Page 20 of Sandbar Summer (Summer Cottage #3)

Chapter Thirteen

The timing was tight.

By the time she’d finished all the filming, looping, and reshoots for Tenured, she was four months along. She needed to get out of town before someone other than a key grip who liked big boobs noticed.

She stayed at a rental house in Malibu as she watched Dustin Toms and his wife bask in the adoration of their lovely marriage and blessed news.

Everyone loved them. Vanity Fair, People, Time, and Entertainment Weekly all featured the two on the cover.

Mitchell Ozock was the only one who knew Goldie’s secret.

“You’ll finish it out in Europe. No one will care in Tuscany, trust me. We’ll tell the press you’re reading scripts, weighing the next phase of your career.”

Goldie did just that. She rented an entire villa. No one could access the place. It was set way back, and if you wanted a picture of Goldie Hayes, you’d need a helicopter.

There couldn’t be a more beautiful place to hide. The grounds were like living in a fairy tale. Goldie ate, took long walks among olive trees, she slept on the porch. She stayed away from prying eyes.

In some ways, it was the most relaxing time of her life, hiding a pregnancy in Italy on her own.

But she wasn’t alone the entire time. She had reached out to a friend. And that friend had arrived, open arms, open heart, and ready to change both of their lives.

Her friend had tried to get pregnant for the last three years. Her friend wanted a family more than anything else. Her friend was married and had a successful business, but it didn’t consume her life.

Goldie and her friend hatched a plan as Goldie prepared to hatch a human.

Her friend was there for six weeks. She was a godsend. She helped in any way she could. She’d get her a glass of water, lend her a hand as she strained to stand up from the grips of a squishy sofa and provided calm support.

The plan was unorthodox, Goldie knew, but it would work.

Goldie’s friend would take the child and adopt it. She was also open to letting Goldie be the beloved aunt, extra mom, or whatever Goldie wished.

But Goldie knew she wasn’t ready to be a mom, wasn’t ready to explain to the world who the father was. Wasn’t ready.

Goldie’s daughter came into the world under the glow of a Tuscan sky. Her first moments were greeted with love from Goldie and from the mother, Goldie had chosen for this precious soul. A private doctor and staff, arranged by Mitchell Ozock, attended to her needs.

It was an easy pregnancy and easier delivery. Seeing her baby for the first time, Goldie decided that she wasn’t the type who could just hand over her daughter and close the book. Goldie’s friend did not pressure her. It was all easy, natural. It was right.

Goldie spent a month watching her friend bond with the child as Goldie healed from the birth. She needed to look like Goldie Hayes, movie star, when she returned to Hollywood.

But a month was all the time she could afford to give. She had to return to her career or see it vanish.

Goldie named the baby Siena, after the nearby village.

When Goldie was very pregnant and had let her hair get dark, under the cover of a big floppy hat, she’d walked the streets of Siena. No one recognized her, and she was charmed by each cobblestone step of the place. Siena was all good things.

She was Siena’s mother. But slowly, she decided to settle into being Siena’s beloved aunt.

Goldie kissed Siena’s sweet head goodbye. There were tears when they all prepared to part.

Goldie, Siena, and Siena’s chosen parents all lived in a beautiful bubble for a time. But it was time to go back to her real life. Having this baby was never the plan.

Having someone to care about, care for, and worry after, was new to Goldie.

In the end, she knew this about herself, that she could provide all the things this child needed but couldn’t protect her from the prying eyes.

If anyone got wind of how sweet Siena came to be, she’d be the illegitimate baby that ruined Dustin Toms’ perfect life.

That was not what Goldie wanted for her beautiful daughter.

So, they decided Siena would always know that Auntie Goldie was her biological mother, but Goldie would be Auntie. It would work. It had to.

“You’re sure. You can change your mind.”

“No one can know, and because of your open heart, I know this is the right thing. She’ll have a lovely life with you. As long as you let me be the fairy godmother movie star that showers her with pixie dust.”

“Of course, I never dreamed I could be so lucky.”

“Same.”

They hugged, with the sweet baby between them. Goldie’s good friend was now Siena’s mom and her husband, Siena’s new dad. They were a new kind of family. Their own kind.

“I’m going to be really crazy busy for the first few months, but then, maybe in the summer?”

“Whenever, always. However, she’s your daughter, too.”

“Auntie Goldie is just fine. I’m fine with it, okay?”

“Okay.”

They secured little Siena in her car seat. The new family of three drove off. Goldie watched the car go. It was the first time her baby was physically so far from her. She would get used to it.

She flew home in a private jet, and another week went by. Hair, makeup, OptiFast shakes, wardrobe, meetings, scripts. It all came back into her life at a pace that was faster now that Tenured was about to premiere.

The film was a critical and commercial success.

Goldie was nominated for a SAG Award, a Golden Globe, and a Critic’s Award.

She’d come back from Italy, and its relaxed clock, its luxurious pace, to the frenzy of her career. There was one more nomination that she coveted. The big one and it was the last one to announce.

It was early when the phone rang. She’d forgotten how early this happened because they liked to announce live on the morning shows that aired on the East Coast.

“Congratulations, you’re nominated. Best Supporting.”

It was Mitchel Ozock on the other end.

“Great, Dustin too?”

“Yeah, best actor, best director, best-adapted screenplay, and you. Now get skinnier. You’ve got a lot of red carpets to walk.”

She’d be photographed a million times for awards season.

Goldie rose to the challenge of it. Only two months after having a baby, every inch of her was photographed. There was some speculation that she’d had a boob job.

She was photographed in her designer gowns. She was on everyone’s best-dressed list for every red carpet she walked. Even Joan Rivers praised her looks at each event.

“I’m not worthy,” said the acerbic comedian when she saw Goldie on Oscar night.

This all fit the plan. This was Goldie’s career leveling up, shining in a way she dreamed of when she was a kid.

Dustin Toms and his wife were lovely on the red carpet. They all posed for pictures. Press praised Laura for her post-baby body. She was writing a fitness book on how to bounce back.

Of course, Dustin won, and the screenplay for Tenured also won, but it had not been Goldie’s year. She lost to Kim Basinger.

When the parties and press died down after the Oscars, Goldie curled up on her couch and opened the thick package that had arrived that day.

She poured through the pictures of baby Siena.

It had made the Oscar loss insignificant.

But it also fired a kernel of bitterness in her gut. For the first time, a sacrifice she made for her career was too much. She’d given up the day-to-day life with her daughter, for her career, and for Dustin’s reputation.

He won the Oscar, had his wife, new baby, the love of the entire world, and a quiet and compliant former mistress and costar.

She could have unhinged his entire life. Instead, she’d quietly unhinged her own.

She was proud of herself, in one way, at least. Siena wasn’t going to be a part of someone else’s scandal. She was a beautiful light in the world, and Goldie was going to be sure that was always what she was, not some footnote to the story of Dustin Toms or even Goldie Hayes.

She would call tomorrow, at a better hour, and catch up.

She would bring clothes and toys and treats as many times as she could manage throughout the year.

She would be the best aunt she could be.

Despite losing the Oscar that year, Goldie had gained a lot, more than most.

Even if she didn’t get the daily joy of seeing Siena, she’d figure out how to have the best of both worlds… or a little part of the best.