Lovestruck in Los Angeles (27 page)

I never knew how good it could feel to hear someone’s voice until my mother whispered my dad’s name. It was soft and halting, but it was her voice, as familiar to me as any sound in the world.

We had no idea how long her recovery would be. The doctors explained that the bleeding in her brain when the aneurysm ruptured had most likely caused
some
damage, though they couldn’t be sure how much. She would need rehabilitation, eventually. The idea that she might not be able to walk, or that she could have permanent trouble taking care of herself, terrified me. I tried to imagine a life in which my mother couldn’t be found in her kitchen, cooking and baking ad talking to her family, taking care of everyone around her—I couldn’t picture it.

But at least she was talking. At least she was
there
. I tried to hold onto those small, vital improvements when the fear got too bad. A goal that became exponentially harder when Thomas had to go back to Los Angeles.

He’d been away from the movie for an entire week. They were trying to work around him by rearranging the shooting schedule and focusing on scenes he wasn’t featured in, but you didn’t have to be an expert to guess that they were losing tons of money every day by not having their star on set.

“I wish I didn’t have to go, Lizzie,” he said the night before his flight. We had gone back to the house so he could pack up his things. Thomas had spent the week in Carlos’s room. After that first night, the older siblings had gone back to their own houses at night, leaving just me, the twins, and Thomas at home.

“I wish you didn’t have to go either.” I sat on the edge of the bed, watching him fold shirts. “You’ve been amazing this whole time, Thomas. I don’t know how we can thank you.”

He made a face. “I hardly call it amazing that I’m taking off this soon. I feel like the world’s worst boyfriend.”

“You took a week off from a fifty-million-dollar movie. Of course you have to get back to work. Even Maria is going back to work tomorrow.”

He sighed and sat next to me. “I know. But I hate leaving you. It feels completely wrong to me.”

“I’m just grateful you were able to come. I feel a little guilty, actually. The movie people are probably resenting the hell out of me right now.”

“Don’t be silly. Things have been going a bit better. Before I left we were just about back on schedule. This didn’t throw us off all that much.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back.”

“I know.”

“So this might be it for a while, huh? Doing the long distance thing all over again?”

“Lizzie, it will be nothing like last time. Nothing. I’ll only be on the coast, not the other side of the ocean. Besides, we only have a few weeks left of principal shooting. Three tops.”

“And what happens after that?” I lifted my head so I could look up into his face. “We never talked about it, you know. The new movie.”

“I’m not doing it. I already decided.”

“What? Thomas—”

“No, I don’t want to argue about this, Lizzie. I made up my mind. You’re miserable in L.A. I haven’t been very happy there myself.”

“You’re an actor, Thomas. We have to expect that there are going to be times that we have to be in L.A.”

“True. But it doesn’t have to be right now. We need a break, I think. A vacation, at the very least. Time to just be together.”

“I don’t know when that will be in the cards for me,” I said softly. “I think I’m going to need to be here for a while. The others won’t be able to help my dad with stuff like rehab—they all have to work.”

“Then we’ll be in Detroit for a while.”

I stared at him. “What are you going to do in Detroit?”

He shrugged. “Take time off? Or maybe Jenner will let me be in one of his plays—you know he has a theater downtown.”

“Thomas, this is a huge stage in your career.” I thought of all the times I’d heard Heidi refer to this as his make-or-break moment. “You can’t just take time off right now.”

“Of course I can. I went straight from shooting
Darkness
to shooting
Hostile
last year. I never got to take a break before promotion started. And then we came out here. I’m certainly entitled to a break.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t mean that you weren’t entitled to one. I know how hard you’ve been working.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I looked down at my hands. “I don’t like the idea of you doing it because of me. I would never forgive myself if your career stalled over me.”

I’d been fidgeting with my shirt hem, and Thomas took my hands to still them. “Look at me, Lizzie.” I looked up into his green eyes and saw that they were intent and serious. “You are the most important thing in my life. Don’t you know that? Not my career. Not crossing over some superstar threshold. The only thing I’m not willing to give up in this life is you. The only thing.”

