“You have such a spacious home,” Serena told Nance. “I’m lucky to get a condo the size of this kitchen in BeverlyHills.”
“Thank you,” Nanceoffered.
Serena spotted Mac and put her hands to her cheeks in an overdramatic gesture. “And this must be the famous Shar-Pei! Oh, come here, you beautiful thingyou.”
She stooped down and offered some scratches around his neck. Mac greedily relished the attention, rolling onto his side and then hisback.
“Lookie there,” Dax said. “Same effect on dogs asmen.”
“They’re one and the same as far as I’m concerned. No offense,Jace.”
“Please note there are three men in the room right now,” Daxstated.
Serena huffed as she pushed to her feet. She turned to Nance. “He’s always like this. I swear, I can’t say anything without getting nippedat.”
“Mom, can I take the murdered animal draped around yourneck?”
“Murdered animal?” She offered another laugh. “Oh, please. I donate to PETA. This is faux-fox, Dax. Luxury isn’t nearly as violent as it used to be. No, I’m waiting for the day when we have to lease live foxes and wear them to premieres.” As she spoke, she removed the fur and passed it on toDax.
“I think you’d look stunning wearing a starved tiger,” he said through his teeth as he took the piece and carried it to the coat closet by thefoyer.
“Isn’t he charming?” she said, narrowing her eyes as thoughunamused.
I noticed Keegan’s expression as he stood before her, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. I couldn’t deny she was a captivating figure, and she’d clearly cast her spell overhim.
She generously offered to help Nance in the kitchen and then set the table with us, never lacking for words. She was an expert when it came to keeping a conversation moving. And while she offered insights about herself, she continually asked about our lives, not necessarily interested, but as though she knew that was how one was supposed to behave in socialsettings.
As soon as we were all seated at the kitchen table, she said, “If you want to say a prayer, I don’t mind. I attend mass everySaturday.”
“No, you don’t,” Dax said through histeeth.
“Well, I have a Bloody Mary by eleven, so I can at least say I takecommunion.”
Keegan howled at the joke, catching us all off guard. “Good one,” he said, snapping his fingers and pointing to her as he grinned ear toear.
“Oh, thank you. I had an agent tell me I was good enough to do standup on Johnny Carson, but he said I couldn’t be a beauty and funny without getting typecast as one or the other, and you know what they say: people always remember a beauty, but they never remember who told a goodjoke.”
“No one says that,” Dax insisted, looking tense as ever besideme.
“I just did,” she announced withtriumph.
“Perhaps that’s why you think I need a little eyework?”
“Eye work?” Nance asked, seeming horrified by thesuggestion.
“Here we go.” Serena threw her hands in the air as though surrendering to his accusation. “This is the part where he tries to make me look like the worst mother in the world. Hollywood isn’t like other industries. You’re in front of the camera all the time. The paparazzi are constantly hounding you—if you’re one of the lucky ones—and when you’re standing next to a man like Jace, sometimes you have to keep up appearances. I was just saying that I thought a little filler would help, and at the most, a smidgen of eye surgery. I don’t know why people get so worked up over these things. Let’s be honest: if I looked in the mirror and recognized some part of myself from my twenties, I’d demand arefund.”
“Oh my,” Nancesaid.
Serena laughed. “I’m just being flip. Of course I recognize my eyes, past the tinted contacts. But, Dax, the bags aren’t that bad. I was simply offering a suggestion if you wanted to take it, a little tuck there, and maybe that nose job that would make the end a little sharper…you know that look’s never gone out ofstyle.”
I rested my hand on Dax’s thigh. “I think you have a beautiful nose,” I told him, and I could tell by the way his shoulders relaxed, his smile returning, that he appreciated the sincerecompliment.
“Oh, Jace,” Serena said, reaching to me and taking my chin in her hand. “You are the sweetest thing ever, aren’t you? And proof that love truly is blind…or at least in need of a visionprescription.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s worst mother ever,” Dax announced, gesturing toher.
Nance eyed me uneasily, and I chuckled awkwardly. It was easy to see why Dax had a hard time dealing with Serena. Although, knowing what he’d shared with me about their past, about the darkness they’d come through, I had to remind myself that despite the hard times they’d had, or this persona Serena shared with us, there was more to their relationship than the dynamic I was witnessing. They’d made it through tragedy and hardship. And clearly there was a reason why she was still in hislife.
