Chapter 12 Roan
ROAN
The moment Roan and Jason walked into the restaurant, Roan’s attention immediately zeroed in on the booth near the back where Reese and Mauve were already seated. Reese looked up, caught his eye, and gave him a soft, private smile that made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
The place was packed—families and teenagers filling every booth, the smell of baking dough and savory sauce hanging thick in the air. Holiday chaos at its finest.
“Ladies,” Jason said, sliding into the booth across from them with his trademark grin. “Hope we didn’t keep you waiting.”
“Just got here,” Mauve said, her eyes a little wide. Starstruck, Roan realized. She was trying to play it cool, but she was definitely a fan.
Roan slid in next to Reese, their shoulders brushing. Under the table, her hand found his, fingers tangling together like they’d been doing it for years.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” He couldn’t stop looking at her, but he pulled himself together long enough to introduce his brother to Mauve.
“Nice to meet you,” Mauve said. “I’m kind of a fan of your show. And you.”
“Thank you. That’s kind of you to say,” Jason said modestly. “I’ve been blessed. But it’s nice to be home for the holidays and away from L.A. for a bit.”
Mauve tilted her head, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, watching Jason with a dreamy expression in her eyes. “You look just like you do on TV.”
“Sometimes people say they thought I’d be taller,” Jason said, smiling. “I always tell them I would have been had my twin brother not taken all of the nutrition in the womb.”
Roan laughed. “That’s not true.”
“It is. I was a whole eight ounces smaller than him,” Jason said. “And I’ve been trying to catch up to my clever brother ever since.”
Roan rolled his eyes, reaching for the menu. “You can tell this guy lives in Hollywood, right?”
“What do you like here?” Jason asked Mauve. “Do you have a favorite?”
Roan and Reese exchanged a humored glance. Apparently, his brother and Mauve seemed to have forgotten there were two others at the table.
“The Lumberjack, hands down,” Mauve said
“That’s my favorite too,” Jason said.
“How about one of those and one Veggie Delight?” Reese asked.
“She’s the healthy one of the two of us,” Mauve said to the men.
“Good thing you’re here, then,” Jason said.
They ordered, and a server brought them waters while they waited. Jason leaned back against the booth, his gaze fixed on Mauve.
Roan knew him well enough to see how taken he was with Reese’s pretty blonde friend. “So, Mauve, Reese mentioned you moved here recently. What brought you to town?”
“Fresh start,” Mauve said. “I was in New York for years, working at a hospital in Manhattan. But after my divorce, I just needed a change. Someplace quieter. Reese had been trying to get me to visit forever, so I came for a weekend and fell in love with it.”
“What do you do?” Jason asked.
“Speech therapy. I work at the elementary school now, plus some private clients.”
“Speech therapy?” Jason asked. “What a great job.”
Mauve’s eyebrows raised. “Most people don’t say that when I tell them what I do.”
“What do they say?” Roan asked, curious.
“Not much, really,” Mauve said. “But they kind of tilt their head and make a sympathetic noise like they feel sorry for me.”
“They do not,” Reese said, laughing.
Mauve gestured with her hands. “No, it’s true. I think it’s because I work mostly with children and people think it’s noble.”
“It is,” Jason said. “You help a lot of kids who need it.”
“Jason stuttered as a kid,” Roan said.
“Really?” Mauve said. “And here you are a famous actor.”
Jason nodded. “It was bad when I was younger, especially when I was stressed or nervous. My therapist was amazing, though. I’ll never forget her. Linda. Long brown hair and green eyes. I had such a crush on her. I used to fantasize about marrying her.”
“How old were you when you started therapy?” Mauve asked.
“Like eight. Before then, Roan basically talked for me because I was so shy and nervous about my stutter,” Jason said.
“I don’t remember you having a stutter,” Reese said.
“It was before you moved here,” Roan said. “Spoiler alert, Linda and I did not get married. However, she gave me a great gift. One that changed my whole life.”
“Regardless of you and Linda not working out, it was nice she was able to help you,” Mauve said, eyes sparkling. “Speech therapists live for progress like that.”
“She was the best,” Jason said. “Good old Linda.”
“She ended up marrying a doctor and moved to Burlington,” Roan said. “Killing Jason’s dream.”
Jason lifted his water glass. “To Linda, wherever she is.”
The others lifted their glasses to join the toast.
“Is it weird to be famous?” Mauve asked Jason.
“I’m not that famous, so not really. It’s not like I’m Brad Pitt or something.”
“He’s being modest. People come up to him wherever we go and want selfies,” Roan said.
“My brother gets annoyed, but I don’t mind,” Jason said. “People feel like they know you if they see you every week on television.”
