“Disgusting,” she finished. “Yeah. I know.”
I looked over to see her crossing her arms over her chest like she was recoiling in revulsion.
“And now, the world thinks…” I couldn’t even finish the thought.
“Yup.” She was staring straight ahead, her hands balled up inside the hoodie she’d found in the backseat of my car and thrown over her fancy dress.
I exhaled loudly in relief. “At least we never—”
“Exactly.”
I let out a loud exhale as we both faced straight ahead, each lost in thought. Maybe it was hysteria or whatever, but I felt a totally inappropriate grin forming. “You did totally come on to me, though. You basically tried to seduce me.”
She threw her hands over her face with a groan. I laughed as she sank down into the couch. “Don’t remind me.”
I rubbed a hand over my own eyes at the memory, as if I could erase it with a wave of my hand. “This is so messed up.”
I was relieved to hear a soft chuckle escape from behind her hands beside me. “You think?” she shot back.
“But also…” I nudged her arm with an elbow, and she let her hands slip down so she could face me. “I’ve always wanted a sister.”
“I’ve always wanted a brother,” she said, a little smile curving up one corner of her mouth.
“Too bad the rest of the world thinks you’re my girlfriend.”
She let her head drop back against the sofa. “You have no idea how much that sucks.”
That was when she told me the rest. The part about how Jack and his father were at risk, and how the secret that Tess had been so hopeful would bring about his downfall was now ammunition that he could use against us.
Or that anyone could use against us if they found out.
“So now…” I rubbed at my eyes again. My brain couldn’t handle much more news. “We couldn’t use that secret against your dad even if we wanted to.”
“We would be the ones humiliated, not him. If he even suspects that I’m Frank MacMillan’s daughter, he’ll—” She wrapped her arms tighter around herself. “Well, he’ll hate me even more than he already does.”
He doesn’t hate you. I wanted to say that. But how would I know? I barely knew her father, and that was thanks to Lila. She’d gone above and beyond to protect me from him. “So, now Jack and his dad could lose everything if… if what?”
She shrugged. “If he doesn’t walk away, I guess. Go home and never come back. After his scenes are done filming, at least.”
I wondered if she had any idea how sad she sounded. I leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close until she was resting against my side. We’d been doing so much of this non-kissing, touchy-feely stuff that it felt totally natural to cuddle like this.
With my sister.
I shook my head. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
She snorted. “Tell me about it.”
I turned to her as a new question formed, turning my stomach as it congealed into a thought. “Did my dad know?” I gave my head a little shake. “Our dad?”
“No,” she said quickly. “My mom was very clear about that. He didn’t know.”
I sighed. “Good.” I almost explained, but she seemed to get it.
“Yeah, if he’d known and had left me there with Grayson and my mom…” She trailed off with a wince that spoke volumes.
“Yeah.” The new bitterness I’d been getting so familiar with whenever anyone mentioned my dad came back in full force. “He’d be even more of a coward than he already was.”
Lila sat up straight like I’d just hit her with a cattle prod. “Coward? You think your dad was a coward?” She rolled her eyes. “Our dad. Ugh, it’s gonna take time until that sounds normal.”
I ignored the last part and focused on what mattered. “He was a coward. I mean, he killed himself. There’s nothing more cowardly than that.”
I heard my mom’s voice in my head. All that nonsense about suicide being a sin. I didn’t know if it was a sin or not, but there was no doubt in my mind that he’d been weak. First to give in to alcohol and drugs, and then to take his own life rather than face his problems.
That was what I meant to say, but when Lila stared at me, waiting for me to explain, what came out was, “He left me, Lila. He left me with her. He left me with the ranch and the bills and with her, knowing full well what she was like.”
Lila’s eyes softened as she sank down beside me. “I’m sorry,” she said.
We sat in silence for a bit, lost in thought. Whatever thought path Lila had gone down was clearly different from my self-pity because she sat up straight and turned to face me again, this time with a frown. “Your father was not a coward.”
My brows shot up. I was going to argue again, but… Truth be told, there was a little part of me that wanted to believe her. That desperately wanted to be proven wrong. I wanted to be convinced because… I missed him. I missed the dad that I’d known, the man I’d grown up revering.
I hated smiling as people on set talked about the legend that was Frank MacMillan but not feeling the same pride I used to. Even when I’d thought it had been an overdose, I’d been able to tell myself it was one mistake. That if he’d stuck around, he would have gotten clean for me. But him taking his own life made that a lie.
“Listen to me, Brandon MacMillan.”
I glanced up at her hard tone as much as at her use of my full name.
The pursed-lip glower on her face was one I hadn’t seen in ages. This was the Hollywood princess in all her glory. Even with puffy eyes, a bruised cheek, and disheveled hair, she looked like some Viking warrior with that glare.
I had to fight a smile in response. “I’m listening.”
“I might not have known your father as… well, as my father, but I remember him.”
“You do?” As I said it, a memory surfaced from our time together back in Pinedale. I had a vague memory of her saying something about him back then. About how she’d admired him. It was something lots of people said, whether they meant it or not.
She nodded, shifting so she could face me head-on, her knees coming up under her. “He used to come over to Daddy’s house a lot, and I went to visit the set whenever I could.” Her eyes grew distant and soft. “Your father was my hero.”
The sincerity in her tone made my throat ache with emotion. Once upon a time, he’d been my hero too. “He was a great actor,” I managed.
She shot me a withering glare. “I was a little kid, Brandon. I didn’t care that he could act. What I cared about was that he stood up to Daddy.”
Her cheeks flushed, and that little bit of color made her look like she was coming back to life. The spark in her eyes put to rest some of the lingering fear I had that she’d be scarred for life by all that had happened tonight.
“He was the only person I’d ever see stand up to him.” She looked to me. “Don’t you remember?”
My brow furrowed in concentration as I thought back to my time on the set. “I remember shooting scenes with my dad. I remember how he’d tease me and play pranks on me in between takes to make the time pass faster. I remember… laughing.”