She ran into her dad, David, as she entered the kitchen. He was helping himself to a slice of leftover birthday cake. Sarah had blown out the candles on the cake and eaten a couple of bites of it in her rush to get to the concert last night.
The few wrinkles surrounding his dark-brown eyes puckered deeper into his tanned skin as she entered the room. His short dark hair clung neatly around his ears, and his hip, rectangular-shaped glasses drooped low on his nose.
“Hi, Dad.” Sarah tried to sound perky. She opened the fridge and looked inside quickly before closing it again. She was just surfing, not really looking for anything.
“We missed you at breakfast this morning. Your friends made it back safely,” he commented in a judgmental tone. He leaned back against the counter, waiting for her comeback, with his cake plate and fork in his hands.
Sarah had hoped she would run into her mom first so her mom could explain the night to her dad. Her mom was easier to talk to about guys. But here she was, stuck—confronted by her father. Sarah knew she really hadn’t been missed at breakfast. Even if she had been home, she wouldn’t have been up to eat at seven o’clock—or even nine, for that matter.
Besides, her parents hadn’t been home, anyway. They volunteered at the local animal shelter every Saturday morning when they weren’t up at the cabin. Her mom took pictures to catalog on the Internet, and her dad checked on the animals. They had done it for as long as Sarah could remember. She knew that her dad’s comment was just his way of asking why she had been out all night.
“We didn’t have a chance to talk at the concert. You know, we’ve known each other for months, and this was the first time we had face time. Honestly, we just fell asleep talking.” She looked up at him innocently.
David met her eyes and took a big bite of cake. He looked at her as if contemplating what to say next.
“Did you talk to Jeff this morning?” she asked, trying to sound as relaxed as possible. She needed to know where to start explaining that the guy in her shower was a movie star, and she was trying to change the direction of the discussion. She leaned back with her elbows on the counter and then twisted around when she smelled the chocolate behind her. She scooped a dollop of frosting off the cake and licked it off her finger, waiting for her dad’s response.
“Uh-huh,” he said with a mouthful of cake. When he had swallowed, he continued. “Jeff said you went backstage and met the band. He was really impressed with the concert. And then he said something about your Will turning out to be some famous actor? I didn’t really understand what he was trying to say. He wasn’t making sense. Maybe you could explain it better?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly and nudged his glasses up with his index finger as he took another bite of cake.
“Jonathan Williams. Your Will is actually Jonathan Williams, the actor. That’s what Jeff said,” added Sarah’s mother, Kate, as she entered the room. The dark sunglasses perched on the top of her head held back her straight shoulder-length auburn hair. She was petite and slender like Sarah, though she was two inches shorter than Sarah’s five-four frame. “So is it true? Or do we need to do a drug intervention on your brother?”
“No intervention needed,” Sarah admitted guiltily.
“Oh, he’s hot!”
“Mom!”
“I’m not dead, Sarah. He was in The Demigod and that movie with Mia Thompson. What was it? Um, we have it up at the lake.” Kate paused, her brow furrowed, looking up as if she was concentrating.
“Love Twice,” answered Sarah.
“That was a very sexy movie, and he was very convincing in it.”
“Mom, you will not talk like that in front of him—ever!” Sarah said, mortified at her mother’s reaction.
“I saw on the news that he sang at your concert last night, but I didn’t realize you were the Birthday Girl he was singing to. He’s up in your shower right now?” She eyed her daughter.
“Yes.”
“So, how do you feel about him being a famous celebrity?” asked Kate.
“I really like him, and he’s so handsome. He seems like the same person I met months ago. But I think it would be easier if he weren’t a movie star. It’s exciting, though.”
“So, you really like him?” reiterated Kate.
“Why do you say it like that?”
“You never bring anyone to the house, Sarah.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.
“Just be careful,” advised David. “Those people in Hollywood don’t have the same Midwestern values that we have. Honesty isn’t a priority for them, and they move fast. Don’t let yourself get swept up in all the excitement. Jeff says he has a reputation for dating a lot of women.”
“Dad, he’s really nice. He’s not at all like they make him out to be in the press. If he were, you know I would be the first one to put him in his place. Just give him a chance.”
“Let’s hope he’s here for just the weekend,” stated David.
“All week, actually.” Sarah beamed as she thought about the possibilities for the week ahead.
“Of course he is,” David muttered, cutting himself another piece of cake.
“Don’t worry, Sarah. We’ll give him a chance,” Kate said, making eye contact with her husband. “We know you have a good head on your shoulders, and we trust your ability to make good decisions.” She wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulder and squeezed. She looked back over at David, daring him to say any more.
He scowled at his wife. “I would feel better if we were able to get to know him just a little. Spend the afternoon at the house so we can see for ourselves what a nice guy he is, OK?”
“For a little bit, but if it starts getting weird, we’re leaving. So behave—and no pictures, Mom,” Sarah warned. She knew her mom always had her camera staged, waiting for just the right shot, and she didn’t want Will to feel uncomfortable.
When Will was dressed, he joined them in the kitchen. Sarah introduced him, and Will’s charm took over.
