Meet Me at the Starlight

Chapter 14

MATT

The diner was quiet, waiting for the lunch rush. Miss Beulah, a friend of Granny’s, manned the Blue Plate’s hostess stand today, making napkin rolls.

“Well, bless my eyes! Look who’s here.” She ruffled Matt’s hair and leaned toward Harlow. “I remember him when he was running around town in his underdrawers.”

“Really? Do tell.”

“I was three,” Matt protested.

“Now he’s a big star. Tuesday’s so proud.” Miss Beulah clutched a couple of menus against her ample chest and walked toward the large Gulf-facing pane window. “A booth in the back?”

When she passed out the menus, her gaze lingered on Harlow. If she said anything about her looking like Harlow Hayes, Matt planned to announce, “Because she is Harlow Hayes.” She couldn’t hide forever.

Miss Beulah took their drink order. Matt ordered a Coke and Harlow a Diet Coke. When he opened his menu, she shoved hers aside.

“I can’t keep doing what I’m doing. Not if I want to move on from Xander and win the CCW job.” She stared off for a moment. “Some ladies walked in as I was about to step on the scale. One of them told me the scale was a liar.” She smiled softly. “I don’t think it lied today.”

“Did you want it to lie?”

“Actually, no. It feels good to be honest with myself. Matt, when I saw those women, I felt like one of them. Not some prima donna with an unrealistically thin body, walking the runway in a ten-thousand-dollar dress.” She leaned toward him. “So, what’s the deal with you and that cashier?”

“Oooh, sorry, you’ve hit your first red light.”

“I see. She’s the one that got away? Ooo, is she the girl you kissed? Patti What’s-her-name?”

“No. She’s the sister of my best friend. Former best friend.”

“Former is very telling.”

Should he confess? Just say it? “I ruined my friend’s life, Harlow.” Instead, he said, “For the record, I like you as you are, Harlow.”

When she smiled, the dark, cold spot in the core of his being at the mention of Booker Nickle warmed a little. “You are so good at changing the subject.”

“So are you.”

“And you don’t have to say you like me as I am now. No one else does.”

“Who cares? Do you like yourself?”

“I like who I am now, sitting with you in this booth.”

“Me too. Because I see the in-command girl I met on set. HH, head of the boardroom, walking in like a boss.”

“That girl was terrified. Her confidence was fake. She wanted people to believe she belonged there. That she’d earned the part.”

“We did believe you. I watched you, and your confidence was not fake. And don’t credit Xander for any of your success. You knew who you were the first day.”

Miss Beulah set down their sodas, and Harlow took a long sip. She ordered a house salad with oil and vinegar. Matt ordered the same.

“When I was asked to audition for Talk to Me Sweetly, I felt like I’d earned that on my own. Not because Mom knocked on the right door, which she miraculously, mysteriously did when we first went to New York. But the part of Bryn was all me—well, that and being named Most Beautiful. Which I’m proud of because I think my hard work earned me the title. But if you ever tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”

“My lips are sealed. Hang onto the feeling,” Matt said. “You’ll earn the CCW job too, if it’s what you want. Do you? What does HH want for her life?”

She fiddled with her napkin roll. “Honest?”

“Honest,” he said.

“Don’t laugh.” She peered at him. “Harlow Hayes wants to rep CCW. But little ol’ me wants to be a wife and mom. Not very modern, is it?”

“Don’t look now, but Matt Knight wants to be a Hollywood superstar, but little ol’ me wants to be a husband and father.” Their laughter mingled and roped another piece of him. “Is that what happened with Xander? He didn’t want a family?”

“He wanted a family as much as I did. On our very first date, we talked about kids and where we would raise them. It was like we were already engaged.”

“So it was true love?”

She smiled softly. “Pretty much.”

Miss Beulah arrived with their salads. “A bird couldn’t live on this, but I suppose you know what you’re doing.”

Matt reached for the oil and vinegar after Harlow sparingly dressed her salad. “So what happened? All I heard was you mutually decided to go your separate ways.”

“According to Xander’s press agent.” She stabbed at her salad without taking a bite. “I’ve never told anyone the whole story. Not Mom or Jinx or my therapist.”

“You don’t have to tell me, Harlow.”

“It’s just so humiliating and painful. How could someone I loved, who said he loved me, treat me the way he did?”

“Matt, Matt, Matt.” Dale Cranston’s pear-shaped shadow fell over the table. “How long are you in town?”

“We’re in the middle of a conversation here, Dale.” Matt sat back, guarded.

“My apologies.” Dale shifted the toothpick in his mouth from one side to the other. “You’re not going to win on this eminent domain thing.”

“And here I was expecting to see your John Hancock on the petition for a vote.”

Dale removed the toothpick as he laughed. “Hollywood made a dreamer out of you. I’ll tell you what, though, the prince knew what he was doing when he built the rink on the rock. That’s why we’re reclaiming the land. With the rink out of the way, we can move forward, embrace progress, do what needs to be done. Can’t live in the past, Matty.”

Dale had always been an arrogant blowhard. Even when Matt worked for him at the theater, he’d kept a running dialogue against Granny and the Starlight. Of course, Matt reported back to her. The only reason he worked there was because Granny made him.

“I made the mistake with your pa and uncle of leaning on them too much for the Starlight. You go work for someone else. It’ll be good for you. Besides, I prefer the title of Granny, not boss.”

“We’re not trying to live in the past,” Matt said. “We’re all for progress. Just not for destroying the best part of this town.”

“You’re David, and we’re Goliath,” Dale said. “Can’t fight city hall, you know.”

“Dale, Goliath lost.”

“Whatever. Matt, be realistic. Tuesday is too old and decrepit to run the rink. Are you going to give up your career for the Starlight?” He held out his hand to Harlow. “Dale Cranston, Matt’s old boss at the Midnight movie theater. This boy ate his weight in popcorn, but I like to think the Midnight is the reason he fell in love with the movies.”

Harlow offered her hand, which Cranston held too long.

“Have we met?” He stepped back to glance at Harlow up and down. “I’ve seen you before. Where have I seen you?”

“Dale, this is Harlow Hayes. She played Bryn in Talk to Me Sweetly. Which you just showed at the Midnight.”

“By golly, I heard you blimped up, but dang, girl.” Dale scrunched up his face. “Is this why that millionaire dumped you?” He puffed out his cheeks and held his arms wide to indicate an expanded girth. “You were gorgeous in the movie, but wow—” He swatted Matt on the arm with the back of his hand. “Guess she’s pretty enough for a tumble or two, am I right?”

Son of a—

Matt threw the first punch as he slid from the booth, then finished Dale with an uppercut, and cross. The rube movie theater owner and city councilman tumbled backward into a waitress loaded down with dirty dishes. Food and white porcelain went everywhere as the two of them Geronimoed into the adjacent table. Audra and the staff spilled out of the kitchen, demanding to know what was going on.

Matt apologized, dropped a wad of cash on the table, and grabbed Harlow’s hand. “Let’s go.”