“He was really great, wasn’t he? But I think it was just a part he was playing for a role,” Paisley said as she sank down onto the couch.
Delaney sat down next to her, putting her arm around Paisley’s shoulder.
“Not to be crass...but are you keeping the baby?” Delaney asked.
“Yes. I mean from the moment I realized I was pregnant, I just wanted the baby. Even knowing he lied to me, I still want the child.”
It was like from the moment that she’d confirmed it she knew she wouldn’t be alone anymore. She would have a little human that she could nurture and trust. Her mom had been unreliable growing up because she had covered for Paisley’s dad as a way to try to protect Paisley and her siblings. But lies always came to the surface. However, with this baby, she could have the family she’d always wanted. She was going to have someone in her life whom she could love unconditionally, and after tonight, she needed that more than ever.
“We are going to be the best aunties any baby ever had,” Delaney promised. “And the best support you could ask for.”
Olive handed them all bowls of rocky road ice cream, then sat down on Paisley’s other side. “What about Jack... I mean, Sean? It’s odd to think of him as someone other than Jack.”
“I know. I haven’t told him about the baby. I just need space to deal with his news.”
“Of course, you couldn’t,” Olive murmured. “Delaney and I can handle anything that comes up if you need a few days off.”
“No. I’m going to be working as normal. It’s the holiday season and I have a few clients who need to make the most of the season of giving to help their images,” Paisley said. She had to focus on work. Because right now she knew that was the only way she was going to get over Sean and her broken heart. She wasn’t going to let him take anything more from her.
Her friends were going to stay the night. Delaney made her laugh by sharing a story of how she and her fiancé, Nolan, had been interrupted while making love by his six-year-old daughter, Daisey. Meanwhile, Olive washed the sheets on her bed and put everything of Sean’s in a box, then stuck it near the door.
She knew she should be grateful for her friends and they lightened her mood, but she needed to be alone to plan her way out of this. To pretend that her broken heart would mend and that she was going to be okay again. Because right now it sure felt like she wouldn’t be.
Sitting alone in his hotel room, Sean knew he needed a new script for himself and Paisley, but another part of him knew that what she needed was the real man. Not a part he was playing. And he’d never been good at that. He had grown up in front of the camera and embodying whatever role he was given had always been easy for him.
His career had started at age six and it had taken him years of therapy to realize that the connections he had when the camera was rolling had felt more real than his relationship with his television-character-actor mother.
That first role had been with his mom on her series, but soon he caught fire with the audience and he became the breakout star. His relationship with his mother had never been the same, since Sean’s fortunes continued to grow and hers waned.
His phone rang and he glanced at the screen to see it was his agent, Thom Mulholland. They’d both been child actors together until Thom had followed in his dad’s footsteps and started working at his entertainment agency.
He answered the video call, propping up his phone on the bottle of Jack Daniel’s that he’d opened when he’d gotten back to his room.
“Dude, you are screwed. Is that the girl you’ve been living with?”
“Thanks, Thom. I already figured that out,” Sean grumbled.
“Just saying that photo of the two of you is already all over the place. And she looks...well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
“Yeah, me, either.”
“So what’s next?” Thom asked.
“I don’t know.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I mean, I can’t just channel another role—Paisley would never forgive me.”
“So be yourself.”
“No one likes the real me.”
“I do,” his agent said. “Except when you let your ego take over.”
“Why am I friends with you?”
“Because I keep it real,” Thom said.
“I could do with a little less realism and some sympathy, and maybe a plan.”
Thom leaned back in his chair, and behind him, Sean could see the windows that he knew overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Thom tended to work out of his Malibu mansion.