Page 34 of By The Book
“Claire, Denz mentioned you went to school with Marsali and Eliza?”
“Um, yeah, I did. Eons ago.”
“Well, Marsali has already texted me about how excited she is to see you again. She’s usually here on the last day but couldn’t make it. She hates that she missed seeing you in action.”
Claire smiled at the statement. Glad she hadn’t had the added pressure when she was already inordinately thankful for the fact that Tommy was in the craft service van with her father and hadn’t witnessed the scene.
She stood there listening to Oliver and Denz talk for several more moments before they all turned to head back toward the tents.
She sensed someone staring at her and searched the crowd gathered behind the barriers. Her stomach twisted into a hard knot when she spotted her son, front and center, his hands gripping the barrier in front of him.
Their gazes locked and Claire could see the upset Tommy wasn’t able to hide. She also knew why.
He’d seen her kissing Denz.
Chapter 15
Claire rushed to wardrobe to change and then wadded the elegant dress and its bag in her arms for the mad dash to craft service and the van where her son should have been during shooting.
She got to the van feeling sweaty and chaotic and earned raised eyebrows from her father.
“Something wrong?” Tom asked.
“Uh, no. I was just rushing to get back here so I could help. I didn’t want to leave you alone for too long. Where’s Tommy?”
“Haven’t seen him. He went to watch you.”
She stowed the dress inside the van for safekeeping. The creator would probably see such a thing as sacrilege considering it probably cost more than the van itself. “Thanks. Dad, do you need me? I kind of have a headache. I think I’ll try to find Tommy and head home.”
“You go ahead. We have everything covered. Lunch rush is over.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll do better next time.”
“Not a problem. I’ve wound up an extra like that a time or two myself. It just means you’re in the business now.”
In the business? Hardly. “If you see Tommy, tell him to wait here and text me?”
“Will do.”
Claire left the van and meandered through the food area but didn’t see her son. From there she took advantage of the fact she was a face “on set” so to speak and looked around there to see if maybe Tommy had snuck past the guards.
She was starting to panic, especially when she hadn’t heard from her father, when she spotted someone sitting a ways down the beach. Her instincts put her feet into motion, and within moments, she was able to see well enough to know that it was Tommy.
She approached cautiously, unsure of his mood. “Hey. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Are you ready to go home?”
“To Virginia?”
Oh, that didn’t bode well. “No. To Grandpa’s. He said we could leave if you’re ready.”
Tommy set his jaw, nostrils flaring as he tried to control his emotions.
“I want to go home.”
“Tommy—”
“He’s not Dad.”
“Denz? No, he’s not.”
