Small Town Girl (22 page)

“Aw, so soon?” she pouted.

“I’ll get a hold of you when we get back
to L.A., Mom,” I said as I stood up and gave her a hug. “Sorry we can’t stay
longer.”

She stood up and hugged each of us,
lingering a bit too long with Hudson. She treated him like family, which I’d
appreciated, but she was also very over the top.

We left the house, and I sniffed my shirt
the moment we got back in my car.

“What are you doing?” Hudson laughed.

“You don’t think it reeked in there?” I
asked.

In his usual polite fashion, he didn’t
answer.

“You probably think I’m some low life
scum now,” I said. “That’s the house I grew up in. And that’s how we lived.”

Hudson snickered. “Brynn, give me more
credit than that. The way your mother lives is not a reflection of who you are
as a person. I’m not with you for your background or where you come from or who
your parents are.”

I realized then just how irrational I was
being about the whole thing.

“You’re an amazing person,” he said. “And
I have a feeling you had to do a lot of growing up early. You probably raised
yourself. And you know what? You did a damn fine job.”

I took a deep breath. Hudson always knew
exactly what to say to make me feel better.

“Your mom needs help,” he said. “I don’t
she can get that kind of help here in Rock River.”

“Yeah, she does need help,” I huffed.
“Try telling her that though.”

“What if I offered to treat her to a
luxury rehab facility?” he asked. “They’re all over California. They’re
practically resorts. We could lure her out there and get her the help she
needs.”

“She can’t afford that, Hudson,” I said.
“It’s a nice thought though.”

“I don’t think you heard me correctly,”
he said. “It’ll be my treat. I’ll do this for her. For you really.”

“What if it didn’t work?” I asked. “And
you’d spent all that money on her. I would feel awful. I couldn’t do that to
you.”

“I want to do this for you, Brynn,” he
said as he took my hand. “Let me do this for you.”

“It’s too kind of you,” I said. “Can I
think about it?”

He seemed frustrated with me.

“What’s there to think about?” he asked.
“I want to do this for you, and I want you to have the mom you deserve. She’s
missing out on so much of your life, and you’re missing out on so much of her
life. It shouldn’t be that way.”

I knew I’d be stupid to turn down his
offer.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a little piece
of home with you in L.A.?” he asked.

Part of me wondered if he was just trying
to eliminate any need for me to ever come back to Rock River. If my mom
wasn’t
here, I’d have no reason at all to come home.

“Let me do this, please,” he pleaded. “If
not for you and your mom, for my mom.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“She died of a heroin overdose when I was
eighteen,” he said. “She spent every last dime I made as a child actor on her
drug addiction. I was too young to know how to get her any kind of help. I’m
the one who found her.”

My heart broke on the spot for him. No
wonder he had never talked about his family. I inwardly chided myself for
thinking he had any type of ulterior motives.

“Wow,” I said. “That must have been
difficult for you.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It feels like
forever ago, but in some ways it feels like just yesterday.”

“Okay,” I said. “You can help my mom.”

I could only hope and pray that by
getting my mom the help she needed, it would be closing an old wound of
Hudson’s.

“Thank you,” he said as he kissed the
underside of my hand. “As soon as we get back to L.A., I’ll make some calls and
handle all the arrangements. It’ll be your job to get her out there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get out of
here before my mom wonders why we’ve been sitting in her driveway for the last
ten minutes,” I giggled. “She probably thinks we’re making out or something.”

The flight back to L.A. from Des Moines
was long and arduous. I had barely flown at all in my life, and the last two
months had been making it feel like such a chore. I didn’t know how Hudson got
used to being such a jetsetter, but it was something I was going to have to get
used to sooner or later.

As we pulled into his driveway several
long hours later, I just wanted to go inside and change into pajamas. I dreamt
of collapsing on his silky soft bed and burying myself in his luxurious covers.
Some mindless T.V. was in order, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would
be out cold.

Hudson carried our bags in and sat them
in the kitchen. He slipped his arms around my waist and spun me towards him. He
wanted to get frisky, but I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t have an ounce
of energy left in me. The last two days had been draining.

He kissed my neck and tickled my sides
with his fingers as I brushed my hair out of the way. I wanted him, but I also
wanted to go to bed. I couldn’t have both.

As his lips nibbled my earlobes I had no
other choice but to succumb to his desires, but as soon as I did there was a
big splash outside in the pool area.

“Did you hear that?” I asked as I popped
my head up.

“No,” he said as he continued leaving
kisses up and down my collarbone.

“It sounds like someone’s outside in your
pool,” I said. “Is Flor working tonight?”

“Ha,” he laughed. “She wouldn’t be in the
pool. And no, she’s not working tonight.”

