“Call me the minute the plane touches down,” Tyler commanded. “Does Sam know you’re coming early?”
“I didn’t call him. I was too busy changing flights and hotel reservations.”
“I’ll call him,” Tyler assured her. “Both of you have a safe flight. I’ll see you soon.”
That last sentence sounded like a promise…or a threat.
“I love you,” she told him. Because she did. “Thank you for giving me this time.”
His fingertips brushed her lips, sending a tingle up her spine.
“I didn’t give it to you. You took it. And I love you too.”
With that he stepped back and closed the car door so the driver could pull away from the house. A few tears escaped down Billie’s cheeks and she scrambled for a tissue from her handbag only to have Sierra press one into her hand.
“It’ll be okay. He loves you.”
The way Billie felt at this moment she wasn’t sure anything would ever be okay again.
CHAPTER FORTY
“Is she okay? That’s all I want to know.”
Tyler growled in frustration as he tried to pry information out of his best friend Sam. He wanted to know more than that but he’d take what he could get. Billie had only communicated in the barest form since leaving for Paris, texting when she landed and then every morning to let him know things were fine.
Fine.
That’s it. That’s all he knew. Was she still angry? Was she thinking about ending their relationship? Was she ready to talk?
He had zero answers and less patience. He’d used it all up in the last ten days and he had no more to give. Sam was going to have to do some fucking talking.
“She’s fine. She’s busy working. You know how the first few weeks of shooting are. Once she settles in a bit more I’m sure she’ll call you.”
Tyler’s teeth snapped together. “I know she’s fine. She’s told me that, although that’s all she’s said. I want to know if she needs anything. How’s shooting going? Is Sierra doing well?”
“Sierra is fantastic. She’s damn smart and learning the movie business quickly. She helps us run our lines and I think we have another actress on our hands, my friend. She’s good. Really good. We need to be looking for an opportunity for her.”
That was excellent to hear and frankly Tyler wasn’t surprised that Sierra had talent. With all that she’d been through in her life she would have a deep well of emotion to draw on.
“And Billie?” Tyler persisted. “How is she doing?”
“She’s a terrific actress and this part is tailor made for her. The director is happy and we’re on time and on budget which makes the producers and the studio happy. It’s a great set and we’re humming along here. Are you still planning to come out to Paris?”
That was the hundred-thousand dollar question. He didn’t know if he was welcome.
“Eventually,” he replied, not wanting to give away the feelings of fear and doubt that had plagued him since Billie had walked out of the door. “She asked for space so I guess I need to give it to her.”
He’d told Sam everything and while his friend had been sympathetic he had also been painfully blunt. He was quite adamant that Tyler had fucked up. Big. He also felt that Tyler needed to dig down deep inside and see if perhaps he had indeed kept that file for a reason. Such as maybe he was thinking about looking in it.
So far Tyler had avoided that much introspection, frankly terrified of what he might find. Billie’s last speech about everything revolving around him had hit home and hit hard. Was he really that much of an egomaniac? He was beginning to think that perhaps he was. Whether out of habit or arrogance, he wasn’t sure.
“No better cure for the blues than work,” Sam replied. “Get your ass in the gym or learn to crochet. Don’t sit around brooding while she makes this movie.”
“Do you know how to crochet?”
Tyler couldn’t picture his alpha male friend with a ball of yarn. Like a cat.
“As a matter of fact, I do. My grandma taught me when I was a kid. I’m not that good but I could make you a scarf. If you think you’re too manly to crochet, pick something else but for the love of God do not sit around and feel sorry for yourself. This entire situation is your doing and you only have yourself to blame.”
“I know that,” Tyler said, exasperated with his friend. Maybe he shouldn’t have called him after all. Nothing good was coming from this conversation. “Give me a fucking break.”
Apparently that was the one request not to make of Sam because he growled into the phone so loudly Tyler had to pull it away from his ear.
“No wonder Billie left. You’re sitting there in your goddamn mansion in the Hollywood Hills acting like none of this is your fault. Like this happened peripherally around you but you yourself weren’t involved in any way and you’re the victim here. Let me tell you a few home truths and listen to me carefully. Billie, and Sierra too, are the victims here. Their private life was exposed to some sleazy investigator who could have sold that shit to a tabloid instead of giving it to Garrett. In fact, that could still happen because I bet they kept a copy. They might be waiting for your wedding day or some shit like that. And it won’t be you that’s humiliated, it will be those two women who didn’t do anything wrong except become a part of your life.”
Tyler didn’t have to listen to this shit. “You don’t under–”
“Fuck you,” Sam bit out, his tone short and hard as if his patience was long gone. “You’re fucking spoiled. Billie has orbited around you for five goddamn years, always putting you first even at the expense of her own career. She’s done everything you asked of her, even this crazy engagement to get that stupid role that isn’t even worth it. And now you won’t take responsibility for the shitty action of keeping that file. When are you going to fucking admit that you kept it because you were curious? Because anyone with a lick of sense would think that. You’re just lucky that Billie doesn’t want to believe it. She wants you to convince her that she’s wrong. So you sit there like a king in a castle and blame everyone else but yourself. You want Billie back? You want to fix this? Then for once in your self-centered, self-absorbed life put her first when it really counts. Not with shopping or a new car or even her rent. That’s just money. But in this life-altering shit? Put her first. That’s how a husband acts. Once you do that, it will all be different.”
