Tia couldn’t believe she’d agreed to allow Seth to bring his mother over to the guesthouse. The more people she associated with, the greater the chances of the press finding out where she was. Two different tabloids had already offered her a sizable amount of money to provide them with an exclusive interview and pictures. But they were crazy if they thought she could tolerate a photo shoot.
Even if the press didn’t become a problem, there could be local fans who would resort to extreme measures to invade her privacy. And she was too fragile for that. The panic that welled up at the thought that it wasn’t safe to open her door nearly paralyzed her.
On the flip side, remaining inside the guesthouse alone all day, every day, with nothing constructive to do, wasn’t healthy, either. She was drifting further and further from the person she’d once been, after she’d adjusted and found herself in LA, and all the people she loved. That was never more apparent than when she checked her phone and saw all the texts of concern she couldn’t bring herself to read from friends she’d met in acting school or while making the movie.
Focusing on the fact that the last two encounters she’d had with Seth had been positive, she refused to allow herself to call him and cancel. To ensure she didn’t, she plugged her phone into the charger in the bedroom before curling up on the couch and turning on the TV.
She intended to take only a short nap so she’d have the energy to clean up the place. But the next thing she knew, someone was knocking on her door.
“Tia? Hello?”
It was Seth. Groggy and discombobulated, she reached for her phone, patting the blanket she’d used to cover herself until she remembered leaving it on the charger. She couldn’t check the time, but it was obvious she’d overslept. The light that crept around the edges of the blinds during the day was gone.
How long had it been?
Seth hadn’t set up a specific time for her to meet his mother. He’d just said tonight. But it had been twelve thirty when she returned from the main house. She must’ve slept the entire afternoon.
“Tia?” Seth’s voice came through the door again.
“Shoot,” she muttered as she eyed the candy and junk food wrappers that littered the coffee table and floor and the dishes that were stacked high on the counters and in the sink.
“Tia?” This time it was someone else—a female. “It’s Aiyana Turner,” the voice went on. “I hope you don’t mind giving me a moment of your time. I promise I would never do anything that would compromise you in any way.”
Although Seth’s mother sounded sincere, and Tia didn’t doubt her motives, a heavy dose of skepticism remained. Why had she allowed this meeting? What could Aiyana Turner really do?
No one could help her.
But it was too late to cancel. They were at her door.
Scrubbing a hand over her face—then wincing at the tenderness that remained in her cheek—she got to her feet and crossed the room. “Sorry, I...uh...fell asleep,” she said through the door. “Can you...can you give me a minute?”
“Of course,” the woman replied. “We’ll wait right here. Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you. It...it won’t be long.”
“Okay, honey.”
Such an endearment shouldn’t have meant anything coming from a total stranger, and yet the way Seth’s mother said it made it feel like a caress.
Still trying to shake off the last vestiges of sleep, Tia used the bathroom, brushed her hair and did what she could to fix her makeup. Touching up her mascara and eye shadow seemed futile when she couldn’t believe anyone would be able to focus on anything other than her scars. But going through the motions gave her a moment to collect herself.
When she was done, she cast one final glance at the frightening image she saw reflected back at her and hurried out to open the door. Silver Springs rarely got snow, but it was chilly in December, and she felt bad for making them wait outside.
“Hello.” She’d decided not to take the time to cover her cheek with bandages, but Aiyana gripped her hand and looked into her eyes as if she didn’t even notice the scars.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said.
Seth’s mother was only about five-two. With long dark hair, kind brown eyes and a plethora of smile lines around her mouth, she had small hands to go with her petite body. Her orange nail polish looked beautiful next to her dark skin and matched the print of her vibrant, loose-fitting dress. She looked comfortable but well put together at the same time, and she smelled like gardenias.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Tia said. “Seth has a lot of good things to say about you.”
“He has a lot of good things to say about you, too,” she responded, her smile widening.
Although Tia was reluctant to let them into the house, since she hadn’t been able to get it cleaned up, Aiyana’s manner put her at ease. Seth’s mother didn’t seem to care about her fame or her scars or even what the house looked like. Tia got the impression Aiyana saw only another human being in desperate need of a friend, and her interest came off as so genuine that Tia couldn’t help responding to it. “Would you like to come in?”
“If you feel comfortable letting us, we’d love to.” Aiyana lifted a canvas bag with a cute logo on it. “I brought you a few things from around town I thought you might like.”
“You didn’t need to bring me anything,” she said.
Aiyana waved her words away. “It was my pleasure.”
Accepting the bag, Tia opened the door wider to admit them.
Aiyana came through first, the scent of gardenias growing stronger as she passed by. Seth cast Tia a grin as he followed.
