Bree
I’ve been found.
It takes a moment to put all the pieces together. The man standing beside Benny is a few inches taller, his hair is lighter, and his shoulders are broader, but otherwise the men look very similar. Colby’s eyes are a striking blue, and they’re fastened on me with amusement.
Is this it?
Is the jig up now?
“I’m guessing Fresno was a bust,” Benny says evenly. The man is unflappable. I’m reeling, yet he’s taking in this new development like he’s carrying on a conversation with the flight attendant coming through to take his drink order.
He doesn’t…did Benny know his cousin was coming tonight?
Colby shoots him a tight smile. “You could say that.”
“We were about to head to my place and make dinner. You hungry?”
“Starving.”
Maybe he had no idea? I can’t get a handle on what’s happening here, and I’m trying to grasp it before I lose my mind.
My career took a nosedive today and all of a sudden some guy shows up on my porch, recognizes me, and knows where I’m staying?
I glance between them, my eyes lingering on Colby for a moment before sliding back to Benny. “Are we not going to address…”
Benny slides his hands into his pockets. “Bree’s hiding here.”
“Benny!” I scold.
“He knows who you are, and you’re staying in his house.” Benny sucks a breath through his teeth. “What else should I have said?”
He’s right. We’re backed into a corner. I used an alias to book the house, but there are enough context clues that we’re stuck.
Benny continues, keeping his attention on my face. “Besides, you can trust him.”
My gaze narrows on the stranger. His eyes look tired, but he’s otherwise intrigued by this conversation. That’s not promising. “The more people who know, the more likely it is that someone will slip.”
“Let’s take this inside then,” Colby suggests, nodding toward Benny’s house. “I’m hungry, and I can tell there’s a story.”
Bold of him to assume he’s going to hear it.
Benny unlocks his door and leads us to the kitchen.
I hop onto the counter stool while he rummages in the fridge and pulls out ingredients.
He puts a knife and cutting board on the counter and rinses red and green peppers while Colby helps himself to a glass of ice water.
He knows exactly where everything is, which proves how close these men are.
They exchange a loaded glance that I can’t decipher.
“Anything to drink, Bree?” Benny asks.
“Water, but I can get it.”
“Got it,” Colby says. He fills a glass and slides it in front of me before stepping back and leaning against the counter beside the sink, crossing his arms over his chest. “Bree Belacourt.”
“Colby…Rhodes?”
“No. The Rhodes were my mom’s side.” He doesn’t elaborate, but I don’t miss the past tense. “You guys having a little reunion?”
Benny’s knife pauses for a beat before he continues to slice the red pepper. He moves on to a green pepper, expertly removing the pith and seeds before speaking. “You know how Bree’s first night went.”
Colby’s eyebrows shoot up. “So, total coincidence that you’re here?”
“Total coincidence,” I confirm.
“You just happened to book the rental house next door to the guy who’s been pining for you for a decade?”
The ice water in my mouth sprays over the counter, dousing the onion, sliced peppers, and Benny’s hands. He grows still, but his knuckles are white on the knife.
“Sorry!” I jump from my chair and circle the island, picking up a dishrag to wipe the mess.
“What is it with you and water?” Benny mutters, rinsing the cutting board and his knife. He tosses the veggies in a colander, sending me a mildly exasperated look.
“I’m cursed.”
He glares at his cousin. “And Colby’s misinformed. Anyway, Bree needs a break for a minute, so we’re trying to give her that. Grandma knows she’s here, but everyone else thinks she’s an old friend of mine called Anne.”
“Okay.” Colby doesn’t look convinced, his words stretching in suspicion. “You’re telling me no one recognized the global pop singer and longtime reality show star?”
“My disguises are pretty good.”
“Like Mrs. Doubtfire good?”
“No prosthetics, just a wig and makeup. But it works. So, can I trust you, or will I be forced to one-star your house on my Airbnb review?”
Colby laughs, the sound deep and loud. “There’s the nails.”
I roll my eyes, tossing the dishrag on the counter and taking my stool again.
Benny is covering chicken breasts in spices and grilling them on the stove with the peppers and onions.
