Tug of Attraction

by Ashlyn Chase

  “Oh. This is my old agent, Toby Myerson. I guess there’s a movie in the works about Elizabeth Taylor and he came to talk to me about being in it.” She focused on Toby and quietly said, “Even if I were interested, I’m afraid it isn’t possible. I’m pregnant.”

  That’s her only reason? Ethan’s heart sank.

  “Pregnant?” Mr. Myerson hid his momentary shock quickly and said, “Congratulations! I take it Mr. Cox here is the father?”

  Ethan moved to Brigit’s side, but he tried not to act as possessive as her father had. Protective, yes. But not possessive. “Yes. I’m the very proud father-to-be.”

  That earned a rare smile from Jonathan.

  “I’m sorry you came all this way,” Brigit said. “But as you can see, it’s out of the question.”

  “Honey, nothing in Hollywood is impossible these days,” he said with renewed confidence. “We’ve filmed whole seasons of TV shows with pregnant stars, and nobody knew a thing until it was all over.”

  She rolled her eyes. “If you’re talking about Alison Hannigan, in How I Met Your Mother, it was a valiant effort, but pregnancy involves more than a bump in the midsection. You can usually see it in the actress’s face, arms, somewhere...”

  He turned back toward his limo. “You know, we should be discussing this over a nice glass of white wine. Not a driveway.”

  Brigit shook her head. “I’m pregnant, Toby. I can’t drink wine. I don’t need limos. I want to raise my child in the relative peace and harmony of the New England seacoast.”

  “You can. You can, darling. You can have all of that...”

  Jonathan looked like he’d had enough. “She told you, no.”

  His wife looked a little helpless and tried to add, “But he came all this way. We could at least invite him for—”

  “No,” Jonathan barked.

  Ethan was glad he wasn’t the only one able to see through this guy’s bullshit. And Jonathan was a surprising ally. Unfortunately, Brigit wasn’t objecting to anything.

  As if no one had said a word, he drew a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Brigit’s mother. “If she changes her mind, call me.”

  “She’s right here,” Brigit said, and crossed her arms.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but don’t you have a plane to catch?” Ethan asked.

  “Nope. I thought I’d stay right in this quaint little town for a long weekend.” He reached out and clasped Brigit’s shoulders. “Have dinner with me.” He cast a glance at Ethan who was seething by now. “Or lunch tomorrow. Whatever’s convenient for you.”

  “Ethan,” she said, as if defeated. “I should at least have lunch with him, for old-time’s sake. You understand, right?”

  She didn’t give him much choice. “Sure,” he said, between gritted teeth.

  The limo’s other back door opened and a beautiful blonde wearing a fur coat stepped out.

  “Is this going to take much longer, Toby?” she complained.

  “I’ll be right with you, babe. Get back in the car.”

  A pout marred her pretty face and she ducked back in, slamming the door behind her. At least Toby finally started back toward the limo like he intended to leave them alone—for now.

  “Call me, Brigit. I’m staying at the Sise Inn.”

  Ethan and Brigit stared at each other. He had just named a famously haunted landmark. Ethan could barely suppress a grin. “You wouldn’t be staying in room 204, by any chance?”

  “No. We rented the carriage house out back.” He took another glance at Brigit’s old home. “Kind of like this one.” Then he smirked and got into the limo.

  Ha. The joke is on you, asshole. Brigit won’t go anywhere near that place.

  * * * *

  Hanna and Michele dropped their hands and stared at each other.

  “I can’t friggin’ believe it,” Hanna muttered.

  “Do you think she’s hiding it in plain sight? Or does she really not know what it is?”

  Hanna leaned back and shouted at the ceiling. “Fayleen. Get your skinny ass here right now.”

  Fayleen walked through the door—without opening it.

  Michele’s jaw dropped. “How did she do that?”

  “She drank from the grail,” Hanna said. She’d yell at Fayleen for another startling entrance, later.

  “No wonder you want it. With powers like that, you could...”

