Page 81 of Heart to Heart
“Your boyfriend has been making posts about the bakery on social media,” Josh chimed in.
Avery’s head whipped from Claire to me. “It’s no big deal,” I confirmed. “Your mom’s cake was one of the best I’ve ever had. I wanted people to know about it.”
“Oh, they know about it,” Josh added. “Mom’s getting orders all the way from South America—Texas and stuff.”
“Josh, sweety, Texas is in North America,” Claire said.
“But it’s in south North America.”
“I mean, he’s not wrong,” Kiki added.
“We have a line outside the bakery from the time we open to when we close at night,” Claire said, beaming. “It’s been a real dream come true.”
Avery glanced from her mom to me, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “And, uh, when did you make those social media posts?”
I could conceivably answer that question one of two ways: by telling a lie or telling the truth. Avery deserved nothing but the latter, so I answered her.
“The day we met.”
CHAPTER 46
AVERY
The day we met?
The day we met!
I sat in the van, still in a daze from Tristan’s admission. Tristan had been promoting my mom’s bakery since day one. Since the day the first episode aired, her business had blown up, and had been booming ever since. In fact, it had been booming so much that not only had she had to hire additional staff, but she was also considering purchasing the empty building next door to expand the business. Tristan had to have known the kind of power and influence he would have.
Of course, he knew. This meant he also knew he didn’t have to hold up to his end of our deal. Our whole alliance had been unnecessary, yet he went along with it anyway. Had he been worried that I would tell the world about the conversation I’d overheard?
No. I don’t think so.
But if that wasn’t it, then… “Oh my God.” Bianca looked up from the seat next to me, eyebrow raised. “That sunset…” I said, attempting to cover up my unintentional outburst. “It’s, uh, really orange this evening.”
She stole a glance out the window, turning back to look at me like Nicholas Cage at Pedro Pascal in a popular meme I’d seen floating around before leaving for L.A. “You do a little drinking this evening?”
All of us but Jessica were in the van on our way back to the mansion, but only Bianca and I were awake, and Bianca only just barely until my mouth said words I’d meant to keep inside my brain.
Does that mean Tristan hadn’t been faking anything this entire time? The hot tub, the masquerade, the ocean. Had that all been him? Never had I wanted to jump on my phone so fast. I wished I could talk to him, to ask him without any cameras shoved in our faces, why he’d allowed me to think we were working as a team, and if none of the intimate moments we’d shared had been fake, then why had he agreed to have Jessica come on the show?
My life was a legitimate television drama, and I wanted out.
We stumbled into the house, with all of us but Felicity veering off to head to the parlor to decompress while she headed to bed.
“I don’t think the new star of the show is here,” Taylor muttered.
“Please,” Bianca said, rolling her eyes. “Don’t give her that much credit. We’re all on equal footing here, and we need to act like it.
“Tell that to the producers,” Taylor muttered. “My mom told me they’ve been hyping her up on promotional videos. From what she’s seen, people are saying Tristan has already decided, and Jessica is going to win the whole thing. They’re promoting the reunion of Hollywood’s former power couple.”
“I don’t believe that at all,” Bianca sneered, though the waver in her voice betrayed the conflict going on inside her head.“What fun would the rest of the season be if people already knew the ending? Besides?—”
A piercing, blood-curdling scream ripped through the house, startling us all.
“That sounds like Felicity,” Charlie said just as another scream tore through the air. She nodded. “Yup, that’s definitely Felicity.”
Without another word, we tore down the hall in the direction of the stairs, right as a commotion erupted.
