Page 77 of Stone Promises

He pulls me into his dressing room and shuts the door. “Believe it, Mallory Kate. It’s true. It’s true now and forever,” he says right before claiming my lips with his.

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“That was the best meal ever,” Chad says, rubbing his stomach in appreciation. “Thanks, bro.”

I’m grateful Chad doesn’t let his superstar ego get in the way of Julian paying for dinner. It’s important for Julian to be able to do things like this. And although Julian’s paychecks are hardly in the seven figures like Chad’s, he does quite well and I’m proud of him. Plus, I think he wants Ana to know that he’s perfectly capable of providing for her.

“Happy to do it,” Julian says. “So, are you guys excited about going to Paris next?”

“Are you kidding?” Ana says, squirming in her chair. “I can’t wait. It will be my first time out of the U.S.”

Chad frowns. He wanted me to go with him so badly for the ParisBlind Shotpremiere. But there are only two weeks of school left. There is no way I could go this close to the end of the year. “I guess,” Chad says, shrugging a shoulder. “But it could have been a whole lot better.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “If it were only two weeks later, you know I would do it.”

“Are you saying that you’d go anywhere I asked as long as it falls over your summer break?”

“Of course,” I say.

He points to Julian and Ana. “You guys heard that, right? She said she’d go wherever I asked her.”

They both nod, looking at him strangely.

“What?” I ask, confused over where this is going.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you this all week, but didn’t know how.” He puts his arm behind me on the back of my chair, running his thumb in circles on my shoulder. “I would love it if you’d spend the summer with me, Mallory. I want you to come stay with me in L.A. and come with me to Sedona.”

“You want me to go on location with you? While you’re filming?” I look at Julian and Ana to see if they heard what I heard. They both smile at me.

“We talked about it once and you said you would,” Chad says.

“I thought you meant a weekend, Chad. What on earth will I do while you’re working?”

“A lot of actors bring their families on location. It’s not that unusual. There will be plenty of things for you to do. You can go sightseeing. You can hang out in my trailer. You can come on set.”

I smile shyly at him. “You think of me as family?”

“Only since you were six, Mal.”

Then my face falls thinking of who I’d be leaving behind. “I can’t go,” I tell him. “Not for the whole summer. I can’t leave my dad for that long.”

Chad’s eyes drop to the table. I know he won’t argue with me. He knows how important it is for me to take care of my dad.

“Uh, Mallory?” Julian says. “I think there’s something you should know about your dad.”

“Oh, God, what?” I ask, scared by his declaration.

He makes some strange faces, as though he’s trying to figure out how to tell me some deep, dark secret.

“Tell her,” Ana says, nodding at Julian while she puts her hand on top of his.

What?How is it that Julian and Ana both know something about my dad that I don’t?

“What is it, Julian?” I beg.

“Your dad should probably be the one to tell you this, Mallory. But he thought maybe it would upset you.”

I look between him and Ana. “Is he selling the house or something?”

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