“No. I’ll go see them.”
I walk to the kitchen where Mom and Simon are having a breakfast of poached eggs, fruit salad and yogurt. Mom sees me first. She immediately jumps to her feet, and runs over. Her arms wraps around me tightly. “Sweetie. How are you holding up? We just heard when we got up.”
I told myself I wasn’t going to waste any more tears on the whole thing, but when Mom holds me like this, they start to flow again. I sniffle, wipe my eyes and cheeks impatiently. “Mom. Simon.”
Simon squeezes my hand.
I search their faces. All I find is understanding and compassion and love. And I’m so relieved and grateful that I can’t help but break down. I clutch my Mom harder, burying my face in her shoulder. My tears soak her shirt, but she only pulls me closer.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” My words come out muffled.
“It’s not your fault, sweetie.” Mom says.
“Of course not.” Simon pats me in the back. “It’s terrible this happened to you, Paige. You don’t deserve this.”
“Nobody does.” Mom finally pulls away to look at me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” I wasn’t until I saw them. But now my world makes sense again.
“Where’s Ryder?” Simon asks.
“Sleeping. He went to bed late.”
“I’m sure he was shocked.” Mom’s voice is placid. “I can’t imagine… The wedding is only three weeks away.”
“I know.” I pull my lips in. “But we may have to call it off.”
“Why?” Simon asks forcefully. “Is he blaming you?”
“No.” The lie sounds feeble even to my ears. “But… The wedding is going to put us in the spotlight, which means the…tape is going to be rehashed again and again since it’s such a…fresh news item.” The words taste bitter. If I never see myself mentioned in the news again, I’ll die happy. “Eloping is out of the question. If we do, it’s going to look like I’m guilty or something.”
“I’m going to strangle the son of a bitch.” Simon’s chest rises until it’s almost hitting his chin. His brows form a deep V above stormy eyes.
“Shaun isn’t worth it,” I tell him.
“We can stay here and be with you as long as you want,” Mom offers.
I shake my head. “You should go back as planned. Please don’t change anything because of this. That would mean Shaun is winning. I’m not going to let him inconvenience you.” I hold both of their hands in mine. “It’s not the first time something like this has happened in Hollywood. We have a team that knows how to handle the fallout. We’ll get through it.” I squeeze Simon’s hand. “And I’m so, so sorry for the trouble this is gonna cause. I should’ve been more careful in my choice of men.”
“It’s not your fault the guy turned out to be a jerk. You’re a good girl, Paige. Don’t feel like you did something wrong. You’re a victim, you hear?”
“Yes.” And the thing is, I do believe it. Of course I do. But even as my head is nodding, my heart is telling me different. It says I could’ve done something to prevent this, that I should’ve known better, that I should’ve cut Shaun loose a long time ago and never given him a chance, and that I should’ve known that something was wrong when a guy as good-looking as Shaun decided to date me out of the blue.
“Would you like to have breakfast with us?” Mom asks. “This is our last day here…it’d be nice to spend some together.”
“Yes. I’d love that. And I’m sorry I’m not going to be able to spend more time with you today. I have a really important appointment.” From what I can gather, Anthony doesn’t live in L.A., and I don’t know when he’s leaving. We could talk over the phone, but I want to see the expression on his face when he talks about Lauren.
“No problem. We know how to fend for ourselves.” Simon leads me to an empty seat. “Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. We’ll always be here for you. And no matter what, I want you to know that we’re proud of you, Paige. Nothing’ll ever change that.”
“Thank you.” I say as I swallow another sob.
* * *
Ryder
Paige is gone, and the spot next to me is cold. She must’ve left at least an hour or two ago. I curse under my breath. Didn’t mean to fall asleep.
Quickly, I shower and change into a clean t-shirt and shorts. Paige and I need to have a calm, rational talk about what we’re going to do. The wedding is in three weeks.