by Elena Aitken
For the next hour, Mitch told Chelsea everything, including how he thought he’d needed to date a certain kind of girl, and how that little experiment had failed miserably when he’d realized he was in love with Jade. How Jade didn’t want him. How he’d screwed it all up. And how now—just when he thought it couldn’t get any more screwed up—Jade was pregnant.
When he was finally finished, Mitch’s shoulders slumped over. He crossed his arms over his knees and dropped his head down between them. Chelsea was silent for a moment. No doubt processing everything she’d just heard.
Finally, she exhaled loudly and chuckled. “Wow, Mitch. You’ve only been here half the time I have and you’ve gotten yourself into a way bigger mess than I could have even imagined. And everyone was worried about me being on the wrong path.”
She laughed, but Mitch knew it wasn’t at him. He looked up and ran his hand through his hair. “I know,” he said. “It’s a terrible mess and I have no idea what I’m going to do.”
Chelsea’s laughter cut off abruptly. “What do you mean you don’t know what you’re going to do?” she demanded.
His smile faltered as he realized she was genuinely giving him shit. “About Jade,” he said weakly. “And the baby. I don’t know what I’m—”
“You seriously don’t know what you’re going to do?” She stared at him. “After everything you just told me, you still don’t know what you’re going to do about it all?” When he shook his head, she laughed again. This time, he didn’t join her. “I thought you were supposed to be one of the smart ones? Everyone used to tell me how smart Mitch was. You’re a teacher at a prestige private school, for bloody sake.” She scoffed and kicked the sand with her foot. “Maybe it’s one of those book smart things because you certainly don’t know anything when it comes to women.”
He stared at her for a moment. And then another. “What are you talking about? I know plenty.” And he did, too. He knew that Jade wasn’t interested in him. He knew that she didn’t want anything from him when it came to the baby and he knew that she’d looked absolutely destroyed when he’d yelled at her a few hours earlier.
“Dammit.” He closed his eyes, remembering the look on her pretty face when he’d raised his voice. Hell, the look on her face when she’d told him the news. She’d been terrified to tell him, that was clear. And no wonder, too. He’d been a first-rate asshole. “I screwed everything up,” he told Chelsea when he could finally manage to formulate the words. “I was a total jerk.”
She nodded in agreement. “I’d say.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey,” Chelsea objected. “I’m not doing you any good by telling you what you want to hear. But I’ll certainly do my best to tell you what you need to hear. And what you need to hear is that you screwed up. You were an ass, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fix it.”
Right. Fix it. It sounded so simple. All he needed to do was fix it. But…fix what?
As if she knew what he was going to ask, Chelsea continued, “First, you need to decide what it is you want out of this. Do you want a relationship? Do you love her? Do you want to be with her even if there wasn’t a baby?”
The questions hit him hard. But the answer to each of them was a resounding yes.
“And then you need to understand that what Jade needs and wants might be different than what your ideas are. And if you truly care about her, that won’t matter. You’ll be there for her no matter what.”
Mitch nodded, but he still wasn’t sure he understood. He would, though. As soon as he spoke with Jade. He jumped to his feet and brushed the sand off his jeans.
“Whoa.” Chelsea jumped up next to him and grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To talk to Jade. I need to make her—”
“You need to wait until the morning.” Chelsea tugged him toward the house. “It’s late. Feelings are raw. Get some sleep, Mitch, and in the morning I’ll drive you over there so you can say all the things you need to. But give yourself a night.”
He nodded. It was a good idea. In fact, for someone so young, Chelsea had a lot of good ideas. “When did you get so smart?” he asked her as he let her lead him up to the house.
She patted his hand. “Big brother, I’ve always been this smart. You’ve missed out.”
Impulsively, he hugged her. He had missed out on a lot with both of his half-sisters. But he’d changed a lot from that stupid, self-absorbed teenager. He was no longer going to let his pride get in the way of going after what he wanted.
Chapter Twelve
After a night of tossing and turning, Jade was up before the sun. She’d managed to get a few hours of sleep, but not much more than that before she finally gave in, wrapped a robe around her and went out to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.
Lying in her bed reliving the awful night before wasn’t doing her any good. And if she had to close her eyes and see Mitch’s face when he realized what she was telling him, one more time, she just might cry. And that was the last thing she wanted. She’d worked hard to keep her emotions in check. It was too easy to let them get in the way of any of the decisions she needed to make. She had some absolutely huge life choices coming down, and she needed a clear head. There was no room for emotion of any kind. Not yet.
Jade fired up her laptop and scrolled through the emails she’d largely ignored for the last few days. It was completely unlike her to give her work such little regard. Already the baby was messing with her career and it wasn’t even a thing yet.
Maybe her mom had been right about everything. Relationships and everything that came with them were nothing but a distraction keeping her from achieving everything she was capable of.
But no. She couldn’t believe that. She needed to refocus and regroup.
