Jay looked surprised.
“Are you sure that shouldn’t be the jokester?”
A settling smile returned to Jay’s face. “I suppose you want a chance to retaliate.”
“No,” Meredith said calmly, picking up a strawberry and eating it in two dainty bites. “I’m not much for throwing food.”
With the challenge dissolved, Jay reached for a muffin and pulled back the paper liner.
“I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” Meredith said.
“Why?”
“Did you smell it? They don’t seem right.”
Jay lifted the muffin to his nose and took a sniff.
Meredith seized the opportunity. In one smooth motion she leaned over and pushed his hand forward so that he smashed the muffin into his face.
Speechless, Jay searched her face for an explanation.
“I don’t throw food because I’m much better at mashing it.” Her contagious, shimmering laughter filled the air, competing with the rush of the waterfall.
Jay cracked up. There was no other way to explain it. He started to laugh so hard he couldn’t even brush all the cakey muffin from his face and shirt.
“You have a little more on that cheek,” Meredith said, motioning to the spot on her own right cheek. “And some of those tiny black seeds are still there on your chin. No, on the other side. There. You got it all.” They lingered, contentedly chuckling in the afterglow of a prank well executed.
“Where do you live?” he suddenly asked.
Oh, so now he asks.
“Whidbey Island.”
“Where’s that?”
“Outside Seattle.”
“Oh.”
Meredith waited a breath and a half before asking, “Do you still live in Pasadena?”
“Yes. Same duplex for the past four years.”
“What do you do?”
He took off his sunglasses and placed them on his leg. With his warm brown eyes he seemed to study her again. “Well, I used to be a waiter,” he said without moving. “At a little place in Santa Monica called Chez Monique’s.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Meredith said. She didn’t want to mention that she knew of the restaurant because it was often listed in her favorite Hollywood gossip magazines as the hot spot for actors who wanted to be seen around town. “You used to be a waiter,” Meredith repeated his words. “What do you do now?”
“A little bit of everything,” he said vaguely. “I’ve had a lot of changes in my life the last six or seven months. I’m sort of between jobs right now.”
Meredith nodded her false understanding. How can anyone his age be so nonchalant about his career? Why was it that all the good-looking ones were flakes?
She took her strong work ethic seriously. From the moment she discovered as a junior in high school that she had scored high in the field of publishing on a career test, Meredith had pursued that goal above all else. She went to summer school in college and sought out the most desirable positions in publishing. By the time she was twenty-three, she had landed her current position as an acquisitions editor. People patted her on the head and told her she was lucky. She knew she had earned every bit of that luck.
“I’m an acquisitions editor,” Meredith volunteered. “For G. H. Terrison Publishing. I acquire children’s products.”
He seemed appropriately impressed, which was rewarding for her.
“I’ve been with them about a year and a half,” she continued. “The best part is that I get to work at home and only go back to Chicago about six times a year.”
Jay tilted his head. “May I make a comment here?”
“A comment?”
“Yeah, an observation.”
“What?”
“You just said, ‘I am an acquisitions editor.’ ”
Meredith nodded. “I am.”
Jay shook his head. “An acquisitions editor is what you do. It’s not who you are.”
“Right,” Meredith said quickly. “I know that.”
Jay slipped his sunglasses back on. “Then you are a wiser person than I.”
Chapter Five
Jay remained an enigma as their breakfast picnic continued. They talked about Shelly and the conference center. They chatted about the bugs that swarmed around their food. They even talked about the weather. But little personal information about either of them was exchanged.
Jay seemed relaxed, though. He gave every indication that he was charmed by Meredith and even offered her his hand as she stepped out of the boat when they left. He let go as soon as she was out, which she expected. This man she had just met had no reason to hold her hand as they walked back through the forest together. But Meredith was dying to know if he wanted to hold her hand.
What must he think of me? First the shrieking fit in the bedroom, then the puppet show in the pickup, and then a smashed muffin in his face. Does all this amuse him? delight him? disgust him? And why should it matter to me what he thinks?
Because, you doof, her alter ego chimed in, you’re amused,delighted, and intrigued by him. When was the last time that happened? You want to see this guy again, and you can’t remember when you felt this way after a first date, can you?
No, I can’t, she answered herself silently.
“Are you going back to L.A. today?” Meri asked as they hiked together through the woods.
“Yes,” he said. “Do you ever come to L.A.?”
She was surprised by the way her heart did a little hopscotch around his words. So he is interested. A little.
“As a matter of fact, I have a trip to L.A. next month for a writers conference. It’s in Anaheim, I think.”
“Is it the Stories and More Conference?” he asked, looking a little surprised.
“Yes, I think that’s the name of it.”
“What a coincidence. I’ll be at that conference, too.”
“Really?” Don’t get too jazzed and scare him off, Meri! “How about that?” she said calmly. “Nice coincidence. We’ll have to get together then. I’ll buy you a muffin.”
“A muffin?”
“To make up for the one you didn’t get this morning.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll let you buy me a muffin.”
It appeared to Meredith that he wanted to say something else. He looked worried. Maybe not worried but hesitant.
