Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
To Do:
- Timed run of whole proposal
- New stupid bridle
- Mindfulness
Claire bustled into the restaurant with a thousand tasks whirling in her mind. As if it wasn’t bad enough that her mother had nearly been abducted, Brad’s requests were getting more elaborate by the day. The newest change was a very specific bridle to go with the very specific saddle for the very specific white horse he had already requested.
Mindy had dropped Claire off for lunch with her sisters while she went to a tack shop in East LA. If they didn’t have an exact match, they would be up all night distressing and staining a bridle to Brad’s exact standards. She could appreciate detail-oriented people. But this was getting insane. She fired off a text to Mindy.
Claire: Think we could shut off his internet for the next two and a half weeks?
“Claire!” someone called. She glanced up. Brianna was waving at her—at least she assumed it was Bri. Her half sister was difficult to recognize due to her paparazzi outfit—baseball cap, oversized sunglasses, and baggy sweater.
“Hey, Bri,” she said, trying to push the proposal out of her mind so she could be present in this moment. Her therapist would be proud. “How’s the movie coming?”
“Not bad so far. The director’s kind of a dick, but that’s par for the course out here.” Bri took a sip of white wine.
A server stopped by the table as Claire settled into her seat and she ordered two drinks.
“Tell me more about the story,” she said to Bri.
As Brianna chatted, Claire glanced around the restaurant. The odds of her spotting Professor Taylor at a restaurant were slim. But since he was the only known link between her and the mystery of ESA, she would hunt that useless mustache to the ends of the earth. Or at least the end of LA.
Her phone buzzed and a text from Alice lit up the screen confirming she was, in fact, still alive. The knot in her stomach relaxed a little. The perpetrator had regained consciousness but had refused to answer any questions. Miami PD was still investigating, but it seemed like the case was going nowhere. Alice’s responses were getting shorter and snippier, almost as if she was annoyed at her daughter for doing the same thing she had done for Claire’s entire adult life.
Charlie hadn’t arrived yet, but they would know the second she did. A glass of red wine and a whiskey sour appeared at Claire’s elbow. She slid the whiskey sour to the third place setting. A little liquid courage for her, and a peace offering for Charlie. It was sure to be a disaster no matter what, but hopefully her careful planning would pay off. The restaurant was two blocks from Charlie’s office and it was inside only, so neither a commute nor her allergies should aggravate the circumstances.
“And then—spoiler alert—it turns out her stepbrother was the bad guy the whole time,” Brianna finished with a flourish.
“Holy shit,” Claire said, taking a sip of her wine. “That’s quite the story.”
“I know. I think it’ll do medium-well during awards season. They could have sprung for a bigger name for the stepbrother, but my co-lead is very handsome.” She punctuated the sentence with a hand flourish.
“What the hell?” Uh oh, Charlie was here.
Charlie had stopped in her tracks five feet from the table. “What is she doing here?” She was never one to mince words. Claire had spent a lot of her childhood apologizing for her big sister’s mouth.
“Charlie,” Claire said slowly. She pushed her chair back and stepped forward like she was approaching a hungry tiger. “I thought it was time you met our sister, Brianna.”
Charlie’s lips hardened into a thin line, and she crossed her arms so severely one of the seams in her blazer popped. Not a good sign. Claire handed her the whiskey sour. Charlie released one of her arms from the straightjacket-like hold to sip at it.
Brianna stood and removed her sunglasses. She held one hand out. “Hi, Charlie. I’m Bri. I’ve heard so much about your work in town. You’re a legend at the actors guild.”
Charlie took a half step forward and reached out her hand. Brianna winced as they shook. It was going to be a long lunch.
“Sit, sit.” Claire ushered them back to the table. She signaled to the waiter to bring another round. If Brianna’s sunny personality and alcohol couldn’t loosen Charlie’s vise grip on her hatred for all things Jack-related, nothing could.
“How’s work going today?” Claire said pointedly to Charlie.
“It’s a slow day,” Charlie said, pausing what appeared to be a head-to-toe assessment of Brianna. “Just a run-of-the-mill pregnancy coverup and another DUI. But you’d know all about those, wouldn’t you? Boyfriend crash into any Denny’s lately?” she sniped at Bri.
“Charlie,” Claire warned.
