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He shakes his head and looks into the distance again like he’s racking his brain for an answer, but nothing’s coming up from the well for him.
“No. Like you said, it’s possible there’s a fan or something I don’t know about. But I’ve never had anything happen like this.”
“Not even when you were involved with Sahara or Nikki?”
His mouth flatlines at the mention of some of his more famous dates. He never brought them home to meet his parents or the rest of us, but he definitely attended his fair share of red carpet events with them.
“There were some paparazzi involved with them. More photographers than usual. A gossip reporter digging into my life a little, but I shut it all down quickly.”
“None that would have stayed interested in you after?”
“It was so long ago. I can’t imagine they would.”
“All right. I just wish there was a simple explanation. I’d almost feel better if you had a huge fan or something. Someone who was mad that you were dating. I mean… Not that we’re dating. Obviously, we would not be dating. We’re not dating. But I can see how it could have looked that way from the outside. Maybe.” I trip over my words and hedge a glance in his direction, seeing the way his mouth crumples for a moment. It’s hard for me to tell if it’s a cringe or amusement that triggers it, but he clears it almost immediately.
“Right.” He nods.
“Hopefully, it was just a random thing.”
“Hopefully,” he agrees. “I’m just down the hall if you need me though. Or you’ve got my number in your phone. I keep it next to me. If anything else happens, you let me know, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.” I force a smile despite the awkwardness of this. “And thank you again, for letting me stay.”
“Anytime, Trix. Anytime.”
9
Cooper
The next morning, I barely get a chance to talk to Trix before she leaves to go to the stadium for some early PR appointment that Madison and Quentin have. She’s playing a support role. But I talked to her long enough to find out that she was tagged in another picture from the fair. That whoever is doing this hadn’t just taken a few rogue pictures to prank her but is tagging her again this morning.
It made me nervous to even watch her leave on her own, but she was in such a hurry to get out the door and run by the hotel to change her clothes, I could barely argue with her. I want her out of the hotel, period. Her going back there, even in the bright light of daytime, seems like a risk if they’re following her. They might already know where she’s staying. They might already have watched her walk from the hotel to the stadium every day. It makes my skin crawl and my fingers twitch around my cup.
“Dad?” Lizzy asks, and I realize that while I’ve been imagining scenarios in my head, she came into the room to gather cereal and a bowl for breakfast.
“Yeah?”
“What’s got you distracted? Is Trix still here?”
“No. She left early to go to work.”
“Is something wrong?”
I turn the words I want to say over in my head, looking for something that isn’t a lie but a believable half-truth. I’m not ready to have a conversation about how Trix makes me feel with anyone, let alone with my daughter who already adores her, or tell her what’s actually going on in terms of Trix’s safety.
“Not wrong exactly. Just thinking about Trix in that hotel.”
“I was going to say… Maybe you should ask her to stay here? You guys could commute together. No one ever stays in the guest room. She’s just here for the summer, right?”
The summer is short. Too short. I want her longer than that, but I’ll take a summer if I can get one. It’s better than her being gone permanently. A strange part of me was upset when she and Rob broke up, not that I wanted them together but that I thought I’d never see her again. No more holidays with her there. No more summer trips to the family lake house. No more seeing her in one of her sundresses, laughing as my parent’s dog chased after the ball she’d thrown for him, or her curled up next to Lizzy on the couch playing video games together.
“Yeah. I think so. She’s got plans going forward.” I think about her work with Madison and the looming potential she disappears from our lives again.
“Uncle Rob’s an idiot for leaving her and for that woman he’s dating now. She’s so rude and standoffish and not nearly as pretty or smart as Trix.”
“Be nice. She might be your new aunt the way he’s been talking.” I couldn’t debate the merits of her argument. Rob’s new girlfriend is standoffish and a little rude. She’s nowhere near as pretty as Trix, at least not in my opinion, but my brother has shared enough details for me to know that he has other reasons why he likes her. None I can share with Lizzy.
“Gross. I hope Trix finds someone better. Maybe we could set her up with one of your friends. Or someone on the team? Maybe it could get her to stay here longer?” Lizzy looks up at me hopefully.