She decided to remain quiet and calm. If he wanted to open up a little more to her, he could do that. If this wasn’t the time for him to say anything more personal than he had already said, then she could accept that, too. The comfortable silence emanating from her was meant to be an invitation. He didn’t R.S.V.P.
They left the woods without further conversation and entered the parking lot, where dozens of cars now lined up in tidy rows. Lots of people from Glenbrooke and the surrounding area were showing up right on time. For a small community, this was a big event. Jonathan and Shelly had said they expected close to a thousand people.
“Looks like the festivities are about to begin,” Meredith said, glancing at her watch. “Are you leaving now, or are you planning to come up to the lodge?”
Jay checked his watch. “I’d better get going. Hey, before you come to the conference …”
“Yes?”
The cell phone in his shoulder bag rang before he could finish his sentence. He mumbled an apology and took the call, turning his back to her. A stream of cars pulled into the gravel parking area. Jay had to plug his ear to hear the person on the other end.
Noticing that he had dropped the phone cover onto the gravel, Meredith picked it up for him just as he was saying he would call the person back. The pouch was soft black leather and felt smooth to the touch. Meredith looked down at the case and noticed a name engraved in gold letters across its side. She looked closely in the glare of the midday sun, trying to make sure she had read the name correctly. There was no mistake. The name on the phone case was Jacob Wilde. Jay turned back to her, and Meredith looked up at him with new eyes.
 
; “Jacob?” she questioned. “You’re Jacob Wilde?”
Some of the shimmer fell from his eyes. He didn’t answer right away. A group of four women who had exited a car parked behind where they stood slowed down when they overheard Meredith.
“You are, aren’t you?” Meredith began to feel a rush of excitement. Her face turned bright red. This is what she had dreamed of her entire life, meeting a movie star face-to-face. And here he was, only a few feet away.
Unable to control her amazement, Meri let out a scream and then pressed her hand against her mouth in an effort to stifle her sudden reaction. “I thought it was you this morning! I even told my mom. I said, ‘Mom, I just saw a guy who looks like Jacob Wilde.’ ” Meredith’s voice was at a raised pitch. The four women stopped and looked at Jacob. They began to whisper.
“My mom thought I was crazy, but that’s okay. She always thinks I’m crazy. But I knew it was you, or at least I thought it was you. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you say your name was Jay?”
Jacob began to look nervous. The four women stepped closer. One of them held a pen in hand and quickly scrounged in her purse.
“What I said was that you could call me J.” He made the letter J in the air with his finger.
“Oh! J, not Jay. I see. But where did the Wartman come from?”
Jacob appeared to be blushing. He looked down and adjusted his sunglasses.
Before he could answer, the woman came closer with a scrap of paper and held out the pen. “Would you mind giving me your autograph? I loved you in Falcon Pointe. Do you have any more movies coming out soon?”
“No,” Jacob said as he quickly scrawled his name on the back of the woman’s grocery list. He smiled pleasantly at her and said, “Thanks.”
“Oh no! Thank you,” she said.
Her friend stepped forward and wedged herself between Meri and Jacob. “Would you mind if we took a quick photo?”
Before Jacob could answer, the camera had clicked, and the woman was already saying thank you.
“It’s Jacob Wilde!” the woman in glasses announced to the teenage girls heading toward the lodge. With a whoosh, five, six, then nine more women were gathered around Jacob.
Meredith felt overwhelmed. Where had all these people come from? Why were they pushing their way between Jacob and her? Couldn’t they see that she was with him? She was, wasn’t she?
So much was happening so fast. One of the women excitedly asked Jacob to sign the back of her checkbook. Two more people got out of their cars and came over to see what all the commotion was about. Meredith was being pushed farther and farther to the side as the curious crowd pelted Jacob with questions.
As Meredith watched, Jacob patiently answered everyone’s questions. He posed for two more photos and signed more autographs. When he glanced at his watch again, Meredith knew he was leaving. Jacob turned and looked at her through the cluster of fans. His expression was completely different from the way he had looked during their time at the waterfall. A sadness hung over his smile. Or was he angry? Could it be that he was mad at Meredith for blowing his cover? At the moment, she couldn’t blame him.
“I have to go,” Jacob said to the crowd while still looking at Meredith. “Nice meeting all of you.”
She didn’t try to move closer to him as he got into the car. Other women followed him. One of them looped her arms around his neck and before he could get into the car, planted a big kiss on his cheek. Jacob took it all good-naturedly, but Meri couldn’t help noticing he wasn’t eating up the attention. It seemed to embarrass and frustrate him.
She felt bad. Everything had been so dreamy until she drew attention to who he was. His comment at the waterfall suddenly made sense. This movie-star role wasn’t who he was; it was what he did. Apparently he had struggled with that and was now finding ways not to flash his name all over the place. That is, until Meredith made this flock of admirers appear. They had cut her off from him. And she had invited them to do it.
What were you thinking? she scolded herself. Why did you have to act like that? It’s bad enough that you revert to being a child around your mother, but why, oh, why, did you act like that around him? Why couldn’t you have just ignored the phone case? He didn’t want to be found out. That’s why he was so secretive about his name. You’ve ruined everything, you know.
