Page 20 of Full House

CHAPTER EIGHT

“You ready to hit the road?” Nate asked after she’d opened the trailer door. He was a yummy sight, standing on the second to top step dressed in worn jeans and a long sleeve, thermal shirt.

“Yep. Got my suitcase in my trunk.” He’d asked her to pack the night before, so they could leave straight after filming.

She closed and locked the door, and he followed her to her car. “Pop the trunk.”

She did as he asked, hitting the button on her key fob to unlatch the trunk, and he raised the lid, grabbing her bag. “Is this it?” he asked, referring to the small suitcase.

She took in the raised brow he aimed her way. “What? We’re only going for the weekend.”

He placed her suitcase at his feet and slammed the lid. “Most women would have packed a trunkful.”

She bristled for two reasons. First, she didn’t like to be lumped in with “most women.” She hated stereotypes and figured each person should be judged individually. Secondly, he was basically telling her he’d traveled with enough women to make that assumption. Not cool.

She took a page out of his book and shrugged a single shoulder. She wouldn’t tell him that after spending her workdays wearing two tons of makeup, having her hair messed with hourly, and making several outfit changes, the last thing she wanted to do on her day off was primp. Instead, she said, “Guess I’m low-maintenance.”

He raised a brow at her tone. “I wasn’t complaining.”

She sighed, knowing she was acting bitchy. “Sorry. I’m edgy and nervous about meeting your mom.”

He picked up her bag and draped his other arm over her shoulders, steering her toward his car. “Don’t be. My mom’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”

Easy for him to say. It was his mother.

The usual three-hour drive turned into more than four—factoring in the patches of traffic they’d had to sit through and a bathroom-slash-snack purchase stop—and they didn’t arrive at his mom’s doorstep until almost midnight.

Unbuckling her seat belt, Victoria stared through the windshield at the darkened house. “I hope we don’t wake her.”

Nate had called his mom when they’d made their pit stop, letting her know they would be late and not to wait up for them.

Turning off the ignition, he said, “She sleeps like the dead.” Then he chuckled. “I remember once when I was about fifteen, I’d stayed out past my curfew and had to sneak into the house. My sister, Tammy, was having a sleepover, and the girls were camping out in the living room. I guess they’d gotten themselves worked up, telling ghost stories, and when they saw my shadow walking past the room, they started screaming bloody murder until I made myself known.” He shook his head grinning. “Mom slept through the whole thing.”

Victoria laughed. “How old’s your sister?”

“Two years younger than me. Thirty-three. You’ll probably get to meet her. I’m sure my mom’s told her we were coming, and Tammy always tries to stop by when I’m in town.”

“Does she live close by?”

“Yeah, she moved back about two years ago after her divorce.”

Victoria felt her heart ping. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Her ex is a prick.”

“Do they have children?”

“No. And I think that was one of the reasons she divorced him. She wanted them, and he didn’t.”

Sadness for Nate’s unknown sister filled her.

He tapped her knee. “Come on. Let’s get in the house, I’m sure you’re tired.”

She kept odd hours as shooting schedules varied from day to day, but funnily enough, even though she’d been up since early that morning, she was strangely full of energy.

The smell of salt and brine hit her nostrils as soon as she stepped out of the car, and she took a deep breath. “Smells like the beach. How far away is it?”

“Close. Walking distance. We can go tomorrow if you’d like. It’ll be too cold to go in the water, but there’s a section that’s private and a nice place to take a walk.”

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