Laurel Heights: Return To You Part 7

"Yes. It's perfect."

"May I see?" Before she could say anything, Olivia came in.

" You need to have it," Olivia decreed. "It makes your gray eyes look stormy and mysterious. I'll let you get dressed."

Overwhelmed, Lainie reluctantly stripped out of the bra and put her own staid clothes back on.

Olivia was waiting for her outside. "You need to have it. I'll give you thirty percent off the price."

There was something in her tone that made Lainie aware the shopkeeper was interested in more than just a sale. She looked into her dark gaze. The eye color was different, but Lainie bet Olivia could see into a person as clearly as Everett could.

"I'll take it," she said finally. "But I'll pay full price." It wasn't like she couldn't afford it. Being the executive a.s.sistant for the most powerful producer in Hollywood was demanding, but she was well compensated.

As Olivia rang her up, Lainie said, "You have a lovely store."

Olivia smiled. "Thank you."

Handing over her credit card, she cleared her throat. "Um, your mother must be so proud of you."

She regretted the question as she watched Olivia's smile fade.

"My mother died when I was five, but I'm sure she would have been proud," Everett's daughter said, subdued.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother."

"It was a long time ago. This is the first time you've shopped at Romantic Notions. How did you hear about us?"

"I overheard my boss mention your store."

"Does your boss shop here?"

"Well... No." She winced. "To be honest, I work for Parker Pictures. I'm Everett Parker's a.s.sistant."

Olivia's lips thinned and her warm eyes went stone cold. "Did he send you here to check out the store?"

"No. No, of course not." She'd suspected things weren't right between Everett and his daughter, but not this bad. "It was all me. I was curious. I'll be staying at your house for the next few weeks and I didn't know what you'd think, and-"

Olivia interrupted her. "It's okay."

"Is it?"

"Yes." Holding out her hand, she said, "I'm Olivia."

She shook Olivia's hand. "Lainie Adams." She blinked in surprise. She'd never introduced herself as Lainie before. She only called herself that in private.

Olivia handed her a fancy little bag. "I hope you enjoy this."

"Thank you." Lainie smiled and turned to leave.

Olivia stopped her. "Wait a minute."

Puzzled, Lainie watched Olivia stride to a table. It looked like she was searching for something. With a faint "Ah ha" the young woman came back, a gray sc.r.a.p of cloth in her hand.

"For you." Olivia held up matching panties and stuffed them in the goodie bag.

"Oh, but I couldn't-"

"Please. I want to."

Lainie stared at the bag in her hand. When was the last time she'd been given a gift just because? Never.

Confused, she muttered "thank you," and left.

Still dwelling on Everett's daughter, she didn't realize the time until she got back to her car. She was late for a meeting with Everett and Michael.

Pus.h.i.+ng aside thoughts of Olivia, she focused on navigating the unfamiliar streets. Meetings between Parker and Michael never went smoothly. They were both too used to getting their own way.

There was no sign of Michael's car when she arrived at Pembroke Farms. Sighing in relief, she hurried into the house. She'd have a chance to compose herself before the meeting.

She opened the front door. It was apparently never locked, which was strange to her, having lived in Los Angeles all her life.

"You're late."

The bland p.r.o.nouncement stopped her in her tracks. She turned around and saw Everett leaning in the doorway to the living room.

He wasn't very tall, maybe six feet, but he had a powerful body, lean and muscular, and the custom-made suits he wore were tailored to fit perfectly.

She wanted to curse the blush she felt climbing up her chest to her face. She licked her lips. "I had to go into San Francisco."

His gaze rested on the tiny burgundy bag dangling from her fingers. "You went to Romantic Notions?"

"Yes." She swallowed, wondering how he was going to react.

He stared at the bag like he was trying to see through it to the contents inside. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had X-ray vision.

Lainie straightened her spine and slipped into the cool, efficient persona she adopted for work. "The store is absolutely lovely. Your daughter is the owner, isn't she? She's wonderful and, from all appearances, quite successful. You must be proud of her. Now, if you'll excuse me." Without giving him a chance to say a word, she turned on her heels and headed up the staircase to her room.

Once she was safely inside, she set the bag on her dresser and took a deep breath, fanning herself. It was becoming more and more difficult maintaining her cool facade in front of him.

It was quite embarra.s.sing actually. She was a forty-seven year old woman, not a nave girl with a crush.

Calling this a crush was like calling a tsunami a ripple. She'd never felt this way for anyone before. She wasn't sure how it'd happened. If she had to pinpoint a defining moment, it might have been between the second and third year she worked for him, the day she found the pictures hidden in his desk.

She hadn't been sure who they were, but the fact that they were there, in an office otherwise devoid of personal effects, showed how much they meant to him. It also showed the loneliness he hid beneath his powerful exterior.

The same loneliness she hid inside.

