Chapter Twenty-One
“Hmm, this is pretty interesting, Mom.”
“What is, sweetheart?” Iris asked, pausing from basting the turkey to look at Garlan, who sat at the breakfast bar with his laptop.
As scheduled, he had arrived in town Tuesday night, but instead of coming home, he had booked a rideshare to take him straight to the beach house.
That was when he’d told her his plans had changed.
Instead of staying in LA until Sunday, he would be flying to Atlanta on Friday.
His best friend, Prince Ari, and his parents and siblings were joining their Atlanta Westmoreland family for Thanksgiving.
Garlan wanted to spend time with Ari before returning to school.
She had arrived at the beach house that morning to find him jogging on the beach. The older he got, the more he looked like his father. Not only that, he walked like him and sounded like him. And then there was that Garlan Michaels smile that had captured her heart the first time she’d seen it.
“There’s an article about you and Mr. Caulder in the Wagging Tongue.”
She figured he was talking about the article and photo that had appeared in the Sunday morning issue.
“Yes, I know about that,” she said, deciding not to explain.
As far as she was concerned, no explanation was needed.
She was grown and didn’t have to answer to anyone.
Not even her son. Besides, when did he start reading that tabloid?
With nothing else to say, she went back to basting the turkey.
“The two of you looked good together at the game.”
Iris snatched her head up. Game? What picture was he looking at? Placing the baster down, she moved around the breakfast bar to glance over his shoulder and saw the article he’d been reading…as well as the photograph of the kiss she and Matt had shared when their team had won.
Since she’d been a participant in the kiss, she hadn’t realized just how passionate it had probably looked to others.
Thanks to whoever took the picture, now she did.
Matt’s arms were around her waist, and hers had been around his neck.
It looked like the kiss was more than a celebratory kiss for their team’s win.
Of course, the Wagging Tongue had to blow things out of proportion with the headline—Appears Candy Sumlar Was Wrong! This definitely looks like the real thing.
“I wished she hadn’t done that,” Iris muttered.
Garlan glanced over his shoulder at her. “You wished who hadn’t done what?”
“Pulled me and Matt into their little catfight. Everybody knows one of the editors of the Wagging Tongue, Ardella Rowe, and actress Candy Sumlar can’t stand each other. Ardella will use any opportunity to embarrass Candy.”
She paused a moment to continue reading more of the article. Had Ardella been at the game? Obviously, she had and hadn’t been sitting too far from them to get such a good photo of that kiss.
“And?”
She shifted her gaze from the article back to Garlan. “And what?”
“What does their spat have to do with you and Mr. Caulder?” he asked.
Iris drew in a deep breath and said, “At that charity function on Saturday night, I overheard Candy and her agent plotting to catch Matt off guard in a publicity stunt. I interceded before they could pull it off. When the article appeared in Sunday’s paper, it made Candy look desperate in her attempt to go after Matt.
To save face, she told a reporter that the kiss Matt and I shared Saturday night was a publicity stunt.
I suppose that, since we kissed again a week later at the game, Ardella wanted to prove her wrong and call her out.
I just hate that she’s using what’s going on with me and Matt to do so. ”
“And what is going on with you and Mr. Caulder, Mom?”
Iris leaned against the breakfast bar. She had no problem giving Garlan a straight answer.
He’d suspected her interest in Matt and his in her while they were in Westmoreland Country for the gender reveal party.
Then she had mentioned that since returning to LA, she and Matt had gone out.
She figured Garlan wanted to get the official 411 from her.
“Matt and I decided last Sunday to engage in an exclusive relationship. That means we will be seeing a lot of each other.”
“I’m glad, Mom. I like him a lot more than I liked Mr. Robinson and Mr. Forsythe. I thought Mr. Robinson was too clingy and Mr. Forsythe, too arrogant.”
Hmm… It didn’t go past Iris that his thoughts on Karlton and Warren were the exact same as Shauna’s. “Well, there you have it,” she said, returning to basting the turkey.
He didn’t say anything for a moment, but she knew he was watching her, so she glanced at him, caught him staring, and asked, “Is anything wrong?”
“I think Mr. Caulder will be good for you. I’m glad you have someone.”
