Chapter 4 #2
“Love you so much.”
“Love you more.”
She shook her head. “No way.”
“Way.” He kissed her and kept up the pace until they reached the finish line in a moment of sheer bliss that left her floating in the aftermath.
“Mmm,” he said, “now that’s how you start a day off right.”
That night, Grant sat in the darkened theater with tears in his eyes as he watched Stephanie’s story play out on the screen, seeing the finished film for only the third time.
The actress had done such a wonderful job of capturing the desperation and frustration Steph had lived through for so many years as she fought an epic battle to free Charlie.
It had been vitally important to him that he and Dan not come off as the heroes of her story. Yes, he’d called his friend Dan, a celebrity lawyer known for his work to free unjustly incarcerated people, and Dan’s name had gotten them a new hearing that had resulted in Charlie being set free.
But none of that would’ve happened without Stephanie and the effort she expended for so many years to save the one person who’d tried to save her and paid for that with fourteen years of his life spent behind bars.
Charlie was played to gruff perfection by a newcomer who captured all his rough edges as well as his massive soft spot for the stepdaughter who waged war to save him.
By the time the closing credits rolled and the people in the theater went wild with applause and whistles, Grant was wiping actual tears off his face.
“Holy shit.” Dan brushed at the dampness on his own face. “That was fucking unbelievable, Grant. Congratulations.”
“Hayden gets the credit. He’s the one who made it come alive.”
“Your words were the magic, my friend. It’s going to be a massive hit, and you’d better get your monkey suit ready for award season.”
“I thought I knew Stephanie’s story,” Dan’s wife, Kara, said, “but I only knew a fraction of it. That was truly remarkable. Congratulations, Grant.”
“Thank you both for being here.”
The four of them had flown together to LA for the premiere and were heading home to Gansett tomorrow. No one wanted to miss any more of summer on Gansett than they had to.
“Is Stephanie okay?” Kara asked gently.
“She’s great, but she wasn’t up for reliving it. Once was enough for her.”
“I can totally understand that.”
“She’s meeting us at the after-party.”
“Oh good,” Kara said. “She can help us deal with him.” She used her thumb to point at Dan. “Flynn Godfrey will be filing for a restraining order by the time Dan is through with him.”
“Oh please,” Dan said, scoffing. “Who else could’ve played me so convincingly but him?”
“I heard they tried to get SpongeBob, but he was booked solid,” Grant said.
Kara howled with laughter and gave Grant a fist bump. “Good one.”
“Flynn’s the only actor in Hollywood good-looking enough to pull off Dan Torrington,” Dan said.
“Do you see what I’ve been dealing with?” Kara asked Grant. “He speaks of himself in the third person now, too. I can’t deal with him.”
“I feel your pain,” Grant said, laughing as he stood. “Let’s get to the party so I can see my best girl.”
“Before we go,” Kara said, “I need to hug you and say thank you for doing such an absolutely beautiful job of telling Stephanie’s story. We’re so proud of you.”
Grant returned her hug. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“All kidding aside, bro,” Dan said. “It’s a masterpiece.”
“Thanks,” Grant said, touched by their praise. “We’ll never forget what you did for her.”
“One of the most satisfying cases I’ve ever been involved in. Let’s go party.”
“He just wants more pictures with Flynn,” Kara said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s my new bestie,” Dan said.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Grant replied. “I’m finally rid of you.”
“You wish.”
They greeted hundreds of people in the theater before heading across the street to the hotel ballroom where the after-party was being held.
Grant looked around the vast room before he saw her, sitting alone on a barstool, her back to the crowd that was flooding into the room.
He’d know the copper color of her hair and those petite shoulders anywhere, and as he made his way to her, he noted that the color of her dress perfectly matched her hair.
Seeming to sense his approach, she turned, and a smile lit up her face when she saw him coming.
His heart gave a crazy lurch at the sight of her. It had been that way between them from almost the very beginning.
He bent to kiss her and slid his arms around her, relieved to be back with her after a few hours apart. It wasn’t lost on him how ridiculous it was that being separated from her for even a few hours had become painful at some point in their time together. “Missed you,” he whispered.
“Missed you, too. How was it?”
“Everything I hoped it would be and then some. I hope you’re ready to be a star, babe.”
“I’m not the star. You are. You wrote it.”
“Stephanie, love… You’re the star of this show in every possible way. I hope you’re prepared for how interested people will be in the woman behind the story.”
“Gulp.”
Grant laughed. “The Quantum marketing team has a whole bunch of people interested in interviews, and rumor has it that People magazine wants to do a cover with us.”
“Come on.”
“No joke.”
“Wow. I just never imagined… Wow.”
“And don’t look now, but here comes Flynn Godfrey and Hayden Roth, wanting to meet the woman of the moment.”
“Don’t let me faint.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Grant released her to shake hands with two of Hollywood’s most successful men. If there’d been a dream team to work with on Steph’s story, the Quantum team was it. “Flynn, Hayden, meet my wife, Stephanie Logan McCarthy.”
“Is it okay if I hug you?” Hayden asked. “I feel like I’ve known you much longer than one minute.”
“Of course,” Steph said, hugging the handsome Oscar-winning director.
“Your story moved and amazed us all,” Hayden said. “It was an honor to bring it to life on-screen. Thank you for trusting us with it.”
“Grant said you’re the best, and from what I hear, he was right.”
“We are the best,” Flynn said with a grin, “but your story blew us away from the first time we read the script.”
“That was all him,” Stephanie said, gesturing to her husband.
“No, babe,” Grant said, “it was all you. There’s no denying who’s the heart and soul of this story.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Hayden said. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to convince Charlie to come. I’d love to meet him, too.”
“He’s very happy at home on Gansett Island with his new wife,” Stephanie said. “They’re having a housewarming party Saturday night at their new home. The last thing he wants to do is revisit that time in his life, even though he was supportive of Grant writing the script.”
“We’re so happy he’s found a satisfying new life,” Flynn said.
“No one deserves it more,” Stephanie said. “What he did for me, what he gave up…” She shook her head. “Grant and Dan don’t want to hear that they’re the heroes of the story, but without them, we’d never have gotten him out of prison.”
“I think I speak for Grant when I say that helping to get justice for you and Charlie was one of the most satisfying things we ever did,” Dan said when he joined them.
“I completely agree,” Grant said. “Setting you two free and then telling the world what you did is a distant second to getting you to fall in love with me on my list of life achievements.”
“That was the easiest thing I ever did,” Stephanie said.