Luke: A West Bend Saints Romance

by Paige, Sabrina

  "No one wants to force the two of you to work together." The suit, one of the team the studio had sent down to pacify me, spoke. "Your feelings are justified. All of us want to put this behind us."

  "But what?" I asked. "There's always a but." I didn't trust the studio, whatever bullshit they were about to try to sell me.

  "The last thing the studio wants is negative publicity for the film," he said. "And I don't think you want that either, at this point, what with all the media attention you've had recently."

  "Is that a threat?" I asked. "It sounds like a threat." That same familiar feeling of panic returned.

  He waved dismissively. "Of course not, River," he said, his voice soothing. Patronizing. "But the film is nearly complete. Your scenes are essentially finished. The two that are left to film can be done are minor and can be done with a stand-in. It's possible for the movie to be finished without you even being on set."

  "You mean I could be done," I said.

  "Finished," he said.

  "What's the catch?" I asked.

  "No catch," he said. "You're free and clear. Done. There's an additional bonus for early completion."

  "Hush money," I said.

  He tsk-tsked me. "That's a tawdry way of thinking about it," he said. "It's simply a bonus for being so flexible, willing to complete the film ahead of schedule...and for your understanding of the importance of not drawing any more negative attention to the film."

  It was hush money.

  My head was spinning. I was done. Free and clear. I could go somewhere else. Do something else. Not this.

  Take a vacation.

  See the world.

  Whatever the hell I wanted to do.

  The problem was, the person I really wanted to see didn't want to see me.

  "Where do I sign?" I asked.

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ELIAS

  "Are they going to tell us anything?"

  Silas shook his head. "They weren't saying anything. That's why I came and got you."

  He left the rest of it unspoken. What he really meant to say was that he came and got me in case she died.

  "I don't understand it," I said. "She was fine yesterday when I talked to her."

  "What did you talk about?" Silas' face was white.

  "Nothing," I said. "I swear to God, nothing. I didn't even press her on the property sale. Nothing stressful."

  "You had to have said something," Silas said.

  "Are you fucking saying it's my fault? I caused this?"

  Silas shook his head. "Sorry. No. I'm not. It's just...not something she would do. It doesn't make any sense."

  "We talked about the soaps she was watching," I said. "Just like the time before that, and the time before that. Her romance novels she was reading. Her friend Rhonda. Gossip. I don't know. It was all normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. You know how she is."

  "She wasn't depressed?"

  "No," I said, racking my brain for any sign that something had been off. More off than usual. "I mean, she said dad loved her - not last time, when I sent to see her before- she seemed...wistful, like she was reminiscing."

  "Jesus Christ," Silas said. "You don't think she would have killed herself because of the asshole dying, do you?"

  "No," I said. Then, less certain. "I don't know."

  That was the truth. I didn't know anything anymore.

  ***

  RIVER

  "Tonight, we have an exclusive interview with Donna Gilstead, River Andrews' mother, who will open up to us about her upcoming book, Living with River." The entertainment journalist flashed her bright smile at the camera, then turned toward her equally perfect-looking co-host. "It promises to be a very interesting interview, doesn't it, Dave?"

  "It does, Samantha," he said. "Particularly since River Andrews has gone radio silent since her split from Viper Gabriel."

  "Stay tuned," Samantha said. "Donna Gilstead is next on Entertainment News Lately."

  "Shit." I clicked off the remote, my apartment, the new one I'd rented when I'd gotten back here, one with no ties to my past, to Viper, was suddenly silent. It was quiet, too quiet.

  Of all the things for my mother to do, this was one of the worst. A tell-all book? I didn't put much past her, but cashing in on my unhappiness was just too much.

  I sat there, in the emptiness of my new place, my thoughts churning. And my mind went to cutting. I thought about the cold of the steel blade against my skin, the rush of relief it would bring.

  I sat there, frozen, my arms resting on the sides of the armchair, paralyzed with indecision, mulling over the possibilities in my mind.

  But I didn't cut. Instead, I called my manager.

  "It's River," I said. "I want you to get me an interview with Deborah Ames. I'm ready to go public."

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  ELIAS

  "What the hell happened?" Killian blew into the waiting area like he owned the fucking place. He was unshaven, boots smeared with grease and dust, jeans torn, wearing a leather jacket and still holding his motorcycle helmet. A couple of the other people waiting moved to the other side of the room, and Killian tossed them a dirty look. Then they up and left. If the circumstances were any different, it would have been funny.

  Hell, it was fucking funny. Killian wasn't exactly a slight guy - he was a roughneck and intimidating as hell to most people.

  Of course, the four of us together probably were pretty intimidating.

  "Glad you're here, man," Silas said, clapping an arm around Killian's back. "Not like this, but still, good to see you."

  "You too, shithead," he said.

  "You just fly in?" he asked Luke.

  Luke nodded, his jaw clenched. Luke was real easy-going, didn't let much get to him - adrenaline junkie, but when he wasn't jumping out of planes or boarding down the side of a mountain, he was pretty mellow. You could always tell when he was upset, though- he clenched his jaw, ground his teeth. When we were kids he cracked one of them, grinding so bad at night. Our father had found out, said he was going to beat his teeth out of him so he wouldn't need the dentist to remove it, and mom had thrown herself on Luke, taken the beating for him.

