Page 33 of Unspoken Tides

Rodrick turned to give Hilary a pointed look. She felt as she had as a little girl when she’d gotten in trouble with Isabella. She felt exposed.

But why? Why did she feel like that? She was fifty-five years old! She and Rodrick were divorced!

Hilary tried to remember the last text messages she’d exchanged with Rodrick. Again, he’d told her they had things to talk about. Again, she’d told him she was “so tired” from her long days on set. She was avoiding him. And now, he was here to demand answers.

“Do you mind if I have a quick word with our costumer about today’s shoot?” Rodrick said, not bothering to look at Max although he spoke to him.

“You good?” Max asked Hilary.

Hilary nodded. “Go set up. I’ll be on set in a sec.”

Max disappeared around the corner of the next trailer, tugging at his hair. Hilary longed to go with him. Instead, she was cornered in her costume trailer by her ex-husband, who looked prepared to eat her. His hands were in fists.

“I keep inviting you over,” Rodrick said.

For a moment, Hilary pitied him. She cleared her throat. “I really have been so busy, Rodrick. I forgot how exhausting making a movie is.”

Rodrick was quiet for a moment. Hilary hated that her mind ran away with itself, showing her hundreds of beautiful memories between them. She hated that a part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him. She wondered when that would die.

Before Rodrick could say anything else, Marty Zhang’s assistant director called from the set. “Everyone! We need to get going!”

“I have to go,” Hilary said. “Maybe we can talk after the shoot? We could go on a walk.”

“Sure.” Rodrick palmed the back of his neck as his face grew blotchy. He looked like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum. “A walk,” he spat.

Hilary didn’t have time to analyze Rodrick’s behavior. She flew into the frantic shoot, fixing costumes, hurrying into the shot, and back out of it just in time for Marty Zhang to call, “Cut!” Sometimes she caught sight of Max behind the camera, and her heart glowed with recognition. This was the man she was falling in love with. This was her solid ground.

After Marty called cut at the end of the day, Hilary sped through her final chores and stepped into the dying light to look for Rodrick. She asked an assistant director, another cinematographer, and the lead actor if they’d seen him, and everyone said they hadn’t seen him since after lunch. Hilary felt a pang of annoyance. She’d given herself a pep talk and prepared herself for this “walk” with Rodrick, and now he was just going to hide away like it didn’t matter at all. He’d made such a big deal about it!

This was something her mother might have done, Hilary thought now. Make a big deal about something, and then make you feel like a fool when you make a big deal about it, too.

But Rodrick and Isabella weren’t similar people. Were they?

Hilary’s thoughts raced for the next half hour. She didn’t fully calm down until she was on the couch with Max beside her and a bucket of popcorn between them. The Hitchcock film was ready; night had fallen.

The only thing Max said before they turned on the film was, “Rodrick is pretty intense. Did he say anything that upset you today?”

“He asked to meet later and then disappeared,” Hilary explained with a shrug.

“That’s rude.”

“That’s my ex-husband,” Hilary said with a sigh. “He doesn’t deserve any more space in our day. Let’s start the movie.”

The next morning, their world flipped upside down.

Hilary and Max arrived on set at seven thirty to prep for the morning ahead. Hilary felt rejuvenated after a long night of sleep. She cracked jokes with the actors and tech workers, drank coffee, and even ate a few bites of a croissant. She was in a terribly good mood.

But when she buzzed through the trailers and stumbled into Marty Zhang, her face fell. “Marty? What’s going on?”

Marty looked lost. Her cheeks were hollow, her hair was unwashed, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Hilary? Hey.” She swallowed and rubbed her neck. “I need to talk to everyone. Everyone on set.” She repeated that louder a second time before the assistant director used a megaphone to announce it.

Hilary followed Marty Zhang to set as her heart pounded in her ears. What was this about? Had something happened to one of the actors? Did Marty need to quit? Once on set, Marty clasped her hands together and raised her chin. “I have some horrible news. As of this morning, the funding for this project has been ripped out from under us. We have no way to keep filming. I can’t even pay the people who showed up today.”

Hilary’s jaw dropped. Around her, the actors, tech workers, makeup artists, and assistants burst into angry conversations. Marty was talking to her personal assistant, but with all the chaos around her, Hilary couldn’t make out what was said.

How had this happened? It didn’t make sense.

Suddenly, Hilary’s mind’s eye filled with Rodrick—when he’d peered up at her in the trailer yesterday, his cheeks blotchy with jealousy.

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