he says yes, then I’ll know it’s good. If he says no...he’ll at least give me a reason why he doesn’t like it.”
“And tear you to pieces in the meantime. There’s nothing that guy likes better than to put celebrities with inflated egos in their place.”
Which was exactly why Irvin had sent it to him. If he had any chance of getting behind the camera, this was the test. If Kevin liked his script, Irvin planned to barter and plead to direct it. He’d earned his money and his fame, repaid his mother the debt he owed before she passed away, and now he was ready to move behind the camera. He loved Hollywood, loved the satisfaction of bringing a story to life and the pride when it was done well. But he could experience all those things without being the half-naked guy on-screen. It was his one shot to keep the security he had now without many of the headaches.
“I don’t have an inflated ego to burst,” Irvin said.
“You say that now, but wait until his comments come back.”
Irvin drank his cola to swallow the sinking feeling that Dante might be right.
“I don’t have to go,” Faith said, twisting a pair of underwear in her hands.
Virginia Logan rolled her wheelchair across the threshold into Faith’s room. She shot Faith the same “are you crazy” look she’d given her when Faith was a girl and asked to stay out past her curfew. Except now the left side of her scowl drooped a little. It was still a vast improvement from the complete loss of motion and feeling Virginia had had on that side right after the stroke.
“Have you lost your mind, child?” Virginia asked in the softly slurred voice that still held a lot of her old spunk. “You deserve this vacation and a dozen more like it.”
Faith tossed the underwear in the bag. “I don’t deserve anything. I should stay. I could have filled in for one of the nurses who needed off this weekend. I’m so close to paying off the credit card, it seems foolish to lose twenty-four hours of overtime to hang out with an actor and party.”
“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying yourself when the opportunity arises.” Her mama wheeled closer and reached out her hand. Faith took it and squeezed. “You gave up a lot moving back here from Houston to take care of me and your dad. As much as I hate that you had to sacrifice so much, I’m also grateful.”
“It was nothing. Especially after what Love did to you two.”
Virginia sighed and let go of Faith’s hand. “It’s time for you to stop feeling guilty over what your sister did.”
“I know, Mama, but we’re twins. I should have sensed that she was capable of taking advantage of you.”
Virginia laughed and patted Faith’s arm. “This is real life, not some sci-fi movie. Just because you’re her twin doesn’t mean you can read her mind. There was no way any of us would have sensed that Love would get caught up in drugs or steal our money and skip town while I was in the hospital.”
“But shouldn’t I have realized that something was wrong with her? Heard it in her voice, or had some clue that she could be so heartless?”
“Your sister isn’t heartless, Faith. She’s sick. Thank the good Lord she finally agreed to go to rehab.”
Faith turned away from her mama. She walked over to the closet and calmly took down a few sundresses for the trip. She wanted to scream at her mama’s insistence on trying to find the good in Love. Despite years of dealing with Love’s fight against addiction, when she’d wiped out their parents’ savings the day after her mama suffered a stroke, Faith considered that the end of her relationship with her sister. Her parents had worked hard to build up their nest egg for retirement. Her mama had worked as a schoolteacher and principal for twenty years. Her dad had been a superintendent at a delivery company for years until he was flung from his delivery truck four years ago in an accident and broke his back in three places. Thankfully he could walk, but the injury prevented him from working. Her mama had taken care of him before her stroke.
Faith couldn’t forgive Love for stealing from their parents. Who were already struggling after her dad’s injury. From what her mama said, Love had got away with all of their savings. Savings that would have gone a long way toward helping pay the ongoing medical bills and retrofit the house to accommodate her disabled parents. All things she’d depleted her savings to pay for and worked hard to continue to pay for.
“Love isn’t sick, Mama. She’s a junkie,” she said, not bothering to hide the contempt in her voice. She walked back to her suitcase and tossed the dresses inside.
Virginia took out the dresses and started folding each of them. “Don’t hate your sister.”
“After what she did, it’s hard not to.”
“Family is family, and she’ll always be your sister. I know it’s hard for you to understand how she let drugs take over her life, but she wants to get better.” Virginia placed the folded dresses in the suitcase. Then she gave Faith a direct stare. “And when she’s out, we’ll do what we can to help her. Right?”
Faith looked away to zip her bag. That was a promise she couldn’t make. This wasn’t Love’s first stint in rehab. She’d believed her sister once before, and less than a year later, her sister had betrayed their parents.
“If you’re not going to talk me out of going, then I guess I’d better go catch that plane,” Faith said instead.
Virginia sighed but didn’t push.
Faith took her overnight bag from the bed. “I’ve made dinners for every night and they’re in the freezer,” she said.
Virginia shook her head and chuckled. “I know, Faith.”
“And Marie said she’ll check in on both of you every day. I’ll keep my cell phone with me the entire time. If anything happens—”
“Nothing is going to happen, and there isn’t much you can do from New York anyway,” Virginia said.
“You’re right. I should stay.”
“Child, come on and quit fussing. Everything will be fine.” Virginia turned her wheelchair around and left the room.
Faith followed her mama to the front of the house. It had taken most of the past two years to retrofit the house with wider doorways, bathroom handrails and other changes to make life easier for her parents. After Love’s grand theft, Faith had offered to move her parents to Houston, where she had the salary to take better care of them, but they’d refused. They’d both lived in Laurel County all their lives and didn’t want to move. If they insisted on staying, then Faith insisted on making sure their house was worth staying in.
At the front of the house, they went out into morning air, already warm and humid for early June. Marie sat on a white porch rocker, talking with Faith’s dad. Jimmy Logan and Marie were both laughing, probably at a joke that Marie had made. Her friend was always good at making her parents laugh.
“Well, I guess I’m set,” Faith said.
The
