“Opposites attracting,” Dash said. “The right-brain and left-brain parents. Do you have brothers or sisters?”
“I do,” Wynn said. “Dad named all of us after American historical figures he admired. My older brother, Del? He’s Franklin Delano Youngblood. My younger brother, Payne, was Thomas Payne Youngblood. Mom refused to spell it like Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, though. She replaced the ‘’' with a ‘y’.” He chuckled. “Del and I still teased Payne that he was a pain in the ass. Even when he wasn’t.”
Wynn grew quiet a moment. “Payne was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He died when he was twenty-two.”
Scarlett sensed the tension in Wynn and wanted to reach out and take his hand. It took willpower to refrain from doing so.
“I suppose that’s why you’ve been such a big supporter of my cancer foundation,” Rhett said. “I’m sorry you lost Payne.”
Wynn cleared his throat. “I also have a sister, Cady. Elizabeth Cady Youngblood. She’s the baby of the family and ten years younger than I am.”
“What about you, Wynn?” Sydney asked. “Where does your name come from? I’m having trouble thinking of some great historical figure named Wynn.”
“Oliver Wendell Holmes,” he said. “Once again, Mom disliked how the Holmes family spelled their son’s name, so she put her own spin on it.”
“All of your siblings are Youngbloods,” Breck noted. “Is Gallagher your stage name?”
“It was. I took it the summer between my junior and senior year of college when I played summer stock on the east coast. One of the lead actors was Thom Youngblood. He didn’t want some green newbie associated with him and demanded I change my last name. My dad’s best friend was a fellow history professor, Grant Gallagher. I just liked how Wynn and Gallagher went together. When I came to Hollywood, I wanted to give my family some measure of privacy in case I made it so I legally changed my name and earned my SAG card as Wynn Gallagher.”
“I think you got the better end of the deal,” Scarlett said. “The three Corrigan girls and one boy got our names from Gone with the Wind, Mom’s favorite book. You three boys and girl wound up with names honoring great Americans.”
“What else, Wynn?” Cassie pressed. “What do you enjoy doing away from the set?”
“I rebuild classic cars. Read history books. Row. Do yoga.”
“What about with your friends?” Breck asked. “Do you hit the beach? Travel? Not that I read the tabloids with any regularity but I never see you out and about with anyone.”
Wynn stiffened next to her.
“I don’t go out,” he said. After a long pause, he added, “I don’t really have friends. My brother and sister are pretty much it.”
In his admission, she heard a world of heartache. Instinctively, Scarlett reached for Wynn’s hand under the table.
“Family can be important,” Dash said. “Sometimes, though, people don’t have family to rely on or they extend it by choice. Their friends become their family. That’s how it worked for me. My mom ran off when I was a kid because she couldn’t deal with having given birth to a disabled child. My dad’s way of dealing with it was drinking himself to death. For a long time, it was just Herc and me.” Dash glanced around the table. “Until I found these guys. The people you see, Wynn, have become my brothers and sisters. My friends. My confidants. My business associates and sometimes screen partners.
“Going it alone can be tough on your soul, Wynn. If you have trust issues—like I did—this group can go a long way to helping you get over them. Whether you decided to do a film with RCDS or not is up to you. I hope you do. But whatever happens, know this circle has a lot to offer you. Including friendship.”
Dash stuck out his hand from across the table and Wynn took it. As the two men shook, Wynn’s hand also tightened around hers.
The poignant moment moved Scarlett. Tears welled in her eyes. She glanced at Sydney, sitting across from her, and saw her similarly affected. Scarlett wanted Wynn to experience the camaraderie this group offered because of the loneliness she saw in him. More than anything, though, she yearned for Wynn to fit into this close-knit group not as an individual.
Scarlett wanted him here from now on—as the other half of a couple. Her other half.
CHAPTER 9
Wynn had come to the Corrigans’ home with both trepidation and excitement. He wasn’t as much of a hermit as Howard Hughes had been but he rarely left home, especially not to socialize. Though he knew part of tonight would involve a business meeting with Cassie Corrigan and Breck O’Dell regarding the script they currently worked on, he’d seen how carefree and happy this group was in a social situation last weekend at Rhett’s casino night and wondered if he would be able to fit in. He told himself he was an actor. A damn good one. Even if he felt uncomfortable, he could certainly act like he fit in.
The other part of him was eager to see Scarlett again. She’d refused to share whatever her idea was about getting him out of his ironclad contract with Rylon, practically pushing him out of her office Monday afternoon by saying she had research to do. She’d also mentioned wanting to run some things by Cassie and Breck, which piqued his curiosity. She’d told him to sit tight and she’d tell him more when they met again on Wednesday evening.
Right now, excitement swirled within him. For the first time in more than a dozen years, he felt a part of something. Not the way as he did on a film. He came to the set totally prepared, never making
