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“I don’t see why not. He’s got lights and everything,” Ally replied.
“I’ll be back. Papa needs new shoes.” Greg sped away.
Well, he went as fast as the golf cart allowed. Major could probably have chased him down, but it wasn’t like he didn’t know where the guy lived. This was how it went in Papillon. “The service Greg is providing isn’t legal.”
Ally shrugged. “It’s easy to see you don’t support entrepreneurism. Personally, I think Guber is a brilliant idea. I told him he should begin a Kickstarter campaign and raise money for a whole fleet.”
The idea made him shake in his boots. “Tell me you didn’t.”
A ghost of a smile crossed Ally’s face. She looked a lot like her sister, only even more slender. “Maybe I did. Maybe I’m joking. Either way, I think it’s fun to make you sweat a little after what you did to my sister. Way to break a girl’s heart, TW.”
He was never living that down. “I didn’t mean to.”
Ally settled her bag over her shoulder. It was an expensive-looking thing. “Men never do. Tell me something—did my mom get to you? She likes to have talks with the boys . . . I guess I should call them men now . . . Brynn dates.”
He could see where Diane might be a meddling momma, but in this case, she hadn’t affected his decision. “It had nothing to do with your mom. It was a personal reason.”
A perfectly arched brow rose over her eyes. “And you’re here today by coincidence?”
“I heard something happened to Brynn and I wanted to check in on her.” He didn’t mention that he would likely need a shower because he’d sprinted here.
His heart had constricted at the thought of Brynn being hurt. All he’d been able to think about was how anything could have happened to her. His mind had played out all the worst possibilities as he’d made his way here, every one of them ending with her being gone.
He wasn’t a very optimistic person when it came to this.
“She’s already done? I knew she wasn’t that hurt. Faker.” Ally crossed her arms over her chest, her perfectly straight hair swinging.
“No, she’s still in the exam room.”
“So you came to see how she is but you’re leaving before you find out?” Ally was staring at him again, her attention laser focused as though she was studying him.
“Your mom might have mentioned it would be better if I didn’t stir things up again,” he explained. “And then a reporter showed up.”
Ally snapped her fingers. “I knew it. My mom is good at manipulating people. I would bet she gave you the whole ‘Brynn is a brilliant actress, and her career is worth more than any relationship’ speech.”
He’d said Diane had nothing to do with his decision, and she hadn’t originally. That had been all about protecting his father. But maybe she had run him out today. Though mostly she’d reminded him of all the reasons he shouldn’t have come here in the first place. “She might have mentioned that Brynn doesn’t have time for a relationship and that she’s worked hard to get where she is. It would be bad to derail her. I don’t know what that feels like. I’ve never desperately wanted something.”
“You didn’t know what you wanted to be when you grew up?” Ally sounded surprised.
He thought about what his father would say to him every time he worried that he didn’t have the same surety about his future others seemed to have. His father had figured out early on what he was good at. Major liked his job, but he’d never felt that deep passion others seemed to find. “I just wanted to be happy.”
“Brynn started acting when she was five. It’s all she knows. Do you know the one thing no one asked her at that age?” Ally didn’t wait for a reply. “What she wanted. What would make her happy. My mom is so invested in Brynn’s future that she never thought to ask what Brynn wanted, and over the years Brynn forgot to ask herself the question, so don’t think she’s smarter than you, TW.”
What was Ally talking about? “Brynn loves acting.”
“Has she told you that?”
Had she? Not in so many words. What she’d talked about was art. She’d talked about how much she loved being on set because she enjoyed meeting new people and learning things from them. She’d talked about the dark side of the industry as much as she’d talked about the good parts. “Why else would she work so hard?”
“Because she doesn’t know another world. Because she grew up in this world, surrounded by people who want what she has. Including me.”
“I don’t think anyone wants all the scrutiny. Your mom is in there pretending like that jerk is some kind of friend of hers.”
