Starstruck - Book Three

by Gemma Brooks

  CHAPTER 12

  I treated Hudson to some greasy pizza from the one and only gas station in town. It wasn’t organic or gourmet by any means, but he didn’t complain once. I didn’t dare set foot into the Brown Bag Diner. I was sure Marge would have my head on a platter if she ever saw me again.

  “Ready to go to my mom’s?” I asked as he wiped the grease from around his mouth and chewed his last bite of pizza.

  “Yeah,” he said. He seemed genuinely excited to meet her, which was sweet.

  As we buzzed across town to my mom’s little house, I felt the need to prep him before we got there.

  “Now, don’t expect anything fancy,” I said.

  “Okay,” he laughed, probably confused as to why I’d even say such a thing.

  “My dad died when I was little,” I said.

  “Yes, I remember you telling me that once,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It was just me and Mom,” I said. “We lived in this little house. Money was tight. She was, still is actually, a laborer at the appliance factory.”

  “Okay,” he said. “I think that’s great that she took on whatever job she had to to support you.”

  I bit my tongue. I wanted to tell him she was an alcoholic and she was never there for me. I wanted to tell him she wasn’t capable of raising a child, but she did the best she could. I couldn’t manage to get the words out. I just hoped to God her house was still in the same condition it was the last time I saw it. I prayed she was still with Tom and still sobering up.

  “I just don’t want you to have high expectations,” I said.

  “Brynn,” he laughed. “You’re overthinking this. It’ll be fine. I’ll love her no matter what. She’s your mom.”

  We pulled into the weeded, gravel driveway of my childhood home. Right away I noticed the yard hadn’t been mowed since I’d last seen it. Foot tall weeds poked up sporadically and the flowers I’d always watered for her in the flower beds were brown and dying. It wasn’t a good sign.

  I didn’t see Tom’s car there, but I knew she was home.

  “Maybe now’s not a good time for you to meet her,” I said.

  “What? No, we’re here. I want to meet her,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re being like this. Moms love me.”

  “I’m not worried about her liking you,” I said. “I know she’ll love you.”

  I wanted to add, “If she’s sober and coherent enough to remember meeting you” but I didn’t.

  I took a deep breath and crawled out of my car, dreading each step to the side entrance door. Hudson was a step behind me the entire way with his hand on my lower back. I opened the creaky door and was immediately punched in the face with the overpowering stench of dirty cat litter. I glanced over to my left to see empty beer cans lining the side of the sink. She had reverted back to her old ways.

  Hudson stepped inside after me but said nothing, thank goodness. He was too polite, but I knew he noticed. There was no way he couldn’t have noticed.

  “Mom?” I called out.

  I didn’t hear the T.V. blaring which meant she was either in her room sleeping or passed out drunk somewhere around the house.

  “You can have a seat in there,” I told him as I pointed to the living room.

  I wandered back to her bedroom where I lightly rapped on the door.

  “Mom?” I called out. I waited a minute or so before opening the door. She was spread eagle, passed out and snoring on her bed all alone.

  I walked up and sat next to her, gently shaking her arm.

  “Mom, wake up,” I said. “It’s Brynn.”

  She was sleeping hard, so I shook her even harder.

  “Mom!” I yelled. I was beginning to worry.

  I waited and watched as her eyes began to flutter and she startled awake when she saw someone else was there.

  “Tom?” she called out.

  “No,” I sighed. “Brynn. Your daughter.”

  Her eyes fluttered open the rest of the way as a drunk, sheepish smile spread across her lips.

  “Hi, honey,” she said as she attempted to sit up in bed. “I didn’t know you were coming home.”

  “Are you okay, mom?” I asked. “You seem different from last time.”

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  “Where’s Tom?” I asked.

  “Bastard left me,” she said. “Said I drink too much or some bullshit like that.”

  “I thought you were sobering up,” I said. “You seemed so much better last time.”

  “He didn’t even want me to have one drink with dinner,” she muttered. “He said it would lead to another and another. I don’t need a man like that controlling my life.”

  “How much have you had to drink tonight?” I asked her.

  I glanced at the alarm clock. It was nearly eight, and she’d been off work since three. It was hard telling just how many drinks she’d had.

  “Just a couple,” she mumbled. I didn’t believe her for one second.

  “Do you think you can get cleaned up and meet my friend?” I asked her, crossing my fingers she could understand how much that would mean to me.

  “Your friend?” she asked.

  “Yeah, Hudson,” I said.

  “Oh, the movie star,” she said. Her drunk eyes lit up. “Yeah, give me a minute.”

