Chapter Twenty
Ethan was feeling surprisingly chill for a day that included a scene with all three dogs. His head was tilted back, his eyes were closed and there were collagen-firming patches beneath them. He was in the make-up trailer as Ava and her assistant buzzed around getting him ready for the day. His family had headed home the day before, and he was surprised to find he was missing them. They’d had a lazy Sunday around the pool and played cricket on the beach. Then on Monday they’d joined him on a set tour and watched while he shot a scene before they all had lunch together in the catering tent. When Ethan’s mother hugged him goodbye, he’d whispered, ‘I do need you, Mum’. She’d touched his cheek and whispered back, ‘Thank you for saying that, darling.’
It had ended up being an okay visit, broken up by a more than okay stay in the mountains with Hazel, and the easiest time he’d spent with his brother in years. They still hadn’t talked about the dog stuff or Chris’s guilt. Ethan had decided not to go there, not yet. Once the movie was over, if he did go public about his dog phobia, he’d have that conversation with Chris and finally put it to rest. He’d talk to Lena about how best to manage the big revelation. As long as he could do it on his terms, he was pretty sure he could deal with it.
‘Ethan, have you got a sec?’ Jem stepped into the make-up trailer, an iPad in her hand.
Ethan swung around in his chair. ‘What’s up?’
‘Can you excuse us, ladies?’ Jem said. Ava and her assistant nodded and quickly left the trailer. Jem sat opposite Ethan.
‘This looks serious.’ He peeled the patches from under his eyes as he searched her face for clues. She handed him the iPad without a word. He frowned as he took it, his gaze slowly moving from Jem to the iPad screen. Bile rushed up his throat.
ETHAN JAMES’S DOG TERROR
The Aussie heartthrob’s horrifying attack.
Who let the dogs out? It’s a perennial question, but one that it seems Aussie actor Ethan James may still be asking years after a horrific dog attack left him mentally and physically scarred at the tender age of eleven, according to our source.
James, who made his name battling dragons with his shirt off in the Throne of Kings films, went on to star alongside a dog in the box-office hit, Sit, Stay, Love. Our source says James worked hard to overcome his fear and land the star-making role. Now filming the sequel – Sit, Stay, Love 2: Barks Will Fly – with not one but three canine co-stars, we can only hope the handsome actor hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew.
A cold sweat broke out across his brow, his gut rolling as he read the story again and again. Slowly placing the iPad on the make-up counter, he finally turned to face Jem.
‘You should have told us,’ she said, leaning forward and patting his knee. He brushed her hand away.
‘It’s no one’s business, and it doesn’t affect me.’
‘It affected you the other day.’
‘Anyone would have been affected by two dogs fighting in their face. The scene was unsafe. We came up with a solution that worked. What’s the problem?’
‘The problem is that if we’d known about it,’ she said, ‘we could have ensured that you weren’t in that situation in the first place.’
‘If you’d known about it, you would have been looking at me like you are now. As if I’m damaged goods.’
She nodded and sat back. ‘Are there any other scenes that are going to be triggering for you?’
He shook his head, his fingers tensing around the arm of his chair. ‘Nope.’
‘Do you need anything extra from us?’
‘Like what?’
‘We could bring in a specialist to assist you emotionally.’
‘Emotionally?’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘I’m fine, Jem. Honestly. It was a long time ago.’
‘Okay. But I need you to promise that if you’re ever uncomfortable, you’ll tell me.’ She smiled and patted his knee again. He seethed at her pity.
‘I promise,’ he lied.
‘I also wanted to say something else,’ Jem said.
Oh god.He needed her to leave. Now.
His brows lifted. ‘Yep?’
‘You’re not just here because of your face, Ethan. You’re here because you’re a gifted artist. I want to make sure you know that.’
‘Thanks, Jem,’ he muttered, looking anywhere but at her.
‘Okay then. See you on set in about twenty minutes.’
‘Can you tell Ava to give me five?’ he called after Jem, as he pulled his phone from his pocket. The director gave him a thumbs up as she exited the trailer, leaving Ethan alone.
Lena answered on the first ring. ‘I just saw it.’
‘What do we do?’ he said. ‘Everyone’s going to be asking why I didn’t talk about it after the last movie. I look like a liar.’
‘I’m pulling together a statement. I’ll run it by you before it goes out. Don’t talk to anyone until we’ve handled it. Do you know who the source is?’
