“Something wrong, honey? You seem distracted.”
Becca looked away from the rolling Atlantic in front of her and focused on her mom, standing behind her in the doorway that led to the patio of the exclusive, long-term recovery center her mother lived in with a handful of staff and two other full-time residents here in Myrtle Beach.
The three-story, Grecian-revival heritage home had been converted into a luxurious lobby and high-end, fully private apartments. Becca paid for her mom to have the entire top floor all to herself, which included an en suite guestroom.
“No, everything’s fine,” she lied. “Guess I’m just tired still.”
“That’s understandable.” Her mom came out and sat beside her on the rocking glider, stretching an arm across her shoulders, wearing a long-sleeved shirt even though it was warm out, to hide the needle track scars she loathed so much.
“Maybe the time change is catching up with you.”
She murmured in agreement, not about to burden her mother with all the problems going on in her life. That break-in had shaken her pretty badly, and the new demand from Rick had made it worse. There also had been no word yet on the Pixar project, and she needed the money desperately.
“I just needed a break. Been working so much lately, I wanted to unwind for a few days, and there’s nobody I’d rather spend them with than you.”
Her mom chuckled and squeezed her. “I love it when you come to visit. It’s just like old times, getting to hang out together, just the two of us.”
Not like old times. The times after that. After Rick. When her mom had fought to turn herself around and changed their lives.
It hadn’t been easy. Her mom’s drug and alcohol addiction had made it rough. Becca had nearly lost her a few times.
She vividly remembered being pulled out of class by a school counselor to inform her that her mother was in the hospital. They’d told her she was sick, but even back then Becca had known the truth. Her mom had overdosed.
It wasn’t the first time. And it hadn’t been the last. But hopefully that was all over now. Becca had forgiven her. She would never forget, however.
“I’m glad I came,” she said, happy to have a few thousand miles between her and LA. She didn’t feel safe there right now. Especially at home.
All the police had been able to glean from the security video at her house and her neighbors’ porch cams was that the suspect was a middle-aged man. He’d worn a hat and face mask and left no prints except for some footprints in the garden bed beneath her living room window. It made her skin crawl to think of someone staking out her house, maybe watching her through the windows before breaking in.
Stalkers were something to be taken seriously. Her newfound fame had made her a target. Before she went back home, she would have to upgrade her security and hire a bodyguard. It sucked and she resented the need for it, but it couldn’t be avoided any longer.
She loved her neighborhood and her neighbors, who all looked out for each other, but she had to move to a more private and secure place and think about hiring personal security. It would put her in the hole financially, but if she had to choose between debt and a threat to her life, then debt it was.
She tucked her legs up under her, wishing she could offload everything she’d been carrying on her shoulders for so long. She couldn’t shake the unsettling notion that the guy who’d broken in could be tied to Rick somehow.
She hadn’t been able to convey her fears about him to the police, however. It would bring up too many questions. Questions she wasn’t willing to answer, because the risk was too great if something got leaked. The woman beside her was the only reason she needed to keep everything buried.
“You sure you still want to leave this afternoon? I’d love you to stay longer,” her mom said.
“I’m going to drive down to Savannah for a day or two.” She needed a few days to herself, to regroup and recharge in the little house she’d rented on the river before she had to face the world again. Maybe she could even figure out a plan to get herself out of this mess while she was there. “But I might come back and stay with you for a little while after that.”
“Whatever works for you. You know you’re always welcome here.”
Becca smiled. “I know.”
This private facility had saved her mom’s life, no doubt about it. It had been Becca’s last hope in the battle to save her mom and help her overcome her addictions. Now it was her mom’s permanent home, providing continuous care and support for her ongoing fight to stay clean.
It felt more like a posh hotel than a rehab facility. In addition to counseling and group therapy, this place offered housekeeping, gourmet meals if she wanted them, art and music workshops, exercise classes and countless other activities to keep her busy. And the staff were paid well enough to be discreet. Becca was far safer here from the paparazzi than she was back in LA.
No wonder her mom didn’t want to leave. She was happy here. Safe. That was worth any amount of money and stress over paying for it.
Worth any amount to protect the only family she had left. She hated her mom’s previous lifestyle, even as she understood why her mother had become an addict. Choosing love and forgiveness was the only thing that tempered the resentment she harbored from everything that had happened.
She laid her head on her mom’s shoulder and the two of them lapsed into silence, staring out at the sparkling ocean together, the rocker gliding gently beneath them. She would have felt completely at peace if it hadn’t been for Rick’s extortion and the recent security scare.
That, and if she didn’t still feel so bad about the way she’d ended things with Chase.
“Have you talked to Chase lately?”
