California Dreaming: Four Contemporary Romances (99 page)

Mandy’s mouth was dry. “My—my mother was diagnosed with the disease.”

“I see. When was that?”

“When I was a teenager.”

“Was she hospitalized?”

Mandy nodded. Then the words began to spill out. She told the doctor what she remembered about her mother’s frantic episodes, days when she’d disappear from their home, followed by days when she’d never get out of bed.

“Where was your father during all this?”

“My parents divorced when I was five. Dana—my father—I never saw him again.”

Dr. Graham’s eyebrows arched to an impossible degree. “How is that? Didn’t he call you? Have visitation?”

She shook her head. “Lola—my mother—hated Dana. She moved us to New Jersey after the divorce was final. Somehow she got full custody. Probably slept with the judge to get it.” Her laugh was bitter.

“And?” Dr. Graham prompted. “Your father still should have had some rights.”

Mandy shrugged. “Lola found me trying to call him once when I was about eight. I must have found his number in her papers somewhere.” She looked at the therapist. “I was a terrible snoop.” She took a deep breath. “Lola spanked me and sent me to my room without supper. I never tried it again.” Her breath hitched.

Dr. Graham gestured toward the box of tissues on the couch. “Did your father ever try to see you?”

Mandy searched her mind. “Maybe. Lola used to send me to a friend of hers for long weekends. It would happen all of a sudden, without warning. Maybe Dana tried to see me then.” A faint flicker of hope wafted into her heart.

She extinguished it. Lola was the only parent she knew. She may be crazy, but she wouldn’t lie to her child, would she?

“Where were you when your mother was institutionalized?”

“At my mother’s friend’s house. I stayed there while my mother was—you know.”

“Did she go in voluntarily?” Dr. Graham’s questions were relentless.

Mandy couldn’t remember. “I don’t know. She always blamed Dana for committing her, but how could he have? He was never around.”

“Have you been in touch with your father since you moved out of your mother’s house? He might be able to help you clear up what happened.”

“No. Lola told me all I needed to know about him. He didn’t want me, and I don’t want him.”

“I see.” Dr. Graham studied her for a moment, then smoothed his paper and then wrote notes.

I’m glad you can.

“What’s your life like now?” he asked. “Are there things you do that remind you of your mother?”

“Sometimes I want to sleep all day—just shut it all out and forget my problems.”

Dr. Graham smiled. “All of us have those days. Do you spend a day in bed? More than one?”

She looked at the floor. “A day. Sometimes.” She looked up. “But then everything gets brighter all of a sudden, and I feel like I could do anything.” She smiled at Dr. Graham. Would he tell her she was imagining things?

His face was impassive.

Realization struck. “Oh, God. I’ve got it, don’t I? I’m bipolar.” Tears began to fall, and she grabbed a tissue.

“It’s too early to tell.” He waited until she stopped crying. “I’m going to go through some diagnostic questions with you. Okay?”

Mandy nodded.

Dr. Graham asked her several specific questions about her sleep habits and how much energy she had at times. As she answered “yes” to many of the questions, Mandy’s spirits dropped. She was bipolar—doomed to be a vapid characterization of her mercurial mother.

When he was finished with the survey, she said, “I have it, don’t I?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so, but the answers are borderline, so I’m going to do some physical tests.” He pawed through a folder and pulled out a few sheets of pre-printed papers. He signed the one on top and handed it to her. “Here’s a request for lab tests. We’ll check your blood and urine to see if there’s a physical cause for your symptoms.”

“You mean, like cancer or something?” She imagined herself wasting away on a couch, her friends gathered around her to admire her braveness in face of the devastating illness.

He chuckled. “You should see the expression on your face. It appears your mother’s acting genes weren’t lost. No, I don’t think you have cancer.” He handed her another sheet of paper. “I’d like you to spend the next two weeks tracking your moods. That will give us a better idea of where you are.”

He was quiet as she studied the form. Simple enough to do. “Okay,” she said.

“I wish you could come in more often than every other week so we could get to the root of this quickly and relieve your anxiety.”

