Both Blake’s hands are now in his pockets and he rocks back and forth. He stares at the ground for a few seconds, then says, “My mom.”
“Your mom?”
“She has a lot of connections. Also – small town, remember? Smaller than you’d think.”
Okay, ominous, but I guess it doesn’t matter how I get into the ranch just as long as I eventually do. I keep quiet and wrap my arms around me, not really sure what to do now besides wait it out.
At this time of night, the summer warmth has cooled down and there’s a soft breeze blowing strands of my hair into my eyes. On the other side of the road, there’s just sprawling, empty fields that fade into the dark. The moon is full tonight, and the stars dance high in the sky above us. Thanks to LA’s chronic light pollution problem, I’ve never seen stars so vibrant before.
Blake and I stand together in the silence of the night, the only sound being that of a cricket’s incessant chirping, and we don’t say a word to each other. The more time that passes without either of us speaking, the more the pressure builds. I’m the one who cracks first.
“Thanks for staying with me,” I say.
He leans back against his truck. “Pretty considerate for a jerk like me, huh?”
Any attempt at further civil discussion is disrupted by the startling shrill of the bell, signaling the opening of the gate. The gate slowly peels open and reveals Aunt Sheri on the other side, a fuzzy bathrobe wrapped tightly around her.
“Mila! Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry!” she splutters. Her slippers scuff the ground as she rushes to me, pulling me into her arms as though I’ve been missing for five days. “Is this damn gate playing up again? Didn’t the code work?”
“It’s okay,” I reassure her, awkwardly patting her on the back until she unravels me from the hug. I look into her guilty expression and offer up a playful grin to put her at ease. “I think I wrote it down wrong. Also, I really need to get your number.”
“Oh, of course! I didn’t even think . . . I just assumed you had it already . . .” Sheri’s words trail off into nothing as her gaze shifts over my shoulder. “Hello, Blake.”
“Evening, Miss Harding,” Blake says, nodding his head as a polite greeting. Oh, so he can be nice if he wants to be?
Sheri gives me a strange look and says, “I thought you were going out with Savannah?”
“She was,” Blake answers for me. “We were all in my truck. I’m just dropping Mila back off to you.”
“Well, thank you, Blake. And thank your mother again for me. I didn’t know what to expect when I answered the call.”
“Will do,” he says, but there’s a strained tension between the two of them that I don’t understand. They never really meet each other’s eyes. “I better head home now. Goodnight, Mila.”
“Goodnight,” I mumble, perplexed. So now he’s all gracious and sweet?
Blake jumps back in his truck, waves, then drives off. His taillights shine bright in the distance until all at once they disappear, and he’s gone.
7
My phone rings and I answer the call, half-asleep, to the sound of Ruben’s enraged voice yelling down the line at me.
“Your father told me what happened last night. Totally, utterly one hundred percent unacceptable!”
“Good morning to you too, Ruben,” I mumble, sitting up in bed and checking the time on my phone. Eight a.m. Sunlight is filtering into my room, but my eyes are too sensitive, so I clamp them shut and rub at my eyelids. “Isn’t it only, like, six in LA? Why are you up so early?”
“Mila, darling, there’s no rest for the wicked in this industry,” he says dryly. “Your father was attending a very important dinner last night and you think that’s a good time to have your little hometown buddy call him? Where precisely were you? It didn’t sound like you were at the ranch as per my instructions.”
“He isn’t my buddy,” I protest. My throat feels scratchy from dehydration, and I pull back my sheets and stick a bare leg over the side of my bed so that the AC hits my skin in just the right spot.
“Then what happened? Are you befriending the Tennessee locals by offering personal phone calls with Everett Harding?”
How could I have forgotten how much of a pain in the ass Ruben is? He’s kinda like an uncle to me, but one that I loathe for always being on my back about everything. “Of course not! I was at a—” Abruptly, I stop myself. Maybe I shouldn’t be confessing to Ruben that I’ve broken his rules so soon.
“You were at a what, Mila?” he prompts.
“Okay, I went out with an old school friend to a tailgate party,” I say in defeat, but I have to rescue this so that Sheri doesn’t get in trouble too. “Sheri didn’t know, but don’t worry, she’s set me straight now. No leaving the ranch. Got it.”
“Mila,” Ruben practically growls. “Not even twenty-four hours and you’ve created a shitshow. Must be a new record. You just couldn’t stop yourself from mentioning your father, could you?”
“I didn’t! Someone else did! ”
He sighs. “Can I suggest that you bond with those relatives of yours, help muck out a horse stall or two, maybe read a couple romance novels? No leaving the ranch. No. More. Parties. Understood, Mila?”
I slowly peel open my eyes, adjusting to the light, and wake up enough to get defensive. “Ruben, that’s impossible. How do you expect me to maintain a low profile in Dad’s hometown where everyone knows exactly who we are? You should have packed me off to a different continent if you really want me to remain undetected.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” he huffs. “Like I could trust you out in the world.” Then his tone shifts. “To be honest, I don’t care where you are. But I’m taking over your social media accounts as of now.”
I squeeze my phone harder. “What?”
“I’ve changed all your passwords,” he announces. “You only have to put out one tweet – one photo on Instagram – that even remotely hints at the fact that you’re back at the old stomping grounds, and the paparazzi will start sniffing around.”
“Ruben, has anyone ever told you that you’re the most annoying person in the world?” I ask sweetly, wishing I could climb through the phone and strangle him.
“Yes, darling, plenty of times. But I’m the absolute best at what I do.” I hear him blow me a kiss down the line. “Now behave, Mila sweetie, and keep yourself busy at that ranch. Don’t have me call you a second time.”