Dash had not been hugged by his dad since...well, he couldn’t remember when. And he stood frozen to the spot as he let his dad embrace him. “Your mother means well, even though it doesn’t feel that way all the time. I hope you know that. She assured me we’ll fight this.” Then his dad pulled back but said into his ear, “Be strong.”
Yes, Be strong, Dash. Words he’d heard so many times when he didn’t want to be on set, or auditioning for a role, or at some event he’d been asked to attend. Dash shoved down whatever hesitations he had, turned away from his parents, and walked toward the open door that would take him home.
19
SOPHIE
Sophie should’ve gone home. But she’d already waited two hours, so what was one more?
She sat on a bench as the summer heat burned the concrete and sent warmth up through the soles of her sandals. Even the shade from the overhead palms that lined the sidewalk didn’t provide any kind of relief. She was outside Formosa Cafe, a historic landmark that was a restaurant and bar. The interior was all wood paneling, terrazzo floors, and red booths that gave off a classic Hollywood vibe, which was fitting, since stars like James Dean and Ava Gardner used to drink there. Sophie had also drunk at the bar before, and she could use one of their green tea martinis to cool down.
But today the spot served as a shooting space for her sister’s show, Second Chance Kitchen. Enormous production trucks lined Santa Monica Boulevard, the backs of them open and carrying electrical equipment. There was also a wardrobe truck filled with outfit options for Nina, and a hair-and-makeup trailer for the cast.
And while Sophie wasn’t sure where her sister was, she planned to wait so they could finally talk out the mess she’d made.
“Can I help you with something?” a cheery voice asked.
Sophie eyed the guy in his early twenties, who was short with the most gorgeous dark curls she’d ever seen. He held a latte with her sister’s name written on the side in one hand, and a clipboard in the other. She guessed he was part of the crew.
“I’m Sophie Lyon,” she replied. “Nina’s sister?” She said the last part as a question because, really, would Nina still be calling her a sister at this point or something less nice? Like, Most Likely to Spill Your Secrets after a Glass of Wine, for example.
“Oh, shit!” He covered his mouth with a hand. “I’m sorry, I just recognized you.”
Sophie couldn’t help but brighten. She was rarely—well, it’d only happened once—recognized out in the wild for her book. “You read Whisked Away?”
“Is that a TikTok thing? I love that you’re meeting up with your exes. So brave. If I had to see my ex, I’d need a few beta blockers to get through it.”
His words sank in, and Sophie realized he had not recognized her for being an author but for being a person on TikTok. Which was...not the best feeling, considering she was trying to save her writing career, not become an influencer. “Brave, yes,” she mumbled.
“Sorry to fangirl.” He scanned the clipboard at his side. “Does Nina know you’re coming?”
“She does, Tyler.” Sophie had clocked his name tag and hoped that by being nice he might take pity and bring her inside to the air-conditioning. “I’ve been waiting for her, actually.”
“We’re running a bit behind schedule today, so I’m not sure when she’ll get a break.” Tyler clutched the clipboard to his chest.
“You know I don’t take breaks.”
Sophie and Tyler turned at Nina’s voice.
Her sister walked toward them as a ray of sunshine broke through the rows of trailers and hit Nina in just the right way so that the glitter from her eyeshadow nearly blinded Sophie. She wore a plum, long-sleeved jumpsuit that hugged her curves and a pair of kitten heels. And while her makeup was meant to look natural and approachable, her high cheekbones always gave her the look of someone who could destroy your life with a blink.
And Sophie was certain that Nina might very well do that to her. “Damn, Nina,” Sophie said. “This outfit makes me want to wear pants, and you know I don’t mess with those.”
“Tyler, I’ll take the latte and meet you on set.” Nina kept her eyes on Sophie as she spoke.
When Tyler left, Sophie launched in. “Nina, let me explain—”
“I gave you a chance to explain, but you ignored me. So now it’s my turn to talk.” Nina sipped from her latte. “I love you more than anything, but whenever things get hard, you bail. You were so terrified of talking to me about what you did that you avoided me. I’m your sister. Do you know how that made me feel?”
Sophie licked her lips, but even her tongue seemed to have shriveled in the heat. As usual, her sister was absolutely right, Sophie had avoided her. Though Sophie hadn’t actually meant to, she supposed she had hurt Nina.
“It made you feel like shit?” Sophie glumly replied.
“Yes, like shit. So I made you wait because you deserve to have your feet in the fire, too. How does it feel?” Nina crossed her arms and sipped from the latte.
“Hot.” Sophie swallowed, though she didn’t even have saliva in her mouth at this point. “Like, very hot.”
Nina’s jaw clenched, then she rolled her eyes and reached into a back pocket where she pulled out a small bottle of water. She tossed the bottle to Sophie, though Sophie completely missed and had to bend over and pick it up off the ground.
After gulping down the water in a few hearty sips, Sophie said, “I’m sorry.”
“You better be sorry. You totally blew up my spot.”
“I know.” Sophie dabbed her fingers at her inner elbow, which was somehow sweating. “I didn’t mean to—”
But Nina interrupted her, “Leo and I are pregnant.”
Sophie frowned. What was her sister even talking about? “You’re...”
“Yeah.” Nina cracked a smile. “One of those frozen eggs got put into a surrogate. She’s twelve weeks along. We tried a few rounds of IVF, but the toll it takes on you...” Nina’s smile faded as she shook her head. “I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Sophie was...well, she was flabbergasted, really. Her sister was going to have a baby? Yes, she’d known that Nina had frozen her eggs, and that might mean that she’d eventually use them. But she hadn’t known that Nina and Leo had already tried IVF, or even considered a surrogate. How could she not know any of this? “You didn’t tell me” was all she could think to say.
“I didn’t want you to worry, and as we both know, you can’t keep a secret.” Nina shrugged as she took another sip of her coffee.
Well, okay, she had accidentally revealed Nina’s secret, but she’d managed to keep Dash a secret, hadn’t she?
She wanted to be happy for her sister. She should be hugging her and telling her how excited she was to be an aunt. But she was hurt. Nina keeping a massive secret like this made her feel like her sister didn’t trust her. “I really am sorry.”
“I know you are. And I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.” Nina’s expression softened slightly. “You’re going to be an amazing auntie to this girl. And I expect you to be there for me, for her, for us. So no more ghosting. Okay?”