Hollywood Scandal (18 page)

Rafael met her at the door to his mother’s room.

“Mom is doing great,” he said with a huge grin. “The pain is much less and she’s staying off her feet.”

“That’s good to hear.” Calla ruffled his hair as they went inside. “How are things at home?”

“Really good.”

Alicia smiled at her and chatted away in Spanish.

“Mom says she’s feeling better. The other doctor is nice, but not as nice as you.”

Calla bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I’m glad he’s taking good care of her. Does she know when she’s going home?”

“Tomorrow, as long as the blood tests are okay.”

“Good.” Calla gave Rafael her card. “This is my personal cell phone. Please call me if you or your mom need me. Okay?”

He took the card and slid it into his pocket. “We will.”

“Thank you.”

“Doc, it’s us who should be thanking you. You’ve done so many good things for us. We owe you.”

“The only thing you owe me is to take care of your mom and to make yourself the best you that you can. Finish school, learn a trade maybe, but do something worthwhile with your life. Give back to people when you have a chance.”

He stuck out his hand and she shook it.

His mother welcomed her with a hug. Calla checked her over and talked about what to expect in the coming days.

She left them, got in her car, and just drove for a while.

She ended up near one of the big theme parks in Anaheim, driving past dozens of hotels.

They were all about the same size, with the same number of rooms. Cookie-cutter accommodations.

She could splurge, get a hotel room for the night, and ignore all the people who were driving her crazy. She needed time and space to get herself together before court on Monday morning.

Jeff MacKay was probably going to get on the stand and pull out his best little boy innocent face to try to send her on one heck of a guilt trip.

That was a destination Calla had no intention of ever visiting again.

It wasn’t even her biggest problem.

Alex was Alicia’s lawyer, so she’d have to face him again. He’d probably be asking her questions on the stand.

How was she going to answer him without bursting into tears?

God only knew what MacKay’s lawyer was going to ask. Knowing MacKay, he’d probably blabbed to the tabloids about how he was innocent and it was all a mistake.

Wait. He
would
blab to the tabloids.

She pulled out her tablet. In less than a minute she had three articles and two photo galleries of MacKay with expressions varying from sadness to desperation to righteous anger. His comments followed the same path.

He was sympathetic to the woman injured by the car… Saddened by the press hounding her and physician Calla Roberts… Truly impressed with Dr. Roberts’s dedication to her patients… Confused by Dr. Roberts’s restraining order… Angered by lawyer Alex Hardy’s attempt to make him look irresponsible and narcissistic… All would become clear in court on Monday.

She ground her teeth. MacKay was setting the scene for an emotional outburst of some kind. Something sensational that would repair the damage to his image.

But what?

She searched a few more entertainment websites and clicked on a link to an older article featuring some sort of romantic history of Alex’s involving a woman named Catherine.

Alex’s aunt had mentioned a Catherine,
the ex-girlfriend
. Calla continued reading. Alex and this Catherine had been engaged, but she broke it off saying he was often cold and unkind. The Hardy family curse—never to find true love—was something she wanted no part of. Poor, poor Alex.

What a bunch of bullshit.

Alex hadn’t scoffed, though. He’d looked hurt for a moment when his aunt talked about the woman. She’d seen that look of hurt again last night when he tried to apologize, but she wouldn’t let him.

He couldn’t believe the bullshit.
Could he?

He was smart, strong, handsome, interesting, compassionate…she smacked her forehead. He
did
believe it.

And now Jeff MacKay was going to try to seal the deal with some sob story in front of a judge. As angry as she was at Alex for lying, she wasn’t going to let MacKay continue with his smear campaign.

Grrrr.

Calla called her brother. “Hey.”

“Hey you,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Are you alone? Can we video chat? I need to bounce some ideas off you.”

“Sure, I’ll tell Maddy I need a few minutes. Call me back in ten.”

“Okay.”

While she waited, she read a few more articles, but they were much the same as the others. By the time she called Richard back, she was good and mad.

