And now Wendy couldn't survive it?
He stood there and drank more coffee. What the hell had he done? He'd made things so much worse. Somehow, he'd hurt her. He really didn't get who she was, at all. He thought he was jumping right into her life, no escape hatch, for the long haul, but he'd missed by an ocean.
“Colin?” Lola's voice was gentle. “Has she contacted you at all?”
He shook his head, his gut clenching.
“Well,” she said, holding out her phone, “here's all she said to me.”
Suddenly Colin was back in that damn doctor's office 16 years ago. But now everything was reversed and he was the one on the edge. Christ Almighty, he was glad Lola was with him as he took her phone.
He read Wendy's text. He read it again. And again.
She was making him sound as bad as that Dylan guy who'd hung her out to dry. Jesus! You'd think he'd sold A.J. naked pictures of Wendy, not of himself. You'd think … you'd think.
Colin suddenly felt chilled. Sleaze sells. Betrayal gets the most hits. He looked up from the phone and spotted the laptop on the counter. He pulled it to him, opened it up, and his fingers started racing across the keys. In three seconds, he was looking at a list of stories about his pictures and his video with A.J.
Wendy Hunter, Her Ex, and MORE Naked Pictures.
Wendy Hunter's Ex Talks to Paparazzi, More Nude Pics.
Wendy Hunter's Ex Provides More Nude Photos
Everything made it seem … made it seem … like there were more nude pics of her. More scandal about her. Because scandal sells and like A.J. had said, who the hell would want to see naked pictures of him, anyway?
Colin's breathing got shallow and stilted. There was a snippet of the video trending on Twitter—a snippet that had a link in the tweet to click on if you wanted to see the full video. The clip had 23K Likes so far and 18K Retweets. He pressed the play arrow on the clip.
A.J.: This is about nude photos, you said.
Colin: Yes. I figured you were the best guy for the job.
A.J.: Does Wendy know about this?
Colin: God, no. We broke up. That's why I'm here. I need these pictures to go viral.
A.J.: Just like last time?
Colin: Just like last time.
A.J.: How much money are we talking about?
And the teaser ended.
Colin started shaking. Holy Mother of God. “I … I … I ...” He looked across the kitchen at everyone. “I was trying to tell her I'd be there, always, even through the horrible stuff. But the way it's getting told, the way it's all being played up … like it's about her. Like I betrayed her. Again. I just landed her right back in the middle of her worst nightmare.”
He had to see her. To talk to her. To hold her. To tell her how much he loved her, exactly her, with no caveats, exceptions, or alterations.
Lola took his hand in hers. “Colin.”
He looked at her. “I need to talk to her. I should have done that in the first place. Talked to her. But … I didn't know how. Not after what I'd done in Rocheforte. How I wouldn't talk to her that night on the lot. After that, I just tell her I...?” He shook his head. “I thought it would be too weird.”
“Weird?” Matteo squawked. He swept his arm out to indicate the laptop. “And this isn't weird?”
Colin looked at the kid. Matteo's jittery eyes were almost popping out of his head, so Colin smiled. “You've got a point.”
“You should go find her,” Ella said.
“She's gone camping? Does anyone know where?” He looked wildly around the room. “Does she even know how to camp?”
* * * * *
Wendy opened her eyes in the cool grey of the car and looked at her cell. Almost nine. Then she realized what she was hearing.
Dup dup dup dup dupdupdupdupdupdupdup …
Rain dropping onto the roof of the Camry.
She sighed. Well, hadn't she come out here to center herself? And what better way to do that than to wash away all the grime?
She closed her eyes.
Why did Colin do it? Was he that angry that she'd blamed him for the breakup? Wendy craned her neck and looked at all the rain sluicing down the back window. She didn't know. And did it matter? She loved him, but if this was his version of love, she didn't want it. She knew that much.
She sat up, most of her muscles sore from a night sleeping in the back of a Camry. But at least she was tiny and bony, so the fit hadn't been awful.
