Starstruck - Book Four (5 page)

“I think you should at least consider it. Think about it.
Sleep on it,” I insisted. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get her out
of our life and out of our relationship. All of our issues seem to involve
her.”

“A lot of our issues wouldn’t be issues if you didn’t make
them issues,” he said, though he kept his tone delicate.

“I’m working on that,” I snipped.

Hudson laughed. “Okay.”

“Hi, Mom!” I said as I ran up to my mother LAX and wrapped
my arms around her. She looked so touristy, but I didn’t care. Her ball cap
covered her thinning, brownish-gray hair, and her eyes were a little bloodshot.
She didn’t smell like alcohol, which was a relief, and I couldn’t hug her tight
enough.

She hugged me back, tight, and neither of us wanted to let
go. I missed her so much, and it meant the world to me that she was finally
going to get the help she needed.

“Hi, Hudson,” she said as she finally let go of me and
walked over to Hudson. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him just as
tightly. “Thank you.”

He nodded as she tried to fight the tears that were forming
in her eyes. I could tell she was ready to get better. Not only was he giving
her her life back, he was giving her her daughter back too.

We grabbed her bag, hopped in Hudson’s car, and headed out
to the Paradiso Treatment Facility. It was right off the coast and nestled on a
sprawling little seaside acreage with a million trees. The building was
stuccoed and painted white with a red tile roof.

My mom was nervous when we checked in, but she was trying
her hardest to hide it. She hadn’t left Rock River in at least ten years, maybe
more, and she was completely out of her element. It had to be scary, especially
when she was as sober as she was that day.

“Ma’am, you’ll be in room twelve,” the check in clerk told
her. She had kind eyes. “Roberta will be here to show you to your room in a
second.”

We waited patiently for the treatment coordinator to arrive
and take us to her room and orient her. We were told the orientation was for
patients only. We couldn’t attend. Our temporary goodbye came much sooner than
I expected.

“Now, you’ll take as long as you need, right?” Hudson asked
her. “Don’t worry about a thing. Just get better.”

“Thank you,” my mom said to him, again with misty eyes.
“Thank you more than you’ll ever know.”

Hudson smiled, his eyes compassionate. He reached over and
took my hand, squeezing it in his.

“We better go, Mom,” I said. I hated leaving her in such an
unfamiliar place, but I knew it had to be done.

She nodded and smiled. She understood.

As we walked away, I turned to take in one last look at her.
Her ratty jeans, faded t-shirt and foggy eyes were a reminder of the person she
was. It was going to be the last time I’d see her that way. By the time she was
done with her treatment, she was going to be the mother I always knew she could
be, and I couldn’t wait.

“Thanks, Hudson,” I said to him as we walked out to his car.

“No problem,” he said as he scouted the parking lot for
hiding paparazzi. I didn’t even think about the risk he was taking by being
seen at a treatment facility, but he was doing it for me.

As we cruised down the highway right alongside the gorgeous
Pacific ocean, I couldn’t help but think about how amazing Hudson was. He had
changed my life in so many ways, and I knew I’d never be able to repay him in a
million years. He never asked for much. Actually, he never asked for anything.
The only thing he wanted was me.

We rode in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts,
until his phone went off. He had a text. He pulled his phone from his pocket
and peeked at the screen. From what I could tell it was a message from Ava
asking him to call her right away.

His entire demeanor shifted. He seemed agitated and
inconvenienced. Our perfect little day was immediately soured by that one
little text message.

“Who’s that?” I asked as I feigned innocence.

“Ava,” he replied right away. He didn’t seem happy about it,
which was a huge relief for me.

“Call her,” I said. “It’s okay.”

He turned to look at me as if he didn’t believe me.

“Really,” I laughed. “Call her. I’m fine with it.”

Part of me just wanted to be nosy. I wanted to hear the
entire conversation or at least his half of it.

“Ava,” Hudson said with the phone pulled to his ear.

I couldn’t make out the words on the other end, but it
sounded like a bunch of words jumbled together.

“Ava, are you drunk?” he asked. “No, I can’t come over.”

I secretly reveled in that. One point Brynn, no points Ava.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I can’t. I’m with Brynn. Do you
need me to call mobile crisis again?”

I heard her scream into the phone. Apparently the mention of
mobile crisis was enough to send her over the edge.

“She just wants attention, Hudson,” I whispered. He ignored
me.

“I’m with Brynn,” he told her again. “I can’t come over. And
I can’t keep coming over.”

Keep coming over? How many times had he been over there?

“Seriously?” he asked. He turned towards me and held the
phone close to his chest. “She said you can come too.”

I was shocked as my stomach fell hard and fast. I’d
daydreamed a million times about going to Ava’s place and telling her off, but
I never imagined she’d willingly welcome me onto her turf. What kind of game
was she trying to play?

“Okay,” I whispered. “I’ll go.”

Hudson put the phone back up to his mouth. “We’ll be there
shortly.”

I said hardly a word on our drive to Ava’s. I couldn’t
believe it was actually happening. In my head, I practiced telling her off. I rehearsed
my zingers and come backs and quips. I memorized everything I was going to say
to her. I wanted to tell her to get a life and stay out of ours. Hudson was
mine. He didn’t have time for her antics, and quite frankly, neither did I.

I was nothing but a ball of brazen energy until we pulled up
into the driveway in front of her Malibu beach house. The house was tall, at
least three stories, and very modern with clean lines. It wasn’t homey like
Hudson’s place. It was square and intimidating.

“You okay?” Hudson asked as he noticed my heavy breathing.
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted. “Let’s go.”