Tyler wasn’t going to let anyone speak to him like that, not even Sam whom he respected more than anyone but his parents. “What the fuck do you know about being a husband? About loving someone? You’re divorced.”
“Maybe if I’d taken my own advice back then I wouldn’t be. Now they need me back on the set but even if they didn’t I’m tired of talking to you. Don’t call me until you’ve changed your fucking attitude.”
Tyler didn’t need a dial tone to know that Sam had hung up.
That’s just dandy with me. I don’t need that shit. I’ve been good to Billie.
He wasn’t like Sierra’s soon to be ex, Brian. That guy was a loser.
Of course, it didn’t say too much about Tyler that he was comparing himself to the absolute dregs of males. He did treat Billie better but that was still a terribly low bar to clear.
Had it all been his way? Was he playing the victim even now?
Running his gaze around his opulent living room, he shuddered at what it had become these last few weeks. A gilded cage.
Sam’s idea of not sitting around was a good one. Tyler needed to get out of these four walls and a run in the canyon was the perfect way to clear his head and really think about what his friend had said. Because one thing was for sure, if Sam was right, Tyler had some major groveling to do.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Billie stretched out on the sofa in the small flat that overlooked the Seine that the studio had rented for her and Sierra. Not fancy but it was clean and comfortable with two small bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, and a kitchen even smaller than the one she’d
had in Tyler’s cottage. None of that mattered, however, as the best part of their little Parisian home wasn’t its space or amenities. It was the location in the sixteenth district on the west side of the city. The quiet streets were lined with shops and charming cafes that looked just like what she’d imagined they would. This particular district had a population of Americans so she and Sierra could easily communicate with the waiters and shopkeepers.
“What time is my call tomorrow?” she asked Sierra who was sipping on a small glass of red wine. She, too, had her feet up after a long day on the set.
“Six and can I say that I never realized that the studios work the actors and actresses quite this hard. You all make it look so glamorous when in reality they’re working you to death behind the scenes. This will be your seventh day in a row of working more than fourteen hours. Yesterday you worked eighteen.”
“But I have two days off after tomorrow.” Billie shrugged. It was the nature of the movie business. “You have to admit there is lots of downtime. I can usually get in a nap. The low budget indie films that I’ve done in the past all filmed fast. Very fast. We worked incredibly long hours and I was busy for most of that time. We’d do several scenes in one day and we’d be finished in a few weeks. This is new for me too.”
“Sam says we’re on schedule so I guess that’s good.” Sierra took another sip of her wine. “You’ll be able to get back to Tyler on time.”
It was funny how Billie and her sister had picked up their sibling relationship so easily after the years of estrangement. Until Sierra had met Brian they’d been close, sharing secrets and talking over their issues and problems.
“Is there something you want to say? Because if there is you should just say it. You’ve never been one to beat around the bush to spare my delicate feelings,” Billie said with a laugh. She’d been receiving some serious looks from Sierra, not just at this moment but all week.
“Fine, then I will. What is going on with you two? Are you together? Are you apart? Or you on a break? If a reporter stops me on the street and asks me about you what should I tell them?”
“To mind their own business and call my publicist,” Billie shot back, then remembered that her publicist was Garrett whom she wasn’t speaking to at the moment.
Mental note. Ask Sam if he’d recommend his publicist.
“Funny. I’m being serious here.”
“So am I.”
Swinging her legs down from the ottoman, Sierra faced her sister. “If you’re not ready to talk about it, that’s fine.”
It wasn’t that. It was that there wasn’t anything new to say.
“I feel like it’s all we’ve talked about and I’m exhausted from it. I don’t know what I should do. If you were me, what would you do?”
At her wit’s end, Billie still didn’t have a clue as to how she was supposed to handle a situation like this. She loved Tyler, she wanted to be with him, but he’d hurt her. There was no denying that. Maybe it was simply going to take time.
“I don’t think you want my opinion.”
Sierra had been careful the past few weeks to be sympathetic but non-committal as to how Billie should have reacted when she found the file.
“I do,” Billie pressed. “This affects you too. That folder contains your past as well.”
Sierra smiled sweetly. “Except that no cares about my past. You’re the one in the spotlight.”
“Still…it had to be a shock to read some of that. I know it was for me.”
Her smile vanished and a far more sober expression took its place. “In a way. I knew Mom had a lot of issues so it wasn’t a shock. I’d say it was more of a surprise. Sort of a milder form of shock. I hope she’s resting in peace now. I think she was a very unhappy woman.”
That Sierra could be so forgiving of their mother’s behavior amazed Billie. “So you’ve made your peace with her?”
