Later on in the evening, I decide it's time to have a chat with Zoie to see where her head is at. I'm new to this whole disciplinarian role and don't want to end up pushing her away when she really needs me.
Taking a deep breath I step up to her door and roll my eyes hearing loud music booming through the door.
"Zoie?" I yell at the door as I knock with a closed fist.
I don't hear a response so I open the door regardless and frown when I don't see her anywhere.
"Zoie?" I yell again before crossing the room to turn down her stereo.
Again there's no answer so I hurry out of the room and begin opening each door down the hall in search of her. Where the hell is she?
"What's going on?" I hear Scott behind me.
I turn to face him as panic settles over me. "She's gone! She's not in her room, in any of the other rooms or outside!"
Scotty frowns and hurries into the room Zoie has been staying in and marches over to the window and sighs when he checks the lock.
"What?"
"I think she climbed out." He easily lifts the window and looks out at the roof. "She must have snuck off."
"Oh my God, she went to see Braden!" I growl and run into the other room to grab my phone to call Kate.
"Hey Aunt Krissy." Kate answers and I hear Will squealing in the background.
"Hey sweety...umm, is Braden around by any chance?"
"No, he went to use Liam's gym membership a couple of hours ago. Why?"
"Because Zoie was mad with me, and she snuck out of the house. I think she went to be with him."
"Oh boy. Let me call him and see what's going on. And if he is hiding out with her, he is in SO much trouble!"
She hangs up and I run a hand through my unruly curls. Why must teenagers be so much trouble?
Chapter 27
As I pace my living room waiting for Kate to call back, all kinds of thoughts run through my mind. If something happens to her it's all my fault. This was supposed to be a job of figuring out what makes Zoie Reese tick and get her back on track to make her the good little teen star Excite wants her to be, but something about her tugged at my heartstrings and I couldn't just let her be another Hollywood statistic.
"Stop." Scott says from in front of me and I look up just in time to crash into his chest.
"Stop what?"
"Freaking out. It doesn't do any good and it just makes me anxious watching you pace."
I sigh and step out of his arms to resume my pacing. "I can't help it, Scotty. Either I do this, or I'll be out there making myself insane looking for her and possibly strangle Braden in the process."
"I doubt they're up to much trouble, babe. Zoie's got a lot going on right now and I think he's her outlet."
Before I can open my mouth to counter that statement, my phone goes off and I rush over to answer it.
"Kate?"
"No, it's Braden."
"Where the hell are you?"
"I'm with her Krista, she's fine."
"That doesn't answer me Braden Warren. Where are you so I can come give her a piece of my mind?"
He mutters a curse that I'm sure his mama would smack him for using before answering me. "We're at the cemetery."
Well that wasn't what I expected to hear. "You're where?"
"Visiting her brother. Today would have been his 27th birthday."
"Oh." I whisper and cover my eyes with my free hand. I should know things like this. No wonder she's acting out more today. "Which cemetery are you at?"
"Look, I know you mean well, but I really don't think she wants you here right now. I'm with her, she's ok."
"Braden, I get that you really care for her, but there is so much going on that I just feel better knowing where she is and that she's safe. Especially on a day like today that I'm sure her parents are going to be even more off their rocker than normal."
"We're at The Lawn cemetery. You know the one where like a million dead celebrities are?"
"Yeah, I know where that is."
"You'll see Liam's red truck, I kinda borrowed it."
Rolling my eyes, I hang up the phone and turn to face Scotty. "Think we can get past the vultures to go take care of something?"
"Well either they can move or I can run one of them over, their choice."
I grin and slide my hand into his. "Well then, let's go."
A short time later, we spot the red truck with monster tires that Liam calls his man mobile, Kate won't let him even think about putting the baby in it. A short distance in front of them, I see Zoie leaning against Braden in front of a short gray tombstone. It's so sad that all that's left of such a big talent is such a small stone.
"Want me to go with you?" Scott asks from beside me.
I shake my head as I grab the door handle. "No, I got this. You can come distract lover boy for a while though."
We get out of the SUV and make our way over to the grave. As we get closer I spot a framed photo leaning against it. I recognize Trevor right away. Tall, rich dark hair and green eyes looking ahead at the camera with a grin on his face while a little girl with unruly pitch black curls holds onto his neck. Zoie.
"What are you doing here?" Zoie sneers at me as I step closer.
"I could actually ask you the same thing, since you were supposed to be sitting in your room at home, but since it's been brought to my attention what's really going on, I won't get into that."
She snuggles in closer to Braden and I have to suppress an eye roll when he easily wraps his arms around her.
"Hey Braden, wanna come take a walk with me?" Scott asks from behind me.
"Uh not really man, Zoie needs me."
Scott walks around me and throws an arm around his shoulder and effectively pulls him away from Zoie. "She needs to talk right now, you get to come chit chat with me."
"But..."
Scott just plasters on a grin and tugs him away much to his dismay. Zoie doesn't look very happy about the current situation either.
