Chapter 13 #2
The hiatus had probably done him good, as it allowed people to forget, for a bit, about Augustus Tooley and had allowed Noah to reenter the glare of publicity with an older face and in a different genre of work.
They were both young, successful, and highly sought after. Ethan knew how lucky he was to have them in his corner—especially now, after all that had come to pass.
It hit him in a wave of relief and gratitude just how pleased he was to actually have them here, considering how, truly, they didn’t even really know him.
A team of managers had handled both Katy and Noah at Fordham PR, with Ethan, as accounts director, overseeing it all, though never directly dealing with either of them.
He had, of course, known about their individual situations and had even spoken to them both on the phone prior to their joint arrival at Donwell Cottage, but they hadn’t all met face-to-face until this moment.
Now, with all that he had prepared for coming to fruition, he only had one pervasive thought: He really, really hoped his plan was going to work.
“Hello!”
At the greeting coming from behind him, both Katy and Noah glanced over his shoulder, and Ethan turned a moment later, his pulse inadvertently quickening as he recognized Julia’s voice.
Julia stood at the front door of the house, jeans and a simple white T-shirt hugging her slender form, one arm up in a friendly wave. The more casual parallel to his own outfit was not lost on him, though he didn’t know what kind of fool it made him for noticing.
Her foot was encased in one of those walking boot contraptions, gray and a bit beat-up. He tried to take a closer look at her face—to see if her sleep had been any better than his—but she was ducking her head and slowly making her way down the front steps.
Ethan began to walk toward her—to what? Reach out a hand?
Help her down the steps? She’d probably refuse him anyway—but he was surprised when Noah beat him to it, offering his hand to Julia as she continued her slow descent.
Ethan felt his own hand flex, fingers spreading and stretching, as though testing the lost opportunity.
Julia looked at Noah nonplussed before thanking him and taking the proffered hand, allowing him to help her down the last few steps off the front porch and into the gravel area in front of them.
“You must be Noah?” she said with a quirked fishhook smile that had been as familiar to Ethan as breathing once upon a time, though he had only seen it offered to others since his arrival at Donwell.
“That’s me,” Noah replied with a devastatingly charming smile, which Ethan inwardly cursed. “And this is Katy.”
“Hi.” Katy gave her own movie star–quality smile with a little wave. “What happened to your ankle?”
Julia glanced at Ethan so quickly, he almost missed it. Ethan knew he was probably imagining things, but her smile looked like it had dropped slightly.
“Oh…just a silly mistake. I twisted it coming in from the rain the other day. It’s probably just a bad sprain.
” She shrugged. “Luckily, our dinner cook had this foot brace from a teenage mishap that I was able to borrow, so I won’t be totally useless these next few days.
” Shifting her expression to a much larger, customer-service smile, she held her arms out.
“Anyway, enough about me. Allow me to officially welcome you two to Donwell Cottage! Ethan has told me so much about you, and I’m happy I could help you three work your Hollywood magic over these next few days. ”
Katy looked at Noah and Ethan a bit sheepishly. “Yeah, the way this celebrity machine works is weird at best. Honestly, I’m just happy to get a bit of a break. I don’t even see this week as work.” She flung a playful arm over Noah. “Just get to hang out with my bestie.”
Ethan refused to look over at Julia this time.
Seeing Katy so casually throw her arm around Noah with the loose-limbed grace and familiarity of a gesture done a hundred times or more, recognizing that move for the comfort and closeness that it was, and knowing that he and Julia were so far gone from those days just felt like a gut punch.
The two young celebrities, so carefree in their warmth and affection for each other, truly held up a mirror or a crystal ball or a DeLorean to his past, emphasizing the way he had once been with his good friend by showing all the ways they no longer were with each other.
Dragging himself back into the present moment, he looked up and saw three expectant faces staring back at him. The silence stretched.
“Sorry?” he croaked out, realizing he’d missed something important.
“I was just saying”—Julia spoke up pleasantly enough, though her eyes looked between his, questioning, and was that a hint of concern?
—“that we should sit down, the four of us, and go through the itinerary for the week. You can let me know what you guys need, including any specific dietary restrictions, and Ethan can fill you in on his vision for the week.” She had left an opening for him to regain traction, and he’d fumbled it.
“Yeah—” His voice still sounded hoarse, so he cleared it and tried again.
“Yes, that sounds good.” Turning to Katy and Noah, he snapped himself back into PR mode.
“Why don’t we go on in. You guys can put your bags and stuff down.
Then we’ll grab something to eat and we can chat about what the plan is? ”
The two looked at each other, a silent conversation in the glance, before Noah nodded.
“Sounds good. Let’s do it.”
“Great!” There was that smile from her again, even broader than before, cheery and friendly and so magnetic. “Come on in and I’ll show you where to go. Since I’m moving a bit slower these days, I’ll also introduce you to Maggie, who…”
Julia’s voice trailed off as she made her way back up the steps and into the house, Katy and Noah following behind her, seemingly as captured by their host as Ethan was.
He had been so distracted, he almost didn’t notice the two huge suitcases that the two movie stars had left behind.
He supposed it was his own fault, discouraging them from bringing their assistants or usual entourage along with them for this week and then expecting them to—what? Take care of themselves? Unheard-of.
Regardless, it wouldn’t do much for his own reputation—or his self-esteem—if he were carting around celebrity luggage all week.
He looked around almost desperately for Norman, or anyone to help, really.
Did Julia honestly only have two other employees?
She must be making bank with so few incomes to consider—but when that proved futile, he heaved a deep, world-weary sigh.
And he bent to pick up the suitcases before finally following the other three up the stairs and into the house.
* * *
Julia watched as Ethan hefted the two huge suitcases into the main entryway of the house.
Although they were big and unwieldy, he managed to cart them in with seemingly little difficulty, appearing unfazed by their size and weight.
And she absolutely did not notice the way his forearms flexed under the rolled sleeves of his dress shirt or the shift of muscles across his back as he set them down.
She didn’t know if it was in his job description to be carting around his clients’ luggage, but she certainly wasn’t going to intervene—and it wasn’t just because of the view.
Ethan had always coasted through life a bit too easily, at least in her mind, though she was more jaded about him now than before.
Sure, he didn’t come from money or have everything handed to him, but he’d known few real hardships.
Any difficulties he’d faced seemed to be the ripples from her life more than his own.
His parents might not have been the most attentive, but still.
He just had a knack for stumbling into luck wherever he went.
This whole situation—him calling her up out of the blue one day, her agreeing to accommodate him—only served to further emphasize that point.
So if it gave her a little zing of pleasure to see him carting around other people’s suitcases, nobody could call her petty. She had earned that minor satisfaction.
Realizing belatedly that Katy had been talking to her, she quickly threw herself back into the present moment.