  "Yeah, been here since last night," Luke said.

  "Well, give me the details, then," Killian said. "These fucking doctors tell you anything that's going on?"

  "She's still in the ICU," I said. "Overdose. Looks like Tylenol and booze."

  "She doesn't even drink," Killian said.

  I shook my head. "They don't think it was much booze."

  "Doesn't make sense," Silas said. "The whole fucking thing doesn't make sense at all."

  "What do you mean?" Killian asked.

  I sighed. "Silas has a theory that something's going on here, that the asshole was murdered or some shit," I said. "He'll tell you all the fuck about it if you listen."

  Killian turned toward Silas, and Silas put his hands up. "I'm not crazy," he said. "Something's going on, and now this- it doesn't make any sense she'd kill herself, not with the asshole gone now. He was her whole problem for years. She'd be happy he's gone."

  "Or..." I said. "Could be like prisoners, you know?"

  "What the hell are you talking about, prisoners?" Luke asked.

  "You know, like when prisoners are released after years in prison," I said. "Kill themselves when they finally get out. Can't deal with it."

  "Where the hell did you hear about that?" Luke asked.

  "It was in that movie, the prison one -"

  "Shawshank," Killian said.

  "Exactly."

  Silas rolled his eyes. "He's going to say my theories are bullshit and crazy, but he's giving you theories that come out of the movies." He paused, his gaze on the television on the other side of the room. "Isn't that - the screen says River Andrews. Is that your girl?"

  I looked up at the TV, to see her face. River Andrews, sitting across from one of those talk show hosts whose name I could
n't remember, one of those women famous for making celebrities cry, doing real heart-to-heart crap.

  "Hey," Silas walked over to one of the nurses in the reception area. "You got a remote for the TV? Turn it up right quick, will you?"

  She looked at him, then at the television, and raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah," she said, clicking with the remote. "That's that chick that was here in West Bend, isn't it?"

  I heard the interview amplified, River's voice louder in the room, and despite everything in me telling me to turn away, to not pay attention to what was on the screen, that I didn't want to hear what was coming out of her mouth, I walked over to the television and listened.

  Everything else, the hospital noise, my brothers talking, giving each other shit, faded into the background.

  "River Andrews," the host smiled, her expression welcoming, disarming. Like someone's grandmother. She leaned forward. "You must have been through a rollercoaster of emotions over the past month, betrayed by your fiancé, running to Colorado..." Her voice trailed off.

  River nodded. "Well, Deborah," she said. "It was a life-altering moment, walking in on Viper and my sister."

  I felt sick. I wanted to turn away, hearing her talk about how she was torn up by her fiancé's cheating. I didn't need to hear about that shit.

  Why torture myself?

  I heard River speak again, a response to a question I'd missed. Then the interviewer.

  "It had to be crushing," Deborah said. "Walking in on the two of them, together, and then learning about their engagement. Discovering that Viper had been unfaithful for quite some time."

  River shook her head. "I wish them all the best in the world," she said. "I truly hope they find happiness together."

  The host shook her head, and made a face. "You sound too calm right now, River," she said, baiting her. "Your mother has plans to release her account of your childhood, your life."

  River exhaled, and now I saw the pain in her eyes. "And it will be my mother's account, not mine," she said. "None of it is mine."

  I felt a pang of empathy for her, knowing her relationship with her mother. I knew that learning her mother was writing a book about her would hurt her.

  "But surely you must have some feelings about all of this, River," she said. "No one is this calm about all of this."

  "Shit," Silas said. "She was at the bar that day."

  "What are you talking about?" I asked. "Shut up. I'm trying to hear this."

  River smiled. "A good friend once told me that none of these things are the ones that are important in life. They're minor."

  She was talking about me. I was the friend.

  I wasn't sure if I was pleased that what I'd said mattered, or disappointed that she called me a friend.

  "Like what?" Deborah asked.

  "Lots of things," River said. "Family. Friendship. Love."

  Deborah was more shrewd than she appeared. Her eyes lit up and she leaned in closer. For the kill, I thought. "You were linked to someone when you were in Colorado," she said.

  River pursed her lips. I didn't know what the hell she was thinking, but I felt myself hanging on what she was about to say.

  "I was," she said.

  "A military veteran," Deborah said, looking down at a notecard. "Bomb disposal. Injured in Iraq."

  "Afghanistan," River corrected. "Injured in Afghanistan."

  "She remembers a lot about you," Silas said, beside me.

  "Shut up." I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

  "And?" Deborah asked. "Are you and - "

  "Elias," River said.

  "Elias." Deborah said. "Well, let me ask the question every single man in America wants to know. Are you still in touch with Elias? Was this the real deal, or just a rebound?"

  River swallowed, looked down at her lap, then back up at Deborah. The camera panned in close, focused on her eyes. She looked directly into the camera.

  She was looking directly at me.

  I swallowed hard. Everything faded into the background, and I waited for her to answer.

  "I thought it was the real deal," she said. "He didn't feel the same way. I was wrong."

