Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
You are stronger than your shitty ass excuses. Knock that shit off.
—From Remy’s Badass Bitch Affirmations
Remy
“Twenty million dollars?” Gen’s eyes were wide as saucers.
“Yes. For St. D’s,” Remy confirmed. “And in exchange, Sebastian and I have a fake marriage, until after the premiere.”
Gen pointed to Lila and Nell. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Because we’re not,” Lila admitted. “I knew about it. From the beginning.”
“And I learned not long after that,” Nell added, looking guilty.
Gen cocked her head and smiled fondly at her friend. “Why does that not surprise me? No one can get a person to unload their heart quite like Nell. It’s all her experience from handling the drama of four close-in-age daughters.”
She faced Remy. “It’s a really charged situation isn’t it?
High stakes. Of course you wouldn’t just tell me something that has the power to hurt a lot of people.
I would expect caution. Hell, it’s part of our cavewomen survival DNA.
I’m honored that you shared the details of your fake relationship with me. I will protect your confidence.”
“Thank you.” Relief whooshed through Remy’s veins.
“But it’s not fake anymore, is it?” Gen added, eyebrows lifted high on her brow. “You just confirmed earlier that you both caught feelings.”
So much for the temporary reprieve. Leave it to Gen, whose personality is so much like Etta’s, to immediately see through me.
Remy blew out a long breath and shook her head.
“No, not for me. And that’s really the impetus behind my SOS message.
I tried not to have feelings. I tried. But he’s just so…
funny, and caring. He’s got way too much natural charm, but under that, he’s just a good man who wants to realize a dream.
” She dropped her head back on the cushions, staring at the ceiling.
“I didn’t just let down my guard with him.
I seem to have permanently dismantled it. And that’s the problem.”
“Sorry. Maybe it’s the three glasses of wine, but I fail to see a problem here, Doc.” Lila scooted closer. “Spill. Not the wine,” she giggled, wagging a finger.
“Sebastian has these enormous feelings—deep emotions that run through him. I think it’s what makes him such a great actor.
He can tap into and then convey those emotions so seamlessly.
And, right now, I think he’s so infatuated with this role, he’s convinced himself he’s got deep romantic feelings for me too.
” Remy bit her lip, her chin trembling like a child’s.
Pull yourself together or I’ll give you something to cry about, Arabella. You’re so ugly when you cry. Just like your trash mother.
The evil voice from childhood played on a loop in her head. Remy pressed her lips between her teeth and inhaled through her nose, pushing the hated soundtrack of her youth out of her mind.
“You all have seen him. You have a sense of his life. This”—she motioned to the room around her—“is just a temporary stop in Sebastian’s journey.
Oh, I think he means it when he says he cares.
But it’s clear that his world and mine are like circles in a Venn diagram, only temporarily overlapping.
He’ll get the role. Be amazing in it. Probably win some awards.
And then the next adventure will come calling.
Likely with some tight-bodied, nubile woman twenty years younger than me. And I’ll be left alone and broken.”
Again.
“What makes you so certain of this outcome?” Gen asked, propping her chin on her hand.
Remy shrugged, feeling seven instead of forty-seven. “Because I have an awful track record with all the relationships in my life. None of it ends well. In fact, you three better run for the hills—”
“Bullshit!” Nell’s outburst stunned Remy into silence. “Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.”
“I think Nell’s calling bullshit,” Gen noted wryly. “And I’m with her.”
Nell nodded forcefully. “Remy, you came into St. D’s full of purpose, clear compassion evident in every interaction.
I’m not sure what other relationships happened in your past. Who harmed you—and what happened to them.
” She cast a quick glance at the framed picture.
“But I have a damn strong feeling whatever it was wasn’t your fault.
And, Remy, you can’t use the pain of the past to hide from the possibilities of the future. ”
“For the record, we’re not going anywhere,” Lila added vehemently, hazel eyes blazing and curls bouncing as she shook her head.
“Also, I never run, particularly up hills. Bad for the joints,” she added with a wink.
“This”—Lila pointed to all of them—“is special. A friendship-sisterhood doesn’t come along every day.
And let me tell you, Doc, I already know the Red Wine Supper Club ladies are going to have a long and happy friendhood. ”
Remy sat a little taller, feeling somehow…bolstered…by the collective power of the women in her living room.
“Further,” Lila continued with a brilliant smile, “your relationship with Sebastian—however it began—absolutely has the potential to go the distance. That man is so gone for you it isn’t even funny.
You just have to woman up and put on your big girl panties.
Stop being afraid of things that haven’t happened and probably won’t ever happen. Let yourself be happy, Doc.”
“Here, here!” Gen lifted her glass.
On the table, Remy’s phone buzzed a few times. She picked it up, her cheeks burning at the message from Sebastian. He’d be home in thirty minutes and requested her naked on the bed, waiting for him. Heat pooled low in her core.
Holy shit.
“My spidey-senses tell me the Sexiest Man Alive has announced a booty call,” Gen teased. “Come on, ladies. Let’s clean up and get out of Remy’s hair so she can get some.”
Within minutes, her living room and kitchen were spotless. It was like those scrubbing bubbles from the old commercial had spun through her house.
Gen and Nell leaned in for a group hug and scooted out the door.
Lila stepped closer, kindness emanating from her. “Be brave, Doc. And if you falter, let us be brave for you. Pull that energy from us. And always remember the immortal words of the great Dionne.”
Remy laughed. “Thank you, Lila. For everything.”
“Thanks aren’t needed, Doc. Friends show up. It’s in the job description.” Lila leaned in for a hug, and Remy found herself returning it, wrapping her arms around Lila and squeezing just a bit. “Night.”
“Goodnight. See you tomorrow morning?”
“Yep, my shift starts at seven.”
Remy closed the door softly, leaning her back against it as she listened to the sounds filtering into the house of Lila calling her goodbyes to Nell and Geneva.
Slowly, she made her way back into the living room, moving by rote to the mantel. She lovingly traced her friend’s face. “Thank you for sending me these women, Etta. They’re amazing, just like you’d want. But I’ll never stop missing you.”