  She sat up and steadied herself on the bed before dipping one leg at a time over the edge. I grabbed her elbow and helped her up. She was a skinny little thing but she always had been. She rarely ate. Her dark hair was in desperate need of a trim and color as nearly two inches of gray was growing out. Alcohol was the only thing she ever really cared to spend money on.

  “Let me walk you to the bathroom,” I said to her.

  “Nah,” she slurred as she tried to push me away. “I got it. Stop taking care of me so much, Brynn. I’m the mother.”

  Her words bit me like a bullet in the leg. She was right. She was the mother. If only she’d acted like it.

  I watched her make her way to the bathroom and then went out to where Hudson was sitting in the living room. I knew the house was small, and I was sure he’d heard everything, but he said nothing. He didn’t have to. His face said it all. He was sad for me.

  I took my place next to him and he wrapped his arm around me.

  “You’re a good girl, you know that?” he whispered into my ear before he kissed my cheek. “She’s lucky to have you.”

  I nodded. I was well aware.

  Within minutes, my mom emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of cheap perfume and hairspray. She’d changed into clean, unwrinkled clothes, and had brushed her hair back into a pony tail.

  “Hi, there!” she said as she extended her hand out to Hudson. “I’m Brynn’s mom, Tina. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  Hudson stood up and shook her hand. “I’m Hudson. Nice to meet you.”

  She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face if she tried nor could she take her eyes off him for two seconds. She was instantly starstruck and smitten with him.

  “You’ve raised a really sweet girl here,” Hudson said as he patted my leg.

  “Oh, don’t I know it,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s the apple of my eye.”

  My mom clutched her hands at her heart as she turned towards me. I couldn’t tell if she really meant those words or if she was trying to come off like she wasn’t a deadbeat mom for all those years. She could’ve been putting on an act for Hudson’s sake for all I knew. Our relationship was complicated and the scars ran deep, but I still loved her so much it hurt sometimes.

  “So how long are you two love birds in town for?” she asked.

  “Until tomorrow,” I said.

  “When did you get here?” she asked, confused.

  “This afternoon,” he answered.

  “Okay, so I’m confused,” my mom laughed. “Why are you leaving so soon?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her all about Luke and Piper and the betrayal, but I didn’t have
the energy. I didn't want to rehash it again or experience an ounce of the pain I’d experienced just hours earlier.

  “Work,” Hudson said. “I have a work function tomorrow that I can’t miss. Last minute.”

  Hudson, once again, came to my rescue. I squeezed his hand to thank him.

  “Would you like something to drink, Hudson?” my mom offered. “I have beer, wine, and water. I might have some milk? I’ll have to check.”

  I glanced up at him and nonchalantly shook my head no. She just wanted an excuse to have a drink herself. She wasn’t going to run off to the kitchen and crack a beer without offering one to her guest. Even in her drunk state, she knew it wasn’t proper.

  “Thanks but no thanks,” he said. “We’ve got an early flight to catch in the morning. I can’t be having too much fun tonight.”

  Her face looked disappointed but she nodded politely. She was just itching for another drink and it was killing her.

  “We should probably get going,” I said, not wanting to stay for another moment in her smelly house. She was probably counting down the minutes until we were gone so she could have another drink.

  “Aw, so soon?” she pouted.

  “I’ll get a hold of you when we get back to L.A., Mom,” I said as I stood up and gave her a hug. “Sorry we can’t stay longer.”

  She stood up and hugged each of us, lingering a bit too long with Hudson. She treated him like family, which I’d appreciated, but she was also very over the top.

  We left the house, and I sniffed my shirt the moment we got back in my car.

  “What are you doing?” Hudson laughed.

  “You don’t think it reeked in there?” I asked.

  In his usual polite fashion, he didn’t answer.

  “You probably think I’m some low life scum now,” I said. “That’s the house I grew up in. And that’s how we lived.”

  Hudson snickered. “Brynn, give me more credit than that. The way your mother lives is not a reflection of who you are as a person. I’m not with you for your background or where you come from or who your parents are.”

  I realized then just how irrational I was being about the whole thing.

  “You’re an amazing person,” he said. “And I have a feeling you had to do a lot of growing up early. You probably raised yourself. And you know what? You did a damn fine job.”

  I took a deep breath. Hudson always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.

  “Your mom needs help,” he said. “I don’t she can get that kind of help here in Rock River.”

  “Yeah, she does need help,” I huffed. “Try telling her that though.”