Tiny and bony.
God, why did it make her catch her breath and want to cry, remembering how Colin called her that? Because he'd been trying to convince himself how much he didn't want her. Because he had wanted her, at least a little.
More than a little.
The connection between them was undeniable. And it threatened to categorically change both their worlds. So they'd both been sabotaging it from the get-go, doing their best to ruin it all.
She took a deep breath. She was not going to think about it any longer. She came up here to start over. To push her reset button.
She thought about what she'd packed in the Camry's trunk last weekend when she'd gone camping with the theatre kids. How they'd laughed at how over-prepared she was! But now she was darn tootin' grateful for not having any idea what camping at Creekstone Canyon really meant. Because now she had what she needed to escape from the world for a while. Tent, sleeping roll, gear. And at least two sets of clothes. Great. She could get out, go to the trunk, and get everything ready while she got soaked. Then she'd get back in the car, change into dry clothes and her rain gear, then set off into the mountains. Before long, she'd be so cold and wet and challenged by all the elements and terrain that she wouldn't be able to think about Colin Scott and how she'd managed to get it all so wrong.
* * * * *
Colin pulled his rental up to Wendy's theatre in Watts and parked. Huh. The media didn't even know about this place, apparently. If they did, they'd be swarming all over it until Wendy surfaced. God, he'd been so wrong about her. He'd been so wrong about everything.
Dan looked over to him. “Ready to do this?”
Colin looked over at Dan. Dan Allport. The guy who married Lola and Arlen with some online degree. Arlen's first wife's brother. Pam's kid. And Wendy's … friend? Mentor? Yoda? “So, you helped her with this?”
Dan shrugged. “Yes and no. At the jazz club, we feed and take care of a lot of homeless people after hours. How can you not on Skid Row, right?”
Colin offered a ghost of a smile, knowing how impossible it was simply not to see the people around you.
“Wendy wanted to know how to talk to people with such different lives and such a different frame of reference. She didn't want to sound like a jackass.”
Colin looked across the seat. “What'd you tell her?”
“That 'people' is the operative word.”
Colin laughed. He thought about how seamlessly she'd gotten along with his players. Wendy'd just stepped right in like a kid on the playground. “Hey. Watcha doin'?”
He nodded, smiling. “Let's go.”
They walked into the small lobby where Joanne sat and Mark stood. “Joanne,” Dan greeted. “This is Colin Scott. Colin, Joanne Virtue.”
Joanne opened her mouth, ready to unleash her usual sunny greeting, but no words came out. Her lips parted in an Oh as her sharp eyes behind her glasses got big as duck eggs.
“Hi,” Colin extended his hand and gave Joanne a warm smile as they shook.
“Hi!” Joanne had finally found her voice. But she still stared at Colin.
He turned to the man on guard. “Mark, right? Hi.” And he nodded at Mark, who nodded back.
He looked back to Joanne, who pasted a smile on her face.
“So,” he began.
“Yes?” And Joanne's chirping voice was kind of loud and excited, but Colin knew it was all his fault.
“Is there anyone here that Wendy went camping with last weekend? Or that knows anything about her camping trip last
weekend?”
“Ah … well ...”
“Jeez,” Colin rushed to say. “That was really abrupt, wasn't it? Sorry. Where are my manners? Sorry. I … uh … need to talk to Wendy. I think what I did really freaked her out. And I didn't mean to. So I want to find her. And talk to her. Apologize.”
Joanne's bugged-out countenance melted into treacle as she actually said, “Aaaawwww, that's sweet.” But in a nano-second, her features whipped into furrowed concern. “And you're going to find her camping? She went camping? Has the woman lost her mind?”
* * * * *
After some impressive gyrations in the front seat of the Camry, with the seats pushed all the way back, Wendy got herself dried off and dressed in a clean warm set of clothes, hiking boots, and rain gear. Top of the line, head to toe. Great. She looked like an Land's End ad. But Wendy knew that the hard part came after wardrobe was in place.
