Page 74 of Happy Trails & Honey Pots

“Andyouare lucky,really lucky, that you have the privilege of knowing AJ. And theonlyreason that you do is because AJ has a sweet, sweet heart, and he doesn’t know how cruel and mean and black your heart is. So, my suggestion to you is that you figure out how to be a much better person, or youwillknow what it is like to lose someone you love. If you are even capable of love.”

My entire body was shaking as I stood up, walked back to the room where my coat and purse were, grabbed them, and then walked out the front door without sparing my parents a second glance.

As I walked to the car, I sort of thought that lightning was going to strike me, or the world was going to explode. I’d just told my mother she was cruel and mean and had a black heart. I’d never spoken to my mother like that before, and I realized I had an indoctrinated fear that something catastrophic would happen if I did. But as I looked around, the sun was still shining, the birds were still chirping, and life seemed to be going on as usual. I was a little out of breath, and I had a lot of adrenaline rushing through me, but other than that, nothing seismic seemed to have shifted.

When I got in the car, I looked over at AJ, just to ground myself, and I saw that he had tears in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

In a very uncharacteristic move, he threw his arms around me, hugging me tightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?! What for?! What’s wrong?!” I asked him again, now even more panicked that something really bad had happened.

Had he driven my car in the five minutes I was in with my parents? Had he run over a dog or a small child? Was that my karma for speaking to my mother like that?

“I never thought about those things you said.” He sniffed. “About you losing dad. I’m sorry.”

“You heard that?” My stomach sank like a brick in a fish tank at the realization he’d overheard me. “I’m so sorry. I never would have said those things if I knew you were listening. I told you to wait in the car.”

“I know.” He leaned back in his seat and wiped his cheeks. “But I thought you were finally going to tell Grandma off, and I wanted to hear it. I just…I never thought about you missing Dad. You don’t really talk about him like that and…I just…I guess I just don’t think about you like that ’cause you’re just…my mom.” He looked up at me. “But I’m really proud of you for saying those things to Grandma, and I know Dad would be proud of you, too.”

More tears filled my eyes.

Was Austin proud of me?

If he was, would he still be if he knew the truth?

Because the person I really wanted to see right now…the person I really wanted to talk to, to tell about what I’d just done—was Miles…

36

MILES

Nothing seemedto go right today. We didn’t make our pages yesterday, which had a domino effect on today. We tried to catch up, but everything went wrong. I’d been up for twenty hours, and I was still behind. I hadn’t even looked at the dailies. Tomorrow was our last day of principal photography. After that, we only had the testimonials left to shoot. Then, we were picture-wrapped. I would be leaving Firefly in four days’ time.

I didn’t want to think about that because every time I did, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My eyes were burning as I turned onto the long drive to the Montgomery estate. When my headlights flashed on a white car parked in front of it that looked exactly like Zoe’s Audi, my first thought was that it was a figment of my imagination.

For the past few weeks, I’d been running on an average of three hours sleep per night. It wouldn’t be crazy to think I was hallucinating. As I got closer, I saw a figure in the driver’s seat that looked like Zoe.

Was it actually her?

Was she here?

She’d been friendly to me on the set with AJ but professional. I was hoping that I’d get to see her before I left. But not like this. I’d been outside filming all day. I had mosquito bites. I felt sticky, and I was pretty sure I didn’t smell great.

By the time I parked, she had gotten out and was standing beside the car. It was definitely Zoe. She was here.

When I opened my door, I noticed that her eyes were red. It looked like she’d been crying. The second I saw that she was upset, all thoughts of my hygiene or what she would think of how I looked or smelled went out the window.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and walked toward me. Automatically, I opened my arms, and she walked into them. I held her to me, and she started crying.

“Is it AJ? Where is he? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He’s at Ritchie’s.”

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