“What’s up, Sis?” Richard asked. His voice had a happy chirp to it.

“Alex, Jeff MacKay, some woman named Catherine, and that stupid curse.”

Richard’s eyes got wide. “That’s quite the list.”

“I can’t decide how I’m supposed to feel about any of it.”

He barked out a laugh. “You can feel any way you want.” He sounded so sure, no doubts at all.

All she had were doubts. “I should’ve never come to Los Angeles,” she said on a sigh. “I should’ve taken on a second job in Chicago. This place is…crazy.”

“So, why did you go to LA in the first place?”

“More money, which was supposed to give me more time to donate my skills. It was supposed to be a fresh start for me. A place to build a new life…” Her voice trailed off into nothing.

“Isn’t it still all those things?”

“Not for the past couple of weeks or so.”

“Hmm.” Richard looked thoughtful. “What changed a week ago?”

“Someone sold photos of my patients and myself to the tabloids. Then Alex. Then MacKay. Then chaos and upheaval and the end of the world.”

“Have you talked to Alex yet?”

“Nope.”

“Give him a chance, Calla,” her brother urged. “He cares about you.”

She wanted to. She wanted to give Alex lots of chances, but fear had a grip on her heart that wouldn’t let go.

“I thought I had you talked off the ledge earlier,” Richard said.

“You gave me some things to think about, but no, I’m still trying to muddle my way through.”

“I guess you need to decide what you want.”

“That’s it, huh?”
If only.

“Pretty much.” It was a challenge. Richard was good at giving those. She was lucky he wasn’t telling her to
suck it up
.

“Fine.” She folded in on herself. “I’ll decide. Speaking of decisions, when are you going back to Chicago?”

“I don’t know,” Richard said with a raise of his eyebrows. “Grandma Maddy doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get rid of me. She seems to enjoy having someone around for her to look after, talk to, and keep her company. I think she’s lonely.”

“Okay. Stay a few days, but just be careful. I’m going to go. Um, text me if you need me in the next day or so. I may not be able to video chat right away.”

“Going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I need a pick-me-up so I think I’ll visit the happiest place on earth.”

“Good idea,” Richard grinned. “Eat a churro for me.”

“As long as I don’t choke myself with it.

One could only eat so much junk food and ride so many roller coasters.

She spent Saturday at the amusement park, right into the evening, watching the fireworks along with a couple thousand other people.

Sunday dawned and she woke with no more idea of what she was going to do than when she went to sleep. She was due in court tomorrow morning where she would have to face Alex, MacKay, and a judge.

Oh joy.

She turned on her phone and a pile of texts popped up.

One from her brother:
Grandma Maddy has asked me to stay for a couple of weeks. She refuses to discuss what it will cost and won’t allow you or I to pay a cent. Can we keep her?

Who could argue with an eccentric lady who was considered one of the grande dames of film?

Two from Jeff MacKay:
You’re not like any woman I’ve met. Let me take you out to dinner or lunch or coffee. I’ll take you anyway I can get you
.

He was all about the
take
. She rolled her eyes and read the next one:
I’m looking forward to seeing you at court. I’d like to think we’ll be congenial toward each other.

He was a fool if he thought any suggestion to slant her testimony in his favor was going to happen. She wasn’t going to explain that via text.

Finally, three texts from Alex. The first one was short:
Meet me at the courthouse thirty minutes before court goes into session.

The second one was even shorter:
Ignore the last text.

The third one made no sense whatsoever:
Don’t come to court. You’ve been subjected to enough scrutiny by the press and public. We’ll do fine without your testimony.

She texted back:
Are you kidding? I performed the surgery on Alicia. I can speak directly to the extent of her injuries.

He replied within a minute:
We’ll manage.

No, they won’t. Her fingers flew over the face of her phone:
He’s going to try to wiggle out of it. He’ll say he was distracted or there were too many people around and he didn’t see her.