“Can we go check it out?” I asked. His
hands were busy but his mouth was even busier. His hands slipped under my top
as he pinned me against the kitchen island with the weight of his hips against
mine. “I’d hate for it to be paparazzi or something trying to take pictures of
us.”

He stepped back, sighed, and nodded.
“It’s not paparazzi, but if it makes you feel better, we’ll go check it out.”

He pulled a giant flashlight from a
drawer in the kitchen and headed out towards the sliding door towards the pool.
At first he shined the light through the glass, hitting every angle around the
patio and waterfall.

The pool was lit up, but it was still
plenty dark outside.

“I don’t see anyone,” he said. “It was
probably a bird or something. Now, where did we leave off?”

He walked over to me with a mischievous
look on his face and tugged me close by the band of my jeans.

“Hudson,” I whined. “Let’s go outside and
look. I swear I heard a big splash. It wasn’t a bird.”

He grunted and stopped what he was doing.
He spun around and slid the door open so he could step outside. As he clicked
on his flashlight once again, I saw someone moving back by the grotto.

“See!” I whispered as I pointed. “There!”

He shined his light back towards the
grotto.

“Who’s there?” he yelled out. “Show
yourself or I’m calling the police.”

I clutched onto his arm, my fingernails
digging into his flesh.

“Brynn, there’s a Glock 42 in the top
left drawer in the kitchen by the stove,” he said. “Bring it to me.”

My heart raced. I’d never touched a gun
in my life, and I didn’t even know he had one in the house. How come I’d never
come across it before?

I let go of his arm, albeit unwillingly,
and trekked inside to grab the Glock.

“Here,” I said as I handed it to him mere
seconds later. I hated touching that thing. The cool metal of the handle gave
me chills.

“Who’s back there?” he yelled again. “You
have two seconds to show yourself or I’m shooting.”

I covered my face with my hands as the
pit of my stomach churned. This was either going to be nothing or it was going
to be something very bad, like something out of a horror movie.

“You don’t have to shoot,” a woman’s
voice giggled. “It’s just me, silly.”

Out from the grotto emerged none other
than Miss Ava Fox, string bikini barely covering her lady bits. Her body was
incredible but her smile was evil. She emerged from the grotto as if she owned
the place and had every right to be there.

“What are you doing here, Ava?” Hudson
demanded to know. “How’d you get in here?”

“You gave me the code, remember?” she
said. She was talking to him, but her eyes were on me, menacing me with every
move.

“I did no such thing and you know it,” he
said. He rested his gun down on the table. “How’d you get in here?”

“Don’t you remember that weekend during
the reshoots?” she cooed.
I came up to your hotel room
,
we drank a little
. You couldn’t keep your hands off of
me for two seconds. You told me you missed me.”

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run
away. But for some reason, I was paralyzed. My feet were cemented to the patio
floor.

“You made love to me twice that night,”
she continued. “Two amazing times. It was incredible.”

She studied my face, and I knew right
then and there that she was trying to get a reaction out of me. I refused to
let her see me crack.

“Get out of here, Ava,” I said. “You
don’t belong here.”

Hudson seemed simultaneously shocked and
pleased that I was standing up to her.

“Hudson,” Ava pouted. “Tell Miss Iowa USA
here the truth about us. Tell her before you take this too far with her and
break her poor little heart.”

Hudson shook his head. “Stop it, Ava.”

“She deserves to know about you,” she
said. “And all your…ways.”

“Ava,” Hudson seethed.

“You don’t date someone for two years and
not learn a thing or two about their deepest, darkest secrets,” Ava cooed. She
began to walk out of the pool and towards us, like some siren emerging from the
ocean.

“What is she talking about?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he said. “She’s trying to
scare you away from me, that’s all.”

Ava tossed her head back and laughed
maniacally.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Ava
said. “Hudson Smith has no secrets at all. Brynn, are you sure you know what
you’re getting yourself into with this one?”

“Why are you still here?” I replied,
ignoring her question. “You’re not wanted or welcome. Get out before we call
the police.”

“How do you like that ring he got you?”
she asked. Her eyes glowed with malicious intent as she stared at my hand. “I
bet he told you it really meant something, huh? How adorable. You two make me
sick.”

I clasped my ring and hid it from her
sight, staring at Hudson and pleading silently for an explanation. How did she
know about the ring he gave me?

“One last time,” Hudson seethed. “Get
out, Ava.”

“I’m going to call the police if you
don’t leave,” I added.

She slinked on past Hudson, drawing her
hand across his arm slowly in the process.

“Hudson wouldn’t dare allow you to call
the police,” she said as she locked her icy, blue eyes with mine. “He doesn’t
need the negative publicity right now.”

He closed his eyes and cringed as she let
herself inside, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. We followed her
and made sure she showed herself out.

“What the fuck?” I said to Hudson the
moment we made sure she was gone.

