She was putting him last because he was smitten. He had blinders on.
As fate would have it, she was seated directly near the people who had the best odds of figuring out her lies.
Everyone passed around dishes, filled their plates, and started eating.
“I didn’t know you guys were coming tonight,” Annika said, directing the comment at Athena, Trevon, and Caroline.
“Yes, Kendrick invited us,” Caroline said.
“Yeah,” Kendrick said. “Figured it would be a good way for Samantha to get to meet y’all. Plus, it’s just always good to see you. When we’re at the nursery, with all that’s going on, we can’t really talk.”
Iris took a sip of her wine. “Hey, it’s kind of like a practice run for Christmas. You all are coming over then, too, right?”
Samantha wondered if she’d be there for Christmas, too.
Not if your secret is exposed. They’ll run you out of town!
Should she just leave now? She was already growing attached to this ‘family’. Perhaps she should save herself the pain of when everything was revealed and they kicked her out.
Play it cool, Sam. They won’t find out!
Trevon’s deep voice nearly rumbled the walls when he said, “What I want to know is if you cuties have been good this year? Or is Santa going to bring coal?” He laughed.
“You know we’ve been good, Uncle Trevon!” Iris responded.
He lowered the breadstick he had raised to his lips. “Oh, I know you’ve been good at the nursery. But would your Daddies say the same thing about how you’ve acted around here?” He winked and then tore off a bite of bread.
“Well, they’ve beenprettygood. Besides a few infractions,” Jack stated.
The whole table laughed.
“I bet,” Jack continued, “that Santa will bring presents instead of coal.”
Hearing the talk of gifts made Samantha acutely aware that she didn’t have any money. She couldn’t show up to Christmas empty handed! She wanted to bring her new friends something.
Such was new to her. She’d never had anyone to buy for.
There wasn’t anything she could do about it right then. She’d have to worry about that later.
“Well, I know Lana, Iris, Annika, and Cami have been good girls this year,” Athena said. “But I’m curious about Little Miss Samantha. I mean, I know you’ve been a good girl. But I want to hear all about you.”
Samantha took a sip of her wine to give herself a moment before answering.
How much should she tell them? It wasn’t like she was hiding any big secret. Well, no big secrets in her past. Now, her recent activity as Tonya, obviously that couldn’t be shared.
But no one wanted to hear about her sad life before she got to L.A. She tried to forget about it. Save for a scant few, there weren’t many good memories back in Kentucky. Though she missed the culture and scenery sometimes.
Just tell them the truth. Remember, this is your fresh start. No more lies.
“I wish there was something interesting to share,” she said. “I don’t really have any family left back in Kentucky. None that Ihave any contact with.” She shrugged. “Came to L.A. a few years back, looking for a change. I’ve been here since.”
“Hey, did you come here to work in the movies like I did?” Annika asked. “I mean, an internship brought me out there, but I took it because I thought maybe I could get a job at a studio or something.”
Samantha laughed, embarrassed to admit it. “Yeah. I wanted to go on auditions, actually. But nothing ever came of it.”
“Well,” Caroline said, “you never know. You’re not old. Still lots of time for you to follow your dreams.”
“That’s right,” Kendrick agreed. “You can do anything you want to. And I’ll help you. We actually have quite a few Hollywood contacts, including Lana, who works at a studio.”
