One Night with a Star (Second Chances Book 2) (21 page)

“Well, well. Looks like our two young lovebirds have decided to leave their nest to join us,” Ben joked, his wry grin telling all.

“Just thought we’d take a look to make sure the set is still in good shape,” Simon said, clasping Jenny’s hand.

“Mmm hmm,” Ben replied, eyes narrowed with knowing.

He said no more about it, though. Jenny fought the blush that stained her face bright red and did her best to walk normally, in spite of the heightened awareness of some tender areas between her legs, as she and Simon joined them. There wasn’t anything more to do but wait for the meeting to be done. The guys talked about the production, which Jenny didn’t know much about. Hearing so much shop-talk only reminded her of the fact that she was now unemployed. In all the excitement of the last few hours, she’d completely forgotten. But for a change, it wasn’t worry or fear that washed over her as she remembered that fact, it was an even stronger sense that she’d done the right thing.

When the conference room door opened, their small group turned toward it in expectation all together.

“So we’ll send over the contracts by next Tuesday, and everything should be squared away,” Charles was in the middle of saying to Dr. Brunswick as they emerged first.

“Thank you, Mr. Rigley. I’ll make sure they’re signed,” Dr. Brunswick said.

Yvonne strode out into the hall behind them, looking as self-satisfied as it was possible for a person to look.

“Well, folks,” she said as she and Charles joined their group. “Everything is right back on schedule. This calls for a—”

“You won’t hear the end of this,” Neil strode up behind her and interrupted. “I’m still planning to fight this.”

Jenny let out a breath, crossing her arms and staring at Neil in disbelief. She was about to tear into him, but Yvonne beat her to it.

“Honey, this is the end,” she told him with her special mix of compassion and venom. “It’s the end for you, at least.” When Neil looked like he would argue with her, she rushed on with, “Since Second Chances is going to be here for a while, let me offer you a little advice.”

“You? Offer me advice?” Neil snapped.

“Yes, sweetie. And it’s this. Find another job.”

Neil blinked and clenched his jaw.

“It would be best for everyone,” Yvonne continued, stepping closer and patting his cheek. Neil flinched, but that didn’t stop her from saying, “Because if you don’t find another job willingly, I can guarantee you that in about two weeks or less, you’ll need to find one involuntarily. Do I make myself clear?”

“You Hollywood types,” Neil sneered. “You think you can just walk in here and push us around?”

His bluster was cut short as Dr. Brunswick walked past behind him and simply said, “She’s right.”

She walked on without another word or look. Neil turned pale, his jaw hanging open. He stood there gaping like a fish for a second before turning to run after Dr. Brunswick, calling, “Jan, wait.”

Yvonne’s grin widened. “Well. That’s the end of that sad chapter. Let’s move on to happier things.”

By the time the gang made it to Sand Dollar Point, it was time for lunch. With no time to make or order a feast appropriate to the level of celebration, they ordered pizza. Tasha had zipped home after a half-day at school and was laughing along with them as they talked about everything they could plan now that filming was settled. Simon had never been happier. Sitting on the sofa at his friends’ house,  munching on pizza, his free arm stretched across the back of the cushions around Jenny’s shoulders. If he had been asked a year and a half ago what his idea of perfection was, he might just have come up with this scenario, but he never would have believed he could achieve it. Smiling at Jenny by his side now, he knew who he had to thank for his blessings.

“Oh!” Jenny exclaimed suddenly, mid-chew, right as Ben and Spence were discussing whether Ben should buy or rent a place nearby during filming. Jenny’s cheeks flared red as she finished her bite, hand to her mouth. As soon as she swallowed, she said, “I forgot to tell you something.”

“What?” Simon asked. A faint twist of worry bit at his gut, but beyond that, he knew there was nothing to worry about.

She turned to him with a guilty expression nonetheless. “I kind of quit my job this morning.”

“You what?” Tasha blinked.

Jenny peeked around at the audience she now had. “I quit. I think I was in trouble anyhow for…for several things.” Her sheepishness evaporated and she let out a breath. “But let’s face it. That job might have been right for me once, but not now. I was miserable there. I want…I want something more from life.”

She sent Simon a sideways glance so quickly that he wondered if it was an involuntary reaction. Involuntary or not, Simon grinned from ear to ear. He wanted something more from life too. He wanted more than glitz and glamor. The fun and pleasure that came along with celebrity, the attention and the adoration from faceless masses had zero appeal for him anymore. He wanted real things from his life now. Fighting for Twin Pines, getting to know the residents there, had taught him that as much as anything. He wanted more. He wanted family and a future.

A buzz began to form deep in his gut, as deep as his soul, as their friends reacted to Jenny’s statement.

“What do you plan to do now?” Spence asked.

