Good ol’ dependable Briar.
Le sigh.
“Come on. Give me a hug and call when you get there.” My mom sniffled as she pulled me in tight.
“Mom, seriously?” My voice was muffled by her shoulder. “I’m just driving across town. I’m not even leaving the city.”
“You’re going to the Hills. It’s not just a different city, it’s a whole different world,” my mom said, patting my back and making my heart lurch in my chest. She pulled back and gave me a tearful smile. “And I’ll always want to know you’re okay when you get there. You’re still our baby girl, no matter how old you get, and you’ve been through so much already.”
My breath hitched in my chest at the reminder. I didn’t want to remember the pain I’d worked so hard to put behind me. “I’ll be fine, Mom. And maybe once I’m settled you can come over and see there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Me, meet Captain America?” Mom put her hand to her forehead and faked a swoon. “He’s on my five free celebrities list, you know?”
I shuddered. “More than I needed to know, Mom. Can we go back to the part where you treat me like a kid and not an equal? Suddenly I’m missing that dynamic.”
“It’s half the reason I don’t trust the son of a bitch,” Dad muttered as he pulled me in for a quick hug.
I kissed his cheek and pitched my voice low when I spoke. “If it helps any, he struck me as the prickly, grumpy type. I doubt he’d charm the pants off of Mom.”
“He better not. Or yours either.”
I laughed. I really wasn’t worried about that. Kingston apparently saved all his charm for his daughter, work, and the red carpet. He’d shown none of it to me. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Dad.”
“Famous last words.” He shook his head. “Drive safe!”
“And call us!” Mom shouted.
I waved to them both and then climbed into my car and drove away.
I loved my parents, but sometimes they were too much. Me and Kingston together? Yeah right.
And I really didn’t want to think about Kingston and my mom. That was the kind of stuff that would keep me up at night. Ack.
Of course, now that I was alone, I was left with my nervous thoughts that even the radio couldn’t drown out. Could I really do this? I was essentially signing up to be a surrogate mom to this little girl. A job I’d always wanted but was still so scary to take on. I’d be solely responsible for the safety and no doubt education of a toddler.
My stomach wobbled in a way that had nothing to do with the hilly road in front of me.
I could do this.
Iwantedto do this.
Zoe was so stinking cute. I was sure it’d be fine.
Probably.
* * *
After a ridiculous amount of traffic and frustration, I pulled up to Kingston’s ornate metal gates with three minutes to spare. I pressed the button on the speaker and waited for someone to answer. But instead of a voice, a buzzer sounded, and the gates slowly opened.
I pulled through them and drove down Kingston’s driveway. With not a crack in the pavement and the immaculately landscaped flower beds bordering, I would’ve thought I was approaching a royal castle. But when the concrete tower of glass and steel came into view, I remembered I was still in the Hollywood Hills.
Last time, I’d been so distracted by Adam’s exacting instructions, I hadn’t had time to take in the view. It was…big. And kinda cold looking. There wasn’t any wood or… I don’t know—those little touches that made it look like a home and not the centerfold forArchitectural Digest.
It was no doubt expensive and immaculate, but it definitely wasn’t some place I’d want to live. Or a place I’d imagine children lived either. There was no clutter of toys or room for kids to run and play. That backyard looked like a death trap with the retaining walls and huge cliff.
Mental note: play with Zoeinside.
Shaking my head, I parked where I had the last time then took a quick second to send my mom a text.