“So what brings you to the Twin Cities?” David asked.
“Your beautiful daughter invited me to celebrate her birthday with her.”
“Really? I don’t remember inviting you,” Sarah said teasingly.
His jaw dropped with just a hint of a smile. “OK, so I invited myself, but you can’t blame me for wanting to meet you.”
His expression turned innocent and sincere.
The conversation flowed easily, and after the initial Hollywood discussion, it moved to deeper subjects, like the latest violence in the Middle East and corporate America’s economic use of China. Sarah could tell David and Kate were impressed. Kate kept looking over to her with an awed expression, and David was actually agreeing with Will’s assessment of the world’s problems without his usual know-it-all superiority. No, Will wasn’t just a pretty Hollywood face. He was well-mannered, grounded, and Sarah was definitely falling deeper and deeper under his spell.
Eventually, Kate took out the photo albums, and they all marveled at how Sarah could have blonde hair as a toddler and almost black hair now. It seemed that every important milestone of Sarah’s life was recorded, and Will relished discovering every detail. He paid great attention to the albums and asked dozens of questions. He asked about relatives, family vacations, and the summers spent at the family’s cabin. Will tried to pry out information about Sarah’s past boyfriends without much success—just a few pictures.
Sarah could handle Will seeing the photo albums. Over the years, she had seen her face blown up half a dozen times to the size of a small billboard on the walls of her mom’s photography studio. She was used to her picture being taken and exploited. She didn’t like it, but she was used to it, and she had shared so much with Will on the phone that she didn’t think there were any more stories to share. She was confident enough in Will’s nonjudgment that she owned even the awful photos without apology.
For dinner, they ate grilled buffalo burgers with broccoli slaw and corn on the cob. Everyon
e teased Will when he ate three burger patties without a single bun. He defended himself by saying, “It’s good protein. I don’t need the fillers. I don’t have anything against buns, but my trainer recommends just the patties, and I guess it’s just become habit.”
Jeff came home as they were finishing the dishes, and Sarah had a run-in with him in the back hall by the garage.
“Hey, slut, how was your night?”
Sarah’s jaw dropped, and she glared at her brother with an audible gasp. “If, for some reason, it is any of your business, we just talked. We didn’t do anything.”
“Yeah right. I saw how you two were eye fucking all night.”
“Eeerr!” she squealed in disbelief. She smacked his upper arm with the back of her fisted hand. “It’s called self-control. You should try it sometime.” She sneered at him as she threw her hands up in frustration.
“Just sayin’,” he retorted, raising one eyebrow.
Sarah was fuming. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was because part of her wished her brother was right. Not about being a slut, but about her being with Will. After all, she wasn’t a virgin. She had been with her high school sweetheart, but he was the only one. At the time, she thought that she loved him, and that was what confused her. How could she trust what she was feeling now when her past had been a lie? She knew one thing for sure. Even though she hadn’t known Will very long, what she had with him felt so right, and she wanted him.
Just then, Will came into the hall. Approaching them from behind and touching Sarah on the small of her back, he said, “I was hoping I’d catch you, Jeff.”
Where his fingers touched her, a sense of relief radiated, releasing all of Sarah’s tension, and she calmed down immediately.
“Your mom caught a clip of Sarah’s song from last night’s concert on the news this morning and is insisting that I play it for her,” Will continued. “I don’t think she’s going to let it go, and since I’m not talented enough to sing it a cappella, I was hoping you had a guitar I could borrow?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jeff agreed. “Come on downstairs with me, and I’ll get it for you.”
As the evening wound down, Jessica showed up and snuggled herself next to Jeff on the couch. Will played Sarah’s song for the family. Everyone was touched by its pure message and impressed by Will’s talent. Will and Jeff took turns playing the guitar, and everyone joined in as if they were doing karaoke, using serving spoons from the kitchen for microphones.
At one point, Will stood up and started playing an Ashley Tyler song on the guitar. He glanced at Sarah with a not-so-innocent look and began singing in a high falsetto voice, swinging his hips back and forth. Sarah began laughing hysterically, and they both collapsed on the couch, unable to pull themselves back together.
“I need to go to therapy,” sang Sarah.
As everyone else in the room speculated at their private joke, Will handed the guitar off to Jeff, powerless to stop laughing. Sarah loved to watch Will act goofy with her family, and she felt as if he really belonged there. He seemed so comfortable and uninhibited, as if he was already a part of her family. It felt so natural to be with him, and Sarah loved the feeling she got from his presence.
As Sarah’s parents headed off to bed, Kate hugged Will, telling him he was welcome to sleep in the guest room overnight if it got too late, while David gave Sarah a look indicating she should be careful.
Having missed David’s expression, Will asked Sarah, “Are your parents always so accepting of your boyfriends?”
“Are you my boyfriend?” Sarah asked with a smile. In her mind, a boyfriend implied some level of permanence, and for some reason, she was unsure of his intentions, but she liked that he considered himself her boyfriend.
“Aren’t I?” he asked, sounding a little hurt by her reaction.
“Yes, they are pretty accepting of my boyfriends—usually,” she said and kissed his cheek.