His response brought her buzzing mind to a complete stop:
Testimony you can’t refute because you weren’t there. Stay home, Calla. I’m not giving that idiot another chance to intimidate you.

Stay home.
Stay home?

She threw her phone onto the hotel bed and paced the length of the room and back again. This was ridiculous. Alex needed her there in case MacKay’s lawyer had any questions about Alicia’s medical care and surgery. Why would he tell her not to come? So what if MacKay tried to talk to her. They were going to be in a public place with more press watching their every move than the Royal Family had to put up with.

What was Alex trying to do, protect her?

She came to an abrupt stop.

He
was
trying to protect her.

But why? He owed her nothing.

An irrational hope prodded at her brain. What if he
did
love her? But no. It was impossible. They didn’t even like each other that much. Well, she liked
some
things about him. His cooking, sharp wit that always made her think or laugh, and the way he kissed her, touched her, stroked her. Yeah, she more than liked those.

He also nagged her to stop and think. Pushed her to deal with events and emotions she’d rather let petrify until they became part of the back of her head.

There was only one reason a man did all that.

There was only one reason a woman would let a man do all that.

“He can’t be…” The notion was ridiculous. Outrageous. Impossible.

Her rushed breathing and weak knees begged to differ. Either way, she had to know. Had to make that slippery, crooked-nosed knight in shining armor tell her the
whole
truth.

“Oh holy God.” Panic caused her hands to shiver and she got to her feet and headed for the door.

Calla came to a halt with her hand on the doorknob.

Slow down there, skippy. Take some time to think.

She turned around and packed up her stuff, then headed to the front desk to check out.

It was time to go home.

…

Alex rattled around his house like a bean inside a maraca. It was a lonely place now that Calla wasn’t here.

Something he was going to have to get used to since he was sure she wasn’t coming back. He winced as he imagined what she saw when she woke up yesterday morning.

The two of them crashed out in separate beds, their clothes thrown together, as if they’dfallen asleep drunk. Her empty wine glass on the coffee table.

He’d put away the empty wine bottle and her glass, but when he discovered her shirt lying hidden in a corner, he found he couldn’t put it in the laundry bin. It carried her scent.

Alex carefully folded it and put it inside his dresser.

Now, with his home tidy and all visible evidence of Calla gone, he couldn’t stand to stay in the place.

He should be working on his apology to Calla, but he wasn’t sure she’d let him apologize at all. There was only one person who might be able to help him. Richard. Alex grabbed his phone and made the call.

“Alex?” his grandmother asked, her voice high pitched with surprise. “What are you doing calling me on a Saturday night?”

“Calla is gone, and I need information. Is Richard still there?”

“Yes, I’ve asked him to stay for a week or two. We’re having such fun together.”

“I’m on my way over.”

She clucked her tongue at him. “Bring an overnight bag.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Unlike the last time he’d been there, her home was quiet. He entered, dropped his bag by the door, and went in search of his quarry.

He found Richard with his grandmother in her sitting room off the kitchen, chatting. The sight made him want to pause, turn around, and head back to the door. Both of them wore grins best reserved for sharks or piranha.

“Thinking of running away?” his grandmother asked in a calm tone that told him he was in for the kind of conversation most people avoided. When Calla’s brother added, “We need to talk, dude,” he knew he was in real trouble.

“It occurred to me that the two of you together could only mean an uncomfortable, or possibly embarrassing, conversation for me.”

Richard shook his head. “Sorry, bro. Time to man up and do what needs doing.”

Alex took several steps closer to the dangerous pair. “What, exactly, is it that I should be doing?”

Calla’s brother glanced at his grandmother and the two of them rolled their eyes. “Apologizing.”

“I tried that. It didn’t quite go the way I expected.”

“Of course it didn’t,” his grandmother said. “A woman never reacts the way a man thinks she will.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. She… I…” He growled. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Did she scream at you?” his grandmother asked.

“No.”