His words made the breath catch in my chest. He really meant what he was saying. He would actually give it all up for me.

“I will never ask you to risk your career for me, Thomas.”

He smiled. “I know that. And I don’t think it will come to that. Sure, I might lose a little buzz if I don’t go directly into another huge project, but I’ll still be able to act. Besides”—he winked at me—“I think losing some buzz might be exactly what we need right now.”

“Thomas—”

“Lizzie, I’m not going to change my mind on this. I appreciate everything you’ve done and risked for us to be together. You’ve made our relationship the priority. Why can’t I do the same?”

“You do make our relationship a priority. But that shouldn’t have to mean you give up an opportunity like this.” I didn’t know why I was arguing with him. I was thrilled at the idea of not having to stay in L.A. for another four months. But I hated that he might do something that could have a negative effect on his career for me. I had always promised myself that I wouldn’t let that happen.

“What if you did the movie,” I said, raising my voice slightly when he started to object, “and I stayed here. Like you said, it won’t be like last time. You’ll just be on the coast, not in another country. We could take turns flying on the weekends.”

He shook his head. “Not good enough for me. Seeing you only on weekends? For months? No. Not after I’ve had the opportunity to live with you full time.” He tweaked my ear. “I’ve gotten quite used to having you around.”

When I still didn’t look convinced, he went on. “You’ve always said it was easier for you to relocate—to London, to California—because you didn’t have anything tying you to one place, right? Well now you have something tying you here: helping your mum. So it’s my turn to relocate for a while.”

I felt tears come to my eyes. He really meant this. He was really willing to risk the momentum he’d been building for the past year in order to stay here with me. “I don’t deserve you.”

He laughed and pulled me back into his arms. “I’m the lucky one in this scenario, love.” I felt his lips press into the top of my head. “I wasn’t kidding you when I said this was forever for me. And if this week taught us anything, it’s that nothing is as important as family. You’re my family, Lizzie.”

I was really crying now. “You’re my family, too. I never realized I could love someone so much.”

“No more crying.” He wiped tears from my cheeks with his fingertips. “I’ve seen you cry enough this week. I hate it when you’re upset.”

“If you come to Detroit, where will you stay?”

“I could rent a house just as easily here as anywhere else. Somewhere close, so it’s not quite as painful to leave you here every night.”

I shook my head. “I’ll be staying with you.”

“You don’t have to do that. There’s no sense in upsetting your dad all over again.” Thomas laughed. “I think he might actually like me, now. Even though he refuses to accept that Arsenal is the greatest football club in the world.”

I laughed too. “Him arguing with you about soccer is actually the surest sign yet that he likes you.”

“Well, we don’t want to risk that. If your parents preferred you to live here while we’re in town, I would understand, Lizzie.”

“No. I’m going to be where you are. I’m done pretending to be something I’m not for someone else’s approval. Even my parents.’” I thought about my dad accepting Thomas at the hospital, about the way he had forgiven me for leaving when it really counted. “Besides, I think they’d be fine. I think they’re ready to accept me, too. And it’s like you said—” I gave his ear a tweak of my own. “I’ve gotten quite used to having you around.”

I once again felt as if a piece of the weight on my chest had lifted. I hated that he was leaving in the morning but knowing that it would only be for a few weeks, instead of the months I had been dreading, made me feel better about our relationship than I had in a long time.

We found Maria in the kitchen, pulling things from the refrigerator. “Hi,” she said. “I thought I would make Daddy that soup he likes, but I can’t find the leftover turkey.”

“I think Matias used it to make a sandwich.” I glance at the clock. “Grocery store’s still open. Want us to go get more?”

She started to object, but Thomas was already grabbing his coat. “I’ll go. I wanted to make sure you guys were stocked up before I left, anyhow.” He kissed my forehead. “See you in a bit.”

I watched him walk out of the kitchen, thinking about what a help he’d been.

“That boy’s going to ask you to marry him.”

I spun to face Maria.

She’d been watching him walk out, too. She caught my eye and grinned. “Definitely.”