"Ok, first of all I'm sorry I didn't know what today was. I totally understand wanting to be near him today. But just because you got irritated with me, you can't just disappear, Zoie. You have to understand I care about you, right?"
She shrugs, wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't have much experience with someone really caring about me."
"One thing you're gonna learn about me, I care. I can't help it, it's in my blood." I shrug and step closer to her. "Tell me about him."
She looks down at the grave marker for a moment and turns back to me. "Don't you know all there is to know? I thought you were a super fan girl."
"I only know about the person he was in front of the camera, tell me about who he really was, you're brother."
Zoie walks over to a bench under a tree and I come to sit beside her.
"So?" I prod gently.
"He was full of life, or at least I thought so. Trevor was always the life of the party, had his friends over all the time and they would always give me piggy back rides and let me hang out with them when they were playing video games or whatever. When he got famous, there were even more people there all the time. The party came to him, my parents loved it. His so-called friends doubled and then my parents started sending me to my grandparents’ house when Trevor had his little get togethers. I guess they didn't want me to see him get wasted."
I stay quiet listening to her but just the picture of a small Zoie being pushed aside so her older brother could shine brighter makes me so sad for her.
"I was spending the night at my grandparents’ house the day he died. He had a party, of course, for no particular reason. Apparently he and a few guys decided to take some meth, my mom went into his room to tell him to clean up what was left of the party before I got home and he wasn't responsive. The paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival."
"I'm so sorry Zoie."
"It was a long time ago." She says softly.
"But he was still your brother, and you were so young..."
> "So was he." She gives a sad smile. "He was 18, he had so much ahead of him, so much promise, but he lost it and his life, just because he wanted to get trashed."
"And unfortunately, that was his choice. I've learned along the way that if people want to self-destruct, they will. It doesn't always matter how much we want them to fight their demons, we can love them through it, but we can't fight the demons for them."
"I wish I could have though." She whispers and turns to face me. "Maybe if I had been just a little bit older, I would have been there to stop him."
Shaking my head, I reach over and squeeze her hand. "Don't tear yourself apart with what ifs. He made his choices, and now you get to learn from his mistakes. You are a totally different person, Zoie. You're stronger. I know you go out to those parties at all hours and act like you don't have a care in the world, but I see through that. I bet five years down the line, you'll be the next Julia Roberts, and everyone will want to have a piece of you in their movie. Excite will be putty in your hands! But you have to take the first step, away from the toxic relationships, i.e. your parents, and onto bigger and better things. Show everyone that Zoie Reese has got this and she will shine bright!"
Zoie laughs and stands to her feet. "I don't know how bright I can shine, I'm sure I'm a little bit tainted, at least if you believe everything the tabloids post."
"Well, I don't." I stand and put an arm around her shoulders. "You can just be better, Zoie. You've got a ton of people pulling for you. Me, Scott, Braden." I grin and bump her shoulder when she blushes at the mention of his name. "And even Mitchell Fallon, he might be old and all about business but he does care about you and the path you've been on. Now, can we go home?"
She smiles and nods and we start walking towards the SUV where Scott and Braden are patiently waiting on us. Before getting into the car, Braden and Zoie slip away to talk and I gratefully step into Scott's waiting arms.
"Everything ok?" Scott asks placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Yep, just giving her a gentle nudge out of sadder territory."
"Ah. Looks like Braden is helping with that."
I turn around and shake my head at the sight of the two of them kissing. Braden may be a good thing for Zoie, but Lord help me if this becomes something serious.
Clearing my throat, I step up and gently pull Zoie away. "Time to go, say bye to Braden."
Zoie sighs and waves to him. "I'll call you tonight. I hope you aren't in too much trouble with your brother and sister in law."
Braden shrugs and gives that Warren smile. "Eh, they love me, they'll get over it."
"I'll call Kate and let her know you'll be home soon." I tell him pointedly and watch him wave one last time to Zoie before he goes and climbs into Liam's truck.
Once Scott, Zoie, and I are strapped into Scott's SUV I sigh and lean my head back, glad to see this day end.
"Ready to roll?" Scott asks from beside me as he grabs my hand.
I smile and squeeze his hand back before taking one last look at Zoie sitting in the backseat. "Let's go."
Chapter 28
The following couple of weeks go by in a mess of lawyer visits for Zoie, filming for Scotty, and returning to work for me. Thankfully by the time I step through those double doors at the front of the school the media that has hounded us for the last month is nowhere to be seen.
When I walk into my office, I'm greeted by a beaming Mona with a cup of steaming coffee in hand that she gently puts into my hands.
"Oh you are a lifesaver." I grin at her and take a slow sip of the caffeinated goodness. "How did you know how I like it?"
"I have watched you pour endless sugar packets and creamer into many a cup of office nastiness. It doesn't take a lot to figure out how to make it right."
"Thank you¸ Mona. After all the craziness that has become my life lately a normal cup of coffee is a welcome thing." I sigh shoving my purse into the bottom drawer of my desk and plopping down into my black leather swivel chair.
