It had taken a lot of work on her part to get Tate to promise that when he finished his last movie—in which he played yet another angry, brooding man—he’d spend a whole month at the plantation.
Nina refused to go with him because she knew that with her and Emmie there, Tate would stay with them and never venture out into the pretty little town of Summer Hill, Virginia. She’d even told Stacy that under no circumstances was she to put any food in the house. Maybe hunger would force Tate out to meet people.
And, well, okay, what Nina especially wanted was for her brother to meet Stacy, the decorator. The pretty blonde young woman was smart and funny and had a good outlook on life. She was exactly what her brother needed.
Taking a breath, Nina reached for her phone to answer her brother’s call, but then the ringing stopped, and she smiled. Her six-year-old daughter, Emma, was home ill from school today and she was as restless a patient as Tate was. Nina had been up most of the night with her, and right now she had to see what her daughter needed.
When Tate’s call to his sister went to voicemail, he gritted his teeth. “Just so you know,” he said from his end, “that girl, Stacy, left only coffee. No food. I’d go get some—if this two-bit town has a restaurant, that is—but Jack took the truck and the car is dead. I’m starving but I have no transportation. And by the way, the new script my agent sent me is worse than the last two I got. Why can’t I play a villain in a Batman movie? Jack’s leaving tomorrow and I’m going with him. After I spend a few hours helping Kit find someone to play Elizabeth, that is. Then I’m free to get out of here. Call me when you can.” He clicked off.
He got out of the car and pushed the button for the garage door. He was sure his sister was avoiding him, and he knew why. He’d promised her that he’d give the place a chance and he wanted to be able to say that he’d done that, but it wasn’t easy. Look what had happened to him on his first excursion onto the property!
As the door went up, Tate was greeted with the sight of a truly gorgeous garden. Huge old trees shaded a pretty brick path that disappeared through tall shrubs that were beginning to flower.
Just as he knew it would, his mother’s voice came to him as she used to describe the flowering bushes. “Pink for Letty and white for Ace,” she’d say as she snuggled in bed between her two children. Nina often fell asleep, but Tate always asked to hear more about his mother and her childhood friend, Ace. And too, Tate liked that his mother’s stories told of a time when the Tattington family had owned acres of land and had been senators and governors. “I want to hear about Ace saving the house from burning down,” he’d say.
As she told the story yet again, he’d fall asleep, then she’d carry Nina to her own bed. From the time he was a kid, Tate said, “When I grow up, I’m going to be just like Ace.”
The idea of becoming Ace had strongly influenced his becoming an actor. He liked the thought of pretending he was someone else.
Nina hadn’
t given him the caretaker’s number, but if he could find the man’s house, maybe he could get a ride into town or to the auditions. Pulling out his phone, he kept walking as he tapped out a text message to his assistant in L.A. He asked her to make plane reservations for Jack and him for tomorrow. AND HAVE A CAR DELIVERED HERE, he added, then sent the message.
He would return to L.A. and do what he could to get a role that was different from what he’d been doing for the last few years. Maybe he could get a part in the second Avatar movie. It would be nice to be tall and blue. Or how about a horror film? Or maybe Disney had—
He broke off when he looked up and saw that he was just a few feet from the pretty pajama girl’s house. To his shock, the whole bottom of the screen door was torn out. There was a smaller hole in the upper half. He remembered doing that one, but had he been so angry that he’d also kicked in the bottom?
His cell rang. It was Nina and he touched the button to take the call. “Why did no one tell me some girl was living in Mom’s house?”
“And good morning to you too,” Nina said. “Maybe Stacy is staying there. Blonde, blue-eyed, and as pretty as a doll?”
“No, and stop trying to fix me up. This one is tall, red hair, really built. And she cooks. Or I think she does. She had no idea I own the place. I’m not sure she’s ever seen me before.”
“Good!” Nina snapped. “But if I’d known you wanted a fan staying in there, I would have advertised in The Hollywood Reporter.”
“I don’t want—” He let out his breath. “Okay, right, there’s no reason she should know, but if I’d been told, I wouldn’t have…I certainly would have thought twice before I…”
“What did you do?”
“Took a shower on the porch.”
“Oh,” she said. “Like Letty and Ace used to do? In a swimsuit?”
“Didn’t have time to dress,” Tate mumbled.
“You mean you had no time to put on a suit? So what did you do? Shower naked on her front porch?”
“The shower is at the back of the house, but, yeah, I did.”
“Full frontal?” Nina was barely suppressing her laughter.
“Yeah.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice. “I’m not sure but I think she sat on a stool and drank a cup of tea while she watched.”
Nina laughed. “People usually have to pay to see you do that.”
“In all my movies, there’s been only one bathing scene. It was under a waterfall and it was shot from the side.”
“But then you moved so they got your back and your bare chest, and afterward you walked around in a towel that wouldn’t cover one of Emmie’s dolls.”