  Michele didn’t have to finish her thought. “Exactly,” Hanna said. “Now you know why we have to find it. In the wrong hands it could create utter chaos.”

  “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Fayleen said, as if she were suddenly concerned with propriety. “Who’s the ridiculously beautiful blonde, Hanna?”

  Michele rose. “I’m sorry. I’m Michele Erikson. And I gather your first name is Fayleen?”

  Damned if Fayleen didn’t curtsy. “At your service.”

  Hanna rolled her eyes. “Fayleen, we’ve seen the grail’s journey, and I think it—and Independence—went home with Andrea.”

  “Shit. That little weasel. After we got him all shampooed and groomed, he goes off with a young witch.”

  “What else is new?” Hanna asked, rhetorically.

  “I’m not sure where she lives. All we could see was the back seat of a car for several minutes.”

  “So, she can’t be more than several minutes away from the garbage dump, which is where Independence was.”

  Michele raised her hand. “Excuse me. Who or what is Independence?”

  Hanna answered quickly before Fayleen could be a smart-ass. “It’s the name of a dog who used the grail as his water dish.”

  Michele’s brows rose. “Oh. Does that mean he’s supernatural too?”

  “Indeed.”

  “He was a stray,” Fayleen added. “Pretty rough around the edges. Get it? Ruff-rrruff. Only now he can speak perfect English.”

  Michele plopped back down in her chair. “Oh, no. Do you think that little girl is going to tell people she has a talking dog?”

  “We have to get to both of them, fast,” Hanna said.

  Fayleen asked the obvious question. “How?”

  Michele was worrying her lip.

  “Do you think you can use some kind of fairy GPS, Michele?” Hanna asked.

  She looked up, puzzled. “Fairy?”

  Uh oh. “I guess your mother never told you...”

  “Told me what?”

  “About your father.”

  “I—I um...Not much. She said it was a brief, passionate fling. She didn’t know where he was from or where he disappeared to.” She shrugged.

  Hanna sighed. “Well, that much is true. When he disappeared, he actually disappeared. In front of her eyes.”

  Michele’s hand flew to chest, as if holding her heart inside.

  “So, he was Fae?”

  Hanna nodded. “That’s our best guess. She searched the room in case he was just a new, talented Houdini, but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere.”

  Michele’s gaze snapped to Fayleen. “Are you Fae too?”

  “No. I drank from the grail, but before that I was completely human. My name is completely coincidental. My mother had two sisters. Faye and Arleen.”

  “She likes to pretend she’s fae.” Hanna whispered behind her hand and added. “Don’t encourage her.”

  Fayleen planted her hands on her hips. “Oh, come on. It was one party. And I made sure no one remembered a thing.”

  Hanna smirked, then cleared her throat and got serious. “Okay. We have to find that grail. Michele, I need something to go on—anything. Can you focus on the little girl’s room and see if there are any clues there?”

  Michele sat across from Hanna again and smoothed her black dress. “I can try. Do you want to include Fayleen? Maybe with all three of us poking around, one of us will see something.”

  ‘Oh, yes, please,” Fayleen said. “After all I’ve been through, I’d like to see where our grail actually is.”

 
Hanna nodded and Michele set up a third folding chair at the table. Fayleen occupied the chair quickly and held hands with the other two powerful witches.”

  “Together we make a stronger force,” Fayleen said.

  “The triple symbol of the Triquetra,” Michele added.

  Hanna had to agree. Maybe they could astral project and really search the girl’s room. Maybe the whole house or even the street. They’d find it, at any rate.

  They all held hands and Michele was able to take them right back to the girl’s room with no trouble.

  After a brief search, Fayleen located a group photo and waved the other two over. A sign the kids were holding said, Garden Haven, NJ, kindergarten. And on the next line it said, Class of 2014.

  Eureka! We’ve found it.

  * * * *

  Brigit met Toby at the Dolphin Stryker restaurant. It seemed to be spirit-free when she was there before, and she really wanted to enjoy her lunch. Her stomach had finally settled down, signaling an end to her first trimester.