“You think so?”

“Is that a surprise to you?”

I knew I was blushing a little as I sat at the table. “Not really. We’ve talked about it, a bit. But nothing definite. What, uh, makes you think he’s going to propose?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious, Lizzie. The way he dotes on you. The way he came out here to be with you and help your family. That’s not the behavior of a guy in a casual relationship.”

I felt a slight stirring of the old anger. “It was never a casual relationship.”

She stared down at the table. “I know that, now. I’m sorry I didn’t see it before.” She looked up, and her eyes were wide and guilty. “I’m really sorry, Lizzie. That I made it so hard for you. That I never took your calls this year.” She sniffed a little, and I had a horrible suspicion that she might cry. “You were trying to be the bigger person and reach out, and Daddy and I both just clung to our stubbornness. That was so wrong.” A tear slipped down her face. “I always thought that you didn’t understand how important family was, leaving the way you did. But you got it much better than I did. I wasn’t a very good sister.”

I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. “You were always a great sister, Maria. You took care of us, all of us, my whole life. And you only wanted what was best for me.” I took a deep breath, trying to shore up my courage. I was never good at confronting Maria. “But I think you didn’t realize that what was best for me wasn’t the same thing as what was best for you. And that I’ve been old enough to figure out what that is for myself for a long time now.”

She nodded. “You’re right. And I’m sorry.”

I smiled at her, feeling shy. “It’s okay.”

And it really was. Maria was always going to be bossy, was always going to be pushy. She would get into my business and try to tell me what to do for the rest of my life. It was just how she was. But I would much rather have her in my life, even if she was going to try to control it, then go on without her.

“So, does he have a ring?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at me.

I blushed. “I don’t think it’s that imminent.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” She took a sip of tea, giving me a meaningful look. Something about her expression made my heart start to beat faster.

“What makes you say that?”

She was quiet for a minute, as if debating whether or not to tell me something, before she finally smiled. “I heard him ask Daddy.”

“
What
?”

She nodded. “This afternoon, at the hospital. They were down in the cafeteria. I don’t think they saw me, but I heard them.”

I raised my hands to my flaming cheeks, feeling simultaneously shocked and overjoyed. “He asked Daddy?”

Maria nodded. “Yup. And get this—he asked him in Spanish.”

“Now I know you’re lying. Thomas doesn’t speak Spanish.”

“He must have learned. One sentence, at least:
Me gustaria que tu bendicion
.”

I would like your blessing. Oh my God.

“You’re not messing with me, are you?”

She laughed. “I swear to you that I’m not.”

“Wow.” A horrible thought occurred to me. “I hope Daddy said yes.”

“I didn’t stick around to find out. But I have a feeling you’re in the clear.” Her brown eyes stayed on mine for a long moment, as if she were trying to figure something out. “How do you feel about that, Lizzie?”

“I feel…I don’t know. Really happy that he would ask Daddy. That he would include him, like that.” I knew asking permission was old fashioned, but I also knew my parents would appreciate being involved, would think of it as a sign of respect. And I liked that Thomas had asked for his blessing, instead of his permission.

“But?” she asked, her voice soft.

I tried to pinpoint what was causing the sliver of fear that pierced my excitement and happiness at the news. “I think…I think I’m scared, too. At least a little. Things have been hard this year, Maria. Being in L.A.”

“Hard how?”

“Well, part of it was just feeling so separated from the family.” She looked away, and I felt bad for bringing it up again. “But it was tough for a lot of reasons. He was working a lot. And had all this crazy pressure from the movie people. And I spent a lot of time feeling like I was…I don’t know. Freeloading, I guess. Living in that big house and having all this glamorous stuff, just because of who I was dating. If Thomas and I get married, it will be like that all the time.”

“Marriage is a partnership, Lizzie. You can’t go into it thinking about his money and stuff versus your money and stuff.”

“I know that. It’s just…” I paused. I hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone about the book fiasco. Did I really want to share my embarrassing experience with someone who was so very fond of saying, “I told you so?”