Tia couldn’t help smiling back at him. As angry as she’d been when she realized he’d be staying on the property with her, she was starting to like him.
After leading them into the living room, she set her gift sack aside and bent to pick up some of the wrappers and other trash while they sat down.
“Have you ever been to Silver Springs before?” Aiyana asked, completely ignoring the mess.
“No, I’m afraid this is my first visit.” Tia dumped what she’d collected into the wastebasket before sitting across from them and taking the items Aiyana had brought her out of the bag. There was a box of fresh-baked sugar cookies shaped like Christmas ornaments from a place called Sugar Mama, a fresh loaf of crusty sourdough bread from Millie’s Bakery, a bottle of California pressed olive oil, a bottle of balsamic vinegar and two large pomegranates.
“I picked those pomegranates from my own tree,” Aiyana said.
“Wow. It’s all wonderful. Thank you.” She carried the items to the kitchen counter.
“Once you’ve tried Sugar Mama’s cookies, you’ll be hooked,” Seth predicted.
“A friend of mine owns the store,” Aiyana explained. “You can find her shop right on the main drag. And Calista’s Winery, where I got the olive oil and vinegar, is always fun to visit.”
“Mom’s lived here for over two decades,” Seth told her. “She definitely knows her way around. And she’s friends with literally everyone.”
“It’s not that big a place,” Aiyana chimed in modestly. “But if you ever decide to try some of the restaurants in town, be sure to let me know. I can guide you to the best Chinese or Italian or Thai or whatever you like.”
“I doubt I’ll be circulating much.” Tia was taken aback that Aiyana would even suggest her being seen in public.
“I hope you won’t miss the entire Christmas season.”
That was kind of the point of coming here, but Tia didn’t say so. Aiyana was now leaning forward to make sure she held Tia’s attention as she added, “I hope you won’t let anything hold you back.”
The razor focus of her eyes belied her warm smile. She was implying that what happened next was up to Tia and Tia alone, and Tia knew she was right. That was why she’d quit covering her scars, why she’d joined Seth for dinner and then breakfast this morning, why she’d agreed to this meeting. It had very little to do with Seth trying to strong-arm her by threatening to call the paparazzi. She could’ve refused and, as unappealing as it sounded, continued to hide from the world. But she knew he was right, too: Although those things were difficult for her, she knew she had to at least try to accept her new reality and embrace a normal life again, before she lost the ability to do so.
Seth and Aiyana were trying to throw her a rope. She just wasn’t sure she’d be able to catch it.
“I’ll do my best,” she said.
Aiyana sat back and began to tell her about how she knew Maxi, the good he did for the school, how much he loved Seth’s work and that Seth would be teaching at New Horizons after Christmas.
Tia enjoyed chatting with them. It was like letting some fresh air and sunshine into the room. After about twenty minutes, she found herself offering them coffee or tea and insisting they share the cookies.
Aiyana and Seth both agreed to tea, and Aiyana joined Tia in the kitchen to help prepare it.
By the time Seth and his mother were ready to leave, Tia was feeling better again. The talking and laughing and camaraderie made such a difference. For an hour, she hadn’t been able to dwell on the tragedy that had stolen her career and disfigured her face, and when Aiyana turned at the door and pulled Tia into a big hug, Tia found herself squeezing Seth’s mother just as hard in return.
“I had such a wonderful time getting to know you,” Aiyana said. “I hope you’ll allow me to visit again.”
Tia didn’t want her to leave. She was afraid the darkness and despair of her situation would close in on her again. “Of course. Come by whenever you’d like.”
“Wonderful. I’ll do that.” Her eyes twinkled, reminding Tia of Mrs. Claus as Aiyana squeezed Tia’s hand before slipping her arm through her son’s and letting him lead her away.
Tia watched them go before closing the door. She’d thought Seth and his mother’s visit would be awkward and difficult.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
“So? What do you think?” Seth asked once he and Aiyana were in the main house. “Is she going to be okay?”
“That’s hard to say,” his mother replied. “But she seems like a really nice young woman. It’s so unfortunate that this happened. Did she tell you what made her run that stoplight in the first place?”
He sank onto the sofa, and she sat in the leather easy chair not far away. “She told me she doesn’t remember.”
“She probably doesn’t. It’s obvious she hit her head pretty hard.”
“Maybe there’s nothing to remember. It’s not uncommon to miss a traffic signal.”
“Generally, that’s true. But in LA—where there’s so much traffic?” she asked skeptically.
“Even in LA. She could’ve been messing with the stereo, eating, or checking something on her phone. She could even have sneezed at the wrong time.”
