Starstruck - Book Four (4 page)

“It seems like every move you’ve made the last few years was
chronicled in the tabloids,” she continued. “Including your breakup with Ava.”

“Yeah,” Hudson said, maintaining that smile of his.

He’s just being professional, I reminded myself.

“Tell me what it was like working on set with her,” the
anchor asked. “Was it awkward? Were there any lingering feelings? Any chance of
a reconciliation?”

I could see in Hudson’s eyes that he hated the question, but
he had to answer it. She’d put him on the spot. That bitch. And an ounce of
research would’ve told her he had moved on with someone else. Lazy journalism,
that’s what I called it.

“You know, Ava and I are still in touch,” he said. “We ended
the relationship last year and we’re still very good friends. She was a big
part of my life, and it was fun working with her, so yeah, we’re still friends.
That’s that.”

I couldn’t watch another minute of his interview. He had
just lied. I knew he had to be all political and professional, but it still stung
to hear him say they were still a part of each other’s lives and he had fun
working with her. A tiny part of me wondered who was being lied to…the anchor
or me.

Don’t go there, I reminded myself. Don’t go to that place.
You’re just going to get all worked up over nothing and he’s going to pick up
on it and you’ll have another fight. Don’t do it.

“Brynn?” It was Hudson. He hadn’t been gone but five or ten
minutes and he was already home. I didn’t even hear him come in.

“What are you doing back so soon?” I asked as I spun around,
startled. “Shit, you scared me.”

“I left my phone…” he said. I could see by the look on his
face that he knew I’d watched his interview. “I saw what you were watching.”

He sighed. He was so annoyed at me, I could tell.

“I like watching you in action,” I said as I tried to
plaster a fake smile across my face. I didn’t want to start another fight, even
if I was secretly ticked.

Hudson shook his head. He knew me too well. He knew exactly
what I was doing.

“I don’t have time for this right now,” he said. “I’m
running late.”

With that, he turned and left through the garage door.

I hated that Hudson walked out like that. I hated that he
caught me watching his interview red-handed. I just wanted things to go back
the way they were. I wanted to rewind to just before he left when he kissed me
goodbye and said he couldn’t wait to see me later that night.

I never would’ve flipped on the T.V. Well, I probably would
have but I would have skipped right past his interview. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t
have done that, but I would’ve kept more of an open mind. I should’ve been
proud of him for just doing his job and staying professional. Had he told the
interviewer the truth about things between he and Ava and how tense they were,
it would’ve thrust him back into the spotlight. It would’ve thrust all of us
back into the spotlight.

I’d been a little less pursued lately by the paparazzi. Ever
since they found out who I was, posted a few salacious and embarrassing
photographs, then realized I was a boring girl from the Midwest, things died
down a bit. I didn’t want to go back to that, and Hudson was probably just
protecting us by downplaying Ava’s psychotic antics and saying they were still
friends.

I decided then and there that I wasn’t going to bring it up
to him. He was a good man. A kind man. He had a huge heart. He didn’t owe me an
explanation. He didn’t owe me anything. He’d already taken me under his wing
and showed me a world beyond anything I’d ever imagined. He put my mother in
treatment for crying out loud. Hudson was a good, good man. I needed to do
nothing except love him.

With that revelation, I decided to do something special for
him that evening. He was always doing special things for me. I never returned
the favor. What do you do for a man who has the entire world on speed dial? He
could have anything he wanted with the click of a button.

“Flor,” I called out from the sofa.

“Yes, Miss Brynn,” she said as she came from a hall bath,
rubber gloves still covering her small but sturdy hands.

“I think I’m going to make dinner tonight for me and
Hudson,” I said. “You can leave early today if you want.”

She studied me for a while before flashing a reserved smile
and thanking me in Spanish. I could never tell what she was thinking, and I
still wasn’t sure she even liked me.

The morning faded into afternoon, and as the sun began to
set in the sky, I had still not heard from Hudson. I knew he was going to be in
meetings all day, but I never asked when he’d be back. I just assumed he
wouldn’t be gone all day.

I prepped the roast chicken in the kitchen, squeezing fresh
lemon juice on it and covering it with sprigs of rosemary and thyme. I peeled
potatoes and whipped them up with a little bit of sour cream, salt and pepper.
I steamed some carrots with honey and salt. And lastly, I baked a frozen apple
pie. I couldn’t do everything from scratch. I was only human.

The table was set and the candles were glowing soft and
luminous. Six o’clock turned into seven and then eventually eight. I sent him a
text message asking if he’d be home soon, but it went unanswered.

By nine thirty, I’d grown tired of waiting. I wrapped up the
food, blew out the candles, and went to bed. It was so unlike Hudson to ignore
me. In the month’s we’d been together, he’d never been out this late before
with no explanation. I laid in bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I did nothing but
toss and turn.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he was purposely avoiding me
and making me worry since I’d upset him earlier. It took everything I had not
to jump the gun and assume I’d sent him fleeing straight back into the lithe,
skinny arms of Ava Fox.

I closed my eyes and counted to one hundred. I flipped to my
stomach. I turned on my side. I read a few pages of a novel. I watched an
episode of some reality show rerun. Nothing was working. My brain wouldn’t shut
off.

By midnight, I forced myself to shut off the T.V. and relax.
By one, Hudson came crawling in the door. Tiptoeing really. I pretended to
sleep, eyes shut tight, as I heard him undress and felt him climb under the
covers.