“Sorry. I’m only able to get a few days off every other weekend, but it’s only for about four more weeks. Then I’ll be back in Costanoa, and you can shrink me as much as you want.” She tried to smile with her lame joke.

He chuckled. “Good. I think you’ll be just fine, Ms. Parker.”

A little bit of heaviness left her heart.

When the session was over, Mandy stopped by several of the supermarkets in the area for fresh produce and the few staples Sally had asked for. The glimmer of hope stayed with her. If she wasn’t bipolar, life would be a lot simpler. She could stop worrying and move forward.

Once the chores were completed, she checked her watch. No time to stop at the inn to have another chat with Sarah. Instead she headed toward Highway 17 for the four-hour drive to the park.

• • •

“Your time on the coast must have done you some good,” Sally said as she cracked eggs into a bowl. “There’s a glow in your cheeks, and you’re a little calmer.”

“What do you mean?”

Sally whisked the eggs into a froth. “In a small space like this, moods rub off.” She whisked the eggs harder.

Mandy laughed. Sally was right. Emotions cycloned in the tiny trailer.

Her boss put down the whisk, grabbed their coffee mugs, poured, and handed one to Mandy. “Spill. What happened?”

Mandy put her mug on the counter and bit her lower lip.

“Look,” Sally said. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. I’m not here to judge you—I want to celebrate with you! Something significant happened.” She placed her coffee cup down. “Either you got laid by a seriously hunky guy, you inherited a million dollars, or you discovered something that eased the pressure. Am I right?”

“I’ll pick door number three.” Mandy’s laugh sputtered from her lips.

Once their mutual laughter died down, Mandy told Sally the gist of her conversation with Dr. Graham. Then she pulled her mood sheet from her purse, noted the time, and wrote “happy.”

Was frequent happiness possible?

Mandy and Sally completed lunch prep and set up right before the first of the actors filtered into the tent.

Mandy smiled and chatted with the costumed people who’d become familiar to her.

“This salad is divine,” her most finicky customer told her. “I wish I could eat more.” She gestured at her waist.

All of a sudden Mandy realized the work it took to maintain a good body for film. The camera added ten pounds to anyone, and aspiring stars needed to keep the girth from showing.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I picked up some fresh veggies when I was in Santa Cruz yesterday. I’ll try to get some fish the next time I’m there.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.” The woman touched her arm. “Don’t forget to give me your card before this is over. I’d love to help you get started in Hollywood.”

“Oh. I’m not moving to LA. My home’s on the Central Coast.”

The woman frowned. “That’s too bad. I thought James had indicated you were buying Sally’s business.”

“He must have misunderstood.”

The frown morphed into a grin. “Or he was indulging in wishful thinking.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you blind, girl? I’ve seen the way he looks at you. In fact, he’s doing it right now.”

Mandy darted a glance in the same direction the woman was facing. Sure enough, James might have been talking with the male lead, but his gaze was glued to Mandy. A slight slack-jawed look made him look like a lovesick puppy.

She turned back to the woman. “I see what you mean.”

The woman gave the tinkled laugh she was famous for and returned to her lunch.

Mandy took stock of how she was feeling.
What do I call this mood?

“How was your little jaunt to the coast?” Doug, the assistant locations manager, asked her as he passed her. “You look great.”

“Too short, I’m afraid. I miss seeing my friend’s new baby girl.” Mandy smiled. She liked Doug, although she bet he could charm a girl out of her clothes in under an hour.

“We’ll be done soon. Thanks for your hard work. Food is really delicious.” He rubbed his stomach. “And filling. I’m going to have to do miles on the treadmill when I get home.” He gave her a quick hug and walked off toward a table full of crew members.

What was that about?

She glanced back at James. He was no longer looking at her. Instead he stared with a frown at Doug as he sat down with the crew.

Interesting. Maybe the actor was right.

But there was no future with James unless he made a change to his life plan.

James was constantly aware of Mandy, as if she were a splinter he couldn’t pry out of his finger. No matter how hard he tried to avoid her, she was always somewhere nearby.

