A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

She hurried out of the bedroom before he could figure out how to do it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Edward. Have a good night,” Dana said, trying to sound upbeat, too upbeat. He suddenly remembered he was worried about her.

He gently grabbed her arm. “Dana, what’s wrong?”

She looked at the ground. “Nothing. It’s fine, Edward.”

“Dana, you can talk to me,” Edward said softly. Dana raised her eyes to his and opened her mouth to speak.

“I was told to tell both of you that tomorrow we're not shooting.” Amy said as she joined them in the trailer.

Dana looked at Amy. “Oh?”

“Yeah, something about a mistake in shooting permits. We shoot on Monday instead, so actually you have two days off,” Amy said.

“Great," Dana muttered under her breath. “Just what I need,” she sighed. “See you guys Monday then.”

Edward was forced to let her go. He watched as she made her way to her Jeep and left. “What’s wrong with Dana?”Amy asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know.” And he didn’t like it. He put his arm around Amy’s shoulders. “Come on, I’ll let you make me dinner tonight.”

She ducked out of his embrace. “Sorry, big brother. I have a date tonight.”

“What? Since when?” He tried not to sound too shocked, but this was his baby sister and she had never been big on dating, at least he didn’t think she had.

“The photographer,” she said, grinning wickedly.

“The photographer? Is that his name now?” Edward asked teasingly.

She playfully slapped him. “No, it’s Tyler. You are such a jerk.” Edward watched her expression become suddenly somber. “Hmm, I thought she actually forgot. At least that’s what Deana said. I guess she remembered after all.”

“What?” Edward asked.

“I know why Dana’s upset,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal.

Edward waited patiently for her to tell him, but after a long moment it seemed she wasn't going to spill. He put his hands in his pants pocket to keep himself from strangling her. “Well?”

She seemed to come out of a trance. “Oh, her ex is coming today to see the kids. He’s here for the week.”

“I thought she didn’t like him,” Edward said. He felt his stomach twist, dreading her next words.

“No, she doesn’t. They’re on friendly terms for the kids. Sort of,” she said.

“I don’t understand what the problem is. Surely she’s seen him since the divorce.”

Amy rolled her eyes as if it was painfully obvious what was wrong. “This is the first time they’ve seen each other since that ass**le proposed to his girlfriend, and he’s bringing her on this visit. He promised not to. Dana wanted him to focus on his kids, but his little girlfriend put her foot down. Apparently she’s intimidated by Dana and doesn’t trust Jeff around her.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” She laughed darkly. “This is also the first time they’ve seen each other since it came out that he had cheated on her for three years. How would you like that shoved in your face?”

Edward ground his teeth. “That ass**le. I thought it was just a rumor.”

“Nope,” Amy said making the word pop. “Little girlfriend decided to jump on Dana’s fame and announced to the world last week that not only had they had an affair, but she screwed Jeff in every room in their house.”

His jaw was painfully tight now. “Bitch,” he muttered.

“Yup, Deana has tried to convince her to have one of her many suitors come to the house today so she wouldn’t be alone. You know, someone to help take the edge off what they’re going to do to her. But she refused.”

His head snapped back in her direction. “What do you mean many suitors? Deana said she isn’t seeing anyone.”

She rolled her eyes again. “I’m talking about the single guys that ask her out every day. Even Jake asked her out yesterday when he came by.”

“Jake did?” He was surprised that his friend would ask Dana out, especially since Jake knew how Edward felt about her.

“I feel so bad for her. She wanted to keep busy during his stay, but now she has nothing to do for two days.”

“He’s not staying with her is he?” he almost growled out.

She laughed. “No, even if Jeff came alone he wouldn’t be allowed to stay there.”

“Good,” he mumbled.

Amy studied him for a long moment and then smiled. “You really like her!”

“She’s a good friend. I don’t want to see her hurt, and I definitely don’t want to see those kids hurt.” He really liked her kids. They were well behaved and funny as hell. It surprised him more than anything since he was never really into kids. Now he looked forward to seeing Cole and Elizabeth every day. It melted his heart every time they called him Uncle Edward.

“What time is he coming by?” he asked.

“I believe six.”

Edward looked at his watch. It was half past five. “I have to go. Don’t call me for the rest of the night unless it’s an emergency.” He took off without another word.

**********

“Mommy, Daddy is here!” Elizabeth yelled.

Dana tore her eyes from the mirror to look at her daughter. “Okay, sweetie, let Aunt Deana open the door.”

Elizabeth bounced up and down. “Daddy really came this time!” she said before she ran towards the living room.

Dana took one last look in the mirror and sighed. Thank God she hadn't cried. Not that she was upset that he was here or with her. But when she got pissed she cried a river. No matter what she wasn’t going to let him get to her. They were going to talk this over like adults and then she was kicking his fat ass out of her house. That made her smile.

She made her way towards her large living room, trying to paste a smile on her face when she heard her kids crying. “What the hell?” she mumbled softly as she walked into the room.

Elizabeth and Cole sat on the couch, sobbing. Instead of consoling their kids Jeff was comforting her. She wasn’t even crying. She just looked put out. Dana walked over to the kids and pulled them into a hug. She kissed them both on the head. “What’s wrong guys?”

“Daddy….Daddy said he’s not spending the week with us. He said…said….” Elizabeth broke down into louder sobs.