‘I have no clue.’ He rubbed his brow. ‘But I just had Jem in here asking if I need emotional support. I mean, I probably do, but fucking hell.’
‘I know this isn’t how you wanted it to come out, but it’s not all bad. It’ll play well for you – overcoming adversity is always respected. You knew you were going to have to deal with it eventually.’
‘I’ve been dealing with it my entire fucking life. When do I get to stop dealing with it?’ He lowered his voice. ‘Sorry. It’s not your fault. I just wanted to be the one to decide when to talk about it. Now I’m on the back foot.’ He tutted and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. ‘Let’s say something about it being a long time ago, that it’s no longer an issue, and that I’m crazy about my canine co-stars. Mention Harry and turn it around to focus on my support of Sera and the shelter.’
‘Got it,’ Lena said. ‘And Ethan, it’s going to be okay. Hold tight, and don’t discuss it with anyone.’
The words from the article echoed in his mind. According to our source. Who could the source be? He could count on less than two hands the people who knew about his history, and he knew none of them would talk about it. He squeezed his eyes shut. Unless Hazel told someone and they’d spilled it. She wouldn’t though… would she? He texted her.
Ethan: Hey. You didn’t mention what I told you about my dog thing to anyone, did you?
He stared at the screen, waiting anxiously for her response. The longer it took, the more convinced he became that it must have been her, that she’d shared his secret and now she was scrambling at being caught out. The hurt and disappointment stung in his throat. Then his phone dinged, and he looked down to see her message, his shoulders relaxing, but guilt now tightening in his chest.
Hazel: Not even to Kevin. Who, as you know, doesn’t listen to me anyway. Why?
He tapped his fingers on his forehead. He was the biggest dick ever. The need to see her overwhelmed him. To breathe her in and hold her.
Ethan: Can I grab Harry from you tonight?
Hazel: Want to stay for dinner? Kevin would love to see you.
Ethan: And I’d love to see Kevin.
The skies opened, sending sheets of rain bucketing down. The trainers herded the dogs away and Ethan grabbed Ronnie’s hand, hauling her off the picnic blanket they’d been sitting on to shoot their scene. The crew scattered, hollering instructions at each other, gathering props and equipment as the clouds unloaded. Two PAs rushed forward with oversized umbrellas and held them above the stars’ heads. Ethan laughed.
‘I don’t think they’re going to help!’ He and Ronnie were already drenched. ‘Can I grab anything?’ he called after Petra, the first DA.
A crack of thunder boomed above them and Ronnie squealed.
‘Get out of the storm,’ Petra said, shooing him off.
‘Ready to run for it, Ronnie?’ Her hand was still grasped around his, slippery and wet, and she nodded, her usually perfect hair plastered to her face and her mascara already smudged. They sprinted for one of the marquee tents, puffing as they made it to shelter.
‘I hate storms,’ Ronnie said, looking up at Ethan. She smoothed her dripping hair, tucking her curls behind her ears. ‘Unless there’s a fireplace and hot chocolate involved.’ Her lipstick-slicked mouth quirked. ‘Does your amazing house have a fireplace?’
‘It does. But it’s a bit humid for a fireside hot chocolate during the Aussie summer, rain or no rain.’
She placed a hand on his arm and gently squeezed. ‘I meant to tell you earlier how horrified I was to read about what happened to you.’ Her voice hushed. ‘You poor thing. I think you’re very brave doing this movie. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.’
His lips pulled into a tight smile and he gently drew his arm away. ‘I’m all good, Ronnie, it was a long time ago. But thanks.’
Katherine arrived, breathy and dripping beside them, her normally straight golden bob already curly. ‘Are you two okay? Where did this storm come from?’
‘These Aussie summer storms roll out of nowhere,’ Ethan said, happy to step away from Ronnie and her pity-filled eyes. ‘They usually move off as quickly as they hit.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Katherine said. ‘We can’t afford any big weather breaks.’
Jem stepped up to them, shaking out an umbrella that had clearly provided zero protection. She wiped a hand down her wet face.
‘We’re calling it,’ she said. ‘Everything’s soaked. At least it was the last shot of the day. We’ll rework the schedule. Ethan, head home. Tell Tony to drive carefully.’
