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“You need to keep busy. How about another trip? We had fun in San Diego last weekend, didn’t we?”
I force a smile. “We did.”
The effort to keep it there is too much, and it drops the minute Mum turns away to check her phone that’s charging on the counter.
“How about San Francisco? We can tour Alcatraz? Ride a cable car?”
“Sure, sounds fun.”
Guilt coils itself inside my chest. I’m getting exactly what I’ve always wanted. To be here with Mum. Seeing new places, exploring, just being mother and daughter again. She’s taken so much time off work to keep me company and tried her best to distract me whenever we’ve seen an Atlantic Airways billboard when we’re driving around the city.
“Great. I’ll book something,” she says, reading something on her phone.
“Okay.” I inject a cheeriness into my voice. Maybe if I fake it, it’ll start to feel real.
I’ve smiled in all of the photos we’ve taken on our trips. To anyone who didn’t know, I’d look happy. Like I’m living my best life. I even convinced Gramps that I am. The happiness in his voice when I told himwhat a great time I’m having made me cry silently down the phone as he told me he loved me and hung up. Liv knows me better. She knows there’s more to Jet’s disappearance. She asked me if I found him with someone else. Because that’s the worst thing she can think of him doing to me.
“Have you thought any more about the suggestions Ophelia had?” Mum asks, unplugging her phone and turning to me.
“Yeah, I like the British actress, Cora. I think I’d like the part to go to someone new who isn’t well-known.”
Mum nods. “Good. I liked her too. And she’s a natural redhead. She looks a little like you did at that age.”
I lift my bottle of grapefruit juice and take a sip. No one cares if I leave lipstick around the rim.
“It’ll be good to get things moving. You don’t want Ophelia to change her mind. She must get a pile of screenplays on her desk every day. You need to act quickly in this business, darling.”
“I know. I’m ready to move forward with it now. I just needed a bit more time to get settled here, that’s all.” I lie so smoothly I almost believe myself.
Mum walks over and pulls me into a hug.
“I’m so proud of you. My daughter, the screenwriter,” she hums happily as she holds me.
“Thanks, Mum.”
She pulls back, her eyes glittering. “This is exciting. We’ll be walking down that red carpet at your premiere, cameras going off everywhere, people callingour names.” She pulls a dramatic pouty face, pretending to pose, which makes me smile a little.
“I need to work up to the idea of that not making me want to hurl.”
“Nonsense. It’s so fun, you’ll love it. You can start practicing tonight.”
“Tonight?”
She walks to her purse and pulls out a bow-wrapped card, presenting it to me with a beaming smile. “Open it.”
The familiar caramel-colored bow slides through my fingers, making my skin tingle.
“Is this?”
Mum bites her lower lip, her eyes bright as I pull the ribbon and open up the card.
“No way.” I look up at her, a jolt of excitement appearing from the depths of my stomach. The feeling is so alien, I almost don’t recognize it. “You’re going to this?”
“We both are.” She taps the invitation to the couture lingerie house’s new season runway show. “Girls’ night out.”
“This is… Wow,” I breathe, soaking up the atmosphere.
We’re sitting in the second row near the end of the raised runway, surrounded by a whole bunch of people who look like they invented the word glamor. I smooth my hands over my emerald green, silk dress. It’s got a high neckline, but there are cut-out sections along the torso, showing a glimpse of flesh. Mum and I spent the day shopping for new outfits and getting our hair styled. It’s the most fun I’ve had in weeks, a real mother-daughter day.
