The parking lot’s disintegrating asphalt crunched beneath Brooke’s sandals as she crossed the yard housing the actors’ trailers.
She headed toward Jillian’s trailer with her cell at her ear, her sister’s groggy voice answering, “Hello.”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” Brooke said. “I didn’t realize you’d be sleeping. I’ll call back.”
“No, it’s fine.” Tammy yawned. “I was up with Justin. How’s the she-devil treating you?
“Same as always, but I have a little reprieve. She’s got meetings all morning.” Brooke glanced at her watch. She had at least three more hours before Jillian would be back. “I talked to Justin last night, and he sounded awful. That’s why I was calling. I wanted to find out what the doctors figured out. He told me they were changing his medications? Trying something new? But he couldn’t say what. Told me I had to ask you. And, God, Tammy, he sounded awful. It broke my heart to hear him like that again.”
“I know. It’s a hard transition.”
“Transition to what?”
“That’s the good news. I heard sooner than I expected. He was accepted into the first stage of the children’s program for the bronchial thermoplasty. In anticipation of that, the doctors changed his medication, and that always throws him.”
Brooke’s feet stopped dead in the shadow of the trailer. She gasped, and a balloon of excitement instantly filled her chest. “Oh my God. He got in? Tammy, that’s fantastic.” In the next breath, she said, “Why don’t you sound more excited?”
“Probably because I’m exhausted. And because when I looked over the final documentation for the study, I discovered just how strict the guidelines are. He has to pass every segment of the study to continue on and get all three procedures.”
When Tammy outlined all the hurdles, Brooke’s excitement waned a little too. “You medical people,” she teased. “You’re all Debbie Downers, you know that?”
Tammy laughed again. “More like Realist Rosies. It’s just part of the program—literally. And Justin’s been through so much already. I don’t want to get his hopes up with such high chances that he might not make it through—especially when he has no control over whether he makes it or doesn’t.”
“How frustrating,” Brooke said. “This is supposed to be exciting.”
“It is exciting. They’re only taking fifty kids into this study, so the fact that he got in is all very exciting.”
Brooke smiled and climbed the stairs to the trailer. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
She pulled the door open, took the l
ast two steps into the luxurious space—far nicer than the house Brooke rented with Tammy and Justin—and her gaze immediately drifted to a vase of vivid red roses on the granite counter in the kitchenette.
“Justin told me about the science fair project you helped him figure out,” Tammy said. “Thank you for doing that. You have been such a lifesaver this year. You know when you leave, he’s going to want to move with you, right? I think he’s forgotten which one of us is his mom.”
Brooke almost ignored the flowers but then saw a tall cardboard coffee cup and a pastry bag sitting in front of the crystal vase. Flowers for Jillian were common. Coffee and pastry were not. In fact, that was downright odd.
“Oh, stop. I’m the one who keeps leaving him for all these stupid trips. You’re the one who’s there with him every day. That’s what really matters.”
Brooke tucked the phone between her shoulder and cheek and peeked into the pastry bag. A note blocked the view of the pastry. She pulled it out, and even before she read the note, she recognized the handwriting from the night before when Keaton had scribbled on the Four Seasons tablet.
For an extra sweet start to your day.
Her heart swelled and ached. Brooke laughed softly. Extra was right. He’d already started her day off as sweetly as possible by showing her just how many different kinds of sex he specialized in, and made sweet love to her before he’d disappeared from her room at daybreak.
“Brooke?”
“Hmm?” she said, tuning in to her sister’s voice. “Listen, I’d better go. Lots of work to finish before the She Wolf returns to the den—”
“Not before you tell me about the stunt guy.”
Brooke froze and thought back, wondering if she’d said something aloud to tip Tammy off about Keaton. “Uuuuh…?”
“Man, your head is really somewhere else.” Tammy laughed. “The stunt guy you said Justin could call for help? He is so pumped over that. And I know you wouldn’t give him just anyone’s number, so what’s the scoop?”
Brooke slid the note into the pocket of her jean shorts, then leaned in to smell the roses. Their rich scent instantly improved her mood. “Do you remember that guy I told you about from LA?”
“The one who’s friends with Ellie’s guy. The one you were hoping to hook up with before you moved?”