What indeed, Simon asked himself.

“I don’t know,” Jenny shrugged. “I need to think about it for a while. I need to consider Daniel before I do anything.” Again, she snuck a sideways glance at Simon.

And once again, Simon’s grin grew. He needed to consider Daniel too. His son deserved the best of everything. So did his son’s mother. He had it in his power to give those things. The question was, was he man enough to step up to bat now?

“I’m sure there are all sorts of jobs you could do with flexible hours,” Tasha suggested. “Things you could do working from home.”

“Exactly,” Jenny said. She chewed her lip and stared at the open box of pizza on the coffee table. “Of course, I really do kind of like working with people outside of my house.”

“And you’re good at it too, honey,” Yvonne added.

Yvonne had the calculating look in her eyes that never failed to make Simon quiver in his boots. His beloved manager was definitely hatching some scheme behind those eyes of hers. It was the same look she’d sported last summer when she suggested he come up to Maine to visit Spence for a few days.

“Thanks, I think,” Jenny answered, her mouth twitching as if she was trying to figure out Yvonne’s motives too.

“You know, I’ve been looking for someone to take on as an assistant,” Yvonne went on. “Someone to teach this marvelous art of herding cats to.”

Jenny laughed out loud. “You’re not suggesting I should become a Hollywood talent agent, are you?”

Yvonne shrugged, spreading her hands. She ended the mysterious movement by reaching for another slice of pizza. “You’ve got the drive for it, you know, and the balls. No one would stand in your way for long.” She arched an eyebrow, then took a bite of her slice.

“Hmm,” Jenny hummed, her smile growing. “Interesting idea. And I certainly have experience wrangling celebrities.” She sent Simon a mischievous look.

“Lord help us all,” he laughed.

In fact, he was reasonably sure Jenny would make an excellent protégé for Yvonne. He was less sure whether he would survive the alliance, but then again, if he spent his life surrounded by such powerful, determined women, he would never have to worry about backsliding or getting into trouble or virtually anything at all ever again.

As the conversation shifted to Ben’s latest Broadway success, Simon leaned close to Jenny and whispered, “If she’s serious about her offer, and I’m pretty sure she is, I think you should take it.”

“Really?” Jenny’s brow quirked up.

“Absolutely. Together, the two of you would conquer the world.”

She smiled. It was a wicked smile, a perfect smile. It reached into him and grabbed hold of his heart, anchoring him to her forever. She swayed toward him and kissed his lips.

That was it. Simon’s mind was made up. It was about time he took the final step to change his life into the life that he wanted to live. As soon as he finished his pizza, as the conversation settled into comfortable banter. He took Jenny’s hand and stood. She stood with him, her gaze questioning. He winked and led her out of the room, through the porch door, and down to the lawn and the stairs that led to the beach.

“Where are we going?” Jenny asked as they started down the stairs.

“On a walk,” he said, coy as a blushing maiden.

Her smile grew, but was peppered with curiosity.

It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon. The sky was a deep, clear blue. The tide was out, leaving the beach wide and warm. A cool breeze kept it from being as comfortable as summer, but Simon didn’t mind. A scattering of people walked the beach in long sleeves and pants. Whether it was summer or not, the beach still held a certain appeal, a certain romance. At the far end, the pier where they’d made fabulous fools of themselves the night the movie was shown to beachgoers stood out in grey relief against the autumn landscape. Simon may only have just become a resident of this peaceful seaside town, but already he loved it.

“So we’re just going to walk?” Jenny asked as they strolled slowly across the sand.

Simon grinned at her, teasing and mysterious. Jenny’s eyes glittered with expectation, almost as if she knew everything he was thinking. She squeezed his hand, walking close to him for warmth.

“I might want to say something too,” he said, playing things as cool as possible.

“Oh?” She all but batted her eyelashes. The breeze, the salt air, and her thoughts, whatever they were, stained her cheeks pink.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s been quite a month, hasn’t it. Quite a year.”

“You can say that again.”

“But I think we’ve managed to sort things out admirably, don’t you?”

She nudged him with her shoulder. “Not without some trauma, but yes.”

“The show’s all right,” he went on. “I’ve got myself a lovely big house now. Daniel and I are getting to know each other. I’d say that things are just about perfect.”

“Just about,” Jenny echoed.

“But not quite.”

“Oh?”

He shrugged, doing his best to keep the excitement of his pounding heart inside. “I think we could up our game, make things just a little more perfect.”

“You think?” The blush on her cheeks was darker now, and she squeezed his hand harder than perhaps she knew.

“Oh, I think we could do much better.”

He stopped and turned to face her. Judging by the tightness in Jenny’s shoulders and the brightness of her smile, she expected something. Of course she did. He expected something too. He expected his life to be full of wonder and perfection, from this moment and on to forever.

But there was one thing he had to do first.

He drew her into his arms and kissed her. Their lips fit so perfectly together, their bodies seemed made for each other. She draped her arms around his shoulders, threading her fingers through his hair, and kissed him in return. He knew it the moment he’d seen her last summer. Jenny was the girl for him. Some things were too simple to deny. Now he would make it official.

He took a step back, kissed her quickly one last time, then let her go. He turned and started back toward Sand Dollar Point without another word.

Jenny followed him. “That’s it?” she asked, her voice unsteady.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and nodded. “There’s supposed to be more?” She would flay him alive for teasing her like this, but if they were going to start a new life together, they would have to do it right.

Jenny let out a breath that turned into a laugh. “Of course there’s more.” She rushed to catch up to him. “Like, maybe, a question?”

“Hmm. A question.”

She waited, eyebrows raised, then let out a breath. “One of these days, Simon Mercer.”  She caught up, took his hand, and they continued walking.

“Yes,” he agreed. “One of these days.”

As soon as he made everything right.

Chapter Twenty

By the time Simon pulled his car into the drive at Jenny’s parent’s house, it was mid-afternoon. He’d left the gang at Sand Dollar Point as mysteriously as any man could. They’d all given him odd looks when he told them he just needed to pop out to run an errand. Jenny in particular had given him the evil eye as he’d gone. Things were so perfect between them that of course she should know what he was up to. She’d know soon enough.

The garage door was open, and lucky for Simon, he could see Jenny’s dad hard at work over a bench laden with tools. He took a deep breath and approached the man, knowing he was about to take his life in his hands.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Young,” he addressed Jenny’s dad with the most respect he could muster.

Mr. Young stopped what he was doing and frowned up at Simon. “Jenny’s at work,” he said, about as friendly as a rabid badger.

Well, Simon hadn’t expected it to be easy, but this was why he was here.

“I haven’t come to speak to Jenny,” he said. Best to let her tell them about leaving her job. “I’ve actually come to speak to you and your wife, if you have a moment.”

Mr. Young blew out a breath and set down the car part he was tinkering with. He slid of the stool where he was sitting and walked toward Simon. As he passed, he motioned for Simon to follow him toward the house.

“Cheryl,” he called as they walked through the front door. “There’s someone here who wants to talk to us.”

“Who is it?” Jenny’s mom’s voice answered from the den down the hall.

Simon followed Jenny’s dad into the room. Daniel was awake and seated on a blanket in the middle of the room, chewing on a rubber toy for all he was worth. As soon as he saw Simon, Daniel lit up with a smile. That was all Simon needed to give his heart away to the boy forever.

“Hi, tiger,” he said, crossing to his son and scooping the boy into his arms. Few things had ever felt so good or so right. “You having fun with Granny today?”

Daniel giggled and cooed and planted his drool-wet face on Simon’s shoulder.

“Simon,” Jenny’s mother greeted him, standing from where she had been playing with Daniel. “This is a surprise. Jenny’s at work.”

“He said he came to talk to us,” Jenny’s dad told her, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Simon.

With Daniel in his arms, at least one person was in his corner. There was no sense beating around the bush.

“Mr. and Mrs. Young,” he addressed the pair of them with respect. “I’ve come to ask permission to marry your daughter.”

His brave declaration was met with stunned silence. Jenny’s mom’s jaw dropped open. Simon glanced to Daniel, an eyebrow raised, as if asking the baby for support.

He took a breath and went on. “I know that we got off to a rocky start. When I met Jenny, I wasn’t the sort of man that I would want my daughter to marry. But Jenny is a remarkable woman. She’s given me the strength to make the changes that I needed to make in my life. I know the lifestyle I live isn’t always an easy one and that you probably have a lot of questions about the world I come from. But I promise you this, I intend to live the rest of my life for your daughter and for Daniel here. And any brothers and sisters that might come along. I love Jenny, and I love Daniel. They are my life.”

He paused, checking to see if he was getting through to them at all. Jenny’s dad looked like he might consider heading back to the garage to pick up a tire iron so that he could beat Simon senseless. Her mom had cracked into a smile, though.

“You’re actually asking our permission?” she said.

“It seemed right, under the circumstances.” Simon nodded.

Her dad huffed. “You didn’t ask our permission to turn her life upside down, did you?”

“Robbie,” Jenny’s mom hissed, slapping his arm. “Give the man a break. He’s obviously been through a lot.”

“I won’t let any man, no matter how much he’s changed, hurt my baby girl ever again,” her dad said.

“And I admire you for feeling that way,” Simon said. He could make this situation right, prove himself to the right people, if he kept a cool head. “That’s why I’ve come to ask your permission.”

“And if I say no?”

“Robbie,” her mom scolded again.

All three of them were startled when Jenny spoke from the doorway, “I don’t think it’s any of your business, Dad.”

From the moment Simon had kissed her on the beach, Jenny knew he was up to something. She suspected that he would try something grand and flashy, something quintessentially Simon. He may have turned over a whole tree’s worth of new leaves, but Simon was still Simon at heart, and that’s why she loved him. He was going to make a grand gesture of some sort, maybe even a proposal. She knew it. So when he left Sand Dollar Point without revealing to anyone what he was up to, he had a hunch about where he was going.

If Simon was going to make a declaration, he would want Daniel with him when he did it. She had never been more sure of anything in her life. That was just the kind of man Simon was. He cared about his son, even if he didn’t know Daniel existed for the first six months of his life. That was her bad. She should have told him. But all that was water under the bridge now. The future was ahead of them, of that she was certain.

She’d actually cried out “Yes!” in victory when she’d pulled into her parent’s driveway and seen Simon’s car there. He was planning something, all right. So of course she tip-toed into the house as silently as possible in an effort to catch him in the act. And, oh boy, she wasn’t disappointed. She’d arrived just in time to hear him ask her parents for permission to marry her.

“The only people who have any say in whether Simon and I get married are Simon and I.” She strode boldly into the room, heart beating a mile a minute. In all likelihood, she looked like some sort of Amazonian warrior as she came to stand by Simon and Daniel’s side, but in reality she was jumping and squealing and turning cartwheels on the inside. Simon wanted to marry her!

“That’s what I was just about to tell your father,” her mother said, resting her fists on her hips and staring up at her dad’s stony face. The glimmer in her mom’s eyes came close to making Jenny explode into giggles and running to hug and dance around with her.

“My main concern is for you and Daniel,” her father said, continuing to be stubborn. “How do I know this Hollywood hot-shot will take good care of you?”

“Because I love her,” Simon answered. He turned to face Jenny, Daniel gumming happily at the collar of Simon’s shirt. Simon broke into a smile. “Because she makes my world right. Life makes sense when I’m with you, Jenny. I know what I want, I know what’s important, and I know what I love. I love you. I love Daniel,” he added, twisting to peer down at his son and to kiss the top of his head. When he glanced up at Jenny again, pure joy lit his eyes. “Will you marry me?”

As fast as she knew the answer, happiness closed Jenny’s throat before she could get the answer out. Of all the ways she had imagined a man proposing to her—
the
man proposing to her—it had never involved a confrontation with her father in the living room where she’d grown up in the middle of a breezy October afternoon. Simon was still a little rumpled from their activities in the Second Chances set, and he had a tiny pizza stain on one side of his shirt, not to mention a baby chewing on the other. She was fairly certain he didn’t have a ring. But nothing at all had ever been so perfect in her life.

She opened her mouth to say yes a thousand times over, but instead, she crossed her arms and turned to her dad.

“What do you think?” she asked him. “Do we need to rough him up a little first, or can I just say yes?”

Simon broke into a smile that turned into a laugh. Her mom clasped her hands to her mouth, tears coming to her eyes. Her dad continued to stare, but his eyes had lost their fight and were quickly going as soft as a teddy bear.

“If it’s what you want,” he said, then turned to Simon and added. “So help me God, if I ever hear any complaints from her about you.”

“Understood, sir.” Simon nodded to him. He then turned to Jenny, shifting Daniel against his hip so that he could reach for her and draw her close with his free arm.

Jenny went to him willingly, sliding her arms around him and around Daniel and kissing him for all she was worth. She’d kissed him so many times, but every touch, every breath brought something new. She would never get tired of this man. Knowing the two of them, they would bring something new and potentially way too exciting to each other’s lives every day.

“Yes,” she said as soon as she had a chance to take a breath. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

“Of course?” he asked, light dancing in his eyes.

“Was there any doubt?”

“Well, in fact,” he began.

She silenced him with another kiss, then said, “Simon Mercer, how could you ever doubt. I knew we were meant to be together from that one night.”

“I knew it too,” he confessed. “And I intend to spend the rest of my life proving that. You and I were meant for each other.”

Truer words had never been spoken.

*          *          *

There’s so much more in store for the cast and crew of Second Chances and the people whose lives they touch. Like that handsome, brooding director, Ben Paul. Want to find out what happens when Ben stumbles across a desperate romance writer in need of a real-life hero? Far more than either of them bargain for, that much is certain. Keep your eyes peeled for
Deal with a Star
, coming later this summer. And if you’d like to be notified when Ben and Julie’s story, as well as other stories from the cast and set of the TV series “Second Chances,” are out, please sign up for my newsletter here:
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