Before I can finish my thought, she responds, “I don’t either! The problem is, I don’t know how to get away from it. If changing my name and moving to a small town in Oregon isn’t enough to keep them away, then I don’t know what is. I don’t blame you for wanting nothing to do with me.”

  Wait, what? “That’s not what I said.”

  “You said you didn’t want anything to do with that kind of life. Well, unfortunately that’s my life.”

  “Look, I already signed up to let the world think we’re a couple. I would like us to date for real, I just don’t know how to be the center of attention. It’s not how I’ve lived my life.” I pull her into my arms. Her reluctance to come is obvious but I hold her tightly anyway. She feels like a block of cement in my arm, cold and unmoving.

  I wish I could get her to see that things don’t have to turn out badly, but her past experience seems to have squelched any optimism she has left. She’s defeated and I don’t know what I can do to rally her spirits.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Gwen

  Pulling up in front of the lodge, Gwen is greeted by the sight of Romaine talking to a crowd of reporters. She picks up her phone to text Ruby.

  Gwen: Holy cow, you weren’t kidding. There’s a mob out here!

  Ruby: Meet me in the parking lot out back. There’s no way you can get through the front door.

  Gwen: On my way.

  Waving her arms high over her head while bouncing around like she’s dancing on hot lava, Ruby hollers, “Over heeeeeeeere!”

  “Did you find her?” Gwen asks.

  Before Ruby can answer, James’s pickup pulls up next to them. Billy is inside. “I was just coming to talk with you gals.”

  Both women look confused. “Is something wrong with the cabins?” Ruby asks.

  He shakes his head. “Nope. I got James and Tara up at my place and I told them I’d come down here and let you ladies know.”

  Gwen hurries to jump into the cab with Billy. Ruby is hot on her heels. “I take it this means you two want to come up?” He doesn’t wait for them to answer, he just puts the truck back into gear.

  Tara

  Left alone at Billy’s cabin with James, I try to make heads or tails out of what’s going on with Romaine. I thought I’d made it clear to him the other day on the phone that we were through. So why would he come?

  James interrupts my thoughts. “I’m going to go outside to get some more firewood. Are you going to be okay here?”

  I offer a half-hearted smile. Words take more energy than I can muster. With my elbows on the kitchen table, I rest my chin in my hands, close my eyes, and recall the nightmare that was my life before leaving LA.

  I was still at the height of my career when Romaine and I started dating and was used to a lot of attention. But I was amazed how the spotlight always shone on him. He regularly stopped to talk to the press and pose for pictures. He was their darling and by extension, so was I.

  The last two months we were together were a total nightmare. I couldn’t go anywhere without being followed. I couldn’t turn around without having a microphone shoved in my face. “Tara, are you and Romaine on the rocks?” “Tara, is the wedding off?” “Tara, how much weight have you gained? Are you depressed? Tara, Tara, Tara!!!” On and on it went until I wanted to rip my hair out.

  When I left Romaine’s house, I moved home with my mom. The press set up actual tents on her street hoping to get a picture of me or him or both. I didn’t leave the house for the first five days. When I finally ventured out to work, I found an equally large contingent of reporters waiting in front of the restaurant.

  I gave my notice via telephone from the parking lot and never walked back into Le Deux. I loved that job. I was proud of it and had high hopes for what I could accomplish there, but there was no way I could succeed with the stress of constantly being watched.

  I later learned that my co-workers, ostensibly looking for their fifteen minutes of fame, talked freely to the reporters about me. They spoke about what I was like to work with, how often Romaine came in to eat with me, and they speculated that we’d surely be together forever. We were the perfect couple after all.

  I went back to my mom’s house and took refuge until everything blew over. The problem was that it never did. Romaine used the press to send me messages. They stood on my mom’s lawn and yelled, “He still loves you, Tara!” “Are you going to go back to him?” It was like seventh grade to the nth degree.