“Totally. I’ve seen every episode of your show.” Mauve took a sip of her water, her voice carefully neutral. “My coworkers are obsessed. We have a whole group chat about it.”
“No way,” Jason said. “I would have thought you too smart to watch a show like mine.”
“What are you talking about?” Mauve’s eyes widened. “It’s so clever. Heartwarming. Funny. But so touching. And there’s nothing wrong with a show that helps people escape real life.”
“It’s kind of you to say,” Jason said. “I sometimes feel embarrassed by how often they film me without my shirt on.”
“Don’t be. You entertain a lot of people with that chest,” Mauve said.
Jason laughed. “Well, I do what I can for humanity.”
The pizza arrived. The Lumberjack, loaded with pepperoni, sausage, and ham smelled spicy and delicious. The Veggie Delight looked much too healthy.
“I haven’t eaten since this morning,” Mauve said, reaching for a slice of the Lumberjack. “So please don’t judge me. I bet women don’t eat in Hollywood, right?” She took a big bite, murmuring her approval.
“Depends on the woman,” Jason said. “But yeah, it’s a never-too-rich or too-thin type of town.”
“Thank God I have no acting talent,” Mauve said. “Because I’d really hate to give up pizza.”
“Jason’s agreed to our donation idea,” Roan said to Reese.
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Reese said. “People will go bananas for the chance to meet you and hang out on the set.”
“And he’s offering to pay for the flight and hotel out there,” Roan said.
“Um, what?” Mauve asked. “How did no one tell me this yet?”
“I forgot,” Reese said. “There’s been a lot going on.”
“I’m so bidding on that,” Mauve said. “But I doubt I’ll win. That’s going to be the talk of the gala.”
“You can come out to visit anytime,” Jason said. “I’ll take you to set. Introduce you to the cast. Whatever you want.”
“Don’t say it if you’re not serious,” Mauve said. “Because I will take you up on it.”
“We could all go,” Reese said. “Watch Jason work.” She turned toward Mauve. “When we were in high school, Jason was the star of all the school plays. There wasn’t a girl in town who wasn’t in love with him.”
Jason shook his head, flushing. “Not everyone. At least one was in love with my twin brother.”
“Who was that?” Reese asked, deadpan.
Jason turned slightly toward Mauve. “These two were inseparable back then. I was actually jealous.”
“You were not,” Reese said.
“No, I was.” Jason grimaced. “I used to write in my journal every morning back then. There were quite a few entries about how Roan had taken Reese from me.”
“I didn’t know you thought that,” Roan said.
“It was immature, but, hey, we were all kids. Basically anyway,” Jason said.
“Only we didn’t know it.” Reese turned to Jason and said with a teasing lilt to her voice. “You wrote in a journal?”
“Every day,” Jason said. “Still do. I start the day writing about what I’m grateful for. Gratitude’s the key to everything, you know.”
“That’s true,” Mauve said. “Although there are days it’s hard to find it. If you’re hurting, for example.”
“Yeah, sometimes you have to dig really deep,” Jason said.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, locking eyes.
Okay, interesting. Jason was smitten with Reese’s best friend. She seemed equally enamored by him.
“The same is true for forgiveness,” Reese said. “But there’s no reason to hold onto hurt or resentment forever.” She looked into Roan’s eyes quickly, before turning back to her half-eaten slice of pizza.
“All right, so let me get this straight.” Mauve eyes twinkled. “The key to happiness is to write in a journal every morning and to forgive people who have harmed you or hurt you in the past. That’s it?”
“There may be more, but that’s a good start,” Jason said, grinning.
They were nearly done by then. Mauve excused herself to use the restroom, while Jason offered to pay the bill and get boxes for the leftover pizza.
When they were alone, Roan turned toward Reese, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear, a gesture he had regularly done when they were kids newly in love. “How are you doing?”
She glanced down at her empty plate, a flush rising to her cheeks. “I’m good.”
“Do you remember when we used to skate on the lake?”
“Yeah. They’re not allowing that anymore. That’s why they have the pop-up rink.”
“It’s a pity. I used to love it out there this time of year,” Roan said.
“We could skate here in town.”
“Now?”
“Why not? Other than Mauve will protest. She’s not a good skater.”
“She and my brother seem to be hitting it off. Maybe that’ll change her mind.”
“I don’t know. She’s pretty guarded about her heart these days. The ex-husband really did a number on her.”
“Which means she should steer clear of Jason. He has a reputation.”
“He does?” Reese asked, looking worried.
“Models. Actresses. Socialites. You name it and he’s dated them.”
“I’ll make sure Mauve knows not to take his flirtation seriously.”
“That’s probably best.”