Chapter One
Harper stood in the driveway, watching Jackson Marsh head for the guest house, his duffel bag on one shoulder, a rolling bag behind him. The Uber he’d taken here turned around and drove out of the driveway, the lights momentarily blinding her as they flashed across her face.
She had no idea what troubles had sent him running to Hideaway Bay, but she would find out.
Right now, however, she needed to tell her sister and her niece that they had an unexpected visitor. A very famous unexpected visitor.
This was weird.
She watched him for a few more seconds, his form silhouetted by the landscape lighting, then she turned and went inside. Archie, her apricot labradoodle, waited for her at the top of the steps. The television was on but the sound was down low and Willa, who’d been watching it with Harper, was no longer sitting on the couch.
Harper’s phone was still there. She picked it up, the screen coming to life as her fingers brushed it. She had a text from Willa.
Figured it was Mitch. Went to bed. See you for breakfast...
Harper turned the screen off. “So much for that,” she said to Archie. “I guess I’ll tell them about Jack in the morning.”
He just looked at her, probably wondering how soon they’d be going out for a last pee.
“Okay, I get it. You want to go out.”
He wagged his tail.
She nodded. “Come on, baby dog.” She got his leash, took him downstairs, and through the rec room to the backyard.
She couldn’t help but glance over at the guest house while Archie sniffed around. The living room lights were on but they went dark as she watched.
What could be going on with Jack? What had sent him all the way here, besides the fact that he still thought of this as a safe place? The reason couldn’t be good.
She thought about calling Teddy, Jack’s older brother, but that felt like intruding on Jack’s privacy. Calling Teddy would be a last resort. She shifted her gaze to Mitch’s house. No lights on there, either.
Archie did what he needed to do, then came back to sit by her feet.
She ruffled the fur on his head. “Ready to go in?”
He got up and walked with her back to the house. She wiped his feet off, then they went upstairs. She turned everything off before going into her bedroom.
Archie went straight to his bed and his stuffed bear, Mr. Brown. He turned three times, then lay down with Mr. Brown under his chin.
“Night, sweet boy.” Harper brushed her teeth and changed into a nightshirt while thinking about Jack, Teddy, and Arlington.
She’d been involved with the Marshes for some time now. She considered them all friends, but she’d only worked forTeddy and Arlington. And, of course, Arlington had left her this incredible house.
She and Jack had always been friendly. They’d seen each other at Marsh family functions that Harper had been invited to. Even run into each other a few times at various celebrity-laden events. Once at a cancer research fundraiser. Another time at a golf tournament benefitting a veterans association.
They’d had some pretty interesting conversations over the years. Jack was very much his own man, and despite his A-Lister status, he was a down-to-earth guy. Maybe sometimes a littletoodown-to-earth. There was a reason he was known as the rule breaker of the Marsh family, and often called The Rule Breaker by the media.
He didn’t love the limelight. None of the Marshes ever had. It was part of their allure. They were the Hollywood dynasty that eschewed basking in the glow of fame. She’d always admired them for that, and it only seemed to make their stars shine brighter.
Nothing the paparazzi liked more than to photograph those who avoided them like the plague they were.
Whatever was going on with Jack, she was here for him. It would just be easier to help him if she knew what had happened. Lights off, she got into bed and grabbed her tablet, doing a quick search for the name Jackson Marsh.
Nothing came up that explained why he’d be here. She searched Teddy next and found the same thing. Plenty of articles and photographs, but not a hint of current trouble. That was good, but it didn’t answer her questions.
She shook her head and brought up the book she was reading.The Light Within. One of her favorite things that Mitchell Ripley had ever written. It was lyrical and poetic and created these amazing images in her head every time she read it.
It was science fiction, yes, but in a very accessible way. Basically, it was the story of Earth’s first contact with alien lifeforms and how that contact changed not only the world, but the lives of a young couple and their older neighbor.
