Ethan nodded before sipping the hot brew.
“I know it’s been tough on him, and he’s hurting like crazy. God, it’s been tough on all of us. We loved Maddy and miss her terribly, but he can’t keep burying his grief in alcohol. It’ll destroy him. He won’t listen to his family. What more can we do for him?”
Ethan wished he knew. It was the same question he asked himself every time he searched for his brother in Aiden’s dim eyes and hadn’t come up with an answer.
“Chloe went to visit him on set last week and he’d gone missing,” his mother said. “No one had seen him after his break. She said the director was furious.” His younger sister had phoned to tell him what had happened.
“Anyway, I can’t think about that now. I’ve got a full day on and I want to see Holly settled before I get to work,” his mother said.
“She’s gone.” Ethan slid the note she’d left across the counter for his mother to read.
Her shoulders slumped. “That poor girl can’t be walking the streets dressed like a hooker. Who knows what trouble she’ll get herself into?”
“The clothes came from wardrobe. Why’s she still wearing them?” Actually, come to think of it, she was still in costume when he’d gone into his mother’s trailer last night. He’d been too busy checking out her legs to wonder why.
“They weren’t from wardrobe, they’re her clothes,” she said, then pulled out two bowls from a cupboard and poured in cereal.
“Herclothes?” he said with confusion. “Why would an actress wear her own clothes on set?”
“She’s not an actress.”
Ethan choked on the coffee he’d just swallowed. He coughed and thumped his chest to clear his throat. “She really is a sex worker? Why would they cast a real one? And why would you let her stay in your home? Who knows what she’s taken off with?” God, he’d been lusting over a woman who would charge him by the hour for the things he’d fantasied about. He never had to pay anyone for sex, he had several willing women he could go to.
“Do you really think she looks like a prostitute?” His mother slammed the carton on the counter and milk splashed over the rim. “She was checking out the set and Trudy mistook her for missinghooker number three. She’d been to a fancy-dress party, that’s why she was dressed like that.”
“Why the hell didn’t she tell anyone she wasn’t an actress? And how did this get past Trudy? She knows who gets hired for the roles.” Not being an actress explained Holly’s lack of acting skills.
“I’m not sure why Trudy didn’t notice. Maybe she was just as keen to have filming finished for the day like everyone else and turned a blind eye. Holly told me before going on set. After she recovered from the shock at seeing you, and Trudy throwing her into makeup, she explained what had happened.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it to anyone?”
“We were already behind schedule. Everyone was getting frustrated. She was dressed for the part… Trudy didn’t notice…” She shrugged. “It all worked out.”
It may haveworked out,but Holly messed up his brain. Hopefully, now that she was gone, he’d forget her. But he still wanted to know how she ended up at his mother’s house. “Why the hell was she staying here? When I asked her last night, she’d told me to talk to you.”
“You saw her last night?” She perched on a stool, the cereal forgotten.
Actually, she’d seen a lot ofhim!“I didn’t know she was staying in the guestroom. I came to crash here because of the noise at home. The room was dark, so I didn’t see her in bed and went straight to the bathroom to have a shower. She walked in on me.”
His mother smothered a giggle with her hand. “She walked in on you naked? What a surprise for her.”
A surprise for both of them.
“You haven’t told me why she was here,” he said.
“She needed a place to stay for the night.”
“That’s what she said, can you elaborate?” The vague answers these women gave frustrated him.
“You should ask her.”
“I did,” he sighed. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Just let it go, why did he care? His mother could do whatever she pleased. As long as she wasn’t in any danger, he’d stay out of it.
“How was sleeping on the couch?” his Mum asked, giving his shoulder a rub. “It couldn’t have been comfortable. You’re too big for it.”
He adverted his gaze and poured milk into his bowl, “I… arrhh…slept in my bed.”
“You slept with Holly? In my house? Oh, Ethan.” She placed a palm on her forehead like she had a headache.