“She must have climbed the gate,” he
said. “I don’t know how else she would’ve gotten in here.”

“She is insane,” I said as I noticed my
entire body shaking. “Crazy. Psychotic.”

Hudson nodded, his expression worrisome,
and I couldn’t help but wonder if Ava was holding something over his head.

***

I sat alone at the café table, anxiously
awaiting Alec’s arrival. He was the closest thing I had to a friend in L.A.,
and we were almost becoming inseparable as of late. As usual, Alec was running
behind and I was beginning to feel self-conscious sitting all by myself as
tables of brunching ladies surrounded me.

I missed Piper – the old Piper. Not
the one who hooked up with my longtime crush the minute I’d left town. I missed
the girl I could depend on and confide in
;
the blonde
haired, freckle-faced, sassy little kindergartener who’d grow up to become my
best friend.
The one person who knew all my secrets, hopes,
and dreams.

I had no one in L.A. like her. I spent
most of my time with Hudson, and when I wasn’t with Hudson I was usually by
myself. Alec and I would meet up occasionally for some light shopping and a
little light gossip, but it wasn’t like we were best friends. Not yet anyway.
Still, he was all I had for friends out there.

“Hey, girl,” he said as he sat down with
a mischievous grin on his face. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re super late,” I teased. “Like
forty minutes.”

“Oh, whatever,” he sassed. “Forty minutes
is nothing in this town. Look at that traffic outside.”

“Mm, hm,” I replied with one eye
squinting. His face was different. Shinier. I couldn’t tell what he’d done.
“You had some work done?”

“Shh,” he said, putting his finger to his
lips. “Yes.
A little laser resurfacing.
Is my face
still red?”

I nodded. “A little.”

“Oh, geez,” he said as he rolled his
eyes. “They said it would calm down by now. They’re such fucking liars.”

“It’s really not that bad,” I lied.
“It’ll go away soon I’m sure.”

Our server spotted Alec and came up to
take his drink order. He, of course, ordered a mimosa with extra champagne and
light on the orange juice.

“This place is fabulous,” he said as he
stared around the room at the
white-washed
walls,
crystal chandeliers and ridiculously huge flower arrangements. “How’d you hear
about it?”

“I read about it online somewhere I
think,” I said. “Kind of sort of used Hudson’s
name
to
get us a table.”

“You’re so bad,” he said as he slapped my
hand. “I love it.”

“Have you lost weight?” I asked. The Iowa
girl inside me cringed for noticing. Back home, we usually didn’t care about
stuff like that, but he was looking particularly gaunt that day.

A proud smile crept across his face and
he took a swill of his mimosa. “Why, yes. Thank you for noticing.”

“What’s your secret?” I asked him.

“It’s just that maple syrup cayenne
pepper cleanse,” he said as he waved his hand like it was nothing. “And now I’m
fucking starving and going to order a huge stack of blueberry pancakes, slather
them in butter, and drench them in syrup. Don’t judge me.”

I giggled. Alec always knew how to
lighten the mood, which was something I needed then more than ever.

“So what’s up with the last minute get
together?” he asked as he rested his head on his hands and peered across the
table at me. “Something’s not right. I can tell.”

I took a deep breath.

“So, Hudson and I got back from Iowa late
last night,” I began. “And when we got inside the house, I heard something
outside by the pool. We went to investigate, and it was Ava.”

Alec’s jaw dropped and he flashed a half
smile, clearly entertained by the story. He was practically begging for more.
His eyes said it all.

“Go on,” he prompted.

“Hudson told her to get out, and of
course she eventually left,” I said. “But not before spewing out a bunch of
things to try to get in my head again.”

Alec rolled his eyes.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“She claims they hooked up at his hotel
room when they were on location a couple weeks ago,” I said.

I wanted Alec to say that was ridiculous
and Hudson would never do such a thing, but he offered no reassurance of any
kind.

“I know she says a lot of things,” I
said. “And she’s probably all talk. But she mentioned the ring.”

I reached down and spun the canary
diamond eternity band on my right ring finger.

“How’d she know about the ring?” I asked
Alec.

He shook his head and shrugged his
shoulders.

“Beats me,” he said. “People talk. Maybe
she heard about it from someone.”

“You don’t think Hudson told her, do
you?” I asked.

“Who the hell knows,” Alec said. At least
he was being honest and not just spewing words to make me feel better, though
part of me wished he would.

Our server came to take our order, and
just as promised, Alec ordered his stack of pancakes. I ordered a simple egg-white
omelet with turkey sausage. I’d gained a couple pounds while we were back in
Iowa, and I could feel it in the tightness of my jeans. Hudson had already done
so much for me. I didn’t want to have to ask him for a whole new wardrobe once
again. Plus the weight gain only added to the insecurities that were suddenly
plaguing me in the wake of Ava-gate.