  Beside me, I heard Silas mutter under his breath. "Shit."

  I thought it was the real thing.

  I was wrong.

  I didn't know what to say.

  I didn't know what to think.

  "Shit, man," Silas said.

  I was still watching River on the television, but I could only see her lips move. "Dude," I said, irritated. "I'm trying to fucking hear this."

  "I know," Silas said. "But I think I know why she left."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I know her," he said. "I mean, I've seen her before."

  "Everyone's seen her before," I said. "She's a goddamned movie star."

  "No, I mean, that day you were at the bar, you went in the bathroom and Roger and I were talking. She was standing there for a minute, then left. I didn't know who the hell she was. She didn't look like her pictures- all those pictures in the magazines and stuff. She was blonde. I thought it was a customer."

  "So?" I asked, watching River on the screen. "Who cares, man? It's over."

  "No," Silas said. "You're not getting what I'm saying."

  "No shit, Sherlock."

  "Roger and I were outside," he said. "Talking about River."

  I slowly turned toward him. "What did you do?"

  I listened to his explanation, his theory that River had heard him talking shit about me and had misread the situation.

  I sank into the chair.

  River's note.

  She thought I was the one who considered this a fling.

  She'd left because of me. Not because she was dumping me to run back to Hollywood.

  Talk about some shitty goddamned timing.

  Silas sat down beside me. "Well," he said. "You have to go after her."

  "This isn't a goddamned movie, Silas," I said. "Mom's in the fucking ICU. Let it go."

  And then one of the doctors walked out of the door, and shook his head.

  "I'm afraid I have bad news," he said.

  ***

  RIVER

  I folded clothes carefully, putting pieces in my suitcases.

  My best friend Abby sat in the armchair in my bedroom, her long legs draped over the side, back leaning up against the other side, sipping a cocktail. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

  "I need a change," I said. "I'm done with the movie. I have no obligations here. Why shouldn't I?"

  Abby shrugged. "If you say so," she said. "Or you could, I don't know, fly to Colorado instead."

  "Look," I said. "I did the interview. I said what I had to say. That's it. It's over. It wasn't even anything to begin with. He thought it was a fling, and that's what it was. Nothing more than that. It was less than two weeks. No one falls in love in two weeks."

  "They do in your movies," Abby said.

  I sighed. "Everyone thinks real life is like the movies, but it's not. And I was stupid to think otherwise."

  Abby huffed. "I still think you're being a dumbass."

  "You're just jealous," I said, balling up a shirt and tossing it across the room at her. She shrieked, angling her glass away from direction of the projectile.

  "Jealous of what?" she asked. "Your boyfriend? I don't think so. You know I stay as far away from dick as possible."

  "Morocco," I said. "You're jealous you're not going. You should come."

  "You know I would," she said. "But I've got a show coming up. Besides, I'm not trying to commit career suicide here. I'm going to have my big break. Soon."

  "You should," I said. "You're a talented artist."

  "Anyway," she said, sipping her drink. "I give it six months before you're right back here, doing another movie. Tops. Not that I'm not happy for you, but, well, what the hell are you going to do without awards shows and...shit...shoes?"

  I laughed. "They have shoes in Morocco, you bitch."

  "But seriousl
y- " Abby finished her drink, then crossed the room, throwing herself dramatically on my bed. "You and Elias...it was like the movies, right?"

  "I don't know. It was...passionate. I've never had that kind of sex with anyone before. That kind of lust," I shrugged. "But that's all it was, you know? Lust. If it were anything more..." I left it unspoken.

  If it had been anything more, he would have called.

  He wouldn't have said what he said.

  We would be together right now.

  "He probably didn't even watch the interview," she said. "You still have your cell phone, the one you got there, right?"

  I glanced toward my bureau drawer, at the place where I'd stashed it and checked it obsessively since I'd returned, fantasizing that Elias would call.

  But that was just a fantasy. Nothing more.

  He didn't give a shit. And I needed to let go. It wasn't healthy, pining away after someone who didn't even like me.

  "You have it, don't you?" she asked. "You kept it. Call him."

  "No," I said. "I'm not calling him. If he were interested, he'd call me. I'm not throwing myself at him."

  Abby sighed. "What if it was all just some kind of misunderstanding? Would you really be okay with walking away and not knowing?"

  I shook my head. "It's not a misunderstanding," I said. "It's crystal clear to me. He thought it would be awesome to screw an actress. And I was stupid and thought it was more. That's it. Besides -"

  The doorbell rang, and I looked for my purse. "Pizza guy is here. Perfect timing, because I'm totally over talking about Elias. When I get back, new conversation topic- Morocco."

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  ELIAS

  "She tried, I guess," Luke said. "I mean, she was just weak. She wasn't like the asshole."

  We all nodded, sitting around the table in the house where we grew up. We'd buried her two hours earlier, just the four of us standing around her grave. I'd purchased the plot with my savings, something to make sure she wasn't in a state burial plot, the way the asshole had been buried. I didn't want her buried with him. No matter what kind of inadequate mother she'd been, there was something that didn't sound right about that. At least I could do that much.