Page 32 of Find Me in California

“I’ll always love him no matter what; I can’t help myself. He really is an adoring husband when he isn’t in a foul mood. He’s been working ungodly hours and is unusually tired.”

I must not have looked convinced, for she slipped her arm through mine and walked with me to the ground cover I’d been removing. “Matty will come around, trust me. With time, he’ll adore you as much as I do. You know what I love about you, Magnolia?”

“What is that?”

“Everyone here is caught up in the scene. They want what I can give them: connections. Matty’s popularity definitely helps in that regard, but I’ve been in this industry since birth, and I know a lot of people too. It’s what I’m good at; it’s what I do. Introduce the right people to each other. Many stars are famous thanks to me, whether they met their agent through me, or auditioned for a role because I introduced them to a director. But I’m never sure if people love me for me or love me for what I can get them. It’s easy to feel taken advantage of.”

“I’d never.”

“That’s why I like you.” Liza squeezed my hands, not minding the dirt under my fingernails. “It’s why I trust you. You didn’t grow up here. You don’tneedanything from me. You’ll never take advantage of me.”

I smiled at her. It was the only thing I could do because I was tongue tied with guilt. I couldn’t stop thinking about when I’d see Matty again.

CHAPTER 15

MATT

Matt looks up at the darkening sky as Magnolia knocks on her parents’ door. She waits for them to answer, nervously fidgeting with her hair.

When they arrived, Magnolia didn’t immediately get out of the car. She scratched at her denim thigh.

He leaned forward to get her attention, wondering at her hesitation. He needed to get back on the road. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She opened the door and glanced back at him. “Will you come with?”

“Uh ... Sure.” What was a few more minutes?

Magnolia knocks.

Matt hooks his thumbs in his front pockets. “I don’t think they’re home.”

She walks backward off the porch, looking up at the second-story windows. One of them, the small tinted bathroom window, is cracked open. She cups her mouth. “Mom? Dad? It’s Ruby Rose!”

Matt drops his head and smirks. He had the feeling Magnolia Blu wasn’t her real name.

“I’m home,” she yells, then watches the door.

“Magnolia—”

“They’re here. They have to be,” she cuts him off.

He holds up his hands and backs off. Not his business.

She returns to the porch and shoves her hand into the mailbox next to the front door. “It’s not here.” She slams the lid.

“What’s not?”

“The house key.” She strides across the lawn to the sidewalk, looks up and down the street, then fixes her attention on the house across from them.

“Whose house is that?” he asks of the ranch-style house with a well-tended yard.

“Benjie’s.” She hugs her ribs. “It’s different from what I remember.”

“The light’s on. He might know when your parents are expected back.”

She steps off, then back on the sidewalk. Her fingers twist in her hair. She’s got to be nervous. She left Benjie at the altar when she ran off with the guy she’d met and hooked up with the night before the wedding.

“I can go ask if you don’t want to go over,” he offers.

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