We thanked the crew and they packed up and headed for the van out front while we headed back to the house.
“I’ll get some lunch put together,” Tess said tightly over her shoulder, and then she disappeared into the house, leaving Juliet and me on the front step.
“I think that went really well,” Juliet said, stepping away from me and glancing nervously at the security guard who stood at the edge of the porch. She probably worried he might overhear us—I assumed even her security detail didn’t know we were just pretending, though they must have been confused by my sudden appearance at Juliet’s side. They had to know I hadn’t been around the house prior to this trip, that we hadn’t needed them to check restaurants or hold off photographers around town at home. I pulled her farther down the long porch to a set of chairs, and we sat down.
“I think we should tell your sister,” I said. I hadn’t even planned to say it, but the feeling that I was lying to Tess was eating at me. Which made no sense, given that she was basically a stranger. But there it was. I wanted her to know, needed her to know that I wasn’t interested in Juliet.
Juliet’s eyebrows flew up and she widened her eyes at me. “I don’t know,” she said. “The more people believing we’re a couple, the better.”
“It’s just hard to keep it all up inside the house,” I said. “And she already knows we are sleeping in separate rooms. And the interview’s over.”
“That’s true,” she said, one finger at the edge of her lips. She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “The reporters are coming back for the party, but I guess we can tell Tess. We’d better not tell Gran, though. You never know what she’ll say.”
“Gran seems pretty harmless,” I said, my heart swelling at the idea of telling Tess the truth and my head spinning with the possibility of telling her other things.
“Gran is many things. She’s not harmless, though.” Juliet looked wary and I wondered how dangerous a little old lady could really be. Though hearing her yell “go for it, Jules!” as we were instructed to grope one another on the lawn made me think maybe Juliet had a point.
When Tess came out to get us for lunch, I followed the sisters through the house, waiting for Juliet to say the words that would free me, to tell Tess what I needed her to know. I’d offered to tell her, but Juliet had looked at me like I was crazy. Of course it would be her place to tell her.
Lunch was quiet—everyone gazing out over the rolling green lawn and staying inside their own heads. Every time Juliet opened her mouth I hoped it would be to let the cat out of the bag, and my heart would climb just a bit up my throat. But she didn’t broach the topic.
We cleaned our dishes up, Tess avoiding my eye the entire time as I struggled with my desire to just blurt the truth.
It wasn’t my truth to tell her though. Juliet had been clear about that. They were sisters. I was the outsider.
Chapter Ten
Tess
Watching Ryan and Juliet take sexy photos on the bank of the river was a challenge. I’d lived my life watching my sister get pretty much everything she wanted—or at least getting the things most people seemed to want. And watching her with Ryan was like grinding salt into recently opened old wounds that I’d been sure were healed over.
Which I was aware was one hundred percent ridiculous.
Ryan was a movie star I’d just met. He and my sister were together. And for good reason—she was perfect. She was gorgeous and thin, funny and charming. Standing next to her had always made it pretty clear who got the good-looks genes in our family.
Still, it wasn’t like I had a self-esteem problem. I’d always been happy with myself. I looked just like our mother, so how could that ever be a bad thing? My mother had been soft and sweet, with her long dark hair and her wide light eyes. I missed her, and if I got to see her again when I looked into the mirror in some small way, I was happy about that.
Still, I needed to remember I wasn’t a movie star. And I didn’t date them. Soon they’d be back on a plane to Hollywood and this would all be just a memory. I needed to focus on that. On my life here. On me, Gran, my business.
The strange intimacy that had sprung up between Ryan and me was compelling, but I had to keep telling myself it didn’t mean anything.
And that became easier as I went in and pulled lunch together. My phone chimed on the counter with a text, and I moved to pick it up.
Gran. Who had raced to her gaming room as soon as the interviewers had left. Evidently she’d scanned the news before she logged onto her game, because she’d sent me a link along with about thirty emojis of everything from camels to little faces with hearts all around them, and even a few pretty vulgar emojis I didn’t even know existed.
I was considering revoking her phone privileges.
I pulled up the link. It was the video I’d seen just before Juliet arrived, and as much as I dreaded watching it again, I couldn't help it.
The video began, and there were my sister and Ryan at LAX, making out like teenagers. She looked completely enraptured with the kiss, and then his hand slipped to her breast and my stomach turned. I switched off the phone, shoving it into my back pocket and turning back to the counter with my heart in my throat. Why the hell did I care?
“Hey.” Juliet stepped in through the swinging back door after we’d finished lunch. “Can