Becca sat up, startled. “What?” She’d told her mom about him a few times. But not about what had happened between them that night six weeks ago.
Her mom gave her a sympathetic look. “Sweetie, I’m not blind. You said things didn’t work out between you, but I can tell you’re still hung up on him, and the Outer Banks isn’t that far from here.”
“No, I haven’t heard from him.” The Outer Banks was only a few hours’ drive north.
Her assistant was keeping loose tabs on him, and told her Chase was home right now, in between projects. The movie industry was bumpy like that, and almost never secure, even for someone like her.
She hoped he got more work soon. He was good at what he did, and he deserved success. She wanted the best for him.
“So? If you miss him, you should call him.”
“I can’t. It would be too awkward now.”
She owed him an apology for taking off without an explanation and not returning his calls and texts. But if she gave it, it would open her up to a whole lot of questions and explanations she wasn’t ready to give. And…she wasn’t sure she had the will to walk away from him a second time.
Coward.
Maybe. But life had taught her to guard her heart carefully. She’d sworn never to let a man have that kind of power over her, and deep down she knew that emotionally, Chase posed the greatest threat to her yet.
“I just want you to be happy,” her mom said in concern, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead.
Becca leaned in and hugged her tight. Forgiveness. Healing. They both needed it so badly. “I know. I love you.”
Her mom rubbed her back. “Love you too, mija.”
An hour later Becca put her bags into the trunk of her rental car and set the bag lunch her mom had packed for her on the passenger seat. Her mom stood on the brick walkway out front of the white-columned mansion, waving.
Becca blew her a kiss and fought the sting of tears as she drove away. It was stupid to get so emotional every time she left her mom, but it was so ingrained in her. For so long she’d worried that each time she said goodbye would be the last. Because every time, her mom had lapsed back into her addictions.
Now it was different, she told herself. Her mom was finally safe, surrounded by others who truly cared about and valued her, in a place where she was content. Becca would give every last penny she had to make sure her mom stayed that way.
She stopped at a gas station to fill up before leaving town. Back in the car she checked her phone for messages, and her chest constricted when she read the final text from an unknown number.
Got the money together yet? Clock’s ticking.
Rick.
Becca gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to throw her damn phone out the window just to watch it smash to pieces on the pavement. It wouldn’t help. Wouldn’t make this go away.
Nothing could. Not the cops. Not even the FBI, who she’d thought about contacting so many times to make this all stop.
Rick’s demands always made her stomach drop, but this time the amount he wanted pushed her close to tears of frustration and helplessness. Between his greedy demands, her own modest bills and paying to keep her mom in the private facility, she had nothing left. Not even after the last two big contracts she’d signed.
This would wipe out her savings and most of her investments she’d so carefully been tucking away.
God, it was ironic. Most of her life she’d dreamed of being a famous actress one day. She’d never imagined being this miserable after becoming one.
On the surface, it looked like she had it all. In reality, it was all an illusion. As fake as her stage name and public persona.
She clenched the steering wheel, torn. Part of her wanted to drive back to her mom’s to sit her down and talk to her about this. Tell her everything, because this couldn’t go on.
But that was impossible. Becca would never risk triggering her and sending her back into another relapse. It was too dangerous. Her mom had cheated death too many times, and Becca was terrified that one more would be the end.
“No, stop it. She’s safe.” She and her mom had different last names.
No one but Rick, her assistant, and the people at her mom’s facility would be able to link them, and Becca tried her best to stay out of the media anyway, unless she was doing publicity for a film or charity event.
Weariness stole over her. She’d never felt so alone, wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep doing this. She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes, fighting the despair threatening to send her back into another pit of depression.
The urge to run away from everything was overwhelming. To just hole up somewhere no one would find her and hide from the world. She had a few weeks until she was needed anywhere, unless something else came up in the meantime. But where could she go?
There was only one person she could think of who could make her feel better, and she wasn’t sure she deserved it after the way she’d left. She hadn’t meant to use him, yet she had in a way, and he’d been so good to her regardless.
Chase. She missed him. Even though there was no hope for them, even though he was dangerous to her, made her crave things she could never have, impossible things…
Her head came up, her gaze going to her GPS screen. She typed in his address, waited for the estimated driving time to calculate.
Under six hours.
Less than she’d thought. If she left now, she could be there by nightfall.
She stared at the screen, nibbling on her lower lip. Did she have the guts? Would he even want to see her?
A painful, bittersweet ache formed in the middle of her chest as she thought of him, his face so clear in her mind. Chase…
She started the car and turned onto the freeway onramp reading north, headed for the Outer Banks and whatever reaction awaited her there.