Page 20 of Everybody Needs a Hero

“Of course,” the agent said as he departed.

Once he was gone, Ashley fell against Bryce, letting the woman wrap her arms around her. “What am I going to do?” she sobbed into Bryce’s shoulder. “My coffee shop was my second home.”

Bryce ran a hand over Ashley’s long hair. “I could see that,” she said. “We will figure out something.”

Suddenly, Ashley heard a long, low whistle. “Woo hoo,” a woman said from where the front door used to be. “I can’t believe how bad everything looks.” Lifting her head, Ashely was surprised but very happy to see the gap-toothed smile of her friend Bev. “Yeah, I came back. I was wondering if any of my stuff might be lying around. You never know what might turn up.”

“It’s wonderful to see you,” Ashley said. Floyd appeared at Bev’s side before Ashley could ask about him. His tail wagged, making him look happy to see Ashley and Bryce. “And you too, Floyd.” Realizing the woman and her loyal companion were happy and healthy despite all that had happened helped Ashley.Things will improve, she thought.Just like Bev, I need to keep a positive attitude. And as the woman said, a person never knew what might turn up.

Findinga chance to talk to Drew proved to be a challenge. At first, Tess chalked up the disconnects to the rush of everyone getting back into shooting after losing time. Drew was busy, and Tess, still playing catchup herself from joining the project at the last minute, worked hard around the clock. After a couple of days though, Tess started to get a sense Drew intentionally avoided her whenever they might end up alone together. The complete one-eighty made no sense. After their traumatic day together driving across Los Angeles to get to Ashley, she felt they had bonded. Tess began to realize Drew had not.

Testing her theory, Tess intentionally waited to go to the craft service table for a bottle of water until she saw Drew approaching to get her usual ten o’clock coffee and donut. With her back turned, the writer didn’t see Tess coming. “Hi,” she said, stopping beside Drew. “Seems I haven’t had a chance to talk to you much the last few days.” She purposefully made eye contact. “How are you?” Tess wasn’t sure what she expected, but her worst fear was confirmed when Drew blushed and started to back away. Somehow over the last few days, she had done something to put the woman off, and Tess had no idea what. Confused, her first instinct was to give some blanket apology and drop it, but she caught herself. Drew was important to her, made her feel emotions too significant to ignore, and she wouldn’t let their friendship be swept under the rug. “Can we go somewhere and talk for a minute?”

“Uh,” Drew said, glancing around as if trying to find an excuse to escape. Not finding anything, she frowned. “Sure.”

Working hard not to be discouraged by Drew’s unhappy expression, Tess pointed in the direction of her trailer. The crew was in the middle of setting up the next scene, leaving a little time for the actors to relax. “Maybe take a minute in my trailer?” If Drew looked uncomfortable before, the suggestion made her more so. Any second, Tess thought, the woman would turn and make a run for it.What in the world happened to us?she thought, knowing she had to get to the bottom of whatever was wrong, or the uncertainty would drive her crazy.

After another beat of hesitation, Drew’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “But I only have a couple of minutes.”

“Then I’ll be quick,” Tess replied, leading the way across the parking lot to the trailers. Once they were inside hers with the door closed, Tess felt confident they would not be overheard. She needed to be direct and not have to watch what she said. If Tess only had a couple of minutes, there was no time to work up to what she wanted to say. Even if her confession backfired, at least Tess would have expressed what had kept her awake the last three nights. Taking a deep breath, she dove in. “Thank you for giving me a minute. I know you’re very busy. But there is something important I need to tell you.”

Crossing her arms, Drew could not look less receptive. “If it is about you not having the role as the nurse, I think that’s settled,” she said. “You have the job whether I want you to or not.”

Working hard to keep her resolve in the face of Drew’s negativity, Tess shook her head. “No, not about the role,” she said. “Nothing about your book or the movie even.” She looked into Drew’s eyes. “But about us.”

Drew’s eyebrows went up. “Us?” she asked. “Since when is there an us?”

Biting her lip to take a moment and make entirely sure she wanted to say the next sentence, Tess held her gaze. “Yes, there is an us,” she said. “At least I think so.” She shook her head, almost not believing she was about to confess how she felt. “Drew, I don’t know how else to say this, so here it is—”

“Tess, wait,” Drew interrupted. “You don’t need to tell me anything.”

“But actually, I do,” Tess said. “Because after everything that happened, I realize I’m extremely attracted to you.” She gave a little self-conscious laugh. “I can’t stop thinking about you. And it might be making me a little crazy.”

While Tess stoodbefore her baring her soul, Drew froze while her brain processed the information. What she thought she heard made no logical sense.Tess Landish is attracted to me?she thought, certain she misunderstood.If there is an attraction between us, it comes from me. Every time she looked at the actress on set, something stirred inside her. Something that scared the hell out of her. Like Tess confessed, Drew could not stop thinking about her either. Sleep proved to be nearly impossible, because she saw Tess’s beautiful face whenever she closed her eyes.But even if Tess’s feelings are real and not some side effect of the situation we went through together, what can I do? Date a woman? And not just any woman, but a Hollywood superstar?She met Tess’s eyes, seeing them filled with a mix of emotion and waiting for her response.

“Please say something,” Tess whispered, and Drew swallowed hard. The walls of the trailer seemed to be pressing in on her, making it hard to breathe, and suddenly all she wanted to do was run.

With a shake of her head, she brushed past Tess and went for the door. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I can’t.” Then, she was outside, sucking in air as she strode away without a look back. She didn’t dare check if Tess was following her. The last thing she wanted was to see the hurt on Tess’s face. Drew couldn’t handle it. None of it.At least not right now, she thought.And after I barged out of there, there won’t be a second time anyway.A strange feeling of sadness suddenly washed over her, and her steps slowed.Maybe I should go back. Try to explain why I’m reacting this way somehow, assuming I know myself.

A production assistant came running toward her from the other direction. “Ms. Andersen,” he said. “Here are the pages to tomorrow’s shooting schedule that you asked for.”

Welcoming the distraction, Drew took them from the young man’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Oh,” the assistant went on. “One more thing. That research you wanted. Here’s the phone number of the hospital nearest to the address you gave me.”

Drew accepted the slip of paper from him. “Perfect,” she said, glancing at the number. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the production assistant said as he hustled away to his next task.Making a call is exactly the distraction I need right now,she thought, forcing Tess out of her mind and calling the hospital. After navigating a complicated phone tree and being transferred twice, she reached the maternity ward. Drew identified herself as an ex-emergency department nurse once the woman in charge of the floor came on the phone. “I know you can’t tell me details,” she said, crossing her fingers that she found someone flexible. “But I helped deliver a baby in the middle of traffic Tuesday morning. It was in the chaos after the earthquake.”

“I see,” the charge nurse replied. “And you think they may have ended up here?”

“Yes. Yours is the closest hospital. I’m assuming the parents drove straight to you since we couldn’t get through to 9-1-1.” When the woman didn’t immediately tell her she couldn’t help, Drew gave all the information she knew about the baby and mother and held her breath. Regulations were strict about divulging any medical information, but she wanted to know if everything turned out okay. Finally, the charge nurse told her to hold.

A few minutes later, she came back on the line. “Nurse Andersen, as much as I would like to help you, my hands are tied.”

Drew sighed, expecting no less but had hoped for information. “Thank you,” she said, ready to hang up.

“But…” the charge nurse continued without prompting. “There is a rumor going around that a Good Samaritan did deliver a baby in the back of a car near here. And if the rumor is true, we are all very grateful. Especially the parents whose baby is doing fine.”

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