how her mother used to love to take her and Birch for a ride along the Pacific Coast Highway, the wind whipping through their hair and warm sunshine enveloping them. Sydney always grew sentimental each year on her birthday, remembering how her mom loved to bake her daughter a three-layer chocolate cake and give her a princess party with a few of her classmates.
She pulled out of the circular driveway and made the short drive from her father’s place to Dash’s house. Filming had gone extremely well today and they’d finished the scheduled scenes all in one take. Sydney had dismissed the crew early and made a point to pull her star aside to wish him a happy birthday, as well as thank him for the colorful bouquet of flowers that had been delivered to the set. More than anything, she wished she could spend tonight with him—though things seemed to be looking up.
After checking in with Brenda numerous times today, no flowers of any kind had arrived at Dash’s house. Brenda finally told Sydney to quit calling so she could get some work done and that she’d contact Sydney if anything showed up. Sydney prayed that Wake had finally given up on her. With no birthday roses appearing for the first time since their divorce, it gave her hope that once filming ended, she and Dash might be able to unpress the pause button on their relationship. As it was, he’d asked her to drop by since Herc had made her a birthday card. Dash said she didn’t have to stay long but Herc would be disappointed if he couldn’t give it to her in person. She’d agreed to come by for a few minutes.
Sydney knocked at the door. A beaming Herc answered it. He hugged her tightly and took her hand, leading her back to the airy kitchen. On the table sat a lopsided mess of a cake that had been obviously made and decorated with love.
“You want to eat a piece, Sydney?” Herc asked. “It’s chocolate. Dash loves chocolate. I like strawberry and chocolate.”
“Why don’t you save it for Dash?”
“He told me he would eat it tomorrow so you can have some now if you want to.” Herc looked at her hopefully.
“Sure. I’d love to take some home with me.”
Herc insisted they light the single candle on the cake and sing happy birthday to her before Tim sliced off a generous hunk and wrapped it up for her.
“Thanks for coming by,” Tim told her. “Herc’s really missed seeing you.”
“I’ve missed him,” she said, her eyes misting over. She blinked several times. “How are you and Brenda getting along?”
The caregiver blushed. “Fine.” He hesitated. “Does she talk about me to you?”
Sydney grinned. “My lips are sealed.” She paused. “Is Brenda here?”
“No, she’s out running an errand for Dash. She’ll be back soon if you’d like to wait.”
“No, thanks, I’ve got to be somewhere.” Sydney looked over to Herc. “I’ve got to go.”
He picked up his homemade card from the table and pressed it into her hands. “For you, Sydney. Happy birthday. From me.”
She hugged him. “Thank you, Herc. This is the nicest card I’ve ever gotten.”
Herc smiled at the compliment. “See you soon, Sydney?”
“I think so,” she told him, hoping in her heart that it would be true.
Back in her car, Sydney slipped the foil-wrapped cake into the console and started out for the Corrigans’ rental in Malibu. She wondered if Dash had been home when she came by and had avoided coming out to see her. Or what if he’d gone out to celebrate his own birthday—with another woman?
No, she didn’t think so. She still caught smoldering looks from him on the set when others were occupied with the next set-up. It was doubtful he’d go out with someone else. More than anything, Sydney believed Dash was devoted to her, despite everything she’d put him through. The fact that he’d stood up to Ron Sampson and had threatened to walk if Ron hadn’t named her as the new director on No Regrets spoke of his belief in her. That had touched her more than she could ever express to him—his faith that she could helm the production and get the best performance possible from him and the rest of the cast.
Glancing in her rearview mirror, she noticed a car that had fallen in behind her. It looked identical to one that had been behind her on the way home from Sampson Studios. Was everyone in Hollywood driving