  “Look, Doll. I want you to feel comfortable, so we’ll skip the wine.” He glanced at his companion. “Right, babe?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  The waiter came right over and they placed their drink orders. Herbal tea for Brigit. Fat free lattes for the other two.

  Then Toby opened with a joke....Only he didn’t mean it to be one. “So, does your mother act too?” he asked.

  Brigit chuckled. “Not in this lifetime. Unless you consider acting like the perfect wife and mother is a role.”

  “She was very hospitable. I liked her immediately.”

  “Yeah. She’s the glue that holds our family together. I don’t know where I’d be without her.”

  “That’s great. Really great. Do you think she’d watch your child while your boyfriend is at work?”

  “I know she would. She offered to take her any time I needed her to.”

  “Perfect! So between the two of them, you’d be free to come back to Hollywood and pursue this role. You know, I was thinking just last night...”

  Brigit held up her hand to stop his line of thought, but he ignored her and kept right on talking.

  “Your pregnancy can work. Liz had children. We’ll simply film those scenes first...”

  “Stop!” Brigit closed her eyes and shook her head. “Toby. I’m not interested. I don’t know how much clearer I can be.”

  His lips thinned, then his expression changed quickly and he leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed.

  Who’s the actor here? Brigit thought.

  “What are you really worried about, Doll? I haven’t heard you mention any problem that can’t be dealt with.”

  She took a deep breath and spit it out. “Look, Toby. This pregnancy is a miracle in itself. Women in my family have a hard time conceiving. I’m thirty and may never get another chance. This is more important to me than any role.”

  “More important than the career you worked so hard for? This role will launch you to stardom. Trust me. Your child will want for nothing.”

  “Except access to her mother.”

  The blonde spoke up for the first time. “You’ve referred to the baby as ‘her’ a couple of times. Do you know it’s a girl?”

  Brigit felt her face heat, but she smiled past her embarrassment. “No. I just have a feeling.” No one needed to know that Charlotte had told her and Ethan as much.

  “My mother had a feeling I was a boy. As you can see, she couldn’t have been more wrong.” The woman petted the fur coat next to her. Apparently she didn’t want to chance leaving it in the coat room.

  Brigit knew what she was doing was right. She may have been unsure about involving Ethan in her plans at first, but she was sure of his desire to be involved now. But still...How selfish would she be to dump a child on him and run off to Hollywood?

  “I can’t do it, Toby. I just can’t. Believe me. I’m flattered that you came all this way and went to so much trouble, but there are plenty of starlets in Hollywood who would kill for this role.”

  “That’s true. But I knew you’d be brilliant in it. You’re like Liz, you know.”

  She tipped her head. “In what way?”

  “Fiercely independent. Not someone you could push around. Even her multiple divorces were because she didn’t put up with anyone’s shenanigans. She knew her worth.” He looked at her askance. “But maybe you’re not like her after all. I’m beginning to doubt you know yours.”

  She wanted to get up and walk out. How dare he? Then she realized that’s the reaction Liz herself would probably have.

  Brigit sighed. “I do know my worth, but now that I’m about to be a mother, I know my child’s worth too. She’s worth a mother like I had. One who will fight for her. Protect her. Do whatever is best for her. Do you understand that?”

  He was silent. It was the first time she’d seen him truly at a loss for words.

  Their waiter arrived with their drinks.

  Suddenly she wanted to run to Ethan. His boat was moored right across the street from the restaurant. Why not? Since I’m following my heart, why the hell not? She rose from the table. “Someday I’ll actually stay long enough to sample the food here. I hear it’s wonderful. Enjoy your lunch Toby and...whatever your name is.” She handed the waiter her menu and left.

  Chapter 16

  Brigit knew Ethan wasn’t happy about her having dinner with Toby, but she owed her old agent her thanks for his effort on her behalf and a polite refusal. If Ethan had tried to prevent her from the meeting, she’d have been furious and would have moved right back into her parents’ carriage house.

