"What about you? How was your weekend?" Drew asked as they turned a corner and drove onto Alameda Ave.

Kate bit her lip. "It was okay, I guess."

"Did you and Nolan do anything fun besides your movie night?"

Ugh, this lying thing was getting messy. Why hadn't she just told him the truth from the beginning? What would happen if she fessed up to her lie now? Would she lose her job?

"Umm…" she tried to think of how to word it correctly. I actually lied to you. No. I've been divorced…technically annulled for three months. Not that either. Nolan wasn't who I thought he was… "I finished my last articles for the paper. So that was good." Yeah, she was a total chicken. "Then I worked a little on my latest screenplay."

Drew seemed to perk up. "That's cool. What's it about?"

Kate hated it when people asked her to talk about her screenplay off the fly. She was never able to come up with a decent explanation that actually made sense and didn't sound completely stupid. "Well," she said, her mind scrambling for a quick pitch. "It's about this guy and this girl."

"So a romance?"

"Um, kind of. Anyway, this girl gets kidnapped by this guy. She thinks he's really bad at first, but then as he's holding her hostage, she starts to notice that he's actually treating her ok. Eventually, she realizes he's just working for someone else who’s holding something bad over him. In the end they fall in love and find a way to escape." She shrugged. "Something like that." Wow, that totally sounded like crap.

But Drew smiled and said, "What? No all-powerful sultan in this one? I feel so cheated. I was hoping to audition for that role when it sold."

A smiled formed on Kate's lips. "Sorry. No sultan. Though if you're serious about that acting thing, I'll totally throw a sultan in."

They arrived at the studio a few minutes later and Kate drove up next to Drew's Lamborghini to drop him off.

"Thanks for the ride," Drew said as he unbuckled his seat belt. "It still feels weird having you drive me around instead of my driver, Marco, but I'm sure I'll get used to it."

It was weird driving her older brother's best friend around. He'd always been the one to take them to all the high school events her freshman year.

"It is what it is."

He moved his hand to the door lever. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night again, so you can chauffeur me to all those lovely viewing parties."

Kate smiled. "See you then."

Drew got in his car. Kate waited for him to drive out of the parking lot before heading out herself. She drove north on Buena Vista Street toward her parents’ home. Ever since her split with Nolan, the family dinners had been a lot harder. Yes, her family still supported and loved her, and was even glad she got out of that relationship as fast as she had, but she hated that they threw her single status in her face whenever they were all together. Her parents were still together, albeit not without their own set of problems. Her older sister, Lana, was married to a successful lawyer and raising their two adorable boys. And even her younger brother, Cason, had been dating a girl for six months. How many times had she just wanted to go sit at the kid table with her nephews Decklan and Tayden?

So many times she'd wished Aiden was still around, so they could be the odd ducks together.

The front porch light lit the walk up to the Tuscan-style, two-story home. She had always loved their house growing up. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to move back home when her lease was up. She could certainly use the savings it would afford her…even if moving back home wasn't the most appealing idea.

Inside teemed with activity. Tayden and Decklan were on the floor playing with their dad. Lana's husband, Jonas, was sitting in the recliner, talking to Cason and his girlfriend Kerrie about the new boat he was planning to buy in the spring.

"Kate!" Tayden came running up to her, wrapping his chubby three-year-old arms around her leg. "You make it!"

Kate bent over to lift him into her arms. "And how have you been?" She hugged him tight before taking him to the loveseat to sit down.

"Guess what? I'm get to be a big brodder."

"What?" Kate said, looking to Jonas for confirmation.

"It's true." He chuckled. "We planned to tell everyone over dinner, but little Tayden here can't keep a secret."

"But I kept the secret real good, huh Dad?" Five-year-old Decklan chirped in, puffing up his chest with pride.

Jonas smiled and nodded. "You did a real good job, buddy."

Tayden put his warm, soft hands on Kate's cheeks to turn her head back to his direction. "And it might be a sister or a brodder." He said it like it was the most amazing coincidence in the whole world.

"That is so exciting." Kate smiled at the cuteness of childhood. Everything was so magical to them. "What do you hope your mommy has?"

He shrugged. "Probably a girl. We already has two boys." Then he scooted off Kate's lap and ran back to Grandpa without another word.

"So how is the new job working out?" Kate's dad, Mr. Harold Dawson, asked once everyone was seated around the table, their plates full of French dip sandwiches, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots.

"It's good. Definitely keeps me busy, but it's nice working full time."

"And how has it been working with a billionaire TV star?" Kate's mom asked, tongue in cheek. "Has he made any ridiculous demands? Like, does the car have to be at exactly seventy-two degrees before he climbs in? What about the flowers in his dressing room? Are daises allowed, or only fancy orchids or peonies?"

"Sorry to disappoint," Kate said, dipping her sandwich in the au jus sauce, "but he's still as down to earth and easy tempered as he always was."

"Wait? You guys actually know the bachelor Drew Burrows?" Kerrie sat up and put a hand on Cason's shoulder.

"His mom lives just down on Kenneth Drive." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of Drew's house.

"Drew is a dear family friend. He and Aiden were tied at the hip their teenage years," her mom explained, her expression going soft.

A hush fell over the room, and Kerrie looked at her lap, visibly uncomfortable. "I see. Sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay." Mrs. Dawson forced a smile. "We all love Drew like he's part of the family."

Cason patted Kerrie's knee, but she continued to stare at her plate.

"Since we're on the subject, are we going to celebrate Aiden's birthday next Sunday?" Lana asked. "Me and the boys would be happy to make the dirt and worms."

Though not the typical birthday treat, chocolate pudding with gummy worms and crushed chocolate cookies had always been Aiden's requested dessert—from the time he was five and even into his adult years.

"Oh, yes," Mr. Dawson agreed. "We should do that. That would be nice."

Mrs. Dawson nodded, her mouth pursed together as she breathed deeply. "Yes. We should, shouldn't we? We'll all be together anyway."

Mr. Dawson pointed at Kate with his fork. "Why don't you invite Drew too? It would be nice to see him again."

Kate wiped the au jus sauce that had dripped on her chin and nodded while she chewed. If he came, he'd find out she'd been lying about still being married to Nolan. He'd never trust her again. But she could tell, from the looks on her family member's faces, that they really wanted him there. Like having him come would almost be like having a part of Aiden back. So she swallowed her food and said, "I'll invite him tomorrow."