Page 4 of Don't Forget Me
And the others were there for her and her dad and her kids in a way few others had been.
Maybe that was what her new season was about.
When her calendar flipped to her thirtieth year, it wasn’t supposed to be about looking back and lamenting all the time she’d lost. In this season, she’d appreciate what she had. Her kids. Her dad. This family.
Time.
No one ever really knew how much time they had left, but when it came to cancer, it was about believing there was more.
That she’d wake up the next morning to kiss her kids.
That maybe one day she’d fall in love again.
That everything would be okay.
Because once someone stopped believing, it was over.
They were done.
2
NICK
Fame had its perks.
Like twenty-four-seven coffee delivery from an assistant scrambling to meet the star’s every need.
Nick Jacobs sipped his coffee, looking over the rim at his squirrely assistant. “This is from the place near set?” Ever since arriving in the small town near Tampa to film his new movie, he’d asked for the same coffee every morning. He didn’t know what it was. The name was ridiculous, but Momma Loves Sugar had the best coffee in town.
After dealing with his wife the night before, he needed it.
Franklin shifted from foot to foot. “Yes, sir. It’s, uh, from the place you told me.”
Nick sighed. He’d told Franklin not to call him sir the first time they met weeks ago when the movie assigned him as Nick’s assistant. But he wasn’t in the habit of repeating himself.
“Good.” Nick stood. “I need to get to set for an interview. Tonight is the charity gala I promised Sherrie I’d go to.” One of the last things he’d do with his wife before their divorce was finalized. “There’s a suit hanging in the closet. It needs taken to the dry cleaners and pressed.”
Franklin made notes on his phone and nodded. “Anything else?”
“Just go.”
Franklin snapped his mouth shut and scurried from the room.
The figure in bed shifted as Sherrie sat up, dark hair spilling over her bare shoulders. “You’re too nice to that assistant of yours.”
Or not nice enough. Nick could hear his brother’s voice in his head. Always treat people with respect.
But Stephen wasn’t here anymore, and the more time that passed, the fainter his voice became, replaced by Sherrie or a million other people who tried to tell Nick how to act.
He ran a hand over his short beard—something he’d had to grow for the movie—and sighed. “Are you going to get out of bed?”
They’d gotten in late, and he’d succumbed to her advances again. It was like she thought continuing their physical relationship could make him forget about the director she’d had an affair with or the relief he felt about it instead of anger. The truth was, they’d gotten married because it helped both of their careers. In the years since, Nick’s reputation had gone from drunken fool to devoted husband.
But Sherrie… she hadn’t seen quite as much success, and it had always sat between them like a barrier. Yet, she clung to the marriage, knowing he was her ticket to staying relevant, to booking movies when every casting director from here to Hong Kong knew the issues she brought to set.
He’d almost forgotten he’d asked her a question when Sherrie flopped onto her back. “I’m only filming one scene today, and I’m not dumb enough to say yes to small-town interviews. No one cares what the gossip reporters say, Nick.”
Sure, she said that now. But what about the next time she went to St. Bart’s and was dying for a picture of her bikini-clad self to end up in a magazine?