Her inbox was full and it took her a few minutes to go through each email to flag and file them for follow up. It felt good to get back to a system, something she could control when everything else was spinning wildly. She’d almost made it through the entire inbox when one message caught her eye. It was from Los Angeles about the actress who was interested in playing the lead role in Mr. Summer. Jade clicked it open and started to read.
Bridget Murphy was a big deal on an Australian lifeguarding show, but was looking to break into the North American market. She was going to be in California to screen test for the part and if that went well, which they felt it would, Peter wanted to send her to Cedar Springs for an extended audition. Jade just needed to call and confirm the details.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost six a.m. For anyone else, she’d wait a few hours to make the call. But she knew Peter would be up. He was an earlier riser than she was, so she might as well start working.
Jade grabbed her cell phone and punched in Peter’s number. He answered on the first ring.
“Give me some good news, Jade.” Peter’s voice came across the line.
It took a few seconds for Jade to realize what he was talking about, but only a few before dread filled her. “I was calling about Bridget Murphy. I just read your email.” She made the split decision to completely ignore the fact that she still didn’t have the script from Gwen and not only that, she’d completely dropped the ball on making it a priority. “She sounds promising. And I’m sure she’ll test well. We can have her read with Cal McCormick. He’s ready to sign on to play Ian.”
“Cal McCormick?”
“Remember? I sent you a text that he wanted to audition. He read yesterday and he’s absolutely perfect. Gwen agrees.” Again, she’d dropped the ball on talking to Peter about Cal’s audition. She’d meant to call him the day before to arrange for paperwork. For a moment, Jade was afraid Peter might not agree with her, but he had trusted her to make a lot of the decisions for the show, and casting Cal would be a decision she was prepared to defend.
“Good,” Peter said. “Be sure to send the details over ASAP so we can get legal to put together a contract. It could make things interesting with Bridget. N
ot that I keep up with Australian gossip, but Bridget and Cal were the IT couple until pretty recently.”
“Oh. I had no idea.” She did vaguely remember hearing something about Cal ending a relationship recently, but she’d been more than a little preoccupied. “I’ll have to talk to—”
“No. Don’t say anything. This could be great press for the show.” Peter sounded downright giddy. “Think about it. Ex-lovers working together on a show like this. It could be exactly the kind of free publicity we need to attract sponsorships and a higher budget. Yes. This could be perfect.”
“I don’t know, Peter. It sounds pretty—”
“Do not say a word, Jade. Not to Cal, not to anyone. We’ll hold Bridget’s audition and then send her up to you. We’ll make sure to have a photographer up there to catch it. It’ll be brilliant.”
Jade didn’t like it. Not at all. It was sleazy and underhanded, but as long as Peter was focused on it for a little bit, the heat would be off her, Gwen, and the script. “Okay,” she said after a minute. “I won’t say a word.” She’d figure out how to mitigate that disaster later. “Let me know how it goes and I’ll make sure to get Cal McCormick’s details down to legal.”
She was about to end the call when Peter’s voice cut through again. “And Jade?” She took a deep breath in. “It sure would be nice if Bridget could read from the actual script. Get that to me. Today.”
She nodded even though Peter couldn’t see her. She swallowed hard. “No problem at all. I’ll have you something by the end of the day. And I think you’re really going to like it.”
“I better.”
Jade disconnected the call and ignoring the early hour, immediately dialed Gwen’s cell phone. The time for a soft approach was over.
It took Gwen a few rings to pick up, but the second her sleepy voice came over the line, Jade said, “Get dressed. I’m picking you up in fifteen minutes. We have work to do and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“What? Jade? Is that you?”
She took a sip of tea before she repeated herself. “Fifteen minutes, Gwen. You’re going to finish that script today, and I’m going to help. No cell phones, no Internet, no distractions—just the two of us and a laptop until it’s finished.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jade said. “Don’t worry about anything. Just bring yourself, your laptop, and any notes you have.”
As they were talking, Jade had already clicked through a few websites on her computer and was in the process of making an online reservation for a room at the Springs resort. They were going to disappear completely off the grid until the work was done. It was a technique Jade had used only once before with one of her particularly distracted author clients who was past deadline. Only that time, she didn’t join the author, but made all the arrangements and drove her to the hotel. This time, Jade was going in, too. She needed to keep Gwen on task. And the fact that she’d be completely cut off from her life and her own dramas was only an added bonus.
“I don’t know, Jade…I have a lot of things to—”
“I will not take no for an answer, Gwen. You’re overdue. Let Ian know I’m going to pick you up in twenty minutes and under no circumstances will you be returning home until it’s done.” She hung up and started getting ready herself.
She’d promised Peter a script, and dammit, she was going to deliver. She powered off her phone and tucked it into the kitchen drawer. Besides, a day of distractions was exactly what she needed. She might be helping Gwen get her script finished, but she was going to use the time to figure out her future.