Jacob started the engine and gave Meredith a slight wave and a hollow smile. The smile was vastly different from the ones he had showered on her an hour ago. This smile was forced and not at all joyful.
She returned a smile, which she imagined must have looked about the same as his. “Bye,” she called out, lifting her hand to wave. There she stood, one of the many starstruck admirers, smiling and waving as the actor left Glenbrooke in his shiny black convertible.
“Is he gorgeous or what?” one of the women said as Jacob’s car rumbled over the gravel and out of the conference center’s entrance.
“Did you see his eyes? What color were they? He had those sunglasses on, and I couldn’t tell.”
“Brown,” Meredith muttered to herself. “Brown like warm cocoa.” She knew it was futile to muse over this guy. She would never look into those cocoa brown eyes again. When he saw her next month in California, he would run and hide. She was sure of it.
The crowd made its way to the conference center, looking like one big wave of chattering, laughing excitement ready to hit the reception and douse all those in attendance with the great news.
Meredith remained fixed in the parking lot, not wanting to go into the conference center. She knew her mother would be there, ready to scold her for not showing up early to help out. All those fans would be raving to everyone that they had seen the Jacob Wilde. The one who had kissed him would have the grandest tale to tell. Meredith wanted to go home to her safe little Tulip Cottage on Whidbey Island and skip the rest of this day.
Snap out of it! This isn’t about you. It’s Jonathan and Shelly’s day. You came for them. Go in there and be happy for them.
Putting one boot in front of the other, Meredith made her way to the lodge with several dozen others who had just arrived. It was an impressive lodge. Grand in size and design, it had been made from logs at Kyle’s insistence and fronted with a wide porch at Jessica’s insistence. All the details inside had been Shelly’s selections. A large, river-rock fireplace was circled by forest green couches, and two long, cushioned window seats ran along the room’s back side with a fabulous view of the unspoiled meadow. Shelly had designed built-in nooks for coffee and tea service in the main lounge. She had grouped chairs and end tables in cozy half circles to invite quiet conversations. The adjoining dining area seated eight hundred at round tables.
Meredith had seen it all before. She had spent hours listening to Shelly’s plans and giving her input. She had even helped Shelly pick out the curtain fabric for the dining room.
And now the grand opening had come at last. Meredith tried hard to pull herself together the last few steps up to the lodge. She couldn’t spoil this day for her sister. She wouldn’t.
Chapter Six
Are you all right?” Mom said, sweeping across the crowded room and coming to Meredith’s side the moment she walked in the door. People were everywhere, standing, sitting, sipping glasses of pink lemonade.
“I’m fine,” Meredith said, forcing a smile and trying to lower her voice so it wouldn’t sound juvenile. “Sorry I didn’t make it in time to help.”
“There wasn’t much to do. You know your sister; she had everything organized and under control before we even got here.” Mom smiled over the top of Meri’s head at a couple walking in the door. “Jessica said you went to the waterfall with somebody named Jake.”
Meredith nodded, still keeping her pleasant look intact.
“Did you have a nice time?”
“Yes. It’s beautiful at the waterfall. Have you and Dad seen it since Jonathan pulled out all the boulders and widened the lake?”
“No. Speaking of Jonathan, here he is.”
Jonathan Renfield, the man with the nonstop smile, stepped over and kissed Meredith on the cheek. “Hey, I wondered when you were going to show up.” Jonathan had grown up next door to the Grahams and was as much of a brother to Meredith as he was a brother-in-law.
“I was just telling Mom how great the lake at the waterfall looks. You did an incredible job of transforming that place.”
“You think so?”
“It’s beautiful,” Meredith said.
Jonathan’s gray eyes lit with appreciation for her praise.
“Maybe it’s beautiful enough to be a setting for a movie.” An unshaved man with long brown hair stepped into their conversation uninvited. “What do you think?”
Meredith thought the guy was rude but in a charming sort of way. He looked vaguely familiar.
“Have you met Brad Phillips?” Jonathan asked, slipping his arm around Brad’s shoulder in a quick, friendly squeeze. That was Jonathan’s way of inviting Brad into the conversation. “Brad, this is Shelly’s sister Meredith and their mom, Ellen Graham.”
“We’ve met,” Ellen said. “Excuse me. I’m going to find Perry.”
Meredith knew that was her mom’s polite way of saying, “I’ve met this person, and I don’t deem him worthy of my attention, so I’m going to leave.”
“Brad was Shelly’s neighbor in Pasadena,” Jonathan said to Meredith after her mom left.
“Oh!” The lightbulb went on in Meredith’s attic. “Jacob’s roommate. It was sure nice of you to come up for this.”
“It was my wife’s idea,” Brad said.
“Have you met Alissa yet?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“She’ll be hard to miss,” Brad said, glancing around the room. He took a sip of his lemonade and said matter-of-factly, “She’s the most gorgeous woman here.”
Meredith let out a glimmering laugh.
“She is,” Brad said without batting an eye. He took another long, cool sip of his lemonade. “If I’d known married life could be this awesome, we would have married long ago.”
“I remember Shelly going to Los Angeles for your wedding,” Meredith said. “Wasn’t it just last month?”