“I made sixty-seven thousand dollars a year between both jobs. It was such a fucking struggle to keep the house and have food on the table. We couldn’t pay the medical bills. My parents hated that I’d quit school to support them.”
I imagine nineteen-year-old Alice carrying all this weight on her shoulders and doing it willingly. Gladly. I was a playboy pro hockey player at nineteen, and I didn’t have to take care of anyone but myself.
“So my mom had a friend from college who worked for a Hollywood agent,” she continues. “She found out about an actress who needed a very reliable, trustworthy assistant, and she recommended me. It was a lot more money, but it was a very hard decision because it meant I couldn’t be with my parents anymore. I couldn’t help with my dad’s care. I had to make a hard decision. Either bust my ass tonotcover all the bills but be there to help. Or move away for about twice as much money as I was making.”
I shake my head. “That had to be hard.”
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Her voice breaks with emotion and she turns away. “I went, obviously.”
I stop and move in front of her, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Hey.”
She takes a step back, looking over her shoulder. “Don’t. She thinks we’re talking about her.”
I look down the beach to where Farrah and JP had been. They’re gone.
“She’s not there.”
Alice looks at the house. “She still might be able to see us. We should keep walking.”
She swipes her fingertips over her cheeks. “So I was Farrah’s primary assistant, and I did get weekends off. Not that I knew anyone in LA or had anything to do. But she didn’t like the otherassistants, so she offered me more money to be her around-the-clock person.”
I blow out a breath. “I’ve never felt like a bigger asshole than I do right now.”
“You didn’t know.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “That money has changed my family’s lives. My dad’s bills are current. We can get him all the therapies he needs, and there are so many. He has a wheelchair that makes his life and my mom’s life better. A wheelchair-accessible van.”
She fetches Farrah’s waters and buys her Kit Kats to sniff so she can help her family. That’s why it’s never too much. Why she doesn’t care about not having time off.
I stop walking again. She looks at me, her brows lowered in confusion.
“I’m hugging you now, and I don’t give a fuck who sees,” I say.
Her eyes widen with alarm. I wrap my arms around her waist and hug her with my whole body, pulling her against me. She’s stiff at first, but then she relaxes against me, her breath dancing across my throat as she sighs softly.
“You’re incredible.”
“I didn’t tell you all that so you’d think--”
“Stop it. You’re an incredible person, Alice. It means a lot that you trusted me with all that.”
She sniffles. “If you knew my parents, you’d know...” She clears her throat. “They’re the incredible ones.”
I close my eyes, emotion welling in my throat. She relaxes another degree, letting me really hold her. We stand like that for a long time, the ocean’s waves and her softness bringing a peaceful feeling I don’t want to let go of.
When she pulls away, I immediately miss her warmth against me.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” she says pleadingly. “Farrah doesn’t know.”
I scoff. “Of course not. She’s only interested in herself.”
Alice pinches her brows together. “I don’t even know why I told you all that. I guess because I’m worried about my dad. And I miss my family.”
“I’m glad you did. And I’m sorry you can’t be with them.”
Her lips curve up in a smile. “Thank you. You’re ruining my asshole perception of you, by the way.”
I laugh. “Well, it’s gonna be utterly shattered when I tell you this next thing.”
