Page 30 of Switching Places

“I could do that,” she said cautiously.

Would he want to have lunch with Emma or was he looking forward to seeing Lily? Did he even know she’d come to visit? Apparently not as he made no mention of including her in lunch plans. Would he be surprised to see her?

“One o’clock, then,” he said.

“Wait, where?”

Lily might know what studio, but Emma hadn’t a clue.

“At the studio cafeteria. You didn’t spend all night partying, did you? I thought you gave that up after you and Pierre split.”

Emma thought she heard a hint of reserve in his tone, but no censure.

“No. I was home quite early last night,” she replied.

“Come to the gate on Sepulvada, I’ll leave word that you’re expected.”

“See you at one.”

She was going to have lunch with her father.

Emma leaned back and stared off into space. She’d missed her dad so much when her parents were first divorced. He’d always been so much fun. Mom had been left with most of the discipline.

Over the years Emma had grown used to his hectic schedule, his brief calls, his apparent lack of interest. Would today change that? Would he apologize for his neglect? Explain why he’d always been too busy to spend time with one of his little girls?

Not unless he knew who she was.

Of course he’d know instantly that she wasn’t Lily. She might have been able to fool a few of her sister’s friends, but not their own father.

Emma remembered once years ago when she and Lily had been little. They’d tried to convince their father that they were each other. He hadn’t been fooled for a minute, despite his familiar assertion that they were as alike as two peas in a pod.

She might wear one of Lily’s outfits. And see how long it took him to uncover her disguise. A father would know his own daughter, even if he hadn’t seen her in several years.

Looking forward to being with him again, she wondered if he’d want to spend some time with her while she awaited Lily’s return. They could catch up on the last few years. Maybe she could even share a bit of her situation with Logan. He was a man. He could give her some advice.

Allowing herself enough time to look up the studio, and then trying to figure out where the gate was on Sepulvada, she finally entered the setting on the convertible’s GPS. Emma backed out the Mustang and headed toward Hollywood a couple of hours later. Wearing one of the silky skirt and top Lily seemed to favor, she smiled as the wind blew through her hair. This was the glamour she hoped for—dressing in designer clothes, drivinga candy-apple-red convertible, lunching with a famous public figure. She felt as far from the shy librarian as she could get. For a moment she felt pretty and confident and carefree. It felt glorious.

Emma found the gate with no trouble, and asked the guard directions to the cafeteria. Parking in one of the few empty parking slots, she hurried to the low building that catered lunch to the studio. Pausing inside, she looked around. She knew exactly what her father looked like from his last film. Spotting him seated near a window, she drew a deep breath and sauntered across the room. A wave here and there proved her sister was not unknown here.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly as she slid into a chair opposite his, her eyes studying the man she hadn’t seen in person since she was seven.

He glanced up from the menu he’d been skimming and smiled.

“Hello. I wasn’t sure if you’d left for Mexico yet or not. I heard Allie Adams got sick and I wondered if they’d be shooting out of schedule, doing the other scenes first.”

“Uh, yes, I heard that, too. I, um, I’ll be leaving soon to do my bit.”

He frowned and stared at her with a puzzled look, as if he found something wrong but couldn’t identify exactly what.

Emma took a breath and smiled.

“So, what have you been up to?”

How long before he recognized her? She leaned back, trying to appear calm and casual.

“Are you wearing different makeup?” he asked, studying her closely.

“Do you like it?”

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