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“Nothing.” She placed her hand on the letter and casually dragged it away from Liza’s prying eyes.
“What’s that you’re hiding?”
“This? Nothing, it’s just junk mail.”
Liza squinted her eyes. “If it’s junk mail, why haven’t you thrown it away?”
Erin sucked her lips between her teeth and eyed the trash can. She couldn’t stomach tossing the letter into the trash when she’d only have to fish it out later. “I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Just spill it and get it over with. I can’t stand to watch this pathetic performance a second longer.”
“Fine.” Erin huffed, too drained and ashamed to continue the ruse. “I got a letter from the community management company. Someone in CCR lodged a formal complaint against Gram, claiming she doesn’t live here anymore and I’m too young to live here alone.”
“What? Who would do that?”
“I have no idea. And I’ve only got until the twenty-second to find Gram and get a notarized letter to Memphis.”
Liza frowned, shaking her head at the letter. “What did Brock say?”
“I haven’t told him.”
“Why not?”
“I just got the letter and … I don’t want to bother him.”
“Bother him?” Liza flattened her lips and glowered at Erin. “He’s your boyfriend. He knows people.”
The depths of Erin’s shallowness had no bounds. At the mention of Brock as her boyfriend, she momentarily leapt off the Gram train and flung herself back onto the highway of love.Focus, Erin, she ordered her punch-drunk heart. “He’s a busy man.”
“Too busy for you?”
“Liza, listen. I refuse to be another person he has to babysit.”
“But you two are in a relationship—or was all that kissing just for show?”
“It wasn’t for show, but it’s new, and it’s fragile, and I don’t want to ruin it. Please, promise me you won’t say anything to Ben.”
Liza’s gaze skittered sideways. “We’re going to lunch this afternoon. How can I not?”
“You’re an actress, remember? The show must go on and all that nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense. Sometimes the show literally must go on.”
“Exactly. This is one of those occasions. I forbid you to tell Ben about my problem. I will deal with it on my own.”
“How?”
“I have no idea, but I’ll figure it out.” Erin would have to, or she and Gram would end up homeless.
ChapterTwelve
Brock waited on the tarmac,toasty in his SUV, searching the sky for incoming planes. On the drive from Nashville to Memphis, he’d squeezed in three conference calls and a quick bathroom break before pulling into the private airstrip and shutting down his phone. He couldn’t relax until his precious cargo was on the ground, the letter in his pocket signed and notarized and delivered by one pm. He had a date in Cherry Creek, and he didn’t want to be late.
A plane materialized along the horizon, getting larger as it approached. He checked his watch, considered its direction, and figured that was the one. By the time the wheels were down, Brock spotted the familiar logo on the side of the plane and knew the eagle had finally landed. He stepped out of the car, lifting the collar of his pea coat and tucking his hands into his pockets to ward against the chill.
A woman with Erin’s likeness descended the stairs wearing floral pants and a scowl he could’ve seen from three counties over. He approached with caution and an outstretched hand. “Louise Larkin?”
“You the one who hunted me down and plucked me out of paradise?”