Lainie smoothed her hair back into the twist. Whatever inspired it, she was deeply and irrevocably in love with Everett Parker.

She just had to figure out what to do about it.

Wiping her face free of expression, she grabbed her laptop and went downstairs. Everett waited for her in the living room, sitting in an old, plush chair.

Lainie straightened her skirt as she sat down across from him. She readied herself for the meeting, conscious of his gaze.

She was braced when he said, "To tell you the truth, Elaine, I'm surprised you went to Olivia's boutique."

"I'm not sure why you should be," she said in her most offhand voice.

"What did you think of her?"

"Olivia's quite a business woman. She takes one look at you and knows what to show you. Like she can see your weakness."

"And she pinpointed your weakness?"

"Perfectly," she said crisply, not allowing herself to a.n.a.lyze the overtones in the question. "She's astute and charming. Quite like you, actually."

"Hmm."

Trying to ignore his unnerving scrutiny, Lainie booted her laptop. "Her boyfriend seems quite enamored of her as well."

"Her boyfriend?"

Lainie glanced up at the subtle edge in his voice. "Yes. They look good together, both being so tall and dark."

"I see."

Before she could say anything else, the front door creaked open and Michael rushed in.

Lainie liked Michael Wallace. He wasn't a prima donna like a lot of the directors she had to deal with. People often misinterpreted his att.i.tude as being unreasonable, but he knew his work and worked unfailingly to achieve the high ideals he set for himself.

"Parker," Michael said curtly, nodding in greeting to her. He dropped down on the couch next to her and leaned forward. "We have a problem."

Lainie looked at her screen and opened her notes on the project. Love Unbound. The story of a burnt out actress coming home. Finds herself and love in the boy she left behind. The part of Angel to be played by Sophie Martineau.

Lainie grimaced internally. Sophie wasn't the most cooperative actress in Hollywood. It wouldn't surprise her if the problem was Sophie.

"Tell me," Everett said.

"We need to find a new location to shoot the movie. The crew arrives at the end of the week, and the production schedule doesn't give us much leeway to d.i.c.k around."

"We're shooting here on Pembroke Farm." Parker's tone brooked no argument.

Michael stiffened. Lainie sympathized. It couldn't be easy to have someone dictate your job to you.

"It's not going to work here," Michael insisted.

"You'll have to make it work. Remember our deal," Everett said softly.

Lainie frowned. What deal? She didn't know about any deal.

"f.u.c.k." Michael jumped up and began to pace.

Lainie looked back and forth between the two men, wondering what was going on. She was missing something here.

The young director stopped abruptly and faced their boss. "You can't do this to her. It's one thing shooting a film in her hometown, but in her home too? What kind of coldhearted b.a.s.t.a.r.d are you?"

"What makes you think she'd care?" Everett asked.

"Of course she cares. If you think otherwise, you don't know your daughter at all. Or maybe you just don't care about her." Michael stormed out the front door, letting it slam viciously.

Now she knew who they were talking about, but how did Michael know Olivia? And what was Everett up to?

"Michael seemed a bit upset," she said lightly, ignoring the sharp frown Everett turned on her.

"He'll get over it."

"I'm not sure I understand why he's against shooting Love Unbound here." She hoped she didn't sound like she was fis.h.i.+ng but, knowing Everett, he'd see through her like she was clear gla.s.s.

"He and Olivia were involved at one time."

"Oh." She couldn't help the way her mouth fell open before she could control her reaction. That added a whole new dimension to the situation. The only thing it left unsolved was what Everett was up to, and she had no doubt that he was definitely up to something.

Chapter Eight.

Laurel Heights was one of the nicer neighborhoods in San Francisco. Stuffy even, with the expensive looking women and their little pedigreed dogs. Like a less pretentious LA.

Michael parked the rental and got out of the car, looking around. He couldn't believe Olivia had ended up opening a store her. Hard to reconcile the woman she was with the girl she'd been eleven years ago.

But he was different too. Selling your soul did that to you.

What was he supposed to have done? If not for Parker, he'd still be trying to break into the business.

It'd been a dream-come-true. He couldn't remember a time he hadn't wanted to make movies-from that Christmas day when he was six and got his first hand-me-down Super 8 camera. The rest was history.

He wished this movie was history.

Everything about Love Unbound was wrong-from the storyline to the cast to the location. He combed his hand through his hair. As if it wasn't enough that he had to deal with being back in Northern California and seeing Olivia, having to direct Sophie Martineau was a one-way ticket to an insane asylum. Early in both their careers they'd worked together, and it wasn't an experience he'd cared to repeat. Ever.

Parker knew that, but the man wasn't even bothering to be subtle. The whole movie was a set-up. A story about a burnt-out actress coming home to hook up with her high school love? Come on. Sophie Martineau playing the lead? Any pretense of staying on schedule and under budget might as well be dispensed with right from the start. And shooting on Granny Mae's farm?