Something had changed about her. She was more confident, and laughed a lot more.

She was becoming more attractive by the minute.

On his way to his car to fetch more sunscreen, he paused across from the kitchen trailer for a second. Should he grab a cup of coffee and risk a chance encounter?

The door opened, and Mandy came out and stood on the top stair. Her purple hair streak glinted as she raised her face to the sun, her glistening lips stretched in a smile. Then she looked over at him.

“Need something?” she called out.

He covered the ground between them in seconds. What he really wanted to do right then is take her by the hand, find a secluded spot, and explore her mouth.

Don’t toy with her
. His mother’s voice echoed in her head.

“I was thinking about a cup of coffee.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Coffee.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” She retrieved coffee from the trailer and handed it to him.

“Only a few more weeks to go.” He needed to get out of there. “Want to take another hike?”
Damn it.
What was he thinking?

“I thought we’d agreed we shouldn’t see each other.”

“It’s not a date. It’s a hike.”

“Like the last one?”

“No. Not like that at all. I thought you might want to see more of the park.”

She sat down on the step, forcing him to move back not to tower over her.

“Tempting,” she said. “My time’s pretty tight. I need to get back to Santa Cruz next week.”

“Nothing serious, I hope. Are Sarah and the baby okay?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’m seeing someone, that’s all.”

His stomach clenched. “Oh.”

She looked at him, and opened her mouth as if to say something, and then shut it again.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” She stood and looked at him for a long moment, her eyes moving back and forth as if she was searching his soul for a hidden truth. “See you later,” she finally said and went back in the trailer.

He stared at the closed door, an unnamed emotion digging a hole in his chest. He took a sip of the hot brew and turned back toward the set, focusing his mind on his problems. Somehow, he needed to figure out who had sabotaged them or all hope of keeping his career on track was lost.

Right. I need to keep my mind on business, not some girl who’s bewitching me.

• • •

For the next week James kept his attention focused on the movie.

Mandy hated it.

Right after she’d returned to the lodge parking lot late one afternoon, a hot red BMW pulled in after her.

Who could that be? All the actors were already on the set, and they all had practical vehicles for the mountains. There was only one person who went for flare like that.

Mandy’s stomach roiled.

The door opened. A petite woman in wrap-around sunglasses, low cut salmon tee, a trim skirt several inches above her knees, and three-inch black heels stepped out. Sunlight glinted off the gold around her wrist.

Lola Parker in the flesh.

“Darling,” her mother called out as she held out her arms. “How fortuitous to find you so quickly.”

Only Lola said words like “fortuitous.”

Mandy took the death march to her parent. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, darling! Aren’t you glad to see me? Give me a hug and show me!”

Mandy allowed herself to be enveloped in her mother’s arms. Sweet perfume wafted over her and clung to her skin. She disentangled herself and asked again. “Why are you here?”

Lola linked her arm in Mandy’s and led her to the back of her car. “I came to protect you from the denizens of Hollywood, of course. A single girl like you…” Lola stopped walking. She gave Mandy a once-over. “You’d look better without that stripe in your hair. Whatever possessed you?”

“I’m glad to see you, but I don’t need your fashion help.” Mandy looked pointedly at the cleavage peaking above Lola’s blouse.

Lola returned the look, and Mandy became excruciatingly aware of her food-splattered shirt and jeans. “Of course you do, darling.”

James’s Explorer pulled into the lot. He got out of the car. “Hello. Can I help you?” He looked at Lola.

Her mother’s laugh grated, reminding her of late night parties and alcohol-strewn mornings.

“James, this is Lola Parker. Lola this is the location manager, James Lubbock.”

Her mother took off her glasses and gave James the million-dollar smile. “How nice to meet you.” She extended her red-tipped hand to him.

James took Lola’s hand, looking as if she’d hypnotized him. “You too.”

“Would you be a doll, James, and help me take my luggage to Mandy’s room?” She dangled the car keys in front of him.

He took them.

“Lola, I don’t have a room. I have a tent.”

“A tent? You mean on the ground with bugs, and everything?” Lola’s voice rose several notes in pitch.