One Hot Secret by Sarah J. Brooks

Chapter 31

Grace

Kyle and I are quiet on the plane on the way back home. I’m glad when we’re airborne, and no more messages are coming in from my mom. She saw the rumors too, and she’s sent me countless messages with links to the stories. I sent her a message earlier telling her that the rumors are not true, but she continued sending me those links.

Evan drives us from the airport to home, and to my surprise, there are no reporters waiting at the gates.

“They think you’re on honeymoon in Hawaii,” Evan explains with a chuckle.

As soon as I enter the house, a feeling of restlessness comes over me. I’m not upset with Kyle anymore. I think he’s telling the truth, and Skyler is lying. But the whole thing has unsettled me. It’s a harsh reminder of what Kyle’s life entails. The lack of privacy. The lies. It’s too much.

“I’m going to my parents’ house,” I tell Kyle when we enter the house.

He contemplates me. “I take it that you don’t want company?”

I feel bad when I shake my head. “I need to talk to them about these rumors. They’re worried.”

“I get that. Drive safely then.” He doesn’t move from his spot, looking so lost, I almost change my mind. I remind myself that I need this time to think things through. To reevaluate.

“Thanks. Bye,” I tell him.

“I’ll see you later. Say hello to them for me,” Kyle says.

It hurts to leave like that without even kissing goodbye. A wall has sprung up between us, and neither of us knows how to bring it down. Maybe time apart will do the trick. I get into my car, and after one last lingering look at the house, I drive off.

My tensions dissipate as I get on the highway. As bad as it felt to leave Kyle, it was the right thing to do. I even start to sing along to the songs on the radio. Unfortunately, the DJ comes in to talk when the song ends. It hits me by surprise when her topic of chit-chat is my alleged marriage to Kyle. But the worst is yet to come.

“We have received several comments regarding Kyle Bryce. I’ll read you some. The first one is from Brianna from Wisconsin. You’re wishing Mr. Bryce and his lady all the best.”

My cheers fill the car before she continues reading the comments.

She chuckles before reading the next one, and my stomach muscles clench.

“This one’s from someone called Keira. I quote: I’ve always loved Mr. Bryce, but I don’t understand why he settled for Porky Thighs. He can do so much better. End quote. That’s a little mean, Keira.”

I turn it off. A painful tightness comes over my throat, and I’m a step away from crying. But I refuse to cry over words from people who don’t matter to me. Still, it hurts. Do they know that I’m a real human being? How can you insult someone for no reason whatsoever? My eyes hurt from the effort of trying not to cry. I want to continue raging at the injustice in the world, but I force myself to be realistic. This is Kyle’s world. If I want to be with him, then I have to accept that world.

Air stalls in my chest as I get closer to my parents’. I should have told my mom that I was on my way, but I was in too much of a rush. Now, I’m worried about the reception I’ll receive. I’m trembling by the time I park my car on the street outside my childhood home, kill the engine, and take a fortifying breath. Okay. I just need to explain to my mother calmly why she has to stop sending me everything she reads about Kyle and me.

It’s hard to believe that this was my sanctuary once. The place I came to when I needed love. It doesn’t feel like that now. I ring the bell, but there’s no answer. I try the door, and I’m relieved when it swings open.

“Mom, Dad?”

“That you, Gracie? I’m here, in the living room.”

Just hearing my dad’s special name for me brings tears to my eyes. I hurry to the living room and find him reading the papers with his legs propped up on a footstool.

“Hi, Dad.” I bend to kiss his cheek, my chest swelling with emotion. I’m so happy to see him.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he says, sounding emotional as well. “We’ve been worried about you, seeing you all over those trashy magazines your mother has been reading recently.”

I sit down. “I’ve told Mom so many times those stories are not true.”

He sighs. “I know you, Gracie, and I told your mother that you would not get married without informing us.”

At his words, I burst into tears. It feels so good to have someone who knows me. Dad is not very good with emotions, and I try to get mine under control.

“It was Isla’s wedding to Mark, not mine. I wish Mom would trust me when I tell her that the tabloids rarely give the whole story.”

“She means well, Gracie. She loves you. Be patient with her,” Dad says. He looks at me with such love that I have no choice but to say yes.

“Where is she?”

“In the greenhouse,” he says.

I might as well go find her. “I’ll see you soon.” I kiss his cheek again and head out through the back door. Warmth hits me as soon as I pull the greenhouse flap and enter. Floral scents envelop me, and as I look around at the flowers growing in planters, my anxiety disappears.