  Now she couldn’t find him.

  She had left the agent and his girlfriend at the Dolphin Stryker restaurant. He had tried every angle he could think of to change her mind over appetizers. Fortunately she wasn’t dumb enough to be taken in by flattery and promises like ‘You can have it all.’ It seemed pointless to stay for more arm-twisting, so she made an excuse about not feeling well and left before ordering a full meal.

  She had ventured across the street to the towing company and found the fence locked. One of the deck hands outside had said Ethan was seething about something and said he had to go walk it off.

  Great. Just the way two people should start a life together.

  She returned to his home—now her home too—and tried her key in the lock. When it turned she let out a small sigh of relief. At least he didn’t change the locks.

  Inside, the kitchen was dark. She flicked on the lights and proceeded to the refrigerator, prepared to make a shopping list if Ethan had the typical bachelor contents of condiments and beer. She found it stocked pretty well. There was a whole chicken in a pan that looked like it was ready to be put in the oven. It was even garnished with rosemary.

  Uh-oh. Did he have a nice dinner planned for the two of us?

  Her heart sank. She knew her agent was right about one thing. She was like Liz Taylor in more than just looks. She was stubborn, determined, and unlucky in love. Sighing, she closed the refrigerator door and tried a cabinet. Maybe she could find some crackers and peanut butter. It was all she deserved.

  The key rattled in the lock and she waited expectantly. Was Ethan still angry? Did his deck hand tell him she was looking for him? Did he come home to yell at her?

  Or was it just Charlotte trying to get her attention?

  Finally, the door flew open and Ethan stumbled in. The scent of alcohol didn’t hit her until she got closer to him, but she could tell by his gait that he’d been drinking.

  “I thought you were on call?”

  “I was.” That was all he said before stumbling off to the living room.

  What the hell?

  She followed him and watched as he collapsed onto the couch and aimed the remote control at the TV.

  “We’re not watching a game show,” he said.

  Brigit approached carefully. “That’s okay. I don’t particularly like game shows.

&nbs
p; “I was talking to Charlotte.”

  Oh, yeah. Our third roommate loves those things. How could I forget?

  Brigit sat down next to Ethan and he scooted further away.

  “Turn it off.”

  He stared at her. “Excuse me?”

  “You seem angry, and I’m not going to tiptoe around you. Might as well turn off the TV, so we can have it out. What’s on your mind?”

  “What’s on my mind?” He snorted.

  “Yeah. I can barely tell what the dead are trying to tell me, so I certainly can’t read your mind.”

  He leaned against the back of the couch and covered his eyes with his arm. After a long silence, he asked. “When do you leave?”

  “Leave? Leave where? Here?”

  “Yeah. Here. Portsmouth. When are you leaving for Hollywood?”

  “Hollywood! Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  He sat up and glared at her. “Isn’t it? I mean...this is what you wanted, right? Far be it for me to stand in your way.” Under his breath he mumbled something about resenting him if he squashed her dream.

  She bit her lip and tried not to explode. When she could speak calmly she probably said the wrong thing. “Is this how you’re going to handle every minor disagreement?”

  He rose. “Minor disagreement? You turn my whole life upside down, and you call that minor?”

  “No. Of course not. But I didn’t think you’d go off and get drunk the first time something came up. Especially when you’re on call.”

  She glanced around the room. “Charlotte? Does he do this often?”

  He tossed the remote on the floor and stormed out of the room.

  Oh, Goddess. This is a nightmare.

  Tears burned behind Brigit’s eyes. Were they tears of anger and frustration or disappointment? Or was it just her pregnancy hormones again? Get a grip, Brigit. Calm down before you talk to him. One of us has to be rational.

  While she was taking some long deep breaths, Ethan returned to the room. He simply stood there with his hands on his hips. At last he said, “You never answered my question.”

  “What question?”

  “When are you leaving?”