life.
“I love you, Blake.” Isla rested her hand on Blake’s arm. “I have loved you since the day I first held you in my arms. Those first few years with you,” her brown eyes were dreamy, “they were the absolute best.”
“Why…” Blake looked away from Isla, unable to look her in the eye any longer. She couldn’t articulate the questions that were soaring in her brain. A tear slid down her cheek, and Blake angrily wiped it away as she pulled her arm from Isla’s touch inadvertently in the process. “Why did he do this? That’s what I don’t understand about all of this.”
“I can’t speak for your father.”
“But?” She waited for Isla to continue.
“But,” Isla hesitated, “I can speculate. That’s it.”
“And what do you speculate?”
“Your father grew up with money. His parents were well off from owning a large coal mine, and they never struggled, and everything was handed to him. He never wanted for anything. If he saw something, he got it.”
Sounds about right, Blake thought to herself. She loved her father; she truly did. But he had been a materialistic man. Money always came first, and he always made sure people knew he had it. Whether it was the most expensive car or suit or vacation destination, Ben Calloway wanted you to know he could afford it.
“When I met him, I was drawn to his passion for life. He took me on these crazy trips – we went cliff diving and hiking up the side of a volcano and swimming with wild orcas. I don’t know if you know this, but my goal was to be on Broadway before you were born. I’d spent my whole life working toward that goal, and when Ben got me an audition for a new show, I was on cloud nine.”
“What happened?” She picked up her mug and took a sip of the now lukewarm coffee. Blake had no recollection of her mother ever making it to Broadway, but clearly, there were many things in life she didn’t know.
“I ended up getting the callback, but your father proposed, and I accepted, and nine months later, you were born.”
“Oh.” Sitting her mug back down, Blake avoided her eyes once more. “Do you regret it? Having me instead of having a career?”
“No.” There was no hesitation in Isla’s voice. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d like to think I’d still do it the same way.”
“Even knowing what you know now?”
“I’m not one for speculating on the what if’s but, yes. I believe this was the path we were supposed to take. And,” Isla shrugged, “we might never know why we had to go through that, but all that matters now is you are back in my life, and we can move forward from here.”
“I want to. Move forward.”
“Me too.”
“Here you go, ladies.” Maggie set two large plates with delicious-looking BLTs and homemade chips. They ate their meals as they casually talked about their lives, and as Isla paid the tab at the counter, Blake let herself wonder for the hundredth time since arriving in Moonflower Cove what it would have been like to grow up there. With Isla.
Her musings were quickly stopped by a playful smile across the table from Isla.
“So, Vera mentioned you’d asked about Alexis this morning.”
“Well, that didn’t take long.”
“Vera fancies herself a matchmaker.”
Blake grimaced. “Kinda wish I knew that before I opened my mouth.�
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“She means well.” Isla snatched the check Maggie had left off the end of the table before Blake could as they slipped out of the booth. As they headed up toward the cash register, Isla placed a hand on Blake’s lower back and whispered in her ear. “For what it’s worth, Alexis is wonderful.”
“Oh, not you too.” Blake playfully shoved Isla’s arm off her as she paid. Busying herself surveying the cakes in the display case, Blake couldn’t get her mind off Alexis. She’d looked gorgeous when they’d run into her on the way to the café. For a moment, Blake had contemplated complimenting her Star Wars tee but she didn’t want it to come across as condescending or anything.
“Blake.” Slipping her wallet back into her bag, Isla motioned for Blake to join her as she put her hand on the small of Blake’s back. “I didn’t officially introduce you to Maggie. She was one of my first friends when I moved to the Cove.”
“Yes, your mother and I go way back. We used to work at the bar of hers back before she owned the joint.” Maggie beamed with pride, and Blake wondered what it was like to have lifelong friends. She had close acquaintances, sure; people she’d worked with over the years on different projects. But Blake had never had a best friend.
Returning to the sunshine outside, they walked shoulder to shoulder, each with their hands tucked into the pocket of their pants, Blake couldn’t resist a smile as she thought about how they must look to the people passing by.
“There you two are.”
Mason.
The voice came from behind them, and somehow Blake recognized it, although she hadn’t heard it since Mason was three. Blake spun around on her heels; Isla did the same. Looking at Mason was like looking into a mirror. She had Blake’s build – minus a couple of inches – and their long brown hair and sky-blue eyes were the same. The ‘Han shot first’ t-shirt she was wearing was clear proof that they were indeed related, which made Blake smile.
“Mason, honey, you should have told me you were coming. We would have waited.”
State of Grace: A Moonflower Cove Romance Page 6