  They were lying in wait every time I left the house. One day I was at the store, shaking a cantaloupe to hear if the seeds rattled—everyone knows that’s the sign of a perfectly ripe melon. I was shaking away when I heard the whizzing of a camera. The next day, The Hollywood Insider ran a picture of me looking like I was practically juggling the thing. They titled the article: “Heinzie Shakes Her Melons, But There’s No Romaine in Her Produce Aisle!”

  That was the day I started to search the internet for jobs outside of California. I stumbled onto a listing for a pastry chef opening at a lodge in rural Oregon. I gave them my mom’s cell phone number, claiming it belonged to my current boss, and once they’d gotten a glowing report from her, I was offered the job.

  With the help of Mom’s neighbor, Sheila, I snuck out of the house at three o’clock one morning. Sheila met me in the alley and drove me to Mom’s friend Tina’s house. Tina handed me the keys to an old SUV she’d bought from her gardener and I was on my way to a new life.

  I looked over my shoulder the entire way to Oregon feeling like I’d just entered the witness relocation program. But instead of fleeing from the Gambino crime family or the Mexican mob, I was running from reporters.

  With the address of the rental Tina secured for me safely in my pocket, I spent the entire eleven-hour drive fantasizing about my new life. I considered shaving my head and getting a really bad fake tan to disguise myself. It turns out slightly darker hair color and wearing very little makeup was all it took to not be recognized. Well, that and the fact that no one here ever thought to look for a famous person among their ranks.

  I’ve had enough time living in anonymity to realize this is the only kind of life I want. I never want to be a famous person again. Unfortunately, the only way I can keep my life here is to weather the storm of Romaine’s presence and hope the citizens of Spartan keep treating me like they always have.

  When James comes back inside with the firewood, I announce, “I need to get to a place where I have telephone reception. I have to make a couple of calls.”

  He doesn’t ask who I’m going to call. He just says, “As soon as Billy gets back, I’ll drive you closer to the lodge.”

  When Billy returns, he’s not alone. My mom and Ruby are with him. My mom launches herself at me like she hasn’t seen me in a year. “Tara! What in the world is going on?”

  “You would not believe the number of reporters who are here,” Ruby adds.

  “Do you know where I can get some rotten eggs?” my mom asks her.

  Ruby shakes her head. “No, but we could always pelt them with pinecones. They’re prickly as all get out.”

  “I don’t think any of us should antagonize them,” James interrupts. Then he turns to me and says, “You want to go make those calls now?”

  “What calls?” my mom wants to know.

  “I’m going to call Romaine and tell him to leave,” I say.

  “Do you think he’ll listen?” my mom asks nervously.

  “I have no idea. All I know is that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the first of the Tattler articles about me will hit the newsstands. I can’t handle that and have Romaine here. It’s too much.”

  Ruby announces, “He’s booked three suites until Monday morning.”

  “Three? Why in the world does he need three suites?”

  “I would assume he’s expecting company,” Ruby says.

  An image of Cash Cartwright pops into my head and it’s all I can do not to spit fire. There’s no way I can endure her, Romaine, and the press—talk about Dante’s third ring of hell.

  I announce that we’ll be back in a few minutes, then I grab James by the shirt and pull him out the door. The sooner I talk to my ex, the sooner I’ll know what kind of drama I’m going to have to deal with.

  As soon as we drive past the edge of the forest, my phone starts to ping like it’s receiving Morse code. I look down and start to read incoming texts. There are ones from my mom and Ruby, but there are also four from Rachel Perry from the Tattler.

  I’ve just been assigned to a new story. Please call me. R.

  Tara, call me as soon as you get this. Rachel.

  Tara, this is urgent. You have to call me now!

  And finally…

  Romaine Choate is here at the lodge. PLEASE call me!!!

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Ruby

  “Billy, everything looks lovely in here,” Ruby tells her brother-in-law while looking around his cabin.

  “It’s just the way Addie left it,” he tells her.

  “Well, it suits you.”

