The girls were watching her expectantly, waiting for her to be excited. And she was trying—God, she was trying so hard.
“This is wonderful,” Lila managed, setting down her things and moving toward the turntable. Her hands shook as she touched one of the records. “You did this for me?”
“Vance picked them out,” Mia said. “With our help. We went to Wrenport.”
“And Margot found your favorite Melody Gardot album,” I added, watching Lila carefully.
Lila turned to Margot, tears spilling over now. “You did?”
Margot nodded, suddenly uncertain. “Was that okay?”
“It’s perfect.” Lila pulled her into a hug, holding on maybe a little too tight. “Thank you, baby.”
When she pulled back, I saw how hard she was fighting to keep it together. For the girls. Always for the girls.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, extending my hand. “Dinner’s ready.”
“Starving. I didn’t have much lunch.” Lila stepped into my arms, and I held her as close as I could without alarming the girls. She was trembling.
“You’ve seen it?” I murmured against her hair.
“All of it. You?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll talk later,” Lila said. “After dinner.”
We sat around the table, with our pasta, salad, and bread. The girls started to tell Lila about Wrenport, but she held up a hand.
“Before we get into that,” she said, her voice steady, “there’s something Vance and I need to talk to you both about.”
Mia’s eyes went wide. “Are you breaking up?”
“What? No.” Lila reached across the table for her hand. “No, sweetheart. Nothing like that. But something happened today that you need to know about—something that might affect you at school.”
I watched her, impressed by how calm she was. How strong.
“What happened?” Margot asked, her voice small.
Lila took a breath. “The people I work with on the show—the producers—they did something really wrong. They sabotaged a scene to make me look bad on camera. And they leaked a private photo of me and Vance to gossip websites.”
“What kind of photo?” Mia asked.
“Just us kissing on the patio,” I said. “Nothing inappropriate. But it was private. And they used it to create a fake story.”
“What story?” Mia’s jaw tightened.
“They’re trying to make it look like there’s a love triangle,” Lila said. “Like I’m interested in Beau, the contractor. Like I’m choosing between him and Vance.”
Margot’s face went pale. “But that’s not true, right?”
“It’s completely not true,” Lila said firmly, leaning forward. “I love Vance. Only Vance. There is no triangle. There never was. They made it up for drama—for ratings.”
“That’s so messed up,” Mia said.
“It is,” I agreed. “And we’re going to fight it. We’re getting lawyers involved. We’re going to fix this.”
“But why are you telling us this now?” Mia asked.
