Lucky Star: A Hollywood Love Story (37 page)

My time in L.A. passed
by in a blur of wedding-related activity and dodging the paparazzi’s questions about what they’d started referring to as my “Cinderella story” paired with allusions to my “whirlwind romance with the world’s hottest movie star.” Of course, what they perpetually failed to mention was the fact that Cameron and I had known each other for years, been best friends for at least half that time, and that he was only just now becoming a star. The truth, however, wouldn’t garner clicks so they’d anointed him and created a false narrative about me.

Thankfully, they hadn’t taken to stalking me at home and I hoped they wouldn’t since they’d already gotten thousands of shots of me entering bridal boutiques and other sundry retail outlets. While they seemed to respect my privacy when I wasn’t out in public, on three different occasions I’d found them camped outside my favorite coffee shop or restaurant, and strangely, at the farmer’s market. I thought the last one a coincidence though since I’d spotted Nicky Reese and Ian Somterhaus shopping at the same time and everyone knew she called the paparazzi herself. 

Most of the photographers assigned to cover me were as professional as you could be when your career bordered on harassment, and as long as I gave them a smile and wave they tended to get their shot and move on to the next starlet or scandal. Unfortunately, there were a few incredibly sexist and misogynistic assholes among the bunch who seemed to get off on screaming offensive and disgusting things at me, only once the others had packed it in for the day, of course.

The more I took stock of the world Cameron and I lived in, the more I realized I no longer wanted to be a part of it. Just because he was now a bonafide movie star didn’t mean we had to continue living here among the filth that clung to the industry like a parasitic vulture. Modern transportation and telecommunications being what they were, I didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t move somewhere cleaner, fresher, less tainted by the ugliness of the business. I didn’t think I was ready to make the move to Ohio just yet, but there had to be somewhere we could happily settle down for the time being. I decided to broach the subject once I was back up in Eagle Harbour with him.

And then, before I knew it, my days in Southern California were up and it was time to pack up my clothes, my dog, and my wedding dress and drive to Vancouver. From there I’d take the ferry across the Straight of Georgia to Nanaimo, and then continue on to Eagle Harbour where I’d meet up with the love of my life and future husband.

As I locked up my house with Duke perched at my heel, I looked around my yard, my street, and the world I’d occupied for the last several years and saw all the times Cameron had pulled his truck into my driveway, the nights we’d spent with our friends in my backyard over the fire pit, all the little, mundane moments we’d spent together never knowing how we truly felt about the other. Some of the paparazzi were right. We’d had a whirlwind romance and to the outside world it might have looked like we’d rushed into marriage, but I knew differently. Cameron had been a fixture in my life for longer than some marriages and as I stared back at the house I was leaving to go marry him, there wasn’t a moment I could remember where he hadn’t been a part of my heart. The physical structure sitting before me might have been where I’d lived, but the man I was about to marry had always been my home.

***

Just before sunset two days before Christmas, I pulled my car into the cedar-lined driveway of the house where we’d get married. I took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the tension of the drive leave my body. The roads over the mountain pass had been covered with snow and the drive had been grueling but Duke and I had made it to Eagle Harbour no worse for wear. I stared down at my hands locked in a vice grip on the steering wheel and forced myself to release each finger one by one.

Next to me Duke barked and shimmied in his seat before standing up and wagging his tail excitedly back and forth. He barked again and when I looked out the window Cameron was making his way to us, a huge, welcoming grin on his face. He opened my door and pulled me into his embrace before dropping his lips to mine for a long, lingering kiss that conveyed exactly how much he’d missed me. Duke whinnied from inside the car, anxious for his own affection.

“Hey buddy.” Cameron leaned in and ruffled the fur on top of the dog’s head as Duke leaned into Cameron’s hand and accepted his master’s greeting.

“You’re here,” I stated, surprised but ecstatic to see him. The schedule he’d shared with me yesterday had the crew in Vancouver until later tonight, with Cameron planning to take the noon flight to the island on Christmas Eve.

He shrugged and smiled happily down at me. “Jillian and I wrapped up our scenes earlier than expected since we had a lot of motivation to get everything right on the first take.” He pulled me into another quick hug and then walked to the rear of the car to retrieve my luggage. I ran around the other side to cut him off before he could remove my dress, which I’d laid out across my suitcases to prevent it from wrinkling.

“Turn your back,” I commanded, locking the trunk with my remote key so he couldn’t open it. “You can’t see my dress.”

He indulged me but laughed as he did. “I can’t even see the garment bag it’s wrapped in?”

“Nope.” Carefully I draped the bag over my arm and jogged into the house before he could sneak a peek. Hiding it in the guest room’s walk in closet, I was back outside, standing on the porch, before Cameron had a chance to remove the rest of my luggage from the trunk. I watched as he pulled my bags behind him, Duke happily trotting along next to him, his big pink tongue lolling out of his mouth in a huge doggy smile.