When he pulls out a garlic press and an actual clove of garlic, I can’t take it anymore. “When did you learn to cook?”
“When I moved back to Montana,” he says over his shoulder. “It took a few years before the buzz around my name died down, so I didn’t leave my house much. I had time to kill, and I wasn’t really going out.”
“He’s being modest.” Colby swipes a strip of red pepper that didn’t make it into the pan and pops it in his mouth. The crunch is loud in the kitchen. “He was a total recluse for years. Things slowed down eventually, right in time for Grandma to have a heart attack.”
My stomach squeezes. “No.”
Benny pulls out tortillas and tosses one in a second pan. He’s focused on dinner, but I think he’s using it as a distraction so he doesn’t have to add to the conversation. “She’s doing better now. This was a few years ago.”
“A little better, but still not great.” Colby swipes a piece of sliced cooked chicken. It’s clear now that Benny is throwing together a chicken fajita quesadilla, and it smells divine.
“She’s lucky to have you both watching out for her.”
“We’re lucky to have her,” Colby counters.
Benny slices the first quesadilla and sets the plate in front of me, then starts on the second one.
“Thanks.” I catch his eye.
He holds my gaze for a beat. “No problem.”
The kitchen is silent for a moment before Colby lets out a low whistle.
“Enough of that,” Benny snaps.
I’m halfway through my dinner before he sets a second plate on the counter, and Colby joins me.
“You’re home in time for Peter’s birthday.” Benny starts cleaning up while the last quesadilla sizzles on the stove. “Smoked pork and bonfire on Friday.”
“He mentioned it.”
“And we have a BBB meeting Wednesday at Sierra’s if you want to join.”
Colby takes a bite and groans. “Is there anything you can’t do, man?”
Benny laughs. When he joins us at the island, I’m satisfied, leaning back and swiveling on my seat.
I look at Colby. “You know, I’m not planning on going anywhere until I have to.”
He grins. “Which is why I was going to crash here.”
Benny takes a bite of his dinner. “I figured as much.”
“So, Bree, I heard your new song today.”
Every good feeling that quesadilla put in my body immediately flushes at those words.
I hop off the stool, carrying my plate around the counter to rinse and put in the dishwasher.
If I ignore him, will he change the subject?
My silence is a pretty big hint that I don’t want to talk about this.
I finish what Benny started and put the rest of the dishes in the sink, then begin hand washing the pans.
“It’s pretty bold.”
Okay. Guess it wasn’t a big enough hint. “So are your creepy dolls,” I snap.
“Colby’s a photographer,” Benny says, clearly trying to divert the topic to neutral territory. “He’s been traveling for The Architectural Journal to shoot for some fancy book deal.”
“Impressive.”
Colby scrunches his nose. “Not as impressive as having a global superstar wash your dishes.”
“Colby,” Benny says in a warning tone.
“What? This is surreal, man. Are we really not going to talk about this?”
I finish cleaning the second pan and set it in the drying rack, then wipe my hands on a kitchen towel. “Thanks for dinner.”
Benny sets the last triangle of his quesadilla back on his plate without taking a bite. “You’re leaving?”
“I’ll let you guys talk.” Which is code for: Colby seems like the kind of person who’s going to press it, and I’m not in the mood to hash this out again. If I leave, they can go over the gritty details without me here.
Benny’s blue eyes search my face, but I smile brightly before heading toward the door.
“I’m sorry about him,” Benny says loudly, shooting his cousin a look. “He’s not house trained yet.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure everyone’s talking about me today.”
“Including Jaida,” Colby quips.
My feet stall in the entryway. I spin back and step to the side until I make eye contact with Colby, where he’s still sitting at the kitchen island. “What do you mean?”
He takes a large bite of his last quesadilla, then puts the rest of the triangle in his mouth and chews.
I walk toward him. “Did she respond to the song already?”
Colby’s chewing slows. He glances between me and Benny, who has stepped beside me.
My nerves are jumpy. I know that. But I didn’t expect a response this fast. Yes, I fully expected Jaida to clap back with some sort of defensive track, but that would take time to produce and release. There’s no way she could have…unless it’s not a song.
“A post? Did she post something?”
