Before Forever (Sharing Space #6) Read Free

guy. Made sense, considering his time and attention were always in demand.
     
    “No. No problems at all. It’s a lot deeper than I expected, but I’m up for the challenge,” I said.
     
    Cat had already warned me that confidence, even if you didn’t always feel it, went a long way in this business. She nodded her approval and took a sip from her water glass before speaking. “We’re going to set you up with a trainer who’ll work with you for the next few weeks leading up to the first block of shooting.”
     
    “A trainer?”
     
    “Not that kind of trainer. I know you have that covered. Someone to help you learn how to play a bass or, at the very least, look like you know how to play one.”
     
    I felt like such an idiot. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I’d be acting like a musician without a lick of musical knowledge. I nodded appreciatively.
     
    “We also have some casting news. Ian Somerhalder has signed on to play Brett,” Tim said.
     
    “Wow. That’s great.” I meant it. Ian was a popular actor with two major television shows under his belt: LOST and The Vampire Diaries. It made sense he’d be cast in the lead role. The entire band was supposed to be made up of guys with boy-band good looks and it plays a part in them not being taken seriously when they first start out. From Brett’s description in the script, Ian would be perfect.
     
    Over dinner we talked more about scheduling and accommodations while filming in Los Angeles. The studio would be putting all of the talent in an expensive hotel close to the set. I couldn’t believe my life had gone from sharing a dressing room to having my own fancy suite for four months while I worked on a movie for a major cable network. I still resisted the urge to pinch myself. After we’d eaten Tim ordered a round of drinks for all of us without asking if anyone wanted it or not.
     
    Tim leaned back in his chair and said, “There’s one last thing we need to talk to you about, Patrick. Your girlfriend.”
     

Chapter Three
Letting Go
Chloe
     
    Helping Crystal and Uncle Troy with the restaurant was taking up more of my time than I’d anticipated, but I didn’t mind. My uncle’s retirement was long overdue and I wanted to do everything I could to make sure it happened smoothly. Of course, the downside was that between helping, work, Patrick’s shooting schedule, and his music training sessions, we rarely saw each other. It didn’t help that his mother still required at least one night a week of his time.
     
    It was our last night together before he left for Los Angeles, so I made sure to leave work early and prepare dinner for the two of us at home. While a pan of lasagna baked in the oven, I spoke to my mother on speakerphone and chopped the ingredients for a salad.
     
    “He leaves tomorrow?”
     
    “Day after that,” I replied, slicing a cucumber. “His mother wants him to stay over with her tomorrow night.”
     
    It’s like my mother heard my eye roll through the phone. “And that bothers you?”
     
    “No. Yes. I know it shouldn’t, but it kinda does. I want her to have whatever she needs to help her heal. I do. But I also know that based on her visit she’s also getting what she wanted: Patrick away from me. I’m a horrible person, right?”
     
    “Chloe, you already know that you’re not a horrible person. And neither is she— ”
     
    “But— ”
     
    “Let me finish. You’re always going to worry about your children, even when they’re grown. And she’s right that it’s not always going to be easy for the two of you. You will come across people who look at you like you don’t belong together, if you haven’t already.” I thought about the woman in the supermarket a month ago, but didn’t say anything. “And you may even come across an ignorant fool who’ll open his mouth to share his opinion. The part his mother is forgetting is that above all else, you want your children to be happy. That doesn’t make