Jessica grinned at Sarah with a note of approval.
They all plopped down on the couch, and Sarah took out her birthday present to show it off to Jeff and Jessica. As Will protested, they Googled Jonathan Williams. They were amazed at how much had been written. There were sixty-three pages on Google of articles and websites associated with his name alone. They all laughed at the crazy stories they found. One article cataloged all his favorite places to shop, mentioning his favorite coffee shop, while another described Jonathan’s dream date, including where he would take his date.
“Is that true?” asked Sarah. “Is that where you would take me?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never even been to Apollo’s restaurant. Maybe it’s a reference to Greek gods or demigods.” He shrugged.
One article listed all the girls he had supposedly hooked up with in the last three years. There were twenty-seven people listed, most of them celebrities. Every single actress he had made a movie with was named, and the article had pictures of each of the women with Will.
“That’s delusional. Those are just press pictures. I hardly ever date anymore. When would I have time to be with that many girls?” Will questioned.
As they continued their search, they found a site with an audiocast from the radio announcers who had been seated behind the group at the concert. The man-and-woman announcing team described Sarah and her friends in great detail. The announcers were frustrated because they wanted to talk to Jonathan, but they couldn’t get his attention.
“He was completely focused on the girl with the dark hair. Though I didn’t see any cuddling, they were definitely a couple. It was really cute,” the woman declared.
“You mean nauseating, don’t you? I expected them to rip each other’s clothes off right there in the theater.”
“It wasn’t like that at all. It was really sweet. Why do you always have to turn everything into something dirty?”
“I call it like I see it,” the male announcer said. “I was tempted to tap Jonathan on the shoulder and ask him to be on the show, but I was afraid his mammoth bodyguard would rip my arm off if I got anywhere close. He was pretty intimidating. But seriously, we have to get him on the show while he’s in town. If anyone knows who this Birthday Girl is, call the station. We need to track them down,” he added.
Jeff, Jessica, and Sarah all chuckled. They thought it was hilarious that the radio announcers were talking about them.
Will didn’t laugh. Instead, he intensely studied Sarah’s face and then asked, “Is that station popular?”
“Yeah. Everyone listens to it. It’s the best local station,” answered Jessica.
Will’s demeanor changed. He was no longer relaxed and carefree. As they continued to look through the web for any more evidence of the concert, he kept silent. The next site they came upon had a close-up picture of Will leaning in to speak in Sarah’s ear at the concert, and a second one of Sarah and her friends sitting with Will. There was even a picture of Sarah getting into the black SUV with Will’s hand on her back. The pictures were tagged with the caption “Who is this Birthday Girl that stole Jonathan Williams’s heart? If you know, tweet us,” and it gave the Twitter address. The pictures were pretty clear, and they all froze staring at the screen.
Will cursed under his breath with a look of despair. Sarah saw something in his face that frightened her. The paparazzi seemed to possess power over Will. She didn’t want him panicking again. Even though she hadn’t known him long, she felt she could look into his ice-blue eyes and see his soul. There was definitely something more to his expression. He was in pain. She approached Will, her eyes still locked on his. She reached for his hand and wove her fingers between his, hoping to draw him out of his trance to find out what was causing him so much despair.
Will gently squeezed Sarah’s hand. Then, raising their entwined fingers to Sarah’s cheek, he achingly grazed her jawline, saying in a flat voice, “I need to make some calls.” With a sigh, he released her hand and walked toward the back deck. Sarah watched him through the glass door as he made his calls.
>
His back was toward Sarah, and she couldn’t see what he was saying. His body language was rigid, and he looked angry. She turned to her brother and her best friend.
“There’s something he’s not telling us. I know he doesn’t want the paparazzi to find him, but seriously, what happened?” She paused and looked back at Will. “He started acting like this at the hotel too, after checking the Internet. I don’t understand what’s changed. I wonder who he’s talking to—maybe his assistant or Sam.”
When Will had finished his calls, he stood staring out over the backyard pond.
Sarah joined Will on the deck, and without a word, she rested her head against his shoulder. Will sighed and said nothing.
“What’s going on, Will?” Sarah asked softly.
“I’m just trying to figure out my next move now that they’re coming,” he confessed warily.
“You sound so paranoid.” She studied his face, wondering how his mood could change so quickly, and questioned him with wide eyes. “So what is our next move?”
Looking down, clenching his jaw tightly, he took a deep breath. “Sarah,” he said, looking back up. Their eyes met briefly before Will closed his and continued. “I have to go back.”
“That’s OK. I could come with you to the hotel, or if you want, we could meet up in the morning.” She paused. “Is everything all right?”
“No, not really,” he answered softly.
She reached up and pulled his face down to meet hers. She looked desperately into his eyes, searching, and she felt a wave of pain. She wondered where it had come from. Sarah got the feeling from him that someone had died. Then she realized what he had, but had not, said.
“You’re not just going to your hotel. You’re going back to California, aren’t you?” she asked with sadness, but still a little accusatory.
He took an audible breath and furrowed his brow. She saw in his face that she was right.
“Why? I thought that you had a week.”
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