Someone handed Ethan a towel and he ran it over his head, roughing up his hair. ‘Katherine, you got a sec?’ he whispered to his producer. He nodded towards a corner, guiding her away from listening ears. ‘I’m assuming you saw the article?’
‘I wish you’d told us, Ethan. We could have worked with you to make sure you were comfortable.’
‘I am comfortable. I did a whole-ass movie with a dog, no dramas. It’s not an issue. But it’s not something I like to talk about.’
‘You’ll tell us if it ever becomes an issue?’
‘It won’t,’ he said.
She nodded. ‘The production team won’t comment unless you okay it first. But it’s already hit the international press, so expect a bit of noise.’
‘Come on buddy, run!’ Hazel called down to Harry, who was trotting on the leash beside her.
The little dog moved his stumpy legs as quickly as he could, trying to keep up with her long stride. She laughed as they splashed along the path, the pair of them completely soaked. A quick walk had turned into a long wait in a bus shelter, hoping the torrential rain would ease. It didn’t, so now she and the dog were dashing home. Ethan was coming for dinner and she was unnervingly excited about the change of plans. She had to sort herself out, and then sort out what she could feed him that wasn’t full of carbs and sugar. Maybe a vegetable stir-fry, or something with eggs.
‘Here we are,’ she said to herself as much as to Harry as they ran up the path to her house and huddled under the front awning while she rummaged for her keys, the rain pelting down around them. There’d be no eating on the back deck tonight. They would have to eat at her kitchen counter. She hadn’t thought about that – Ethan in her kitchen again while she was cooking. Goosebumps popped along her arms.
She scooped Harry up, everything suddenly feeling more urgent. ‘We’re going straight to the bathroom to dry you and shower me,’ she said as she unlocked the door.
As soon as she stepped inside she knew something was wrong. The back door was half-open, swinging on its hinges in the gusty wind.
‘Kevin?’ she called out, her eyes darting around the lounge. She hurried up the hall and put Harry on a towel in the bathroom, closing the door behind her. ‘Kev?’ she called again.
She checked her bedroom first, then the laundry, then she went back to the kitchen, turning in a slow circle to take in the entire room. Kevin had never liked storms. He’d always hidden under her bed or in a cupboard until the thunder and rain had passed. She rushed to the open back door, slipping on the wet floorboards.
‘Kevin?’ she called into the gloom as she scanned the small outdoor space. ‘Okay buddy, where are you hiding?’ she called again, closing the door against the weather. He had to be inside. He had to be.
She moved from room to room, calmly saying his name as she searched every spot he could have crawled into or hidden under, her panic steadily rising as her search came up empty.
‘Fuck,’ she whispered. She stared at the back door again. He must have got out, and he wasn’t an outside cat, he never even went out to sit in the garden. He’d be scared and wet and…
‘Oh, Kevin.’
She quickly filled a water bowl and popped it into the bathroom with Harry, then headed back out into the rain.
Torrents of water were still spilling from the sky when Ethan arrived at Hazel’s place. He dashed up the path, a bottle of wine in one hand and an umbrella in the other, protecting his head and little else. He’d tossed up whether to bring the wine, because it wasn’t a date. It was dinner and collecting his dog. But in the end he’d decided friends drank wine over dinner too, and that he had to stop overthinking everything. He’d been so close to kissing her that night in the hinterland as they stood outside their bedrooms, wrapped in bathrobes and fizzing from the wine. But he hadn’t, and he knew that was the sensible move, even if it wasn’t the move he’d wanted to make.
He shook out his umbrella as he sheltered under the awning, then knocked on the door. He straightened his T-shirt as he waited, bouncing on the balls of his feet. When she didn’t answer, he knocked again. It wasn’t yet dark, but with the heavy cloud coverage it was heading that way fast. Lights burned inside her house, and his rental Jeep, which he’d loaned her while her car was getting repaired, was tucked under the carport. He checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed a message, but there was nothing. Ethan stepped back out into the rain, leaving the umbrella and wine on the doorstep, then walked to the gate at the side of the house and pushed it open.
‘Hazel!’ he called out. His name came back at him from somewhere under the deck. ‘Hazel?’ he called again.
A torch light flickered through the cracks in the wood. He ran over and got down on the ground, hissing out a string of profanities.
‘What the hell are you doing under there?’ he asked.
‘Kevin escaped. I thought he might be under here.’ Ethan helped her up as she wiggled out, pushing her wet hair from her face.