“You haven’t? It might be time.” Sierra stood and walked over to the windows, staring out at the starry night sky. “She was sick and she did the best she could. That’s what we’re all trying to do in this world.”
“She made a lot of mistakes.”
“So have I,” Sierra replied softly. “Maybe this world would be a little kinder if we stopped judging people so harshly and cut them just a little bit of slack. We don’t know what led to her alcoholism but I do know that it destroyed her life. I don’t remember one day where she was happy, do you? Think about that because we shouldn’t hate her. We should feel sorry for her.”
“You’re a better person than I am.”
“No,” Sierra said, shaking her head. “I’m just beaten up by life, just like she was. Mom wasn’t strong enough to fight her demons and for a long time I thought I wasn’t either. What are your demons?”
No one had ever asked that. Not directly, anyway.
“I don’t know,” Billie said. “Tyler says I lack trust.”
Sierra nodded in agreement. “We both do. That’s an effect of our childhood.”
“You didn’t say what yours was,” Billie reminded her sister. “Only that you didn’t think you could fight it.”
“My demon is that I never feel good enough so I expect the worst treatment from people.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s my demon too.”
“I didn’t say it was. I was only answering your question.”
“I mean…I don’t think I have a self-esteem problem.” Billie wasn’t sure she liked where this conversation was going. “I don’t think Tyler’s too good for me.”
“Good. Because he’s not.”
“In many ways he’s lucky to have me.”
Sierra picked up her wine glass and took a sip. “I agree.”
“So it’s not that I don’t think I’m good enough.”
“Okay.”
Billie had had enough. “Just say it. You know you want to.”
Shaking her head, Sierra placed her glass in the sink. “I’ll ask you a question instead. Is Tyler a good man?”
“Of course he is. I wouldn’t be with someone who wasn’t. He truly cares about people and he always tries his best. He’d give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it.”
“Then I think you can work this out.” Turning toward the bedrooms, Sierra paused. “I’m going to bed. We have a big day tomorrow. You probably should too after you make your phone call. Goodnight.”
Phone call? Billie wasn’t planning to make–
Wait. Yes, she was.
Tyler Gaylord was a good man. Literally the best Billie had ever known. If he kept that stupid folder then she was simply going to have to get over it, because he wasn’t the type to hurt her on purpose.
Just as Sierra had said…sometimes people make mistakes and we need to give them a break. We need to be kinder.
I need to forgive and move on. He’s not perfect even if I sometimes think he is.
Grabbing her phone from her purse, she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up but it eventually went to voicemail. Unsure what to say, she ended the call. If he saw that he’d missed a call maybe he’d call her back. Although that begged the question why he’d missed the call at all. His phone was practically glued to his hand at all times. He’d answered every text she’d sent him since arriving in Paris within seconds.
Had he grown tired of waiting for her? Was Tyler done? Maybe she’d waited too long.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Billie tossed her silent cell phone onto the table between her and Sam. They were having a bite of lunch between takes and she was regaling him with her telephonic tale of woe. So far Tyler hadn’t answered his phone, which either meant he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere or he wasn’t picking up her calls on purpose.
“He didn’t answer. Again. He hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.” Sam serenely took another bite of his grilled chicken. “He loves you.”
Pointing to the phone lying on the table, Billie shook her head. “Recent evidence contradicts your state
ment.”
Reaching across the table, Sam picked up her untouched fork and held it up. “If I tell you a secret will you eat your lunch?”
Ears perked, Billie sighed and accepted the utensil. “It better be a good secret.”
“The chicken is not that bad. Now eat your lunch and I’ll tell you.”
The chicken was good and so were the sliced potatoes with cheese and some sort of cream sauce. She patted her full stomach and pushed her plate away.
“I’m awaiting my secret.”
Sam had finished his lunch as well and he wiped his hands on a paper napkin before setting his fork on the plate. “I talked to Tyler two nights ago.”
And? Had he said he was giving up on Billie?
“That’s a secret? That’s a lousy secret.”
“You’re a tough audience.” Sam perused the dessert offerings on the table next to them. “How about we share a slice of chocolate cake?”
Sam needed to focus on the task at hand, not scarfing down sweets.
“Are you out of your mind? I’m an actress on a movie set. I can’t be eating stuff like that. You shouldn’t be either.”
Shrugging, Sam reached around behind him and snagged a plate of cake from the table. “I have a fast metabolism. Now where was I? Right, talking to Tyler. He and I had a long chat a couple of days ago. Very enlightening. For him, I think. Not so much for me.”
“I swear I am going to stab you with my fork,” Billie said between gritted teeth while Sam took a bite of the cake as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Talk.”
“As I was saying, Tyler and I had a very interesting conversation where I sat him down and told him a few home truths. You might say I laid some wisdom on his ass. My guess is that he’s not answering because he’s off thinking about what I said. He’ll surface soon and hopefully be a little wiser than when he left.”
She would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
“What sort of wisdom did you helpfully impart?”
Wild on the Red Carpet (The Hollywood Showmance Chronicles Book 3) Page 24
