having kids. My mind snapped back to that conversation Nicole and I had just this morning.
“Nope.”
“Well, in that case, my niece Janis is ugly as a stump. I’ll say that just to cover all the bases.”
Rason laughed again. “See? You get it.”
DAY 5
“You go first tonight,” Rason suggested.
“I flew back out to California this morning and had brunch with John Hughes. He wants to get Emilio and Judd back into something together, and he pitched a story about a love triangle. I told him a ménage à trois would draw more attention, so he’s going to do a rewrite. If it meets my approval, we’ll start filming next spring.”
“A ménage à trois, huh?”
“Some of Hank’s friends came over for dinner tonight with their twin baby boys. Nicole warned me ahead of time that I was going to be a little shocked when I met them. I thought she meant the babies for some reason . . .”
“Were they so ugly the devil wouldn’t want them?”
“No!” I laughed. “I mean yes. They were really ugly. Anyway, their mom is named Maria and their dads are John and Mattie.”
“Well, that’s different,” Rason chuckled. “Which dad do they look like?”
“One looks like Mattie and the other looks like John!” I hooted. “Isn’t that cool?”
“So if we have twins, are they going to look like Emilio and Judd?”
“If I’m going for a triangle, it’s going to be with you and John Cusack, sweetheart. Only. Trust me.”
DAY 9
“I just got back from this remote ski town in the mountains.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, it was a wild time. I was there to fix this Ferrari 250 GTO, and they flew me in on this impossibly small airstrip on a private plane. Anyway, I was in their garage and walked inside to go to the bathroom, and the place was so big that I got lost. It was set into the side of a mountain, and the back of it was like a cave. I think the dude was a vampire.”
“Was his name Lestat?”
Rason laughed. “His name was Tremayne, for your information.”
“That’s unique.”
“Okay, I stole all that from Jace. He went up to Colorado not long ago to see a friend who was in the hospital and met a millionaire with a Ferrari 250 GTO. He said the guy’s house was awesome and he was really pale. Dude has a blood disorder or something.
“Ahh, a vampire.”
“Yep. That’s all I’ve got. I’m that fucking bored and depressed. Even my imagination has given up.”
“Rason,” I whispered. “It’s going to be okay, honey.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Day 16
“What was your adventure today?” I asked Rason as I reached over and adjusted Janis’s blanket.
After we’d said our hellos, we usually went straight to making up stories about our day. In the last few days, he’d fought off a rabid skunk, wrestled a bear for money, worked on some outrageously expensive and unique cars, and I’d become a Hollywood star.
His voice was different tonight. It was so sad and flat that it worried me.
“Detective Lake called this afternoon,” Rason said, and I heard him sigh. “Her lawyer says that even though she wasn’t pregnant, her mind was so convinced that it affected her hormones. He says she wasn’t thinking clearly enough to realize that what she was doing was wrong. Since the judge told them that he wouldn’t accept her insanity defense because she’d used that twice before, they’re trying to get around that with the hormone angle.”
“I’ve known a few pregnant women, and none of them built a bomb.”
“I told Reba about it and she laughed for a second and told me that when she was pregnant, she couldn’t put her sandwich down long enough to use the two hands needed to attach the wires. She’s a funny lady. She’s going crazy without her kids. Mace is taking her to a spa for the weekend.”
“That’s good. Has she ever said anything else about her brother?”
“Nah, but I don’t blame her.” Rason sighed. “Babe, I’m sorry, but I’m just not very talkative tonight. Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Sure,” I said softly. “Keep your chin up, Rason. It’s all going to be okay.”
“You know that old saying about not being able to see the forest for the trees?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I guess I’ve hit a tree. I just don’t have anymore run in me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
I hung the phone up and sat there on the edge of the bed for a minute. I had a plan, but I’d need some help from Jace Duke. Since my