by Deanna Chase
“Oh, it’s printed out over there on the desk.” She waved toward an alcove on the other side of the room. “Go on. Read it and then you can tell me if it’s as bad as I think it is.”
Amelia crossed the room and grabbed the pages. But before she started reading the article, her gaze snagged on a row of photos. One in particular. It was of Grayson standing in a bedroom with a white bed that had furry pink pillows on it. It didn’t look anything like the one in the Rhode Island house. But it did look exactly like the one in her vision where she’d seen Katy kiss Grayson. Amelia’s heart started to pound against her rib cage, and she felt a little dizzy as she picked up the photo.
“Is that the picture of Grayson at the Cape Cod house?” Katy asked.
“Um, the one with pink pillows on the bed?” Amelia asked, her voice squeaking just a touch.
“Yeah, that one. Doesn’t he look really good there? It’s my favorite picture of him. He’s just so happy.”
“Happy,” Amelia repeated, starting to go numb. What was she doing there with Katy Carmichael? She’d been really naïve thinking it was a good idea to come there, to try to make friends. They were never going to be friends when Katy had her claws in Amelia’s man.
“It’s too bad I sold that house. It was really great for parties,” Katy said, throwing her head back onto the couch pillow.
“You sold it?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah, right after it went on the market just a few weeks ago. It was wild. Why?”
“No reason,” Amelia said, completely confused. Her visions didn’t always materialize, but that one had been so clear that she’d been certain it would. But then it hit her. Maybe her vision hadn’t been of future events. Maybe it was a memory? That happened sometimes with spirit witches. They just saw things from the past or the future. Not that Amelia was a spirit witch. Her talents were with fire. But since she’d never had a vision before getting pregnant, she assumed they were fueled by the baby, who very well could be a spirit witch just like Grayson.
The tension she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying drained right out of her. That meant Grayson wasn’t going to leave her for Katy. He hadn’t ever intended to, and she’d been right not to trust what she saw. Amelia let out a sigh of relief as she sank into the desk chair.
“What’s that sigh about?” Katy asked, eyeing Amelia suspiciously.
“Nothing, I…” Then she decided to just be honest with the actress. What did she have to lose? “It was this vision I had.” Amelia described what her mind had shown her and ended with, “So I decided it was just a memory.”
Katy’s eyes widened. Amelia was fairly certain it wasn’t easy to shock the actress, so she took a modicum of pleasure in knowing that she’d succeeded. “You’re right. That is a memory. It’s from last December when I called Grayson back to help me bury this very same story.”
“What? This same one? How… why… I don’t get it,” Amelia stammered.
“I know it’s nuts. The only new item was about your friend, Victoria. They must’ve dug that up later. But this group of reporters have been working on this story for a while. Grayson managed to get the magazine that was going to publish it to stand down, but the reporters kept shopping it, and without knowing exactly who they are, we had little chance of stopping it altogether if they found someone else to publish it. So here we are. Back at square one. Or two, maybe, since it was leaked.”
So that was why Grayson had left. He’d not only been protecting Katy, he’d been protecting Amelia as well. She didn’t love that he’d just disappeared without a trace, but at least she understood it now. And maybe she loved him just a little bit more. “I’d better read this thing.”
“I think that’s wise.” Katy tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
Amelia glanced at the headline: Star’s Turbulent Love Triangle and Secret Shame.
“Disgusting,” she murmured while her stomach churned. What was wrong with people? A whole lot, as it turned out. Because the article was full of half truths about the pregnancy and the D & C. There was a picture of Grayson holding her hand as they left the hospital. And then more lies and sensationalism about Katy’s life, including accusations of threesomes and drug addiction. They ended her story by blaming it on the fact that she was adopted and that it was rumored her mother was a famous actress.
Amelia let out a little gasp of horror. No wonder Katy thought that line might make Jeanette think she was calling her out. The article was horrific, and she hadn’t even read about the star’s secret lover yet.
Feeling like she needed a shower, she forced herself to continue reading. When she got to the part that was about Grayson, it nearly broke her. The basic facts were correct as far as she could tell, but the author had speculated and psychoanalyzed him through the entire thing, making him sound like a man who was unstable because he’d not only lost his parents when he was young, but he’d also witnessed their deaths.
Amelia gritted her teeth and braced for what they had to say about her. It wasn’t much, but it did detail the trauma of losing Victoria and then went on to speculate that Grayson had a thing for broken women. As if witnessing a tragic accident had somehow broken Amelia or that losing a baby had done the same to Katy.
“I hate these people,” Amelia said suddenly.
“Join the club.” Katy didn’t move from her spot on the couch.
Even though she knew better, Amelia took a second to look at the few comments that were visible at the bottom of the page. The first two were typical jerks who were debating Katy’s breast size while ignoring the content of the article. But the third one, that one had potential.
I heard from my friend that the actress who is Katy’s birth mom is Jeanette Brooks. Pull up pictures of them and you’ll see the resemblance. It’s in the eyes. And by the way, the only reason they haven’t met is because Jeanette doesn’t know Katy is looking for her. Her lawyer is her niece, and since Jeanette doesn’t have any other kids, the niece is trying to worm her way into being her sole heir.
