33. Chapter Thirty-Three
And the music plays as the commercial starts. “At Ella Malloy Spas, you’ll be pampered and stress free.”
* * *
Graham holds my hand as we drive toward his house. He’s been quiet today. I think it threw Jean-Claude for a loop too.
I didn”t expect Graham to want to spend time with me after we wrapped for the day. Last night hadn”t gone very well. But I guess since he decided to take his dog to his mother’s house, he wants to try again—whatever that looks like.
I don”t know if Sandra”s presence at the studio had anything to do with his distant attitude today. He hasn”t said anything about her visit. Not that I expect him to say a lot. I”m not sure when that part of a relationship is supposed to kick in. This is new to me. And isn”t that about the saddest thing I”ve ever thought?
When Graham stops at a stoplight, he shifts a glance toward me. “You were amazing today, by the way,” he says.
“Thank you, but I didn’t do anything different than I ever have.”
He chuckles. “I notice now.”
I chew my lip. “Why?”
“Why?”
“Yeah, why notice now?”
He inhales as the light turns green. “I see you now.”
“Because you have to? I mean, you have to pay attention to me because we agreed on it?”
He shakes his head. “I think you know better than that now. Maybe it’s what got me into this, but it’s different now. I see you different now.”
Graham lifts my fingers to his lips and presses a kiss to them.
“Don’t you feel differently?” he asks.
I do feel differently, and I want to believe that this is all real now. But, like he said, I grew up in this town, in this industry, and everything is fake.
No one is genuine.
No one talks kindly, except to your face.
There are exceptions, but I haven’t been privy to that too often. My own mother is one of the biggest gossips. I can’t even confide in her.
“I do,” I finally say, answering his question.
“Why don’t we stop by your place first?” he suggests.
“Why?”
“I’d like you to stay the night. The whole night,” he says.
Even though I guess I anticipated staying with him tonight, hearing him say it sends flutters through my body.
“If you’re sure.”
He turns to look at me and smiles. “I did make sure my dog wasn’t around so that we could finish what we started yesterday. And even if that doesn’t happen, I’d love to wake up with you.”
I’ve never had anyone say such things to me. I mean, I’m no virgin, but I sure don’t have a lot of experience. The very thought of spending a night with a man—with Graham—makes me warm all over.
“Just pull up to my place,” I say. “I’ll run in quickly.”
Graham laughs. “I can come in and wait.”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to chance us losing track of our night,” I say, smiling at him. I think he understands me.
It takes me less than ten minutes to put a bag together. Luckily, I have a travel bag that’s always ready, and I add a few outfits. I make sure to get the clothes I borrowed from Graham so I can return them.
When I return to the car, Graham is FaceTiming, so I slide into my seat as quietly as possible.
“Don’t let Dad feed him too much,” Graham says.
“You’re a worrywart,” a woman’s voice says. “Was that her?” the woman then asks.
Graham slides a look in my direction. “Yes,” he says.
“Well, don’t be a pain in the ass. Introduce us.”
Graham turns the phone toward me, and I see the face of the woman he’d been talking to. I recognize her from the photo he has in his living room, though gently aged twenty years.
“Mom, this is Christina,” he says, and the woman smiles as Loki jumps into the picture and she laughs.
“Hello, Christina,” his mother says, trying to calm the dog and hold the phone. “He heard your name.”
“Hello, Mrs. Crowley. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh, call me Anna,” she says as she kisses Loki’s head. “I think this is your biggest fan.”
Loki barks, and Anna hushes him and shoos him off.
“Graham says the first few days of filming have gone smoothly,” Anna says.
“They have,” I agree.
“I’m glad to hear it. Well, I should let you kids go. But Christina, Graham’s brother will be in town this weekend, and we’re planning dinner on Friday. If your schedule works out, we’d love to have you join us.”
I shift a look toward Graham, sure to keep the fear I’m feeling from showing on my face.
“You and Graham discuss it,” Anna says. “Honey,” she says, and Graham adjusts the phone back to him. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too. And Christina,” she says, and he shifts the phone again. “It was nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
They say goodbye, and Graham puts his phone into the cupholder. He’s grinning, and I wonder what he’s thinking.
“Ready to go?” he asks, and I nod.
He pulls from the parking space and heads out to the street.
“Sorry. That was probably an awkward way to meet my mother,” he says.
“Not anymore awkward than you being around my mother multiple times and she doesn’t even acknowledge you—or me.”
He takes my hand. “My mother is still a midwestern woman. She’s lived in California now for twenty years, and she’s still baking pies and volunteering.”
Graham smiles when he speaks of her. What I wouldn’t give to have just a little of that.
“And your dad?”
“He’s ex-military, so a little tougher. But just a little bit,” he chuckles. “When we moved out here, he started as a driver for a service. When he could, he dropped my name here and there.” His smile widens. “Remember the Wonder Glow Magic Sounds Keyboard?” he asks.
Now I laugh. “I do. I wanted one so bad.”
“They were like ten bucks.”
“Yep, and cheap, and silly, and not worth me having in their house,” I say and notice that Graham’s smile fades. “But, anyway, what about them?”
He takes a moment before the smile returns and he continues. “My dad was driving some exec who had come into town and happened to be talkative. He told him about his son who played Chip, and I got the commercial.”
I turn in my seat. “With the girl with the long, red hair?”
Graham looks at me and laughs. “You remember that?”
“Oh, I wanted hair like that. I even asked my mother if we could dye my hair to look like that.”
He doesn’t say anything but squeezes my hand.
I know what all of this is. He’s not the first person to feel sorry for me because of my upbringing. That starts with me. Penny reacts to my parents, too. She hurries around me all the time when they’re near, as if to give me all the attention.
Though, I think I just realized that.
I bite down on my lip and turn in my seat to look at Graham. “Glow Stick Pencils!” I nearly shout, and Graham barks out a laugh so loud that even I jump.
“Yes, I was also the Glow Stick Pencil boy,” he admits.
Still laughing, I ease back in my seat, our hands still clasped together.
Who knew I’d been so enamored by Graham Crowley for so long?