  “It really does,” Gwen adds. “It’s rugged and homey at the same time.”

  Billy rewards them with a thousand-watt smile as he puts a plate of cookies onto the table in front of him. “I’m pleased you’re here. I thought I’d make a paella for supper tonight. I’d be honored if you would both join me.”

  “That sounds nice, Billy,” Ruby says, “but I don’t know what’s going to happen up at the lodge tonight. I feel like I’d better be there just in case the poop really hits the fan. Plus, I left Penny in the office with Chris. I need to be back in time to feed her supper.”

  “Well, I’d love to stay,” Gwen says. “Maybe the kids can join us.”

  “They’re more than welcome to. In fact, I was thinking that I should stay with James and let Tara have my place. I’m guessing she’ll want to hide from all the reporters. That might be kind of hard to do up at the lodge.”

  “That’s a lovely offer,” Gwen says. “I could stay with her to keep her company.”

  With a wink, Ruby suggests, “We should have James stay with her. He knows the area and will know what to do if they’re found.”

  “What happened to staying out of James’s and Tara’s love life?” Gwen laughingly demands.

  Ruby unsuccessfully tries to school her expression into one of innocence. “I’m not suggesting anything of an intimate nature take place. I just thought James’s presence might be a comfort.”

  Before Gwen can react, Billy looks at her and says, “Everyone could use a little comfort now and then.”

  James

  While I drive us to the lodge, Tara checks her text messages. “Rachel wants me to call her.”

  “Are you going to?”

  “I probably should.” But she makes no effort to do so.

  Once I park the truck, I ask, “Are you going to go in to see Romaine?”

  “No, I’m going to call him. There’s zero chance I could walk through the hotel without someone recognizing me now.” She hits a couple of buttons on her phone and says, “Romaine, what are you doing in Oregon? You need to call me as soon as you get this.”

  Then she places another call. “Hi, Rachel, it’s Tara, returning your call. Call me back when you get a chance.” She hangs up and asks me, “Can we sit here for a while to see if either of them calls back? I’ll never know up at Billy’s.”

  “Sure,” I tell her. The expression on her face is so sad and defeated, she looks like she’s all alone in the world. “Scoot over.” When she doesn’t move fast enough, I meet her halfway and open my arms to her. She snuggles into my embrace and puts her head on my shoulder. We sit quietly, neither of us saying a word.

  We must be there for twenty minutes when I see Chris walking Penny. I disengage myself from Tara. “Wait here.” Then I get out of the truck to collect our dog. I can’t help it; I think of Penny as ours. “Hey, Chris, what’s going on inside?” I call out.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t know how Tara could stand having all those people up in her business for all those years.”

  “She couldn’t,” I say. “They’re the reason she left California.”

  “They’re like a plague of locusts. They’re everywhere.”

  “Are they disrupting the other guests?”

  “You could say that. Although no one seems overly upset by it. They’re all buzzing in excitement that Romaine Choate is staying at the same lodge they are. Several of our female guests are downright acting like teenagers.”

  “Are they teenagers?”

  “Not even close. Some have kids with them.” She releases a grunt of disbelief. “It’s like the Beatles or Rolling Stones all over again. They were cheering at the press conference he gave in front of the lodge.”

  “Has anyone else checked into any of the other rooms he has in his name?” I ask.

  “He took all the keys with him, so I have no idea. But I tell you this, he’d better be bringing his household staff or his family because if any more famous people show up, I don’t know how we’ll contain the chaos.”

  I take the puppy from her and say, “Hang in there, Chris. I’m guessing things are going to get worse before they get better.”

  “You mean because of the article about you and Tara coming out tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. After that, the world will know she works here. Romaine’s arrival has just upped the game.”

  “You never heard of Sam Elliot being hunted by the paparazzi like this and, in my opinion, he’s a good million times sexier than Romaine Choate. How do you suppose he got away with keeping his privacy?”

