Page 33 of Sandbar Summer (Summer Cottage #3)

“Ah, no, I mean sure. But that’s not it. A few years before I moved out of Michigan to Hollywood, Jeff Daniels did the exact opposite. He was nominated for Oscars, well respected, and all that, but decided to run his career from Michigan, not California.”

“Uh, okay, but I’m not really following.”

“I am moving to Michigan permanently. I’m going to limit my shooting schedule to the winter months, maybe a touch into March.

But April to, oh, November or so, I’ll be running my little inn in Michigan.

Oh, and I’m not going to ever take a role again where the requirement is losing weight.

I’m eating what I want. Actually, where’s our server? ”

“What about the VSU, about your own franchise?”

“I’m okay with that, but on my terms. If they can’t work with my terms, that’s fine, too. I’ll do smaller pictures. Actually, that’s the next part of my vision.”

“I’m listening.”

“I will be buying up rights, when I can, to books I like, with the express purpose of turning them into movies.”

“Ah, so we’re morphing into Winnie Reese with books and Jeff Daniels with the Michigan thing?”

“No, I have no illusion that I can be either. I just want to be me in a place that values that instead of trying to sell it. I want to be in a town that feels like home and not one that feels like a snake pit.”

“Ah, well, you’ve done pretty well in the snake pit.”

“I just know where I’m going for the next bit and who I want to have with me.”

“I see.”

“Do you want to come along, or do I sort of wing it? I’ve done that before.”

Hedda sat forward in her chair. She locked eyes with Goldie.

“I’m in. I would be nuts to say no to the most powerful woman in Hollywood.”

“Today, I’m the most powerful woman today; tomorrow, it will be someone else.”

“Then today’s the day for you to make this deal.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

“I think this is the beginning of the best part of your career. I know it is.”

“I think it’s the beginning of the best part of my life.”

The summer had turned a corner. Leaves were green; still, the middle of the day was hot, and the boats were on the lake.

But leaves were falling, a few at a time, enough to remind you this was all fleeting. A new season was coming. The light in the evening was burnished gold as the sunset, changed from the blazing orange of July.

Goldie had been back for a week. She’d reunited with Joe.

She’d kissed him a time or two even, but that was also in a season to come.

The season of whatever they’d be together was ahead of them.

She was looking forward to it but not rushing it.

And he was letting her set their pace. He was getting used to Myrna. Myrna was tolerating him.

Myrna did seem to like barking at ducks that swam by on the lake. All in all, Myrna Loy was settling in just as Goldie was.

Goldie had spent just about every moment with Joe since she’d gotten back.

He was happy to see her, and he told her so.

It was sweet, easy, and more mutual than any other romance she’d ever been in.

She was just starting to realize the benefits of dating a man who wasn’t a celebrity or who had any desire to be one.

Over the last several days, Joe had helped her turn the first-floor sitting room, the dining room, and her own bedroom at Two Lakes Grove into something lovely.

It was crisp white, and the floors, now free of carpet, looked beautiful.

They were slowly uncovering the history of the place, bringing it to life with each little project.

Two Lakes Grove was far from being done. Goldie looked forward to each paint color decision, each piece of art for the walls, and each step she still had to take to make Two Lakes spectacular.

But there was no deadline. For the first time in her life, she was savoring each slow second.

“You need anything else? Before your girls get here?”

“No, I think I’m good to go. Have you checked on the new fridge? It’s still doing the job?”

“It is. It looks totally out of place since we haven’t redone the kitchen yet, but it’s chilling your cheese and chardonnay.”

“That’s all I need for today.”

“All you need?”

“Maybe not all I need.”

Joe took her hand and actually kissed it. Chivalry wasn’t dead. It just wasn’t in L.A. It was alive and well and thriving on a lazy lake in Michigan.

Goldie’s demands of the VSU had been met. Each one. Even a few that she threw in just to test them were green lit. She would be flying in and out in the winter, at their expense, for her next project. The VSU honchos had given her everything Hedda asked for.

Joe didn’t blink when she explained who she was, how she had planned to try to have the best of both of her worlds. He didn’t ask her to change her life for his. She offered him the same consideration. If they were meant to be, and she did hope they were, it would work out.

He also knew how to make himself scarce when the Sandbar Sisters were rolling in for a girl’s night.

Goldie had invited the Sandbar Sisters, along with Aunt Emma, to come over for dinner and drinks. They had a lot to catch up on.

J.J. arrived first. Her old friend had been researching how to get Goldie’s hair the color it needed to be to finish the VSU shoot in the winter.

J.J. had all the tools and skills Goldie needed to be camera ready, to her delight.

Goldie thought, at the very least, she’d be driving to Ann Arbor for some of her hair and makeup requirements.

Goldie needed a lot of maintenance, whether she was here or in L.A.

, but J.J. was rising to the challenge. Goldie was even hoping to convince J.J.

to come on location this winter. One of her many demands was that the VSU studio hire the hair and makeup artists she selected. Why not J.J.?

“Look, I’m here to tell you that I can be your full-service hair stylist, but if I’m ever off, do not let Shelly touch you. I promise she’ll convince you to do an inverted bob, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Check.”

Libby and Hope arrived next. A dish in Hope’s hands made Goldie realize she’d not complied with Goldie’s edict not to bring anything.

“It’s a leftover. I literally did nothing.”

Goldie knew that was a lie. “I promise, I had this food delivered. We’re in no danger of poisoning.”