As we walked the long walk to her front door, my knees were
wobbly and lightheadedness set in. For a second I swore I was going to fall
over, so I walked behind Hudson. I didn’t want him to see me turn into a ball
of nerves.

I’d dreamt of getting another chance to tell Ava off, just
like I’d done that day in the boutique, but only this time I wouldn’t run away
crying. I’d hold my ground. I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly scared. She was up
to something, I could feel it. It was probably more a fear of the unknown
instead of a fear of Ava herself.

We rang the doorbell and the shrill barks of a pack of
yapping dogs filled my ears. A young girl, not any older than myself, answered
the door. It was probably her assistant.

“Hi, Hudson,” the girl said as she tried to play it cool. I
could tell she was thrilled to be in his presence. “Come on in. I’ll get Ava.”

We walked in and took a seat in the living room. The house
was the epitome of modern Calfornia coastal style, and the floor to ceiling
windows showcased her breathtaking ocean views.

Hudson and I sunk down into her plush, overstuffed white
sofa that was covered in a gazillion pillows with a gazillion patterns in
multiple shades of flax, ivory, and cobalt blue.

I couldn’t stop looking around at her place. It was a work
of art, truly, second only to Hudson’s. I wondered if they shared a decorator.

“Hudson,” Ava said as she walked towards us from the bottom
of the stairs. Her hair was pulled back, revealing her ridiculously high
cheekbones, and her lithe frame was wrapped in a pale peach silk robe. She
hoisted one hand on her boney hip while her other hand held up a dirty martini.
It felt like a scene from a movie, but I supposed most movie stars were
naturally dramatic.

One thing was for certain, Ava Fox knew how to make an
entrance.

“Hi, Ava,” I said in an attempt to acknowledge the fact that
she’d blatantly ignored me.

“Hi, Brynn,” she said in the fakest voice I’d ever heard.
“How are you doing today, sweetie?”

She couldn’t have been more condescending in her tone, but I
vowed not to let it bother me.

Ava took a few steps closer to us, towards an overstuffed
chair, and she nearly tripped over the sisal rug that covered the hand scraped
walnut floors. She was clearly drunk, but she didn’t seem embarrassed.

“What can we help you with, Ava?” Hudson asked. I loved that
he was including me.

Ava stood up from her chair, the one she’d barely kept warm
for more than three seconds, and sauntered over to Hudson, sitting extra close
to him on the opposite end of the sofa.

She hooked a lanky arm around his shoulders and rested her
head on him as she nursed her martini. She was acting a complete fool, and part
of me was livid that Hudson was tolerating her behavior.

“You know what I want,” she said in the drunkest voice ever.
“Silly.”

Hudson and I exchanged glances. This was Ava Fox, unfiltered
and undone.

“I need you, Boo-Boo,” she cooed. She took another sip of
her drink, slurping it loudly. She had to have been going on more than a few
drinks already.

Hudson sat rigid, his hands resting on his knees. He looked
at me as if he were helpless. The man who pursued me back home in Iowa, the man
who dominated my mind and my body when we were alone, was helpless when it came
to Ava Fox. His kind heart, the most amazing thing about him, was also his
biggest downfall.

“Ava, you need help,” he said, avoiding eye contact with
her.

“No, I don’t,” she pouted. “I don’t need help, Hudson, I
need you. You know that. We talked about it. Don’t you remember?”

I squirmed in my seat, hating that I was dying to know what
they’d talked about. And when. My body felt hot as a wave of jealousy rushed
over me, but I quickly pushed it away.

Hudson was a good man, I reminded myself. Ava was just
trying to get inside my head.

“Ava, you really do need help,” I said. I couldn’t hold my
tongue any longer. If Hudson wasn’t going to stand up to her, I had to.

Ava moved her head up from Hudson’s shoulder and stared me
squarely in the face.

“You know nothing,” she growled in the creepiest voice I’d
ever heard. I’d never had anyone look at me with so much hatred in their eyes
before. It chilled me to the core.

“I know that Hudson wants to be with me,” I said, attempting
to hold my ground with her. “And I want to be with him. There’s no room for you
in our life.”

Her breathing grew labored as she shot daggers my way, and
suddenly, without warning, her face softened. She glanced up at Hudson with
more love and affection than I’d have liked to have seen.

“I know you still love me, baby,” she cooed as she nuzzled
her nose into the crook of his neck. “You said you did last night, remember?”

“Ava,” Hudson sighed. He had to do some damage control and
quick. “I said a lot of things last night. You were threatening to kill
yourself. I had to get you to calm down.”

“But you admit you said it, right?” she said. She was
talking to him, but her eyes were on me. She wanted to see me hurt, but I
refused to let her. “Hudson, let’s just quit with the games. You know you and I
are going to end up together again eventually. Ship Miss Corn Fed Iowa back to
the farm she came from and let’s just get on with our life, mm-kay?”

“Now, Ava, that’s just uncalled for,” Hudson said. He
finally jerked away from her and her drunk, limber arm fell into her lap.
“You’ve got to stop with all this.”

Ava wasn’t about to throw in the white towel anytime soon.
His words were only making her want him even more. I could spot a girl who
loved a good challenge from a mile away.

“You’re delusional if you think for one second that you and
I are ever getting back together,” he said. “I’m with Brynn. That’s who I want
to be with. Nothing you say or do will change that. Know that. Please.”

Hudson was getting more and more agitated, and seeing him
defend me first hand was getting me a little turned on.

“We have to go now,” he said as he stood up and reached for
my hand.