Page 134 of Faking the Shot

“Is this you?”

“Well, yes.”

Rosie deflated, like she thought Ainsley had been spilling all the tea in a tell-all interview withVancouver Tonight.

“I was at a party,” Ainsley clarified.

“Is there something you need to tell us?” Mal asked.

Judging from that look, she guessed so, but what it was she had no clue. Then the pieces fell together. Oh. That. Looked like it was time for one of her family’s biggest secrets to finally see the light. Not that she’d make this easy on Mal. “I’m afraid you might need to explain what you mean.”

Mal cleared his throat. “Let’s just say that your actions are not very family-friendly.”

Family-friendly? Visiting her brother on his birthday? She laughed, then stopped at their looks of shock. “I think it’s very family-friendly. Didn’t you know that Emmett is the partner of my brother, Mack?”

Judging from those sagged jaws, no, they had not.

“Partner, did you say?”

“Partner, not friend?” Rosie probed.

“Emmett and Mack have been partners for two years. And while I don’t agree with everything they do, I’m also not going to turn my back on my brother. Especially on his birthday.”

“Ainsley, while it’s nice that you’re wanting to be progressive, I really feel like you are making some poor choices at this time,” Mal said again.

“Excuse me? Didn’t you hear what I said? Mack is mybrother. I’m not going to reject my brother because people are judgmental. That’s not showing love, is it? That’s not loving my family. That’s not being a friend to my family.”

He exhaled. “I’m afraid I can’t agree with the sentiment that love is love, regardless of what so many people think these days.”

“I don’t think what a lot of people call love is real love either,” she said softly. Like what she’d thought it was.

Mal sagged in relief. “So you’re not saying you support their relationship?”

Lord, give me wisdom. What was true? What was real? “I love Mack, and I support him. Does it mean I agree with his lifestyle and everything he does? No. But then he doesn’t agree with everything I do either.”

Like giving Rosie so much control in her life. Like being boxed into playing Abigail forever. Like letting people think things about her that weren’t true.

“But no, Mal, I think you misunderstood what I meant earlier about real love. I know this probably won’t make me popular, but I don’t think what we see in all of these shows I do is real love.”

She ignored Rosie’s gasp and pressed on. “Lately I’ve been learning that love isn’t about the fluffy feelings, all the romance and candles, and emotions. That’s all nice and good, but real love is a lot grittier than that. It’s messy. It’s not easy to stuff into a box. It requires patience and perseverance, and seeks the best of the other person.”

Just like Zac, her heart seemed to sing.Just like Zac.

“So, I’m sorry if I’m not the perfect sweet, innocent actress that you want. I’ve never been that person. Not for a long time anyway. But at least now I’m not trying to pretend to be something that I’m not.”

“I thought you were a Christian,” Mal said.

“Iama Christian,” she said. “And I’m trying to follow what I believe Jesus Christ would do. And that is to love those people in the world who are hated and looked down upon by the religious. I’m sorry if that offends people, but if it does, then they probably need to ask themselves: what would Jesus do? Who would He be spending time with these days if He was walking around in the world? I think He’d be trying to make a difference and showing what real love actually looks like, rather than playing make believe.”

Rosie placed her head in her hands.

Mal’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Ainsley?”

Emotion roared up from within. “I’m saying that I don’t think all these shows and movies that keep things sweetly safe yet unrealistic are helpful all the time. Some of the time, sure. But I don’t think it’s healthy to only eat sugary sweetness or have a viewing diet that offers the same. And I don’t want to stay pigeonholed as Abigail forever. People are more complicated than that, relationships are more complicated than that. Life is more complicated than that, and that’s what I want to show in the sort of work that I do.”

“I understand that you’re emotional, Ainsley, but I think you need to be very careful what you say,” Rosie said, a glint in her eye.

“What I’m hearing,” Mal said, hands folded together, “is that you don’t want to play Abigail anymore. Is that correct?”

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