Wyatt laughs again and flips me off. There’s bacon in my mouth when I return the gesture.
26
Tenley
My mother’scalling and I know what it’s about, and I do not want to answer. But if I don’t answer, she will call over and over. Then she will call Gretchen, and Gretchen doesn’t need to be a part of that. Besides, I’ve already talked to Gretchen this morning.
“Hi, Mom.” I tuck the phone between my shoulder and my ear and open the fridge. I’d like to make a smoothie, but Wyatt doesn’t have a blender. It’s the first time since coming to Sierra Grande that I’ve really missed something about my home. But then I remember that my blender was actually Tate’s blender and he took it when we broke up.
“Hi, honey,” my mom answers. “What are you up to?”
Her breezy tone is tooon purpose.I see right through it like it’s gossamer. “I’m headed into town in search of a smoothie.” Last week on the set I overheard two crew members talking about a place they found in the middle of town. It can’t be hard to locate.
“How nice. Anything new?”
I roll my eyes as I pull Pearl out onto the road that leads around the homestead and through to the main road. “Mom, do you have something to ask me?”
“Your new… friend is making a splash this morning.”
“Technically, he made a splash last night.”
“What do you think about it?”
I sigh quietly. Warner looked pissed off in the photo, but he also looked strong. Protective. Capable and in control. And I still can’t figure out how the picture was taken in the first place. Wyatt said nobody in this town would take a picture like that, not after what he’d done to get my underwear back. He still hasn’t said what he did, but I believe him. The only logical explanation is that there was a second pap we didn’t know about. In LA, they’re everywhere. But here in a small town, I felt relatively insulated. That’ll be changing soon, if what Gretchen said is true.
When she called this morning, she informed me that she’d heard there were paps headed here, hoping to catch Warner acting ill-tempered again. “America’s sweetheart meets bad boy cowboy, or something like that,” Gretchen had said.
“The photo isn’t what it seems, Mom.”
“It never is. Tell me more about it.”
I open my mouth to answer, then remember what the pap said. “Why did you put Aspen on the market? I thought you had time.”
She’s quiet. It’s taking her too long to answer.
“Mom,” I nudge her on.
“The people your father owes grew impatient.”
“How impatient?”
She’s quiet again, and it frightens me more than anything else could. “They didn’t hurt us, if that’s what you’re wondering. But you can’t tell people like that to wait. The word ‘no’ does not exist with them.”
“Please let me pay off the debt for you, Mom. Please. I can make this all go away in seconds.”
“It’s not your place to clean up your parents’ mistakes. I won’t put you in that position.”
“So instead, you’re putting yourself and Dad in danger?”
“We’re not in danger. Honestly,” she adds, which doesn’t make me feel any better. “Are you?”
I make a face. “What are you talking about?”
“Your cowboy. He lost his temper.”
My arms go rigid and my knuckles whiten as I grip the steering wheel. “He’s not experienced with paps, Mom. Comments don’t roll off his back like water off a duck.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