Colby’s eyebrows knit together. “Have you not been online at all today?”
“I’m…uh…avoiding it.”
He lets out another low whistle and reaches in his back pocket for his phone.
“Wait, Cole.” Benny cups my elbow, bending his head to look me in the eye. “Are you sure you want to open this door? You can’t unknow it once you know.”
“Yes. I’ll obsess if I don’t.”
His blue eyes are deeper than the ocean, caring and compassionate and so sweet. I could get lost in them if I didn’t have a thousand alarm bells going off inside my head. He squeezes my elbow softly before releasing my arm, and we flank Colby while he pulls up Jaida’s Instagram account.
I wish he was still holding me.
“Was it a live video?” I ask.
Colby cringes. “I don’t know what it was originally, but now it’s everywhere.”
My stomach sinks.
When he plays the video, my entire body melts into goo and slips through the cracks in the floor.
I want it to, at least. This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
Jaida has been perfectly glammed by her team—natural makeup, so just enough, but not too much.
She’s sitting in bright, clear lighting, with tasteful tears glistening in her eyes.
“I’m not going to name names,” she starts, her golden brown hair pulled up in a high-pony and trailing over her shoulder, “but I’ve been hurt today, and I think it’s only right to address the situation before this turns into war.
That’s not what I want, and I know my fans are so wonderful and so loyal, I had to talk to you guys directly.
The last thing I need right now is for any of you to turn against a fellow artist.” She sniffles sweetly, and I want to crush something in my bare hands, but at the same time I can feel all the blood draining from my body.
“In this industry we should be lifting each other up, so please don’t tear anyone down in my name, even if you think it’s fair or the right thing to do, given the situation. ”
“Wow,” Benny says under his breath.
Jaida sniffs again. “I will pull through, because the Jaida Nation is the most loving and supportive group in the world. Together, we can get through anything.”
A lone tear rolls down her cheek at the end of her video, and it pauses on the saddest-looking still image possible.
Colby clicks off his phone and sets it face down on the counter, probably before I can ask to see the comments. I don’t want to know what everyone else is saying about me. Honestly, I’m not sure my brain is functioning at all right now.
The silence is thick. The air is so heavy I could probably swim through it, or maybe that’s shock making my limbs feel boneless all of a sudden. My song was bad, yeah, but this…this is shocking.
That’s it; I’m in shock. Is this what it feels like to die? To float above your own body and watch it exist? I zoomed out from my own life and I’m watching the kitchen scene unfold like I have no control over my own bodily functions.
“Bree,” Benny hedges.
I can’t respond. I can’t even open my mouth. My career didn’t just implode today; my entire life did. I dug my own grave and crawled into the coffin by releasing that song, but Jaida nailed me inside and buried me six feet deep.
There is no coming back from this.
I’m vaguely aware of Benny taking my hand and guiding me into his living room, then helping me sit on the sofa. He’s talking to me, but my ears are ringing. I can’t register a single word that’s leaving his beautiful mouth.
Oh, now it’s smiling a little.
“Bree, can I get you something to drink? Water?”
“Something stronger?” Colby calls from behind him.
“No,” I say weakly.
“The song will work.” Benny crouches in front of me. He rests his hands on my knees and looks into my eyes. “It will work. We need to fine tune it, maybe change a few more things first, but I think it has potential.”
I scoff quietly.
“I have faith in you.”
His words drive warmth up my spine, but it’s short lived. Every time I imagine Jaida’s face on that video, I want to close my eyes and be back in my blanket world again.
“Can I walk you home?” Benny asks. “Or would you rather stay here?”
Alone. I need to be alone.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Welp, didn’t realize I’d said that out loud.
“Then you probably didn’t realize you also told me I have a beautiful mouth,” he quips. “But it’s okay. I have a feeling most of this will be a blur tomorrow.”
I’m less confident. I also can’t even muster up a blush or the will to be embarrassed. I’ve used up my quota for the year.
He walks me out. I faintly recognize Colby calling out a goodbye as we go, but between that, crawling into my bed, and burying myself under the thick white duvet, I don’t remember much.
But one truth rises, pestering me with its finality: I just burned my whole life to the ground.