Now That I've Found You - Kristina Forest Page 0,88
on that, I promise.”
I look down at my hands in my lap. “I should be apologizing to you. I was only thinking about myself. I should’ve listened the first time you said that you didn’t want to go to the ceremony.”
She softly runs a hand over my head. “I understand why you did what you did. But you should know that none of those people can keep you from reaching your full potential. If you’re meant to be the biggest star the world has seen, then that is what the future holds for you, and nobody will be able to change that. Take it from an old lady from Brooklyn who thought she’d spend the rest of her life singing in speakeasies.”
“I hope I’ll be able to follow your path,” I say.
She smiles. “You’ll be better than me, surely.”
“That’s a lot to live up to, but we’ll see.”
“I meant what I said about moving into my house in Brooklyn,” she says. “It’s there for you if you want it.”
Her offer sounds tempting, and maybe I would have taken her up on it weeks ago. But I don’t want to run from my problems either.
“I think I need to go back home to LA,” I say. “I haven’t really given myself a chance to start over there.”
“I understand,” she says, nodding. “I’ll support your decision either way, and I can rent the brownstone out and get a lot more money in the process.”
She winks, and I laugh. Then I remember something. I get up, grab Candice’s USB and the two old photos, and hand them to Gigi. “Candice wanted me to give this to you.”
She looks at the photos in surprise, then smiles. She inspects the USB, turning it over in her palm. “What’s this?”
“It’s a USB drive. Your old home videos are saved on it. James is in a lot of them.”
“Ah,” she says quietly.
Hesitantly, I ask, “Are you going to get back together with James now?”
“No. I’m not concerned about that at the moment. We need to learn how to be friends again first.”
“Do you think he’ll still move forward with the remake even if I don’t want to play Diane anymore?”
“Don’t worry about that. He’ll get over it, whatever you decide.” She puts her arm around me, and I lean into her. “I’ve forgiven him. It took me years, but I’ve done it. People are going to hurt us throughout our lives, Evie Marie. We can’t control that. But we can control how we respond. We can choose to forgive people. I know you’ll be able to forgive the people who’ve hurt you too.”
I pull away and look at her. “Okay, forgiving is one thing, but what about finding a way to trust that person again, or other people in general?” I ask. “How can you trust that James won’t lie to you in the future, that he won’t break your heart?”
“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “And I can’t say for sure what he’ll do. But I believe that he will try his best. Sometimes trusting another person simply starts with believing that they want to do right by you.”
I think about Simone and the way she helped with my makeup in my moment of need. I’ve already decided that I will try my best to forgive her, even if we won’t be friends again.
But she isn’t the only person I need to consider forgiving.
Kerri knocks on the door, sans her towering high heels, and she looks so much smaller.
“Hey,” she says softly, “sorry to interrupt. Evie, Milo is outside, waiting for you. I know he kind of lives here, so I wasn’t really sure what to tell him.” She glances at Gigi, who then glances at me.
I bite my lip, unsure of what to do.
“Maybe you should just listen to what he has to say,” Gigi gently encourages. “He reminds me of your grandfather, and I’ve always thought that was a good sign.”
“He reminds of you him how?” I ask.
“He’s patient and doesn’t give up too easily.” She smiles softly, giving me a long look, waiting for her meaning to sink in.
With my heart in my throat, I stand up. “Okay.”
* * *
Milo is standing on the front stoop, waiting for me, just like he’s done countless times this past week.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey.” I close the door behind me.
He takes a step down to give me room. His gaze travels from my head to my toes, and I feel silly for not having changed out of