Page 76 of From LA to London, With Love

“Well, what does it say?” Sophie asked impatiently.

“Um, so apparently she didn’t leak those photos to the media. Her phone was hacked.” I paused, finding this revelation hard to process. “The hackers blackmailed her, and she paid them off not to publish photos of her, but she forgot about the photos of me until they were splashed over the news.” I rubbed my forehead. “Damn, I don’t know why they didn’t just blackmail me as well then–I would have happily paid a lot for those images not to be made public. Maybe they got such a good offer from the media they couldn’t be bothered. Vanessa didn’t go to the authorities because she was afraid the blackmailers would retaliate if she did.”

“Oh gosh, how awful for her,” Sophie said, furrowing her brow.

“I know. And there’s more.” I quickly read the rest of the letter. “She also says that she didn’t get together with her fiancé—the man she allegedly cheated on me with—until after we’d broken up, but admits they’d got very close on the road.” To my surprise, I had no doubt Vanessa was telling the truth. That was more like the Vanessa I thought I knew. “I guess I should have known better than to believe the tabloids. To think I spent all that time blaming Vanessa, doubting my ability to judge character, being afraid to trust anyone. If only I’d read this earlier.” I groaned.

Jenny shook her head with exasperation. “She tried so many times to contact you, but you refused. I stopped passing on her messages after you bit my head off and told me never to mention her name again. If you’d just let Vanessa tell her side of the story, instead of jumping to conclusions, you would have saved yourself—and her—a lot of heartache.”

“That sounds familiar,” Sophie said, a wry tone to her voice.

“Yeah, that seems to have been a bit of a pattern…and it’s something I’m working on,” I said sheepishly, looking anxiously at Sophie, who to my relief just smiled and rolled her eyes. “I’ll have to give her a call and apologize for how I behaved. I feel terrible now.”

Just then, Jenny’s phone rang, saving me from more criticism over my handling of the whole Vanessa debacle. In the past twelve months, Jenny had transformed into an extremely capable assistant, and also one who wasn’t afraid to tell me when I was doing something stupid.

Jenny took the call out near the pool. She came back a few minutes later with a grin on her face. “It was your real estate agent. They found a buyer for the house! And they’re happy to pay your asking price.”

“Wow, that was quick! They didn’t want to inspect it first?”

“The buyer has already seen it. They said they knew you well enough to know you wouldn’t have trashed the place since then. And that any dog wear and tear was on them.” Jenny grinned.

I looked at her, confused. The house hadn’t been opened for inspections yet. And why would anyone take responsibility for Alfie?

“It’s Vanessa, right?” Sophie asked, her mouth twitching. “The buyer is Vanessa.”

Jenny nodded.

I laughed. “A bit slow on the uptake there. Well, that worked out perfectly. She’ll live in the house of her dreams, and from Thursday, we’ll officially own the house of our dreams.” I squeezed Sophie’s hand. We were heading back to London later in the week. I’d put an offer on the Castle that the owners couldn’t refuse. The sale was going through on Thursday.

Sophie, Rose, and Mia had launched their new firm and were gradually building a client base. A warm glow of pride blossomed in my chest at the thought of what they’d already achieved. Sophie really was incredible.

Luckily, Sophie could work remotely, which gave us a lot of flexibility. We planned to spend most of our time in London, with frequent trips to Chicago to see my family and friends. Sophie’s nervousness over traveling with Elliot had well and truly disappeared. I would only do one film a year and spend the rest of my time advocating for legal reform to prevent explicit images of people being shared without their consent. While things might change once Elliot started school, the current plan was for Sophie and Elliot to accompany me if I was filming outside London.

Tomorrow, we were meeting Dad and his partner, Simon, for lunch. Dad and I had been tentatively rebuilding our relationship. He’d flown to London a few months ago to visit us, and we Skyped fairly regularly. I’d also facilitated a conversation between Mom and Dad, which I think had given her some more closure.

Apart from officially moving into the Castle as a homeowner, there was one other thing I couldn’t wait to do when we returned to London.

* * *

“Wow! What an impressive spread!”

Just like the first time we’d picnicked at the Pergola on the Heath, I’d gone a bit overboard with food. But this time, it was definitely a date. And it was intentionally romantic.

“And champagne too!” Sophie exclaimed as I pulled out a bottle.

We got Elliot settled on the rug, and I filled our glasses with bubbles, butterflies in my stomach.

That was the signal to Jenny, but nothing happened.

I stared at the bushes behind Sophie, willing Alfie to appear. What were they doing?

Suddenly, Alfie streaked out from behind the bushes, wearing the jacket I’d had made to order.

Phew. I relaxed, watching him run toward us. And then my stomach plummeted as Alfie veered off to the right, toward a beagle strolling in the distance. Shit. Alfie loved beagles.

Jenny leaped out from her hiding spot and set off in hot pursuit after Alfie.

I sat, frozen, watching. Sophie, her back to the action, had no idea what was unfolding behind her.