Page 112 of Starcrossed Colorado

My veins pulsed with all the anger and frustration I could unleash on this woman. But what good would that do? It wouldn’t bring Emma back home.

Except for magazine covers and screens, I hadn’t seen Ayla since she was a teenager. Yet right now, she seemed far more like Lori’s younger sister than a superstar.

If Lori were here, would she want me to turn her sister away?

“Do you like tea?” I asked.

“What?Tea?”

“Yeah. Hot tea. The froo-froo, flowery kind. Do you like it?”

“Um, yes.” She eyed me warily. “Tea would pretty much be the best thing ever.”

I heaved a sigh. “Come on, then.”

Turning, I headed for the kitchenette, not waiting to see if she’d follow. Part of me hoped she’d think better of this and leave.

But she didn’t. Ayla followed me and stood in the doorway while I poured water into the kettle to heat. I grabbed the box of tea from the shelf.

“You don’t seem like the flowery tea type,” Ayla said.

“It’s Emma’s.”

“Oh. Is she here with Maisie?” Ayla’s voice lifted when she said my daughter’s name.

I gritted my teeth. “No, Emma left. Because of that article.”

“I really am sorry about that. I had no idea anyone knew Maisie was my niece until the story broke. Is Maisie okay?”

“She’s fine.”

“And Emma?”

“I wish she was here. But yeah, she’s safe.” I loosened up, just a little, at the concern I’d heard in Ayla’s voice.

When the water boiled, I poured some into a mug and pushed it across the counter.

“Do you have any cookies?”

“Really?”

“Come on, Ford! I’ve been driving for hours. I only stopped for gas and to pee. I’m hungry.”

Snorting a laugh, I found a sleeve of cookies in a drawer and handed them to her. Lori had used to call meFordsometimes. Especially when she was annoyed with me.

We sat down at the tiny table against the wall. She dropped her backpack to the floor. Ayla shoved a cookie in her mouth, then dipped a second one into the tea.

“So what kind of rehab facility did you escape from? One of those cushy celebrity ones?”

“You think I could go anywhere else? Even there, paps were still hiding in bushes to take my picture. Pretty sure my own staffsold me out. I can’t trust anyone.” She ate her second cookie. Took a long sip of tea. Then Ayla sighed, eyes closing, and sank back against her chair. “I really was there for exhaustion. It wasn’t code for a drug addiction or anything like that.”

That was good, because I didn’t want anything drug-related near Maisie. I had no idea what kind of rock ’n’ roll lifestyle Ayla had been living.

“What happened?” I asked. “I heard you canceled your world tour.”

“You know how they say, be careful what you wish for?” She took another cookie from the sleeve. “I just got to the point that I couldn’t take the pressure anymore. The nonstop traveling. Not having anybody I could trust. It’s really hard doing this without family who will be there for you, no matter what. Who see you as a real person and not a commodity.”

“But I thought that’s what you wanted. You didn’t want anything to do with Lori back when she tried to get in touch.”

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