“It’s okay.” Bri grabbed a roll from the bread basket. She crossed one leg underneath her and stabbed her knife into the butter. “That was a weird time in my life. Have you ever dated someone who just has this bizarre hold on you? Like you know that he’s an idiot, but for some reason you just can’t cut that cord?”
Claire, who had spent way too many years of her young life with Jason, nodded and shuddered.
Charlie removed her sunglasses and tucked them in her purse. She folded her arms again. “So why haven’t you ever reached out to us? Before Jack got shot?”
Bri leaned back in her chair. Half a roll lay abandoned on her plate. “To be honest, I didn’t know you existed. I knew Dad had been married before, but I didn’t find out that I had half sisters until Dad got involved with your case, Claire. I was really upset at first, to have this whole family out there that I didn’t know about. I couldn’t believe he kept it from me.”
Claire glanced at Charlie. Her eyes didn’t give anything away. “I see. And after you found out?”
It was like watching an innocent child get interrogated by the principal.
“I didn’t even know if you guys would speak to me,” Bri admitted. “He abandoned your family to start a new one. Who would want to start a relationship with a living, breathing reminder of that?”
“Exactly. Why would we?” Charlie said coldly.
“Hey,” Claire scolded. “Don’t be a dick. It’s not Bri’s fault. She didn’t ask for any of this.”
“You don’t remember what it was like, Claire.” Charlie turned and pointed at her. “When Dad left, you were only six. I was six teen . Mom couldn’t afford the rent and utilities by herself, so I had to get two part-time jobs and go to school. And drive you everywhere, babysit while Mom worked triple shifts at SaveShop.”
Brianna sank lower in her chair. Maybe Claire should have talked to Charlie in private first.
“I remember,” Claire said slowly. “I also remember you leaving the second you could. You left for college and moved across the country. Then it was just me and Mom until Roy showed up.”
“I was tired of being a second parent,” Charlie admitted. “I didn’t want that responsibility, but I had no choice.”
Claire took a deep breath. “I’m sorry you had to do all that. I completely understand why you’re furious at Jack, and I respect your decision not to have a relationship with him. But that doesn’t mean you can take all that out on Brianna.”
Charlie exhaled, and her shoulders dropped a millimeter. She uncrossed her arms and picked up her menu. “I suppose you’re right. If the situations were reversed, I would be mad at me for being an asshole. But this does not ”—she dropped the menu to point at Claire—“mean that I will be okay with any more sneak attacks like Thanksgiving. And today.”
Charlie had spent all of Thanksgiving hiding in Luke’s basement with Roy, Ryan, and a big glass of wine.
“Never again.” Claire crossed her heart. “So I have some drama.” Perhaps some gossip would take the wind out of Charlie’s sails.
Bri’s eyes widened. “Go on.”
“I found out yesterday that Luke proposed to someone before he met me.”
Charlie choked on her whiskey sour. “He what ? Mr. Anti-Romance?”
Claire dove into the Olivia saga until their food arrived.
“Wow,” Charlie said as she speared a bit of salmon on her fork, clearly more relaxed than she had been ten minutes prior.
“No wonder he thinks proposals are stupid,” Charlie and Brianna said at the same time.
Claire smiled and took a bite of her twenty dollar arugula and endive salad. It tasted like someone had pulled unwashed produce directly from a field and drizzled the world’s tiniest hint of olive oil over it. But she would eat grass clippings from a lawn mower bag if it meant Charlie and Bri actually made some progress.
Her heart grew in her chest. They started as strangers, and now they were three sisters, semi-reluctantly bonding over gossip. They weren’t best friends yet, but things were moving in the right direction. Her dream of having an intact, bicoastal family could still become a reality.
“Charlie, there was something else I wanted to ask you.”
Charlie harrumphed. “What, does Jack need a kidney now? Because he can go fuck himself.”
“No,” Claire said quickly. She lowered her voice. “It’s about ESA.”
“Ugh.” Charlie tossed back what remained of her drink. Brianna leaned in.
“Things are ramping up. You know Mom was almost attacked yesterday. I’m very nervous for both of you. Especially you, Bri. You don’t have a husband and a nephew who has spent most of his life playing first-person shooter games at home to watch over you.”