Mitch was positive he’d never be able to sleep. Not with so much on his mind. Not when every fiber of his being wanted to jump out of bed and run to her house to throw himself at the mercy of her forgiveness. He fully expected to toss and turn all night, counting down the hours until it was light enough to go to her. Which was why he was shocked when his eyes finally opened at nine a.m. He jumped out of bed, showered and dressed as quickly as he could and was about to sneak out of the house when Chelsea stopped him.
“I’m glad to see you at least listened to me about waiting until morning.” She handed him a cup of coffee, but he put it down on the table.
“No time for coffee, Chels. I can’t wait another minute. I slept in and I need to see her. I need to make it right.”
“Make what right?” Cal appeared, groggy from sleep. “What did I miss?”
“Everything.” Chelsea rolled her eyes and jumped up to sit on the kitchen counter. “Seriously, how do you sleep so late?”
“It’s called jet lag, smart ass. It’s like tomorrow afternoon in my world.”
Mitch started to do the mental math in his head, but gave up with a shake. “Whatever,” he said. “You two have fun sorting that out. I have things to do.”
“Right,” Cal said. “You have to make something right. Sounds like a woman problem. Seems to be going around. What did you screw up?”
Something in his little brother’s voice caught his attention. Was there more to Cal leaving Australia than he’d said? He wanted to ask, but…he glanced at the door and caught Chelsea’s eye. She’d clearly noticed the change in tone in Cal as well. She gave Mitch a look that said you can wait a few more minutes to make sure your brother is okay. With a sigh, Mitch grabbed his cup of coffee and sat at the table.
“What’s going on, little brother? You sound like you have a story to tell.”
Cal sat across from him and laughed in his casual it’s nothing I can’t handle kind of way, but Mitch knew better. And judging by the look on Chelsea’s face, so did she. Cal was the free spirit, easygoing brother, but that didn’t mean he didn’t hurt. In many ways, he fell harder and hurt deeper than Mitch and his other brothers.
“I thought you said you broke up with Bridget.” Chelsea joined them at the table.
Cal’s laugher died and he dropped his head in his hands. “I did. But only because I didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t the woman I thought she was. She wasn’t the woman I was in love with.”
Mitch took a sip of his coffee and waited until Cal continued.
“I honestly thought that what Bridget and I had was special. I thought she was the one.” He looked at Chelsea when he said that. “I was going to marry her. It was going to be forever. It really was.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Were you an asshole?” Mitch couldn’t help but ask it even though he knew that was his reason for heartbreak, not Cal’s. His little brother shot him a look.
“She betrayed me,” he said simply.
“Another man?” Because of what their father had put them all through by having an entire secret family, all of the McCormick children had a very low tolerance for cheating. And if she’d been unfaithful, Mitch didn’t blame him for a second. “What a—”
“No.” Cal cut him off. “I wanted to get into acting,” he started to explain. “I was getting tired of just standing in front of the camera. I wanted to do more. When I told her about my plans, she seemed really supportive and even offered to talk to her director about getting me on the show. She’s the star of Beach Bodies. It’s like the Australian version of Baywatch,” he explained to Mitch.
“I’m familiar.”
If Cal noticed his brother’s impatience, he didn’t say anything, but continued on with the story. “I was really excited,” he said. “In fact, when I was getting set to go on a few auditions, she told me not to because something was going to happen with her show. I passed up a lot of opportunities that my agent lined up for me. And finally my agent dropped me because of it. So when that happened, I pressed the issue with her.”
“Don’t tell me,” Chelsea said. “Was she just trying to spare your feelings?”
“What?” Cal shook his head. “No. Not at all. I ran into the producer at a club one night and asked him straight out if he thought I might have a chance to get on the show soon. You know what he said to me?”
&n
bsp; Mitch and Chelsea both shook their heads.
“He laughed. He looked right in my face and laughed at me. Then he proceeded to tell me that Bridget had come to him and told him I was probably going to ask about getting on the show, and when I did, he should lie and say something nice because under no circumstances should he hire me to be on the show because of how terrible I was.”
Mitch almost spat out his coffee. “She said what? But you’re not terrible. I mean, Jade just said how awesome you were.” Just speaking her name out loud hurt his heart and reminded him that he should go as soon as possible. But he did his best to be a good brother and listen.
“In fact, not only did she tell him how terrible I was, she said that she’d quit the show altogether if he hired me.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Jealous,” Chelsea answered with a nod of her head. “Sounds like jealousy to me. She probably saw your star rising and didn’t want you to succeed without her.”
“Or more than her,” Mitch added. “That’s shitty, little brother. Sorry.”
Cal nodded and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Well, it is what it is, right? Better I found out this way though, right? I mean, before I asked her to marry me.”
“You were going to do that?” Cal nodded and Chelsea got out of her seat to give him a hug. “I’m really glad you didn’t. You need a nice girl.”
A nice girl.
Like Jade.
Mitch swallowed down the rest of his coffee and put his mug down harder than he intended before he stood. “You’re exactly right, Cal. It’s good you found out about her true colors now. And Chelsea’s right too,” he continued. “You need a good girl. Just like I do. And you’ll find one, too. Just like I did.”