Normally when we slept, we spooned. He stayed on his side of
the bed, not inching any closer than he had to. I felt him roll to his side,
opposite me, and within seconds, his light breathing told me he was out cold.

I’d just poured myself a bowl of cold cereal when my phone
dinged. It was a text from Alec.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

That’s all it said and it was enough to make my stomach drop.
I hastily typed back “no” as fast as my fingers would let me. What was he
talking about?

“Alec, what are you talking about?” I had to call him. He
was taking too long to reply.

“You didn’t hear it from me,” he prefaced it. I suddenly
felt nauseous and pushed away my bowl of cereal.

“What?” I asked, voice full of dread.

“According to Gossipstalker.com, Ava Fox was committed to a
mental health institute yesterday. Last night actually,” he said.

“Really,” I said, though I wasn’t asking. I knew it had to
be true, and I knew that had to have explained where Hudson was and why he
didn’t contact me.

“Why do you say it like that?” Alec said, totally catching
my tone.

“I’ll tell you another time,” I said. “I have to go.”

Hudson came shuffling down the hall the moment I hung up. He
walked right past me and opened the door to the refrigerator.

“Where were you last night?” I asked as our backs were
towards each other.

He didn’t answer until I spun around in my chair to look at
him. He seemed tired, exhausted really.

He poured himself a glass of orange juice before coming over
and sitting next to me. I could tell this conversation wasn’t going to be
pretty.

“I was with Ava last night,” he said. He lacked any kind of
emotion. “She was threatening to harm herself yesterday. I was the only person
she asked for. I had to go. I didn’t have a choice.”

“Oh,” I said. “A phone call or a text would’ve been nice.”

“Believe me,” he said as he looked me straight in the eyes.
“I wanted to.”

“You couldn’t send a quick text on your way to be with her?”
I asked.

“It all happened so fast,” he said. “I didn’t have time to
think. I just had to act. I had to get there before she did anything rash. She
was making all kinds of threats, and she told me she’d swallowed a bottle of
pills. I was on the phone with the National Mental Health Crisis center getting
tips on what to say to talk her down.”

He seemed stressed as he relived the previous nights’ events.
As Hudson ran his fingers through his hair, my anger began to dissolve and turn
into sympathy. Ava was a human, just like anyone else.

He was a good man, I reminded myself. He was only doing the
right thing.

“She wouldn’t let me contact you,” he said. “The entire
thing was just a power play with her. She loves having control over me and she
knows my weak points.”

“But don’t you think you kind of allow it?” I said. “You
allow her to manipulate her.”

“Maybe,” he said as he shook his head a little. “I don’t
know. I just thought I was doing the right thing. She was in hysterics. She
texted me a picture of the empty pill bottle.”

“Hudson,” I said flatly. “She’s an actress.”

He breathed in through flared nostrils. “I know that,
Brynn.”

“So where did you leave things?” I asked. “Are you going to
see her again? Did she con you into some sort of visitation arrangement?”

“Psh,” he said. “I finally called mobile crisis. She was
taken by ambulance to a local hospital.”

“Sounds like that’s exactly where she belongs,” I said. The
entire thing was sad really. She was so desperate to have Hudson back in her
life that she was going to extreme measures now.

“Hey, now,” he said. “That’s a little harsh.”

“You’re too nice for your own good,” I said to him. “I need
to know, are you going to see her again?”

“I don’t know,” he said. At least he was being honest, but
his words stung. “Brynn, you know I love you and only you.”

I said nothing.

“You know that, right?” he reiterated. He reached over and
placed his hand on top of mine, then brought it up to his lips and kissed it.
“Let’s stop with the nonsense.”

“Okay,” I relented.

“I think it’s going to be in the best interest of everyone
involved if we can smooth things over with Ava,” he explained. “She’s having a
hard time believing it’s really over between us, and I think the fact that I’ve
fallen for a sweet, Midwestern girl who’s the complete opposite of her just
drives her crazy.”

“Really?” I said, trying to hide the smile that was working
its way across my lips. How could Ava Fox be jealous of little old me? I was a
nobody.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “She’s super jealous of you. Of us. She
doesn’t understand why I’m not still pining for her.”

“I’m sure she has her pick of men in this town. Why’s she so
fixated on you?” I asked. “No offense.”

“Who knows,” he said. “She wants what she can’t have, I
guess.”

“Do you think it would help things if I talked to her? Woman
to woman?” I offered. It was going to be hard, and I was going to be nervous,
but I was willing to do it if it would force her to move on and leave us alone.

Hudson pressed his lips together as he thought about it. He
tossed his head from side to side, not answering.

“So?” I said, growing impatient. “Want me to meet with her?”

“I don’t think that’d be such a great idea,” he said. “But I
appreciate that you’d be willing to do that. That’s really sweet.”

“Not a great idea?” I asked. “I don’t see what the problem
would be. I’d be perfectly nice and cordial to her. I’d tell her that you and I
are in love. I’d tell her she needs to move on. Simple as that.”

Hudson’s face cringed as he squirmed a little in his seat.

“Ava doesn’t operate like that,” he said.

“Clearly,” I said. “I’ve seen the way she operates first
hand. I just think it’s important for me to stand up for myself, to stand up
for us. She’s going to keep doing these crazy things to get your attention
until one of us puts a stop to it.”

“Maybe,” he mused as he stared down at the ground. I
would’ve given anything in that moment to know what he was thinking.