“We’ll be fine.” Charlie waved one hand. “I get like thirty death threats a year in my line of work. Bri probably gets even more.”
“Bri’s already being targeted by ESA,” Claire hissed back. “She’s already had a note and the flowers. These assholes are serious, and they’re dangerous. You know what they tried to do to me twice already. You need to be careful. I’m serious. Don’t go anywhere alone, especially after dark. I emailed you both some safety tips I got from Sawyer.”
“I think you’re overreacting,” Charlie said. “So they sent some flowers and they know where I live. Who cares? Anyone with a computer can figure out where I live.”
“We’re Jack’s children. These people have a score to settle with us. This is serious, Charlie. Promise me you’ll start being more careful.” They didn’t seem to be grasping the magnitude of the problem.
“Relax, Claire. I’ll read your safety tips.”
Bri reached across the table and squeezed Claire’s hand. “Dad’s been on me anyway about hiring security. I have some interviews lined up. A body double from that huge guy on America’s Next Top Backup Dancer applied.”
Claire breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. Please find someone as soon as humanly possible, or I’m going to make you move in with me. Do not test me.”
“So you said you wanted to ask me something?” Charlie interrupted. “You said you had a question and then you just lectured us for ten minutes.”
Claire slapped herself on the forehead. “Right, sorry. I got caught up. Charlie, is there anyone you can think of in Hollywood who might be in ESA? A known misogynist with outdated views on women in the workforce?”
Charlie snorted so loudly that a couple at a nearby table looked over. “If you want a list of all the misogynists in Hollywood, we’ll be here for a decade at least.”
“No one?” Claire pressed.
Charlie shook her head. “No one specific. I’ll do some digging in my old files though. Ask around. See what I can come up with.”
“Thank you,” Claire said, leaning back in her chair. Her sad, expensive salad was gone and she was still hungry. “Last night, someone posted a sighting of Professor Taylor on Mindy’s murder blog. He’s here, in LA. Jack says the FBI is working on tracking him down, but with all the red tape they have to cut through I’m worried that something catastrophic will happen long before they find him.”
“Thanks for the doom and gloom.” Charlie raised her eyebrows and dropped her fork. “I promise I’ll text you as soon as I think of someone.”
Claire leaned forward. “Good. I think the leader is here too.”
Brianna drained her ice water. “What makes you say that?”
“West Haven getting shut down spooked them. They’re closing ranks, pulling down all the information on the branches from the internet. It can’t be a coincidence that Dr. Taylor came here. I’d bet anything the higher-ups are here. Maybe even Hollywood elite.” She glanced around the restaurant, half-expecting to see a B-lister in a Greek letter T-shirt.
Charlie leaned forward and stared her down. “Don’t go snooping, Claire. Leave it to the professionals.”
“I won’t.” Claire crossed her arms. She was totally going to. A plan was already half-formed.
Claire’s phone beeped—Mindy was outside.
Claire’s stomach clenched. Lunch had already gone longer than she intended—to be honest, she had fully expected Charlie to storm out and refuse to eat at all. She needed to get back to Brad and billable hours. The proposal was crawling closer by the second.
“Guys, I have to get going.” Claire dug cash out of her wallet and tossed it on the table. “Thank you so much for having lunch with me. I hope we can do it again before I leave.”
“Yeah, we’ll do it,” Charlie said begrudgingly, standing to hug her. “I’m going to stay for a few more minutes.”
“Me too,” Brianna said, also hugging Claire. “So, Charlie,” Bri continued as Claire walked away, “you’re probably burned out from Hollywood bullshit, but I wanted to invite you and Bill and Ryan to my upcoming premiere.”
Claire hurried outside. Even with the mounting stress of Brad’s proposal and an increasingly ballsy ESA, her heart was lighter than it had been an hour ago. Things were falling into place. Her sisters were finally on speaking terms. In less than two-and-a-half weeks, Brad’s proposal would be over, and it would be so beautiful and romantic and over-the-top that they’d be showered in big budget requests.
Happily Ever Afters would be a bicoastal business (well, as soon as they hired someone to help,) and they could return to West Haven in time to save Tender Hearts permanently. So what if there was a legion of serial killers after her? She would find them and stomp out every last one of them. Nothing could stop the power of true love.