  “I was just telling Tara about him,” I say. “Sam walked around like an everyday guy, so people treated him like one.” The beginning of an idea starts to bubble in my head. “I’ll take Penny, Chris. You can call us on one of the walkie talkies up at Billy’s place if you need to tell us anything.”

  “You got it, honey. Take care of Tara and tell her not to let this get her down. If she can stay away until Romaine leaves, maybe things won’t be too bad for her.”

  “Maybe.” I’m not so sure though. With the puppy snug in my arms, I hurry back to the truck to tell Tara what’s on my mind. The only problem is, she’s no longer there. She said she wasn’t going to go inside because she didn’t want to be caught by the press. Where in the world is she then?

  I don’t see any obvious signs of her, and without a room key, she couldn’t have gotten through any of the exterior entrances. Which means, if she’s inside she must have gone through the kitchen.

  I can’t carry a dog through the kitchen without breaking a slew of health codes, so I pull out my keycard and enter the door closest to it. If I hurry, maybe I can catch her before she does something crazy like tell off the press.

  I tuck Penny under my arm like a football and run as fast as I can down the hall, swerving to avoid maid carts. At the end of the corridor, I continue at a lesser pace as I weave through guests and reporters alike.

  Kiley is at the hostess stand looking frazzled by all the people waiting to be seated. “Have you seen Tara anywhere?” I ask.

  “She’s in the kitchen talking to Geoffrey,” Helena, who is on her way out of the kitchen, answers. She’s not quite sure what to do when I hand her Penny, but I don’t stop to explain myself.

  I just hurry into the kitchen where I see Tara head-to-head with the chef. They’re looking over a piece of paper. I hear Tara say, “I’ll email you pictures of how I was going to decorate the cake. It’s a super simple design that Henry should have no trouble executing.”

  They both look up at me, but their eyes don’t stop. They travel behind me to someone who must have followed me in. Geoffrey angrily demands, “What are you doing here?”

  I turn as a strikingly beautiful young woman says, “I told you I’d be back to discuss the wedding cake.” Then beauty looks at Tara and demands, “Tara? What are you doing here?”

  Tara looks like you could knock her over with a feather. “Claire?”

  The two of them rush toward each other and hug. When they pull apart, Tara says, “I work here.”

  “That bitch,” is Claire’s only response. As if there isn’t enough drama afoot, it looks like there’s more on the horizon.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Gwen

  “I can’t wait for the kids. I’m going to walk back to the lodge,” Ruby tells Gwen and Billy while they’re enjoying their second cup of coffee at Billy’s kitchen table.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Gwen asks, preparing to join her.

  “No, thanks. A couple of miles of thinking will help clear my brain.” Ruby turns to Billy, “I wouldn’t mind borrowing a sweater, though.”

  He gets up and opens a closet door. He pulls out a puffy down jacket and hands it to her. “It’s water repellent, so it’ll keep you dry if it rains.”

  Ruby slides into it before saying, “You two have a nice evening. I’ll catch up with you sometime in the morning.”

  “Okay, I’ll stay here and wait for the kids. Let me know if you need me up at the lodge,” Gwen says.

  “Tara’s going to be fine,” Ruby assures her new friend. “But, if something comes up, I’ll make sure you know.”

  After Ruby leaves, Gwen suggests, “How about if I help you with dinner? I can devein the shrimp or chop onions or something.”

  “I took care of all the prep work this morning after doing the shopping. Why don’t you come and sit by the fire with me for a bit?”

  A thrill of anticipation causes goose bumps to pop up on Gwen’s arms. “That would be nice.” She follows him over to the love seat situated in front of the fire.

  Billy pulls an afghan off the back of the couch and snuggles in next to her. “This is my idea of a perfect evening,” he says.

  Gwen looks into his eyes and lets herself be drawn in. Then she leans in and gently places her lips on his. “It is the perfect evening. I’m glad I met you Billy Grimps. I think you’re a remarkable man.”