All this time I’d been thinking of Javier as practically a saint, this amazingly wonderful man who ran a nonprofit animal rescue to help stray dogs. I knew Lorenzo had adored him, and I’d wondered how I could possibly compete with his memory. But there’d been so much more to the story.
“I’m glad you told me about this,” I said. “It needed to be let out, since it must have been tearing you up inside.”
“It was, but now I feel like an asshole.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to think Javier was a terrible person. He shouldn’t just be remembered for cheating, not when he did so much good with his life.”
“But he shouldn’t be put on a pedestal, either. He betrayed your trust, and he never confessed or apologized.”
Lorenzo sighed. “I kept waiting for a confession, especially at the end when he knew he was dying. I thought he’d want a clear conscience, but he never said a word about it.”
“Why did this so-called friend decide to tell you about the affair?”
“We had an argument. I don’t even remember what it was about, but he got angry, and that was how he chose to lash out at me. I didn’t believe him until he showed me the evidence on his phone.”
I muttered, “Damn. Way to go for the jugular.”
“No kidding.” He rolled onto his side, and after a pause, he told me, “I should let you go, since you probably have to be up early.”
Even though I didn’t want to seem needy, I found myself asking, “Will you please stay with me until I fall asleep?”
His smile was so sweet, and he said, “Of course.” I leaned the tablet against a pillow, and he talked to me quietly until I drifted off.
Chapter 7
The next morning, I discovered a cute, dark-haired guy of maybe twenty-five chatting with my assistant in the kitchen. Phoenix said, “Good morning, Will. This is Riley Palma, the friend I was telling you about.”
Riley seemed nervous as he stepped forward and shook my hand. After we exchanged greetings, he asked, “Are you sure it’s alright if I stay here? I won’t be offended if you change your mind.” He seemed a little rough around the edges with his tattoos, nose ring, and black-on-black jeans, T-shirt, and motorcycle boots. But there was an unmistakable sweetness to him, which made me like him instantly.
“Please stay. We have more than enough room.”
A smile softened his features and made him look even younger than my original estimate. “Thanks, I really appreciate it. I’ve never been in a house this nice before.”
We sat around the kitchen island drinking coffee and chatting for a few minutes as the cat patrolled the ground floor. Then Lorenzo sent me a text to say good morning, and I grinned and sent a reply. Riley grinned too and said, “That must be from your girlfriend, given the way your face just lit up.”
“It’s from a guy.”
“Your boyfriend?”
I murmured, “I wish,” as I returned the phone to my pocket.
Riley asked, “What’s standing in your way?”
“His past. My past. Pretty much everything.” I turned to Phoenix and asked, “What time am I expected for the makeup consultation and my fitting?”
A timer went off, and he pulled a muffin pan of mini frittatas out of the oven as he said, “You have almost an hour. Plenty of time for breakfast.”
“You sound like Lorenzo.”
Phoenix smiled at me and said, “That’s probably because he messaged me this morning, and we had a nice chat. He asked me to try to encourage you to eat. He’s worried, because he thinks you don’t take care of yourself.”
Riley asked, “Is that the guy you wish was your boyfriend?” When I nodded, he said, “It’s sweet that he’s looking out for you.”
“I never realized how much I like that until recently,” I admitted. “I used to resist when people tried to help me, but it’s different coming from him. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to take care of me because he thinks I’m too incompetent to do it myself. It just feels like he genuinely cares.”
Riley’s expression turned wistful, and he murmured, “I hope to have that someday.” He seemed so vulnerable that I actually found myself wanting to take care of him.
* * *
After breakfast, Phoenix drove the three of us through the charming town of Mendocino. The main street was lined with eclectic restaurants, art galleries, and boutiques. It was nearly deserted, maybe because it was cold and overcast, or just because it was off-season for the tourists that would flock to a place like this in the summer.
Our destination was about four miles north of town. Nearly half the movie was being filmed in and around a two-story house on a cliff above the ocean. It actually looked a lot like the one I was staying in, except this one was a darker shade of gray, and it had been altered to make it look like it hadn’t been cared for.