As I watched my two favorite guys come up the stairs, it hit me all at once that this was it. This, right here, was the life I wanted. I would have gone anywhere if it meant I’d get to keep Cameron by my side, but as I watched him approach I knew that this place, this time, was special. It was meant for us. This was home. I hadn’t known when I’d left L.A. three days ago where we would end up, but taking in the man in front of me and our verdant, frost-tinged surroundings, I suddenly had the perfect idea of where I wanted it to be.

“My god Sarah, what do you have in here? Anvils?” Cameron grimaced in mock incredulity as dragged the last of my bags up the steps and into the foyer. While the luggage had been a pain in the ass for me to get into the car, they were actually a piece of cake for him. He just enjoyed teasing me since I’d brought enough stuff to last through the end of the season as I wasn’t returning to L.A. for quite some time.

A few hours later, I was unpacking my bags when Cameron walked into the bedroom with two cups of steaming hot tea in his hands. “So I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but you know … patience isn’t really my strong suit.” He smirked and set one of the mugs down next to me on the dresser while I finished transferring my clothes from my suitcase.

“Wait for what?” I asked, inhaling the scent of my favorite earl gray from the small teashop in town.

Cameron sat next to my open suitcase and propped his elbows on his thighs so that wisps of steam from his mug swirled in front of his face.

“Um, I …”  He raised the cup and took a drink, buying time before speaking. “Okay.” He squared his shoulders. “I want to give you your Christmas present early.”

“Not that I don’t like surprises or anything, but tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”

“I know but this is … well, it’s a special one. But it’s not here.” He looked so adorably nervous that I took pity on him.

“Well then, I can’t wait.”

He smiled that one thousand megawatt grin that always caused a hitch in my breath every time I saw it. “It’s not your only present though. I know how much you love sitting in front of the tree and unwrapping gifts so don’t worry; you’ll have plenty to do on Christmas morning.”

He wasn’t lying. The minute I’d stepped inside the house I’d spotted the ten-foot-tall Christmas tree, sans ornaments, set up in the corner of the living room, its base piled high with wrapped presents of all sizes. When I saw how many gifts he’d bought me, I worried I hadn’t done enough to make our first Christmas special as all of the gifts I had for him fit in my luggage. I reminded myself that tiny things could pack a mighty punch. Besides, what could top a signed Stan Lee signature series comic?

“Okay, so where is this mysterious gift you can’t wait to give me?” I wracked my brain trying to figure out what he could have possibly gotten for me that wasn’t already in the house, but try as I might I couldn’t come up with anything that made sense.

He set his tea down on the bedside table and stood in front of me. “Promise we can do this my way? No complaining?”

“That sounds slightly ominous. Besides, I don’t know what I’m agreeing to.”

“You’re agreeing to not spoiling the surprise.”

“Ummm …”

He sighed, but not in frustration. More like he’d anticipated this and had been prepared for me not making it easy. “Which clearly means I’m going to have to blindfold you,” he said, the right side of his mouth hitching up as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black silk tie I had a sneaking suspicion was supposed to have been pressed and waiting for him to don the morning of our wedding.

“Ah, a kinky surprise,” I smirked.

He chuckled and my insides quivered. “Nothing like that, you filthy girl. Although …”

“Maybe later mister. Right now I have an early Christmas present to unwrap.”

He tugged me close and murmured into my neck, nipping and sucking at my skin. “What if I want to unwrap you instead?”

I sighed, nearly read to give in, but damn it, now I wanted my surprise. I laid my hand on his chest and gently shoved him back. “Nope.” Seeing a flash of disappointment cross his face, I added saucily, “But definitely later.”

Taking my hand, he led me down the stairs and out to his rental car. He leaned down and kissed me deeply and for a handful of seconds I forgot anything but the feel of his body pressed against mine in the cold, our lips melding together in perfect harmony. Sighing, he pulled away and placed the black silk against my eyes as he wound the fabric around my head and tied it gently in back. Cameron moved me aside, carefully, opened the door and then helped me into my seat.

When he started the car I felt his right hand come to rest on my seat back and I pictured him looking out the window to execute a three point turn before moving the car up the drive and out onto the road.

“Can you give me any clues?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Nope.”

I waited for him to expound on that one-word but he didn’t. I shifted restlessly in my seat, my knee bouncing in time to my rapidly accelerating heartbeat. We drove for a few more minutes and as I heard the sound of tires on wet asphalt, I knew it must have started raining since it’d been dry when he’d led me out of the house. Without my sight, my other senses were amplified. I took a deep breath and held the scent of water on wood deep in my heart.

“I love it here,” I whispered into the silence. “The smell of the rain on the cedars mixing with the brine of the ocean.” I pulled in another deep breath and exhaled. “I missed this.”

Cameron put his hand on my knee and squeezed lightly. “I missed you.”

It was a simple enough statement, but with my sight blocked by the silk covering my eyes, I heard more to his words than I might have otherwise. There was love there, yes. But something else too. Something wistful and pensive.