"Well, fuck that bitch, then," Silas said. "I mean, I wouldn't want to look at your ugly mug, but still, fuck her."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," I said. "You gone out to mom's lately? Got anymore conspiracy theories about what's going on in this town?"
"I still maintain that shit wasn't an accident," Silas said. "But I'm leaving it alone. If mom whacked the asshole over the head with a rock, more power to her. He deserved it."
"Glad to hear you're finally being reasonable," I said. "Now if you can just convince mom to be reasonable."
"About what?"
"I don't know," I said. "She's got some kind of offer on the land. Wouldn't show me the paperwork. I told her she needed to show it to a lawyer, see if it's a fair deal."
"This is what I'm talking about," Silas said. "He dies, and she gets an offer on the property?"
I sighed. "They're not related, you moron," I said. "That developer is trying to buy up lots of property around here, some mining company or shit. Don't you read the shit they put out-the notices?"
"Fuck, no."
"You want to go by mom's this weekend?" I asked. "See if maybe you can talk some sense into her, get her to at least consider whatever they're offering her for the property. I'm worried she's going to miss the opportunity to cash that hellhole in for what she can get, and then she'll have nothing. I'm sure she's got nothing."
A dark look crossed Silas' face. "Can't this weekend," he said.
"What, you got something better going on?" I asked. "Don't even try to bullshit me, I already asked Roger and he said you're not bouncing this weekend."
"I just can't," Silas said. "Mind your own goddamn business, all right?"
"Fine," I said, standing up to leave. "But see if you can talk some fucking sense into her too. I'm going to go see her this afternoon. You're her favorite. I'm bad cop. You go play good cop."
"I'll talk to her when I get back," Silas said.
"Good."
I didn't know what the hell Silas had going on, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. He looked like he was burning the candle at both ends, more so the past two weeks. The skin under his eyes was dark, and he looked like he hadn't slept in a week.
It better not be his conspiracy theories keeping him awake, I thought.
Of course, I doubted I looked much better either. Looking at him was like looking in the mirror.
Instead of sleeping, I found myself keeping tabs on River like some kind of celebrity stalker. At first, I'd tried to ignore everything that went between us, pretend like it never happened. But then I went home to my new house, the place I was renting, and all the damn silence got to me.
I should have gone to stay with my mom, but the thought of going back to that hellhole was too depressing, so I'd rented a place. And then, with too much time on my hands, I couldn't get my mind off of River, thinking about what she was doing now, what she was wearing, how she smelled...how she tasted when I put my mouth between her legs.
I couldn't get her out of my head. She'd taken up residence there, and wouldn't let me go.
She was on a movie set, some romantic comedy about a small-town girl and a famous guy. Ironic, that. Small Town Love was the name of it. Her movie studio had issued a statement - she was here in West Bend doing in-depth research for her film.
Real fucking in-depth.
I wondered if that's really all it was, between her and me. Research.
The gossip sites said she'd gotten a new place, cut her mom off financially. I was pissed as hell at her for leaving like she did, but I couldn't help but feel secretly proud of her for jettisoning her toxic mother from her life.
And then there was the speculation about her recently-divorced costar, apparently one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors. They'd been photographed outside the set, his hand on her arm.
If I ever met the guy in person, I'd fucking throttle him.
She hadn't issued a statement about anything. I wanted to know what the hell she would say.
***
RIVER
Brandon reached for my hand, covering it with his. "Why don't you come by tonight," he said. "You can cry on my shoulder."
I pulled my hand back like I'd been electrocuted. "I'm not really looking for anything more than friends," I said. Brandon, my co-star, seemed nice enough at first, all sympathetic after I'd gotten back from West Bend and was just pissed off at having to be on set. No offense taken, he'd said, grinning, when I told him I just didn't have it in me to be here.
He was recently divorced himself, and said he understood the feeling. Sitting in his trailer right now, though, I was definitely getting a creep vibe from him.
I was regretting going to his trailer to read over lines, and I was regretting talking to him about Elias. Brandon laughed. "I wasn't suggesting we'd be anything more than friends," he said. "But friends can still screw, can't they?
"Thanks but no thanks," I said, turning to leave. "I'm all right with my lines, actually. We can read on set."