Page 38 of Two Is Better Than One

I begged myself to get it together. Falling in love with my long-haired bodyguard was not on the itinerary of my life. I told myself all the things I thought I needed to hear to move on in my thoughts—that I hadn't known him for that long, and that my life would go back to normal once I left Miami. But then I would start to remember times we shared together during the last ten days. My mind deserted me and kept replaying moments.

But I couldn't let it get to me. I was a professional, and I had a job to do. I got myself dressed and put on my game face so that I could focus on the day ahead.

Chapter 16

Allie Stockton

Summer's movie set was gorgeous—much like our hotel. They were filming at a resort. They had closed an entire area with a pool, so a whole section of the resort was blocked off to the public. I could roam freely within this area and find a quiet place to work, which was exactly what I did that morning.

I liked to think of it as work, when what I was really doing was reading a good book. I had enough business now that I could pick and choose what books I proofed, and I only read things I enjoyed. I called it work, but it was fun. I brought a blanket and found a shady spot under a tree, living the dream.

The book I was reading was set in Cuba, and I was swept away by the story. It was about a girl who went there searching for her birth mother. She had just gone through a break-up which prompted her to take the trip. The author described tropical Cuba, and it felt so similar to Miami that I felt like I was there, having a front-row seat as the story unfolded—like these people were right around the corner from me. It was also a love story, and she had already met the hero.

"Excuse me, Are you Summer Stockton's sister?"

It was an older woman who spoke to me. She was nicely dressed, and she was hunched over her purse timidly like she was afraid to bother me.

"I am," I said.

"That's a lot of S's," she said. "Summer Stockton's Sister."

"Oh, believe me, I know, and I get called that all the time."

"Well, I'm Katherine Coleman. My little niece is in the movie with your sister. Lily's her name. She's the daughter. She's playing the daughter of the main character. Her real name's Lily, it's Annabel in the movie."

"Oh, yes," I agreed even though I was only vaguely familiar with the characters in the movie.

The tree limbs shifted and the sun hit my face, so I squinted up at her.

As she spoke again, she moved so that I wouldn't be staring into the sun. "I just wanted to tell you that I think your sister is doing a great job in this movie," she said. "I got to watch some of the filming yesterday and this morning, and she's doing a good job. She is the one who got famous for American Idol, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"That's pretty cool that she has a twin. You look just like her."

"Yes. We get that a lot."

I spoke to her distractedly. I was still slightly paranoid about Garrett Coleman even though Casey had said he wasn't guilty of AJ's stomach problems, and I was half-stuck on the fact that her last name was Coleman. She seemed to have nothing to do with Garrett, though.

"Do you sing?" she asked, knowing nothing of my thoughts.

"No, ma'am. No."

"Because sisters have the prettiest harmonies. I bet you could sing, if you tried. I bet twin sisters sound even better together than regular sisters."

I just smiled and nodded at her because I didn't know what to say. The truth was that my voice was so similar to my sister's that I could sing just fine. I simply had no desire to do it in front of people. Even sitting here with this one lady standing over me smiling and looking all impressed was too much of an audience for me.

"I leave all of that to my sister—she loves it enough for the both of us. I'm just here for moral support."

"Me, too, sweetheart, I know what you mean. No, but really, Lily is passionate about acting, even though she's only eleven. She's required to have a chaperone here with her. You know, as a minor. That's why I'm here."

"Oh, no, I didn't realize."

She was a nice lady, and I didn't mind talking to her, but I was also missing the story and wanted to get back to reading.

She didn't move, and I was right in the middle of thinking about what I was going to say next when my phone rang. I had the ringer set to a song, and I pushed the button to silence it the instant it started playing.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this call, but it was great meeting you," I said. "I hope your niece has fun doing the movie."

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