“Is Ty there?” he asked.
“Where else would he be?”
Simon wanted to be sure. At this hour, his son would be asleep, but it’d been so long since Simon had seen him he didn’t care. He couldn’t wait to hug Ty’s small body against his chest. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
As he buckled his seat belt, Ian pulled into the steady flow of traffic. “It’s good to see you, man.”
Simon eyed him. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m serious. Why?”
“You just saw me in Whiskey Creek.”
“That was different.” He tapped the steering wheel to the beat of the rap music playing on his expensive stereo system. “Whiskey Creek isn’t L.A. This is where you belong.”
“Is it?”
Ian’s hands stilled and he glanced over. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Simon didn’t even know. He used to love L.A., never dreamed he’d consider moving. Now, he wasn’t so sure it was the best place for him. Whiskey Creek had been such a welcome change. He liked the innocence of it, the people. He had room to breathe there. “Nothing,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
Ian put on his blinker and changed lanes in preparation for exiting the airport. “Can you believe you got out of your bogus marriage so easily?”
Simon arched an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“Now that Bella’s willing to forget about that stupid restraining order, there’s no need to bother with Gail.”
Simon said nothing. After the initial agreement, Ian hadn’t wanted his arrangement with Gail to work. That much was clear.
“Right?” Ian prodded.
“Whatever you say,” Simon muttered.
Seemingly happy, Ian turned up the radio. “It’s all going to work out, buddy. The way things stand now, you’ll be able to start your next project in no time.” He did a quick drum roll to the stereo. “We’re back in business.”
Considering the recent improvements in his situation, Simon supposed there was no reason not to return to work. He knew how fickle fame could be. If he pissed away the opportunities he had right now, they could disappear, and he could end up like his father. Someone who missed the spotlight. Someone who was yesterday’s news. Besides, there were a lot of people who’d been disappointed when he backed out of his commitments. Maybe he could reschedule some of them. For the most part, he was interested in those projects, or he wouldn’t have signed on for them.
But did he really want to fall back into his old lifestyle? What about the woman who’d made him happy to live in an eight-hundred-square-foot house and work as a carpenter?
* * *
Bella’s house was every bit as opulent as Simon remembered. Located in Beverly Hills, not far from his, it was a fifteen-thousand-square-foot Mediterranean with plenty of palm trees and three different pools. She’d never earned much money of her own. She’d been a news anchor when he met her at an after-party, working for sixty thousand a year, but she’d quit that job as soon as they became an item.
He waited at the gate until the security guard buzzed him through, then pulled up behind her Escalade. He’d had Ian take him home to get his car, so it was after midnight, but he never knew what to expect with Bella and wanted to be able to leave at a moment’s notice, if necessary.
She was waiting for him on the front stoop. Her eyes searched his face. Then she slipped into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she murmured, pressing her cheek to his chest.
Her perfume brought back myriad memories, both good and bad, but Simon didn’t feel the poignant emotions he’d associated with that scent before. Sadness weighed on him, for what they used to have that was now lost, but he felt nothing else. Apparently a lot had changed in the past few weeks. Or maybe the changes had been taking place much longer and he just hadn’t noticed because of all the drinking.
“Where’s Ty?” he asked.
“In bed. Come on, we can talk in the family room.” She tried to lead him into a large but cozy kitchen/family room with hardwood floors, a huge rock fireplace, granite counters and stainless-steel appliances. It was tastefully decorated, but everything about Bella was tasteful and always had been. He couldn’t fault her sense of style. With her large brown eyes, olive skin and sleek black hair, she was beautiful, too.
“Would you like something to drink?” She held up a bottle of wine—a pinot noir that was one of his favorites.
The alcohol tempted him. It felt like he hadn’t had a drink in forever. But he shook his head. “No. I’m fine, thanks.”
“Really?”
“I don’t drink anymore.” He was almost as surprised as she was to hear those words come out of his mouth, but he remained committed to them. He felt more in control of himself than he’d been in a long time; he wanted to stay that way.
“I see.” Although she should be acting happy about this, which could only be an improvement in his life, he saw that her smile wilted. Obviously she’d envisioned a different kind of night than this was turning out to be. Still, she adjusted and shored up her attitude. “You look tired. What about some coffee?”
“That’d be great.”
“Good. Have a seat.”
He stopped her as she started to walk away. “Before we do anything else, I really want to see Ty.”
She hesitated. No doubt she could tell he was much more excited about seeing their son than he was her. Simon knew that wouldn’t go over too well. But he wasn’t willing to deal with her until she’d given him what she’d promised.
“Of course. I’ll take you up. Our boy is getting so big. Every day he looks more like his handsome daddy.”
Simon followed her up a set of stairs to the second story, then down a long hall to the right wing. Had they kept going they would’ve come to a set of double doors—he guessed that was the master but he’d never been inside it. He and Bella had certainly made love since their separation, but not since she’d bought this house.
Ty’s room wasn’t far from hers. “He wanted his room decorated with race cars this time,” she whispered as she opened the door.
There was a night-light burning on the far wall, providing just enough of a glow for Simon to see his son’s face as he moved closer.
Smiling, he sat on the bed and pulled his little boy out from under the covers and into his arms.