“Katy! Did you see this?” Amelia called.
“See what?”
“These comments. There’s one I think you’ll find really interesting.”
“All comments are trash. Celebrity lesson number one is never read the comments.”
“Too late. I already did.” She read the comment out loud and wasn’t surprised when Katy popped off the couch and came to read it for herself.
“Holy shit. What if this is true?” Katy said to herself.
“There’s a pretty good way to find out.” Amelia pulled out her phone and googled Jeanette Brooks’ niece. It took all of two seconds to confirm that Jeanette’s lawyer really was her niece. “You have to try to make contact with Jeanette again,” Amelia insisted. “This smells like a cover-up.”
“Smells like a cover-up? Who are you? James Bond?” Katy asked, looking slightly amused.
“You know what I mean. I think this comment might actually be the truth. What can it hurt to try?”
“Everything.” Katy pressed a hand to her heart. “It nearly killed me last time. I don’t want to go through that again.”
Amelia dropped the article back on the desk, and when she saw the look on Katy’s face, she felt terrible for even mentioning it. “I’m sorry. I’ll drop it.”
“Thank you.” Katy squeezed her eyes shut and then shook her head as if trying to dislodge thoughts from her mind.
Amelia started to back out of the room to give her privacy, but Katy called, “Wait. Let’s see if we can find out any more about this niece.”
Forty minutes later, they didn’t have anything except an Instagram picture of the niece posing with Silas Ansell. When Amelia saw it, she did a double take but then realized that Silas was doing a movie with Jeanette at that very moment. Likely the niece was a fan and asked for a photo. When Amelia couldn’t stop staring at it, Katy got impatient.
“What exactly are you looking at? That IG account is just a wall of celebrity tro
phy pictures. It’s not going to tell you anything.”
Amelia tapped Silas’s picture and said, “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?”
“A phone call.” Amelia fished Shannon’s business card out of her purse and placed it on the table.
Chapter 26
It had been one hell of an eventful twenty-four hours. Grayson had spent half a day threatening a dozen people with a lawsuit so large he was certain it would scare them into at least taking down the article. There was no getting rid of it completely, because the internet didn’t work that way, but at least the original source would be missing.
No dice.
The online rag didn’t seem to care one bit and kept citing the first amendment right to free speech. Grayson was quick to point out that the amendment wouldn’t mean one iota in a defamation lawsuit. That also had been ignored, and all of them acted as if they moved through the world without consequences. It was likely they did, but Grayson promised them, and himself, that it wouldn’t happen this time. He’d make sure of it.
When Grayson finally got tired of talking to them, he turned to a new plan. All he had to do was convince Kira to go on a national talk show to tell her side before the magazine went to print. It would mean that the first time most people heard her story, it would be from her personally. And the magazine article would suffer a quick death, destined to fade away into oblivion as a sensationalized piece that most people would disregard.
That had gone over like a lead balloon. Or at least it had until Amelia had somehow managed to get a message to Jeanette Brooks that Katy wanted to meet her. And Jeanette had actually been overjoyed. She wanted to know where they could meet and have privacy. Katy had invited her over right that minute, and Jeanette had immediately booked a charter flight from the movie set where she was filming in Canada.
The pair had stayed up all night, talking, sharing acting stories, and crying over their separation. And when Katy broke the news about the article, Jeanette had been the one to insist they tell their story first. With Jeanette on board, they’d quickly booked a segment on Maven’s, the most popular talk show in the nation.
Now Grayson and Amelia were on the sidelines in the studio in New York, watching as they both tried to set the record straight. Jeanette was the one to go first. She was courageous in talking about her struggle to be a single, barely working actor suddenly having to raise a child and do it while dealing with sexist Hollywood producers. Without any family to help her, Jeanette had felt forced to give her child up for adoption. But she’d waited every day for over thirty years for the call that her child wanted to meet her.
Katy talked about never feeling like she truly fit in with her family, even before she knew she was adopted. And then when she found out, it had all started to make sense. She’d also told the story about how devastated she was when she heard her own mother didn’t want to meet her.
Jeanette had reached over to grab Katy’s hand, making sure she knew that had never been the case.
The entire hour had been like a free therapy session, but all Grayson cared about was making sure his friend was happy and that he and Amelia could go home.
“I like her,” Amelia said.
“Who? Jeanette?”
“Yes, but I meant Jeanette’s daughter. Katy Carmichael. She has grit and attitude. It’s fun to have a conversation with her… as long as we see eye-to-eye. When we don’t? It’s kind of a shitshow.”
Grayson laughed. “I’m going to have my hands full with both of you for the rest of my life, aren’t I?”
Amelia pressed up on her tiptoes, kissed him, and said, “Count on it.”
Amelia and Grayson had been home for all of three days when they decided it was time for Grayson to move into her house permanently. It was foolish for both of them to pay rent when they were always at her house. Getting out of his lease was fairly easy since rental property in Keating Hollow was so scarce. With Wanda’s help it hadn’t taken long for the property owner to line up a new renter.
