Page 4 of The Stars Over Hollywood

“No, I get that. And I have thought about quitting. A lot, actually. But I don’t know.” Hayden ran her thumb over the damp label on her beer bottle. “I don’t want to be that person who gave up too soon. You hear it all the time. One role, one meeting, one introduction and it changed everything for someone.”

“Hey,” Lara said, coming over to stand in front of them. “You two were away in your own world. There’s a local chef inside that’s going to cook some authentic Spanish food for us.”

“Now?” Hayden asked.

Lara chuckled. “Yes. Right now.”

“Let’s go then,” Tracy said, pushing herself off the couch and heading back inside ahead of them.

“What is it with you two?” Lara asked, playfully bumping her shoulder as they walked towards the house. “Anytime we’re all together, you two always end up in some deep conversation.”

Hayden shrugged. “I like her. She’s easy to be around, and you know, she’s normal. She doesn’t drive a sports car or live in a mansion.”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“No,” Hayden said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“It might not be a mansion, but it is an ocean front property. She got in early. Probably about twenty-five years ago.”

“Oh.” Hayden didn’t know why she assumed that Tracy would live in a modest home. She did own a successful surf school, and she had been on a popular TV series, even if it was a long time ago.

“I’m not complaining, by the way,” Lara said. “I’m happy you two get along. In fact, if you weren’t straight, I’d say you’d make a really beautiful couple.”

Hayden opened her mouth but nothing came out.

When Hayden didn’t answer, Lara kept talking. “I hope Tracy does meet someone though. I know she doesn’t think she needs to, but she’s one of the most genuine, real people I’ve ever met. I guess that’s why you two always seem to pick up right where you left off. Do you hang out with her away from all of us?”

“No,” Hayden said, the delicious aromas of garlic and seafood hitting her nose as soon as she stepped inside the house. “I was supposed to get in touch with her about surfing lessons.”

“You should. I wish I’d started sooner, but if you stick with it, it shouldn’t take you more than a year to really get good at it. Less if you can get more lessons in. Tracy is a fantastic teacher.”

Hayden caught Tracy’s eye as they entered the open kitchen and dining room, the massive table full of bowls and dishes of seafood, salads, and what Hayden hoped was paella. Tracy’s chestnut brown hair was streaked with blond highlights, tossed over one shoulder, her skin a golden bronze from so many hours spent in the sun.

Hayden took a seat beside Lara, the room humming with chatter and the clinking of plates and cutlery, but Hayden’s thoughts wandered as she tried to figure out how Charlotte had been the one to capture her attention on that TV series and not Tracy.

Yes, Charlotte was a beautiful woman. She wasn’t doubting that. But there was something about Tracy, that quality that casting directors looked for. That indescribable bit of magic, that glint in someone’s eyes, that magnetic presence.

Tracy had all of those things. Hayden knew that much from talking to her anytime they both ended up at Lara and Charlotte’s house. She’d have to go back and watch the show again, but Hayden would bet almost anything that Tracy had all of that back then.

So, why hadn’t she had a career like Ada’s or Charlotte’s?

Hayden could see why Kerri left. She wanted to be out and not worry about covering up who she was for the sake of her career. She was also a savvy businesswoman who knew how to represent her clients.

But what happened with Tracy?

As Hayden added some shrimp to her plate, her mouth salivating at the delicious smells surrounding her, she wondered if Tracy really was happy with the way her life turned out or if she would gladly trade places with Ada or Charlotte.

3

Tracy padded into the kitchen the next morning after having an early night, the jet lag catching up with her. Now, she was feeling surprisingly refreshed as she made herself a cup of coffee, the sun already flooding the patio in the front of the house.

She carried her cup outside, about to slide her shades on, when she heard a car driving up the hill and a sleek silver sports car appeared a few seconds later with blacked-out windows. Tracy put her mug down on the glass table, ready to greet Kerri, but the passenger door opened first, with blond hair tumbling across the woman’s shoulders from beneath a gray fedora hat.

Tracy’s lips slid into a grin. “Charlotte?”

Charlotte returned her smile as she strode over to her, black boots clicking against the paved driveway, and Kerri emerged from the driver’s side, both of them wearing black pants.

Tracy had barely wrapped her arms around Charlotte when the rest of the group appeared, Lara the first to come outside, her eyes wide.

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