  “What if I offered to treat her to a luxury rehab facility?” he asked. “They’re all over California. They’re practically resorts. We could lure her out there and get her the help she needs.”

  “She can’t afford that, Hudson,” I said. “It’s a nice thought though.”

  “I don’t think you heard me correctly,” he said. “It’ll be my treat. I’ll do this for her. For you really.”

  “What if it didn’t work?” I asked. “And you’d spent all that money on her. I would feel awful. I couldn’t do that to you.”

  “I want to do this for you, Brynn,” he said as he took my hand. “Let me do this for you.”

  “It’s too kind of you,” I said. “Can I think about it?”

  He seemed frustrated with me.

  “What’s there to think about?” he asked. “I want to do this for you, and I want you to have the mom you deserve. She’s missing out on so much of your life, and you’re missing out on so much of her life. It shouldn’t be that way.”

  I knew I’d be stupid to turn down his offer.

  “Wouldn’t you like to have a little piece of home with you in L.A.?” he asked.

  Part of me wondered if he was just trying to eliminate any need for me to ever come back to Rock River. If my mom wasn’t here, I’d have no reason at all to come home.

  “Let me do this, please,” he pleaded. “If not for you and your mom, for my mom.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “She died of a heroin overdose when I was eighteen,” he said. “She spent every last dime I made as a child actor on her drug addiction. I was too young to know how to get her any kind of help. I’m the one who found her.”

  My heart broke on the spot for him. No wonder he had never talked about his family. I inwardly chided myself for thinking he had any type of ulterior motives.

  “Wow,” I said. “That must have been difficult for you.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “It feels like forever ago, but in some ways it feels like just yesterday.”

  “Okay,” I said. “You can help my mom.”

  I could only hope and pray that by getting my mom the help she needed, it would be closing an old wound of Hudson’s.

  “Thank you,” he said as he kissed the underside of my hand. “As soon as we get back to L.A., I’ll make some calls and handle all the arrangements. It’ll be your job to get her out there.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get out of here before my mom wonders why we’ve been sitting in her driveway for the last ten minutes,” I giggled. “She probably thinks we’re making out or something.”

  CHAPTER 13

  The flight back to L.A. from Des Moines was long and arduous. I had barely flown at all in my life, and the last two months had been making it feel like such a chore. I didn’t know how Hudson got used to being such a jetsetter, but it was something I was going to have to get used to sooner or later.

  As we pulled into his driveway several long hours later, I just wanted to go inside and change into pajamas. I dreamt of collapsing on his silky soft bed and burying myself in his luxurious covers. Some mindless T.V. was in order, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would be out cold.

  Hudson carried our bags in and sat them in the kitchen. He slipped his arms around my waist and spun me towards him. He wanted to get frisky, but I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t have an ounce of energy left in me. The last two days had been draining.

  He kissed my neck and tickled my sides with his fingers as I brushed my hair out of the way. I wanted him, but I also wanted to go to bed. I couldn’t have both.

  As his lips nibbled my earlobes I had no other choice but to succumb to his desires, but as soon as I did there was a big splash outside in the pool area.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked as I popped my head up.

  “No,” he said as he continued leaving kisses up and down my collarbone.

  “It sounds like someone’s outside in your pool,” I said. “Is Flor working tonight?”

  “Ha,” he laughed. “She wouldn’t be in the pool. And no, she’s not working tonight.”

  “Can we go check it out?” I asked. His hands were busy but his mouth was even busier. His hands slipped under my top as he pinned me against the kitchen island with the weight of his hips against mine. “I’d hate for it to be paparazzi or something trying to take pictures of us.”

  He stepped back, sighed, and nodded. “It’s not paparazzi, but if it makes you feel better, we’ll go check it out.”

  He pulled a giant flashlight from a drawer in the kitchen and headed out towards the sliding door towards the pool. At first he shined the light through the glass, hitting every angle around the patio and waterfall.

  The pool was lit up, but it was still plenty dark outside.

  “I don’t see anyone,” he said. “It was probably a bird or something. Now, where did we leave off?”

  He walked over to me with a mischievous look on his face and tugged me close by the band of my jeans.

  “Hudson,” I whined. “Let’s go outside and look. I swear I heard a big splash. It wasn’t a bird.”

  He grunted and stopped what he was doing. He spun around and slid the door open so he could step outside. As he clicked on his flashlight once again, I saw someone moving back by the grotto.

 
“See!” I whispered as I pointed. “There!”

  He shined his light back towards the grotto.

  “Who’s there?” he yelled out. “Show yourself or I’m calling the police.”