It was Friday, and Grayson was looking forward to finally being settled in with Amelia in the house in the hills. Only first, he had to finish packing his stuff. After work, he went straight to his rental, intent on filling his suitcases, but when he walked into his bedroom, he did a double take when he saw the beautiful brunette sprawled over his bed.
Naked.
“It’s about time you got home, Grayson,” she said in a sultry voice and batted her eyelashes playfully. “I’ve been waiting.”
Grayson raked his eyes over her, licking his lower lip as he envisioned what he wanted to do to her.
“I didn’t want you to let go of the rental before your vision came true.”
“Huh?” he asked, almost too distracted to process what she’d said. But then it hit him, and he grinned. She’d remembered. The night of Shannon and Brian’s wedding, he’d told her he’d had a vision of her naked on his bed. His lips curved into a half smile. “Is this my going away gift or my housewarming gift? I’m not sure.”
“Definitely your going away gift,” she said. “You’ll get your housewarming gift after you’re officially moved in.”
“Damn, I think I just fell in love with you all over again.” He went to work on stripping out of his clothes, eager to be skin to skin with her. Grayson had just had her the night before, but seeing her there like that, offering herself up, was doing things to him that were driving him insane.
Amelia picked up a rose stem that had been lying on the bed and traced her skin from her breast to her hip with the petals.
The slow movement made his mouth water. He was torn between watching her and devouring her. It was no surprise when his desire won out and he crawled over her naked body, ready to lose himself in her.
“I think we might not make it home until sometime tomorrow,” she said, tracing his abs with her fingertips.
“Tomorrow? I was thinking sometime on Sunday.” He nuzzled her neck and then kissed her skin just over her pulse. “What do you think?”
“Sunday,” she breathed as his mouth found more of her. “Sounds perfect.”
Grayson let out a small chuckle and then said, “Amelia?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Her expression turned soft for a moment before a look of pure joy lit up her face. “Grayson,” she said, her eyes filling with tears as she placed a hand over her heart. “Our daughter just sent me a vision. It was beautiful. The three of us together on a picnic down by the river, all of us laughing. She’s so gorgeous. Thick blond curls and wide hazel eyes. And the happiest little girl.” Her voice hitched as she added, “Our life together with her? You just wait; it’s better than either of us can imagine.”
Grayson thought his heart was going to burst into a million pieces. This life, with his girls, it was everything he’d always wanted and more. He placed his hand on her belly and said, “Tell me, what do you think about trying for a brother or sister for this precious little one?”
She chuckled. “I think we can make that happen. But we’re going to need a lot of practice.”
He grinned at her. “Perfect answer.”
Chapter 27
Six Months Later
Georgia Exler sat at the table in Incantation Café staring at her laptop. It was time to start her newest paranormal romance, but as usual, she had no idea where to begin.
Meet cute, she told herself. Just write a meet cute and the rest will follow.
Okay, she could do this. All she needed was a charming encounter where two people meet for the first time. What was so hard about that? She’d written dozens of them before. She could certainly do it again. Right?
Wrong.
She actually hadn’t been able to write anything at all since she’d moved to Keating Hollow. It wasn’t the town’s fault. It was her. She was suffering a broken heart, and even though it had been over a year since she’d lost Nick, she still was having trouble writing anything th
at involved a happily-ever-after.
Maybe she was blocked because she’d been cheated out of hers?
It was possible. But that didn’t change the fact that she had deadlines, and if she didn’t meet them, paying rent was going to be a bigger problem than making up a meet cute.
She took a deep breath and decided to go back to basics. Write what you know.
Okay, she could do that.
Glancing around the café, she spotted an attractive man, maybe mid to late thirties, with wide shoulders, long legs, and forearms to die for. What is it about forearms, she wondered. Most people didn’t think forearms were sexy, did they? Well, too bad for them, because they were missing out.
Mr. Forearms over there looked like he wielded an ax like a pro, and she couldn’t help imagining him out in the back of her house splitting logs. Hot.
The first tingle of an idea niggled at the back of her mind, and Georgia put her fingertips on the keyboard and wrote:
Heather sat in the café, staring at the gorgeous man, wondering if she could tempt him to light her fire. Not the one in the bedroom, though she certainly wasn’t opposed to that, not with those forearms. No, she needed someone to help her figure out how to work her new wood-burning stove.
Giggling to herself, she continued to write a funny scene about Heather inviting the man over to help her and him getting the wrong idea, thinking she’s looking for an escort.
“What?” Heather exclaimed. “No. Oh. Em. Gee. What do I look like to you? The kind of girl who needs to hire her men?”
He chuckled. “No judgment here, ma’am. Everyone has needs.”
Heather glared at him, stalked back to her table and, without breaking eye contact with him, sat in the nearest chair, only to let out a yelp of surprise when she sat on a cake and felt the cool whipped cream frosting seeping through her jeans.
The man she’d apparently propositioned gave her a sexy half grin and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow about lighting that fire.”