‘Was he?’ he asked. She shook her head, her lips tightly pressed together. ‘And he’s definitely not in the house?’ She shook her head again.
‘I went out with Harry,’ she said. ‘We got caught in the storm and when I got home the back door was open. I noticed the other day that I had to bang it a couple of times to close it. I meant to tell the landlord, but I forgot, and I guess I didn’t close it properly this afternoon. Now he’s gone!’ Her face crumpled.
Ethan didn’t hesitate. He pulled her into his arms and she nestled into him, her chin resting in the curve of his shoulder. He pressed his lips to her temple with a soft kiss.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘we’ll find him. Is Harry locked up?’
She pulled back and nodded. ‘He’s in the bathroom. He’s fine. He has water and a towel.’
‘Okay. Then we’ll search the yard and go from there.’
They pushed aside the foliage on every bush, looked up every tree and moved every paint tin and tool in the shed. When they didn’t find him, they went next door to Doris’s house. She helped them search her garden, her potting shed and hen house. When Kevin still hadn’t turned up, Ethan lay down in the mud and wriggled as far as he could under the foundations of Doris’s home, shining a torch and gently calling Kevin’s name. They did the same thing with the house on the other side, and when Kevin still hadn’t appeared, they walked up and down the street calling out to him.
After about an hour of searching, they returned to Hazel’s place and sat on the front stoop, wet and miserable, staring out into the murky dusk.
‘Okay,’ Ethan said. ‘We door knock, go house to house. He won’t have gone far. He has to be in this street.’
‘It’s getting dark,’ Hazel said, her voice wobbly. ‘We’ll never find him. He’s blacker than the night.’
Ethan slid an arm around her and pulled her close, pressing his head to hers as she rested against his shoulder. They were soaked through, but her body was warm, and he took a moment to appreciate how she felt against him.
An idea was forming, though he knew it would piss everybody off. Pulling away from Hazel, he took out his phone and looked up the article about his childhood dog attack. It was on the Sunshine Television news site, so it was local. He checked the journalist’s name, then called the TV station.
‘What are you doing?’ Hazel asked.
He smiled at her as the receptionist answered his call. ‘I’d like to speak with Jason Blume, please.’ He waited as he was connected.
Jason Blume answered his extension with a brusque, ‘Hello.’
‘Jason, this is Ethan James. Your channel published an article about me online today.’ Hazel frowned, and he smiled at her again.
Jason was silent for a long beat, before saying, ‘How can I help you, Ethan?’
‘Look, that was not something I wanted out in the world. I don’t know how you got your information, but I’d like to know.’
‘I can’t give you names Ethan, you know that. But… I’ll tell you that it was someone who works in tourism in the area. Possibly in the boating sector. They said the info was good. You must have a leaky camp.’
Ethan squeezed his eyes shut. Fucking Chris. He went on that boat trip with the twins. Just when he was starting to think the guy wasn’t a total dickhead.
‘I wish you’d checked with me first, Jason,’ he said.
‘Would you have talked to me about it?’
‘Fuck no. But I’m willing to talk to you about it now. However, I have terms.’ He needed to take control of the story.
‘What kind of terms?’ Jason asked.
Ethan told Jason about Kevin, explaining how important he was to a good friend of his, and how the cat was lost in the storm.
‘I need people to check their yards or come out and help me look,’ Ethan said. ‘If you can get a crew down here and get me on the news, I’ll sit down with you next week and give you an exclusive interview. You. Not Entertainment Tonight, or one of the big breakfast shows, or Jimmy Kimmel. You, Jason Blume from Sunshine News.’
Jason was silent.
‘Tick tock, Jason, this offer expires in five minutes.’
‘Hold tight, I’ll check if there is a crew available.’
Ethan held tight, his gaze on Hazel. She was staring at him with wide eyes, and even though she was soaked through and had a smudge of dirt on her face, she looked absolutely breathtaking.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
‘I’m rallying the troops,’ he said with a grin. ‘The more people we get looking, the more chance someone will find him hiding out in their garage or something. What’s the point of fame if you can’t put it to good use?’
‘But you don’t want to talk about the dog thing yet.’
‘It’s already online. I’ll only be filling in the blanks and giving my side of the story. Besides…’ He smiled. ‘Kevin’s worth it.’
Hazel blinked, clearly surprised. Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek.