here with him is a whole new kind of world. I believe him when he says it'll all work out fine, but he talks about it like it's only going to happen here, not out in the rest of world, too. I don't want this to be a dream.” She sighed. “It needs to be real.”
Caroline glanced over at her sister. “And it's only real if it can work in California.”
“Because that is my reality.”
“He'll do it, you know. He'll follow you and make it work.”
“I know,” she said. “I'm not ready for it to become real.”
Her sister snorted. “Why?”
“What if I lose him?” she whispered. “You know how fragile relationships are out in Hollywood. What if I do something to mess the whole thing up and we end up losing what made our relationship beautiful in the first place? I don't want to be another casualty, another statistic.”
“Arial, no matter where you are, you're always gonna be runnin' that risk. What do they say, fifty percent or something like that?” Caroline raised an eyebrow, glancing again at her sister pointedly. “If you love each other, you'll make it work. You're a fighter, and so is he.”
She closed her eyes. “What I'm scared of the most is that he's going to fight too hard. He kept himself in a relationship that made him miserable for years because he believed so strongly in not giving up. I don't want to be that for him, too.”
“The fact you say you don't wanna be like that to him is a good sign you probably won't be. I don't know much about this Katie girl, but every time you, or him, talk about her, she leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
“He talked to you about Katie?”
“Oh, yeah! And how she didn't do a whole lot to show she cared about him. All self-serving and demanding. He didn't know better, though. Sure, he had you to show him how a real person loved another, but examples of functioning relationships are few and far between. It's one of the reasons I'm so glad for Mama and Daddy.” Caroline smiled. “I don't focus on all the people who don't make it. I focus on trying to be like the people who do.”
Arial blinked. “You guys really talked a lot more than I thought.”
“Well, what do you think we did whenever you were sleepin'?”
“Not talk?”
Her sister snorted. “Point is, I think you need to relax and talk to the guy.”
“And I will. After I take some time to collect myself. I'm going to a party. That'll help me unwind. And then I'll be in the right headspace to have this kind of conversation. There's still a lot that isn't going to be pleasant about it. Like how he wants to stay here, and all of these other —”
“What-if factors that you're kind of overreacting about,” Caroline said. “Just sayin'.” She parked outside of the airport at the drop-off. “Look, I understand you want some space from him to think about it and calm down before you engage in a talk that might not go well.” She hugged Arial. “Don't assume it's gonna go badly. Don't assume, period. Of all the things to be scared of, Bryce ain't one of them.”
The hug surprised Arial, but she returned it, glad to have a bond and an understanding with her sister. Never in her wildest dreams would she ever have thought Caroline would be the one she'd connect with most.
“Thank you,” Arial whispered. “I mean you lectured me, but you said the things I needed to hear for a change.”
Caroline laughed. “Because I know you'd say those things to me. If I was in your shoes, I don't know what I would think. It'd be like Billy wanting to move into the city without consulting me first. I'd be pretty mad. Your future is for you to decide, and he needs to decide if he agrees with it or not. Just give him a chance to explain. He might have been a little overexcited.”
“I promise I won't do anything stupid, and he and I will talk.” She let go of her sister. “I'll come back again soon.”
“You’d better. Be safe.”
“I will,” she said.
Maybe that's part of my problem. I'm too safe. I think it's time for me to step out of my comfort zone a little.
Chapter Twenty
On the flight back to Los Angeles, Bryce had casually searched the plane for any sign of Arial. She couldn't be found. Either she