Aiyana grimaced. “I hope she wasn’t texting.”
“Regardless, we’ve all accidentally run a red light at least once in our lives. What happened to her could’ve happened to anyone.”
“The consequences of this are so severe,” his mother said, shaking her head in sympathy. “I wanted to ask about her family, but I figured that conversation was better saved for another time.”
“I get the impression her relationship with them is...difficult,” he admitted.
“What has she said about them?”
“Nothing specific. But she doesn’t plan on going back to Iowa for Christmas. I know that.”
“She couldn’t leave Silver Springs even if she wanted to, could she? She has to be here to take care of Maxi’s parrot.”
“I could manage Kiki for a few days. It’s that she doesn’t want to go.”
“What about her friends? People she’s worked with? No one is staying in touch with her?”
“Hard to say, Mom. I just met her myself. It might be difficult for her to talk to those people at the moment.”
“Movie stars are so dependent on looks—at least the type of leading roles she must aspire to are.”
“Being around other industry people would only remind her of what she’s lost,” he agreed.
“And it’s possible she doesn’t know who she can trust.”
He shifted to get more comfortable “What do you mean?”
“I’m referring to the paparazzi. From what you’ve told me, Tia’s famous enough that photographs of her face, ones that reveal all the scars, would sell for a high price.”
“What kind of a friend would sell her out?”
“A greedy one,” she said. “And we can’t let that happen.”
He smiled at her. She had the kindest heart he’d ever known. “We won’t.”
“Have you been able to reach Shiloh’s parents yet?” she asked, changing the subject.
He hated talking about Lois and Graham. Now that he’d made a success of himself, they acted as though they’d always embraced him. They never referred to all the bullshit they’d put him and Shiloh through, but there’d been a period during which her parents’ disapproval and threats to disown her had nearly destroyed their marriage—mainly because he had no contact with his biological family and knew how isolating and lonely losing a family could be. He didn’t want to put her in that position, so he’d pulled away, started walling her out.
Fortunately, she’d called him on it, and they’d gone to counseling, which had helped. He needed to learn how to open up and trust, the therapist said, but emotional intimacy still wasn’t easy for him.
Shiloh had insisted she loved him more than anything and would not leave him no matter what he did. He’d needed her to prove that. It wasn’t fair, but it was the only way he could get beyond his insecurities.
So where did his obligation to her parents end? Now that they felt slighted over his not contacting them immediately, could he just let himself walk away?
That would be easiest. He wished he never had to speak to them again. But he owed Shiloh more than that. And if he was going to be in Silver Springs for the next several months, he was bound to run into them. He preferred those encounters not be unpleasant. “I left them a message,” he told his mother.
“One they haven’t returned?”
“Not yet. They’re probably...busy.”
“They’ve always looked for insult or injury. I don’t know how you managed to build a relationship with them.”
“I got rich,” he said simply.
She opened her mouth as if his response surprised her. He thought she might try to defend them. But she pressed her lips back together.
“They never thought I was good enough for her,” Seth explained. “But once I became well known, they couldn’t tell enough of their friends that their daughter was married to Seth Turner.”
“You’ve done a lot for them.”
More than he should have. He’d probably been trying to buy their love, since he couldn’t get it any other way. He’d paid their mortgage for several months when Graham got sick and couldn’t work. He’d replaced their old car because the repair bills that were coming in were more than what the vehicle was worth. He’d even given them paintings and sculptures as gifts they’d then sold to pay off debt. They didn’t understand or appreciate his work. They only liked the prestige of being associated with him—and the money they could get from him.
“They’ve always been difficult, even for Shiloh,” he admitted. His late wife had apologized for them many times and told him that it didn’t matter what they thought. But it mattered to him. The rejection he’d suffered when he was put up for adoption at six years old made him desperate to find the acceptance and unconditional love he’d been denied. He’d done everything he could to win them over, and they’d taken advantage of his need. It wasn’t until Shiloh died that he recognized it wasn’t really him they’d finally embraced.
Aiyana tilted her head, studying him.
“What?” he said at the speculative look on her face.
“I’m so proud of you,” she replied. “I couldn’t have a better son.”
He wished he’d been born to her. She’d done everything she could for him, and it had made a world of difference. But what he couldn’t tell her—and wouldn’t tell her because he never wanted her to think he was ungrateful—was that no amount of love could make up for the fact that his own mother hadn’t wanted him enough to bring him back home. He was the only child she hadn’t rescued in the end. Not only had she changed her mind about his older brother and reclaimed him, she’d changed her mind about his younger one, too.
So the question that burned uppermost in his mind, and would give him no relief, was Why not me?