So, she had to slosh up a mountain in the rain. Big deal. Jeepers, that was nothing compared to the truck-sized bugs and the heat in Guatemala when she was filming that Librarian TV movie. And that time they'd done that super-hero episode on Ups and Downs, she'd worn that body-sucking—no, that soul-sucking unitard—for twelve hours. And then there were the wards at St. Jude …
Yeah, this rainy mountain was No. Big. Deal.
Wendy got out of the car and grabbed her gear out of the back seat. She checked her water and food. Strapped everything onto her back. She was ready. Looking out from under the dripping brim of her cap, she ignored the goose bumps skating across her skin and set off along the trail that would veer into the wild in about a mile.
As she stomped her way into the woods with determination, she knew she could do this. She had to. If she couldn't depend on herself, then what was left?
After about ten minutes of forging through wet branches along a slick forest floor, Wendy looked at her watch, figuring that in about twenty minutes, she should find the secret trail, the one that truly was off the beaten path. As she worked her way under the canopy of leaves and pine needles, she was pretty sure the rain hadn't let up, but it wasn't coming down as hard or as steadily. It really wasn't so bad. She trudged on. And on.
Boy, she was starting to get tired, sucking in fatigue with each breath. But the turn-off to the wayward trail should be coming up soon. She looked at her watch. Over an hour had gone by. Wow. She must be going more slowly than she realized. Finally, she saw a gap between two trees. Was that a discernible path? She was pretty sure it was.
At last. Wendy was finally on her way.
Chapter 59
TANASA
Holy shit. What is wrong with Wendy Hunter? No matter how many pictures of the man I scroll through, he looks fine. And he did all this for her. But where is she? Why has no one been able to get a comment or reaction from her? Unless …
“Oooooooh!” And I start tapping my feet really fast under my chair.
“Whaaaat?” Erin looks up. “You can't even see his butt in this one.”
“No, not that,” I say, practically squeaking. “I mean, I figured it out. I know where Wendy is.”
“No!” Erin is all in my face now. “Where?”
“With him! She's got to be! Nobody can reach either of them for comment.”
“But—”
We both look up when the door at the top of the auditorium opens and lets in a big rectangle of light. We huddle closer together at our little table set up on the stage. For sure, we don't want anyone to see the screen, but we're not ready to shut it down if we don't have to.
“Ladies!” One of the guys who walks in raises his arm in greeting and I recognize Mr. Allport's voice.
They get closer to the stage. “Hey,” he continues, “this is—”
Wham!
I slam the laptop shut so hard I think Ms. Virtue might have to get us a new one.
Mr. Allport stops talking and raises his eyebrows. The other guy, that really fine guy with him, speaks up. “Hi,” he says. “I'm Colin Scott.”
I'm trying not to laugh but I can't help it. Giggly snorts push out through my nose and compressed lips. Erin grabs my hand under the table and pinches it hard.
“We weren't doing anything!” I needed to say it.
Colin Scott smiles, and it's this really nice smile, so I think it's okay and he doesn't suspect anything.
“I know. You're friends of Wendy's, right? I know you're good kids.”
And he says it, like, all Duh. Like of course we're good kids. I sit up straighter. “Wendy's friends with everybody. She's so nice. She wants us to express ourselves, you know? 'Don't be shy,' she says. 'You're in a safe place.'”
“She says we can do and say whatever,” Erin adds. “She says to let it all hang out. Oh!”
As she gasps and covers her mouth, I elbow her hard in the ribs.
But Colin Scott doesn't notice anything. “And how does it feel?” he asks, stepping closer. “When she tells you that? When you do it?”
I start nodding and look at Erin, and she's nodding. “A lot of people are getting into it, you know?”
Colin nods back, smiling. “Can I come up there?” he asks. “I want to talk to you guys, if that's okay.”
I shrug. “Sure.”
And he hops up onto the stage. He doesn't even take the stairs. He grabs a folding chair and turns it around, sitting on it backwards as he faces us. Mr. Allport takes a seat in the front row of the theatre.
