Page 60 of Nightcaps at The Beach House Hotel

“Oh, but …” started Rhonda, quieting at a look from me. I knew she wanted to say something about Abbie and Darryl becoming more than friends, and that was none of our business.

“Apparently Darryl’s had some awful news, and he’s thinking of going to New York. So, it wasn’t going to work out for Abbie to stay anyway. She’s happy to come to California with me. The only problem is, I’m being forced to cancel my reservation for the guesthouse here.”

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, privately cursing Lily. “The important thing is for you to have the proper space for you to prepare for your film. I’m sure that Consuela can give you some of the recipes for Abbie’s favorite foods here.”

“That would be wonderful,” said Tina. “I was hoping to be able to spend some time with you both while I was here, but it seems as if this long visit was troubled from the beginning.”

I hugged her. “You’re welcome anytime you want. We just want you to be happy and successful.”

Rhonda hugged Tina. “We love you, Tina.”

Tina gave us a wan smile. “Sorry about all this.”

She left, and Rhonda and I sighed together.

“It’s amazing how everything that seemed perfect is ending so badly,” said Rhonda. “I thought Darryl and Abbie might end up together. But if they’re on a different coast of the country, I doubt it’ll happen.”

“I wonder what’s happening with Darryl,” I said. “If I hear any news, I’ll let you know. I’d better get home.”

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As I pulled into the driveway, Darryl was saying goodbye to Abbie, who stood with her suitcase outside of Vaughn’s car.

I hurried over to them. “Abbie, I’m very sorry you’re leaving. I want you to know you’re welcome anytime you want. I’m going to miss you.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I’m going to miss you and everyone here.” She gave a meaningful look to Darryl.

“I’ll leave you to yourselves,” I said, understanding.

Inside the house, Vaughn was in the kitchen preparing to leave. “I’ll drive Abbie to the hotel to be with Tina. Darryl is going to stay here to make a few calls. It doesn’t look good for him.”

I blinked with alarm. “What’s the problem?”

“I’ll let him tell you what’s going on,” said Vaughn. “I don’t think it’s my place to say.”

My pulse jumped. I looked out the kitchen window and saw Darryl hugging Abbie.

A moment later Darryl walked inside, and Vaughn left.

“Hi,” I said. “What’s happening?”

“You’d better sit down. My situation has changed. I got a call from my agent. I’m being sued for sexual harassment.”

I frowned. “Even I who’ve known you for a short time find it hard to believe that you would do such a thing.”

“This woman and I went out to dinner once. She invited me to her apartment, and I said no, I wasn’t interested. She’s been angry ever since.”

“Have you called a lawyer? You’ll need an excellent one,” I said.

“Oh, yes. I’m going to New York today to meet with him. I want to get this settled as quickly as possible. People may think by charging me with something like this, I’ll pay them off or make some kind of settlement. I’m not going to throw money at the problem to make it go away. That’s not how I do things. She’s got a fight on her hands.”

“I wish you luck. You’re welcome to use my home office here if you’d like.”

He shook his head. “Thanks. I’m leaving for New York today, but I want to continue to rent the house at the hotel. If this news breaks, I can imagine all the smut that will be put out there, and I’ll need to hide out more than ever.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure it’s still available for you. Do you want to go back there to pack or are you set with the things you have here?”

“I can make do with what I have here, but thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without the support of you and Rhonda. It means a lot.”

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