I shift my gaze, and that’s when I see her, standing still staring at me. All air leaves my lungs. My smile freezes on my lips when she doesn’t smile back at me.

I close the gap between us until she is right in front of me. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi.”

I swallow hard. I haven’t been this nervous since the time I came home late when I was a teenager. I’m an adult, and I haven’t done anything to be ashamed of. At that, I square my shoulders.

“I was hoping we could talk face to face,” I tell her meeting her gaze.

Her eyes darkened. “I can’t believe you have the audacity to come here to ‘talk.’ I’m ashamed of you, Grace Hughes.”

I clench my jaw so tightly that it hurts. “What are you ashamed about? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’re doing the very thing you’ve sworn all your life you wouldn’t do. You’re making a spectacle of yourself in front of the whole country. People are laughing at you, Grace. Everyone knows what these celebrities are like. You know how they are.”

“I can’t judge every person who is famous according to how my parents behaved. It’s not fair. Kyle is a good person, Mom. You met him and saw for yourself.”

“He’s an actor,” she says bluntly.

Frustration wells up in me. I don’t know what to say to change her mind about Kyle. “We didn’t get married yesterday.”

“I know. Skyler confirmed it,” she says, mentioning Skyler as if she’s a dear and close friend. “She more or less confirmed that something is going on between them, and yet here you are defending him.”

I’m close to crying, but I’m not going to. “Skyler was not telling the truth, Mom, and I don’t know her, so I can’t tell you why she lied.”

“So you choose to believe Kyle Bryce?” she says his name like it’s dirt.

That’s the last straw for me. I’ve tried my best. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m choosing to do until he tells me himself. I came to tell you to stop sending me links to websites and online magazines. I don’t want to read those lies, Mom. Please stop!”

She narrows her eyes, but before she can say anything, I turn around and storm out of the greenhouse. I go around the house and straight to my car. I feel bad that I haven’t said goodbye to Dad, but I have to leave. I’m too distraught to talk to anyone.

On the way back, I remember that I’d planned to tell my parents about my solo show. Pain rumbles through me at how far apart my mother and I have drifted. The show is in less than two weeks, and I’d love nothing more than for them to be there. But with the way things are, I just don’t know. A tear escapes my eye. If you had told me three months ago that my mom and I would not be on speaking terms, I would have laughed at you. We were so close, and I wouldn’t have believed that anything could come between us.

It makes me realize that her love for me is conditional. As long as I behave in a way that she approves, then she’ll continue to love me. If I don’t, she withdraws the love, as she has done now. It saddens me and makes me long for a mother. A real mother. A mother who would love me unconditionally and support me whether she agrees with my decisions or not.

My cell phone rings, and I hit answer and put it on speakerphone.

“Finally, she answers her phone!”

I smile, instantly cheered up to hear Isla’s voice. “Hey, Mrs. Cole.” I giggle, remembering what she’d said about taking Mark’s surname.

“Don’t,” Isla says in a warning tone, which makes me laugh. Silence follows her words, and when I stop laughing, she continues. “How are you doing?”

I don’t want to spoil her honeymoon with my troubles. “I’m good.”

“Liar!” she says. “Talk to me and don’t worry about my honeymoon. I’m your best friend, and I know you need a friend right now.”

“Oh God …” my voice catches, and I can’t speak for a few seconds. She knows me so much, and I wish she was around. I’d have gone straight to her place. I let out a laugh that is devoid of humor.

“That bad, huh?” she says.

I nod until I realize that Isla can’t see me. “I’ve just come from my parents’ place.”

“They read about the ‘wedding,’ huh?” she says, her tone sympathetic.

The whole sorry tale pours out of me. I feel bad for piling it on Isla when she’s on her honeymoon, but as she said, I need to get it out. I’m like a dam that has burst its banks. Without pausing for a breath, I also tell her about fighting with Kyle.

“Oh, Grace,” Isla says. “Why would you trust that evil woman over Kyle?”

“What reason does she have to lie?” I ask her.

“We’re always reading how a celebrity couple went on fake dates to increase their dwindling popularity or whatever. This is a different world from the one which you and I are familiar with, Grace. They play by different rules, and if you and Kyle’s relationship is to survive, you have to learn those rules, fast.”

I swallow hard as her words penetrate my brain. “I guess you’re right.”

“I am right. Give him a chance, Grace. He’s a good man, and you know my instincts are always right. He hasn’t done anything wrong except being an actor, and you can’t continue judging him for that.”

Tears fill my eyes. Is that what I’ve been doing? Judging Kyle?