I was home, I told myself. I didn’t let myself think about Cornwall anymore, or how happy I’d been at Penryth Hall.
I looked up gratefully at my stepfather. “Thanks for letting me stay here so long. When I asked to visit, you had no idea I’d be moving in permanently,” I added, only half joking.
“Listen.” He reached out to pat my shoulder. “Every single day I have you here, with a grandbaby on the way, is a blessing.” Howard looked wistfully at the roses. “You’ve started a new career, a new life,” he said gruffly. “Your mother would have been so happy about the baby. And so proud of you, Diana.”
I felt a lump rise to my throat. “Thanks, Howard.”
Funny to think now that I hadn’t always liked him. I hadn’t wanted anyone to replace my dad, and the two men were so different. My dad had been quiet and studious, caring and careful. Howard Lowe was brash and loud, and never afraid to yell—especially at actors—or start a fight.
But beneath his bluster, Howard had loved my mother more than life, and he’d taken me under his wing from the beginning, when I was a sad eleven-year-old, bookish and quiet compared to his own daughter Madison, the result of his earlier short marriage to an actress.
Swallowing, I looked from the pinks and reds and yellows of the roses, to the more exotic flowers beneath wide cypress, pine and palm trees. “You’ve been so kind to me. I feel bad, with Madison giving you the silent treatment for it....”
He made a dismissive gesture. “Who’s to say she is? She’s busy in Mongolia. And if she’s mad that I’m letting you stay here, she’ll have to get over it. We’re family.”
I shook my head. “She’ll never forgive me for ruining her relationship with Jason.”
“Hush. If it was so easy to ruin, it wasn’t much of a relationship.” He patted my arm. “I’m glad you’re here, Diana. Don’t rush into leaving. Especially with Jason Black. I don’t think much about a man who keeps changing his mind which sister he wants to marry.”
“Howard, you know Jason and I are just friends!”
“Sure, I know that. I’m just not sure he does.”
I sighed. After we’d wrapped the web series, Jason had taken me out often, whenever he had time off from the superhero movie he was filming in Century City. After the scandal of last year, the paparazzi had a field day with this latest development, and they’d followed us constantly, photographing us doing boring things like drinking lattes at a café. Last week we’d been on the cover of multiple celebrity gossip magazines. Madison Lowe Love Triangle, one headline screamed. Madison’s Pregnant Stepsister Strikes Back with Baby Daddy Jason Black!
I’d writhed when I read it. So much for trying to avoid the paparazzi, and maintain a dignified silence.
“Just tell everyone it’s mine,” Jason had urged. “It will be, after we’re married.”
“We’re not getting married, Jason,” I’d said, rolling my eyes. “We’re friends. Just friends.”
But did he really accept that?
I sighed in irritation, remembering. “Love is a suckers’ game,” I grumbled to Howard.
I suddenly realized who I was quoting. I didn’t love Edward anymore. Instead, I’d become him.
“Okay, okay.” Howard held up his hands. “Whatever. I’m staying out of it. But look.” His expression turned ferocious, his gray eyebrows bushy and fierce. “I don’t know what the deal was with your baby’s father, or why you decided it would be a mistake to tell him about the pregnancy....”
“I don’t want to—”
“Yeah, I know you don’t like to talk about it. But take it from an old man. Life is short. It passes by in a blink. Even if the guy’s every kind of jerk, he at least deserves a shot at knowing his kid.”