"Speaking of that craziness." She looks around before closing the door behind her and sitting down in a chair in front of my desk. "How are you? Really?"
"Right now, I'm ok. We are ok." I tuck a stray curl behind my ear and glance at a picture of me and Scotty I have on my desk. "We're taking everything a day at a time. Figuring out what to do with what we've been handed."
"You are a tougher chick than me, I would have chewed my man out from one end to another. How is he handling finding out he's a father?"
I sigh and shrug my shoulders. "He hasn't really had a chance to figure out how he feels yet. He's only met Cason the one time, any discussion has been with only Brenna. We have plans to kinda feel things out, meet up with them at a park or something."
"Uh-huh. And how are you handling suddenly having a step son?"
"I honestly don't know yet. It really doesn't feel like all this has happened yet." I frown and shake my head. "I mean, he's this little person that is half Scotty, and he's out there in L.A. within reach of us. Him, I can handle. It's Brenna I worry about."
"Ooh are we jealous?"
"I am NOT jealous. I just....can't shake the feeling she still has feelings for him."
"Well even if she does, that hot hubby of yours only has eyes for you. I saw pictures of you two at that movie premiere, you totally have him wrapped around that little finger." She holds up her pinky finger for emphasis and I giggle.
"Maybe a little." I grin and let out a breath. "He's amazing, and he'll be amazing with Cason as soon as he gets the chance. I just think Brenna wants to play house."
"If that Hollywood heart throb were to ever turn to her, I would personally go and smack him upside the head." Mona shrugs as the tardy bell rings. "Oh, how about that project you had, with that girl?"
"Um, it kinda turned into more than just a project. She's kinda living in my house."
"Really? Man it must be craziness in your house."
"Oh it is. Believe me, but I can handle it. It's gonna take more than a hormonal teenage girl and an unknown love child to shake me."
Mona grins and waves at me as she goes out the door to deal with the stragglers begging for a hall pass.
I rub the tiredness out of my eyes and set about getting my desk reorganized, it's funny how being away for a short time makes what you left behind look like a disaster.
I just put away a folder when a knock on my door catches my attention. Not thinking anything of it, I yell for them to come in.
"Hello Mrs. Adams. Mind if I take some of your time?" A deep masculine voice says and I turn to see who it belongs to.
"That depends, who are you?" I ask crossing my arms.
"Not the enemy, I don't think anyways. My name is Paul Zimmerman. I work with Excite, I'm a publicist."
"Ok...why are you here? That would be my husband's department."
"Ordinarily, yes. But Mr.Fallon has sent me to speak with you about releasing a statement to the media about the current situation."
"Mr. Zimmerman, we told Mitchell the other day that we weren't going to play to what he wants. We don't want to exploit anything more than it already has been."
"Yes, Mr. Fallon told me about your discussion. But he would like to change that, instead of the victim card, show all of you as a happy family. Maybe set up some photo ops of Scott with his son and the boy’s mother, some with you and the boy. That way Scott's image is perfect and media will settle a bit."
By his last sentence, I'm fuming. Who do they think they are? I get that Excite Entertainment is a giant in Hollywood and that it was them that put Scotty in the place he is now, but our real lives are more than a script to be written and played out.
"Get out." I say sternly and stand to open the door wide for him to exit.
"Excuse me?"
"Get. Out. This is my place of work and I am not some little minion that will bow to your wants. Now leave, or else I will have campus security escort you."
Paul stands, straightening his suit jacket as he does. "Y
ou will be hearing from Mr. Fallon."
"I'm sure we will." I plaster on a smile and slam the door behind him.
Before my anger gets the best of me, I grab my cell out of my purse and quickly tap Scott's number.
"Hey baby." He answers cheerfully and I sigh.
"I just had a visitor."
"What kind of visitor?"
"The kind that really pissed me off! His name was Paul Zimmerman. He works with Excite?"
"Yeah, I know Paul. What the hell was he doing there?"
"Trying to pick up where Mitchell left off. Their newest great idea is to make you, Brenna, Cason and I look like a big happy family by setting up photo ops."
"I'll have a word or two with Mitchell." He grounds out and I can just imagine him scrubbing his face. "That man really knows what buttons to press."
"I'm sorry Scotty."
"You don't have anything to be sorry about, baby. Someday this will all be a memory. Oh hey, did Katy call you?" Scott swiftly changes the subject.
"Umm no. Why?"
"Liam thinks it would be best to enroll Braden in your school."
"Really? Here?"
"Yep. Since there are other celebrity relatives there and well you, he thinks you could be his extra eyes and ears to make sure he's staying on the right track."
"You mean not attached to the ladies and not the books."
"Pretty much."
"I guess that could work, I just don't know how well Liam Warren coming in for a Parent Teacher conference would go over. He's definitely much more known than some of these B list actors that run around here."
"Eh, he might just be able to charm Braden out of any trouble."
I laugh and let the built up tension caused by Paul's visit melt away. "I can totally see that happening. Unless they send Kate, then Braden will be in a whole world of trouble."
Interconnected Hearts Page 12