She placed the baster aside, returned the turkey to the oven and then asked him, “Why are you so fired up about me having someone, Garlan? You implied the same thing while we were together in Westmoreland Country.”
“I told you why, Mom. I don’t want you to just have me.”
“And I’ve always told you that I don’t plan to ever remarry, so what Matt and I are sharing, although exclusive, is nothing more than companionship for a period of time. It will never lead to anything serious.”
“It could if you let it.”
A part of her believed that as well. “But that’s not what I want.”
“I think it’s something you need, Mom.”
“Why? Why are you so eager for me to be in a lasting relationship with someone?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, just stared at her over his laptop. Then, as if he’d made up his mind about something, he closed it and said, “We need to talk, Mom. About a decision I’ve made.”
A lump formed in Iris’s throat. He was finally going to tell her what had been bothering him.
She was glad, and no matter what decision he’d made about his college major or the university he attended, she would support him.
It was his life, after all. Granted, she had gotten used to the idea of him one day being an attorney, but she was on board with whatever made him happy.
She detected his nervousness. He obviously thought whatever he had to tell her would upset her. “Then by all means, let’s talk, Garlan,” she said, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel and heading to the living room.
She loved this house and recalled the first time Garlan brought her here.
She also recalled the weekends they had spent here before and after they had married.
Those had been happy times. Out of one of the windows was a beautiful view of the ocean.
The two-bedroom, two-bath beach cottage had been all Garlan needed when he purchased it.
For years, it was all she and her son needed when they wanted to escape hectic LA.
Sitting on the sofa, she watched Garlan Jr. take a chair across from her. “So, what decision have you made?”
“I’m not sure I want to go to law school when I finish Harvard.”
She nodded. She’d been expecting it and, in a way, had prepared for it. “But you are planning to get a bachelor’s degree from there.”
“Of course.”
Of course? And all this time she’d thought he’d been considering transferring to another university. One of the reasons he had wanted to attend Harvard was its renowned law school.
“Besides, Ari will start attending next fall, and we’ve always looked forward to being at Harvard together.”
She nodded again and let out a deep breath. She’d overreacted. Things weren’t as bad as she’d thought. Not attending law school wasn’t the end of the world. Besides, as a political science major, he could always attend law school later, when he was older. He could even venture into politics.
No longer feeling tense, she leaned back against the sofa cushions, smiled and asked, “So, what would you like to do after college instead of going to law school?”
“I want to become a stuntman like Dad.”
* * *
Iris was convinced all the blood had drained from her face. He could not have said what she thought he had. No way did he just say he wanted to become a stuntman. The very occupation that had taken his father from her. From them.
She shook her head. “No, Garlan, you can’t. There’s no way I can let you do that.”
“Mom, please calm down.”
Iris hadn’t realized she’d stood and was talking to him in a raised voice. “I can’t calm down, Garlan. Being a stuntman is how I lost your dad. I refuse to lose you the same way. I can’t.”
“I figured you would behave this way, Mom. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.
But a part of me felt you should know. Not sharing something that means a lot to me was tearing me up inside.
I haven’t been able to eat, sleep or think about school, Mom.
We’ve always been able to talk about everything, but I knew the topic of me becoming a stuntman was something I couldn’t share with you until I thought you were ready to hear it. ”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Well, I’m still not ready to hear it.”
“But you’ve heard it, Mom. My decision has been made. I still have two years left at Harvard—I’m not giving that up. But I’m thinking ahead to when I turn twenty-one and have college behind me.”
“But why a stuntman?”
“After studying hard at Harvard for four years, I want to do something I will enjoy. It’s been a passion of mine.”
“A passion of yours? Since when?”
“Since those summers I spent in Westmoreland Country and helped my godmother at her acting school. I enjoyed doing the hard stunts, and then that summer, when a real-life stuntman came to give a workshop, he recognized my name and said he was a friend of Dad’s.
He told me how good Dad was, so I began watching many of the movies he had performed in.
It didn’t matter if no one else knew, the man with the hardest part in the movie was my dad.
I knew it, Mom. For the last few years, being a stuntman has been my dream.
I refuse to let you take it away from me. ”
“Garlan…”