Up close, Colin Scott looks old. Like maybe thirty. And he's got these dark circles under his eyes. And Wendy's not with him. So maybe she wants a younger guy. Or someone famous who doesn't leave the house with circles under his eyes. But he seems nice.
“Can I ask you about Wendy?”
Chapter 60
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
After about three hours, Wendy could tell that she was barely moving. Her progress was slow as syrup, but at least she was finally headed up the secret trail. And it felt really good. It was one of those genuine wilderness trails with no real markings or anything. But you knew it was there.
But you knew it was there.
Stupid stupid stupid Colin Scott!
She could feel the pain burst through her chest at lightning speed, hollowing her out and leaving her scorched. There hadn't really been any clear markings, at all. There wasn't ever any concrete relationship between them. But you knew it was there. She knew it was there. He knew it was there. The connection. She liked the way she felt when she was around him. When they were together. Even in the same room.
Wasn't that the reason, the real reason, Arlen had decided to do the show in the first place? As much as he wanted no part of acting, he'd wanted to be near Lola. In her orbit. Because he felt happy when she was around.
But she and Colin were no Lola and Arlen, that was for sure. How happy could you be when you felt like you always had to watch your back because your true love might betray you to the media at any second?
Wendy slowed her pace a fraction and found she was standing still.
Holy Diet Coke. Was that how Colin felt about her? Like he had to watch his back when she was around?
Was that why he'd done this? To make her understand what she'd done to him? To his life? Was he hitting her as hard as he could where he knew it would hurt her most, because she'd threatened what had been most precious to him?
But why was he bothering to teach her this lesson? Because he still wanted to try?
Wendy's heart started racing. What if all weren't lost?
Maybe she should call him. Or text him. But first she should see the damn pictures to know exactly what he'd done to her.
But wait.
Did she really want to try when he'd … when he'd … when he'd felt like he needed to crush her? To school her? Would Colin be that merciless?
She had to watch that whole stupid video. And she had to take a look at those pictures. None of this made any sense.
She ducked under the protective arc of some kind of pine tree and to
ok out her cell phone.
Drat. No signal. She looked around and saw what looked like a younger tree, one with nicely spaced branches like ladder rungs twisting up the trunk. If she climbed that one, and got high enough, maybe she'd get a signal.
Wendy slid her gear off her back, took a deep, fortifying breath, and started to climb.
About twenty feet up, she held on with one gloved hand and pulled her cell out of her pocket. No signal yet.
Wendy was putting the phone back into her jacket when it slipped from her fingers and fell to the forest floor below.
“No!”
Rat whiskers! She had no choice. She had to head back down.
As she began to descend carefully, from brach to branch, she remembered that Lifetime movie she'd auditioned for the year before she got cast in Ups and Downs. It had been the story of a spoiled rich girl who ran off to Vegas to become a stripper to prove to herself and her family that she could make it on her own, with no money or connections. The casting people and producers had really liked her, but in the end, she hadn't been very good, at all, on the pole. So she hadn't gotten the part. Hadn't gotten to work with Jack Wagner as the strip club owner with a heart of gold. Hadn't gotten to work with Patty Duke who played the stripper's tough-as-nails mother. All because of that damn pole! If only she'd practiced more on the pole before the stupid audition! Wendy was so mad at herself and at the gravity-defying pole that she missed the next branch down, lost her balance and her grip, and went tumbling to the woefully unbouncy bed of pine needles below.
* * * * *
Colin could see them nudging and pinching each other under the table. It wasn't like the crude fold-out table had a tablecloth on it. But what did he expect? It was obvious that they'd been looking at the pictures of him when he'd come in. And why wouldn't they? They knew Wendy. And if everybody was looking, that would definitely include people in his closest circle and hers. God, what must it have been like for Wendy when Dylan had done this to her? One day without warning, he'd just betrayed her like that?
Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Page 21