threatened to spill in frustration. “I thought he would this time. I saw the three dots hovering. He’s seen it, he’d thought about writing something. Then he didn’t.”
Karri shifted uncomfortably. “I might know why.”
Skye’s heart plummeted and then sprang to life. There was a reason? Not just the complete silence she’d been receiving? She’d woken up from the best night of her life to find an empty house. Well, that wasn’t true. Lenny was there getting her ready for some meeting. But Trent was gone. Lenny said he hadn’t seen him and Karri hadn’t either. She’d immediately texted him and . . . nothing. She wasn’t going to give up, though. Her parents never gave up and fought for every harvest and she was going to follow their example.
So, Skye had texted—over and over. First she’d asked where he went. Then she told him how much that night meant to her. Then she’d flown Karri there to make sure he was still alive while Skye was stuck getting ready to film a movie. When Karri returned, she’d been quiet but said this life might be too hard for him. Celebrity had its upside but also it had a colossal downside. Right now the downside was all she was experiencing. Sure, her career had never been better, but her personal life had never been worse. She’d found love and lost it in less than twenty-four hours.
“Why?” Skye asked and held her breath as Karri turned her phone around. There was a picture of her co-star and friend Mason Hemming, hugging her from behind. Then she read the headline. Crap. Crap. Crap. It was worse when she read the article about how much Mason gushed about working with her. It was nice and professional, but the news twisted it to make it sound like they were dating. “Assholes! Don’t they bother to fact-check anything?”
“Either they did or they pretended to. It says a source from the set with inside information gave them the scoop and then they pulled quotes from Mason’s past interviews to make it seem as if you two are an item instead of him just being supportive of your career like the good friend he is.”
“You mean they want to make money off me and this will run traffic to their site?” Skye was bitter. She’d come to Hollywood because she loved acting. She loved the craft, the writing, the stories, and the magic of it all. Now she hated it. At some point, her life had stopped being hers. Her agent told her what movie roles to take. Her manager told her how to live. Even Karri told her what to eat to maintain a camera-ready figure. Her PR team told her what to say. Her stylist told her what to wear. It went on and on, but the common factor was Skye didn’t have a say in anything. She felt that she’d become nothing more than a dress-up doll with everyone else pulling her strings.
“What am I doing, Karri?” Skye sighed before taking a long sip of her wine. She looked over the cityscape that used to bring her so much happiness and wondered why it didn’t anymore.
Karri frowned and reached over to wrap her arm around Skye’s shoulder. “You’re putting your career first.”
“Is it really my career, though? I’ve made enough money to retire and I’m not even thirty yet. I used to love this. I loved the hours spent getting ready for big events. I loved the camaraderie on set, and I loved talking to people about the movies I was passionate about. Now? Now all I want is to have my own life away from the spotlight.”
“Don’t tell Lenny and Jim that.” Karri rolled her eyes and Skye smiled into her wine glass. “Speak of the devil,” Karri groaned as they both heard Lenny calling out to them from somewhere inside.
“Out here!” Skye yelled as she didn’t even bother to look at the man who was something like a stern father figure to her. Her own parents were still on the farm, but she missed them more and more every day. She’d offered to give them enough to retire, but they’d insisted it wasn’t work when you love what you do. She’d understood that at the time. Now she wasn’t so sure. Instead, she’d paid off their mortgage and every Christmas and birthday she surprised them with something for the farm. A tractor, a CropBot, or any new agricultural toy they’d secretly wanted but