“What makes you say that?”
“I had a call with Vanessa earlier today. She said you won’t talk to her.”
“Did she tell you her ex spent the night?”
“In the guest house. You have no idea how much he hurt her. There’s no way she’d ever take him back.”
“You didn’t see the ruby he gave her.”
“He also proposed.”
“He what? What did she say?”
Riley smirks at me. “She hasn’t given him an answer yet. Sounds like you need to take your own advice, bro, and fight for what you want.”
Shelby’s Bungalow - Sunset Boulevard
SHELBY
After a morning prenatal massage, a blowout and makeup application, and a lovely poolside lunch, I have the hotel driver take me to the sports bar where Marcy works. I purposely dressed in my old clothes so I wouldn’t stand out. If I came in all classy, the people I’m friends with who work here would ask questions. Dressed like this, me sitting at the bar while Marcy works is a normal occurrence. There are two customers eyeing me from the end of the bar. Businessmen, in town for one of the conferences held at the hotel up the street, most likely. I’m wearing a pair of skintight jeans, cheap black booties, and a white T-shirt that shows off the cleavage God blessed me with.
Really, the cleavage is what they are staring at.
Bleach-blonde Shelby would have flirted with them.
The new Shelby will not.
I ignore them and sit down in front of Marcy, who is filling glasses from the tap.
“Hey,” she says, sliding one of the beers in front of me. “What’s up? You decide to slum or is the gig up, and you need a place to stay?”
“I have something for you.” I smile at her and hand her an envelope. She sets it on the wet counter, delivers beer to the men, and then comes back.
“It’s not even my birthday,” she says, ripping the envelope open. When she sees the check, her eyes widen. “Is this a joke?”
“No, I’ve had incredible fortune lately and am living my dream, and I want that for you too. I didn’t have much of a family and being able to send you back to yours would mean a lot to me.”
She runs out from behind the bar and throws her arms around me in an uncustomary show of emotion.
“Oh my God! I’m so excited! My parents will be so happy!”
“And you can do what you love.”
She jumps up and down.
“Is this for real? Will the check bounce?”
“No, it won’t,” I say, holding up my hand to discreetly show off a very large, but very fake engagement ring.
“What is that?” she asks, pulling my hand into the light. “It’s so big it almost doesn’t look real.”
“I know. It’s crazy. The bigger they are, the faker they look. But, trust me, it’s real. We’re getting married!”
“Really? God, you work fast, girl. When is it? I want to come!”
“Oh, I so wish you could,” I lie. “But we’re going to the Maldives. Just the two of us.” I quickly change the subject. “So when will you leave for home?”
“As fast as I can pack my shit up and go. Thank you, Shelby. You’re an amazing friend.”
“You’re welcome, and don't be a stranger. Text me with lots of updates!”
“I absolutely will,” she says sincerely.
The second I leave the bar, I drop my phone on the concrete, causing the glass to shatter.
I carefully pick it up and call Tyler.
“I’m so klutzy. I dropped my phone, and it broke.”
“I’ll order you a new one,” he says.
“Do you think you could get me a new number? Mine is one digit off a pizza place, and I get so many wrong numbers.”
“Sure thing. Anything else you need?”
“No, but I didn’t get a chance to thank you for setting me up with the personal shopper. She was really nice.”
“It was my pleasure,” he says, then ends the call.
I get in the town car, pour myself a glass of complimentary champagne, roll down the window, and chuck the fake ring out.
Then I lean back into the plush seat.
The only person who knows the baby isn’t Riley’s is gone.
Now, I just need to figure out how to manipulate a paternity test.
And get him to put a ring on it for real.
Keatyn & Aiden’s home - Malibu
KEATYN
“That was some birthday party,” Aiden says as we’re getting in the car to head home.
“I feel like I didn’t really get to spend much time with the girls but, then again, this party was more for their friends.”
“And apparently they have a whole lot of them. The place was packed,” Aiden says.
“Well, that’s to be expected. All three girls have such different interests, so you had guests from the music, fashion, and movie industries. Tommy and Mom went a little crazy on their gifts, but it’s their eighteenth birthday, of course they’d do it up big.”
“Most of the night, I was reminiscing about your eighteenth birthday party. Remember how we danced all night long?”
“I wish we could have danced more tonight.”
“Why didn’t you want to?”