She guided them into the grand lobby and sitting room.

“Wow, just paint, and getting that carpet up has turned this lobby into a showplace!”

“I even helped pull off the carpet. It was the first real test of my true compatibility with Joe.”

“And?”

“He only wanted to kill me once, so I think that’s a great sign.”

“Oh, I hear Aunt Emma’s car.”

Goldie went back to the door and saw a distinguished-looking man get out of the driver’s seat, open the door for Aunt Emma, and then help her out.

Goldie reached out a hand to assist the older woman in navigating the steps into the hotel.

“This place is looking grander by the day. Lovely!”

Aunt Emma joined the Sandbar Sisters in the lobby to appreciate the progress.

“I just realized why that man who was driving you looked familiar, Aunt Emma. That was the man who almost bought this place out from under me.”

“What?” Aunt Emma’s eyes opened wide, and she blinked.

If Goldie knew one thing, it was when someone was acting. Aunt Emma was acting innocent.

“He’s the one who was going to make all those garish changes to this place. The one who I beat out to buy it.”

“Aunt Emma, what did you cook up?” Libby chimed in.

“Nothing, nothing.”

“What was his name? Oh yeah, Tate Patrick, a hotel developer from Ann Arbor,” Goldie said as the details came back to her.

“Oh, brother.” Libby put her head in her hand.

“You sly boots!” J.J. exclaimed.

Hope looked as baffled as Goldie felt.

“Look, he would have bought it if he could…” Aunt Emma started.

“—Aunt Emma, you hoodwinked Goldie!” Libby was angry.

Goldie was not quite sure what had happened. “Hoodwinked? I just did a major deal in Hollywood. I doubt Aunt Emma was able to hoodwink me.” She stepped over to the older woman and put an arm around her.

“Do you want to fess up, or am I going to bust you?” Libby pressed.

Aunt Emma frowned. She narrowed her eyes and then tilted her head. “Fine, I’ll share. My dear niece, you’re so by the book sometimes it’s just limiting.” Aunt Emma turned to Goldie. “His name is Patrick Tate, not Tate Patrick. We came up with his alias on the fly. It’s not great, I see.”

“And?”

“And, I had him pretend to want to buy this place and do the tackiest things we could think of, so you’d get the stick out of your—”

“—Aunt Emma!”

“Sorry, niece. Um, so you’d not be a stick in the mud and buy this hotel. Like you should have from day one.”

“I’m so sorry, Goldie,” Libby said. “I had no idea she had concocted this scheme. I am horrified that you were lured into buying this place under false pretenses.”

Aunt Emma looked at Goldie with her innocent eyes. The rest of her Sandbar Sisters seemed to be holding their breath. Was the temperamental movie star going to storm out? Was she merely a fair-weather fan of Irish Hills?

“Oh, the drama! Aunt Emma, you are quite the actress.”

“I’d understand if you want to pull out. I can’t swing re-buying it from you right now, but I’ll put a plan in place. I’m so sorry,” Libby was babbling. That was not normal Libby.

“Not a chance. You’re all stuck with me, well, at least in the summer months.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Aunt Emma let out a sigh. “La La Land hasn’t fried your brain. You have good sense!”

“I don’t know how wise it is to chuck my life and start a new one at my age, but I’m doing it.”

They circled her in hugs. Goldie didn’t even try to deflect the affection from her friends. She didn’t need to have armor here.

“I need a glass of Chardonnay for the road. I can’t stay,” Aunt Emma said.

“What?”

“You’re not the only ones with silver foxes at your beck and call.”

“Aunt Emma,” Libby gasped.

“He’s a younger man but over seventy. It’s my experience men are too immature before seventy to be much use. Oh, except for lifting furniture. Other than that, pfft.”

Goldie gave Aunt Emma a glass of Chardonnay. She drank it down in one gulp.

Before she took her leave, Aunt Emma looked Goldie square in the eyes. She pulled her in close and spoke quietly. “You’re doing the right thing, making a life here. It’s the best decision you ever made. Well, maybe the second best, according to Viv.”

“You keep in touch with her?”

“Now and again.” Aunt Emma hugged her and said her goodbyes.

They settled on chairs out back and watched boaters lazily motor by as the sun set.

The food was delicious. Goldie didn’t count one single carb or calorie as she ate it.

“So, what was that about the second-best decision?” J.J. asked.

It was a secret between her and Viv, one that no one but them knew. But it was time to tell her sisters, the ones who would also have been there for her, she knew now, if only she had asked.

“I have a twenty-two-year-old daughter.”

“What? Congratulations! I mean, oh my goodness, that’s wonderful!” Hope enthused.

“Look, I know your IMBD bio down to the last comma. You’d have been in People Magazine. Not one whiff of this has ever been reported,” J.J. said.

“Yeah, true. Well, a long time ago, I fell in love with a famous man, and I got pregnant. He said it would ruin his career. He was married.”

“What a jerk,” J.J. said.

“I was in a tough spot. It could have ruined my career, too. I had a lot of resources, thanks to my movie paychecks, just not a lot of support. The smartest thing I did, maybe ever, was call an old friend.”

“Oh my gosh.” Libby had started to piece it together. Goldie hadn’t called any one of them, and they were the oldest of friends. “Viv, you called Viv!”

“I did. After I went out to Hollywood, we kept in touch. She was starting her design career, doing some styling. She was having fertility issues, and I was not, turns out.”

“Wow, Viv, I miss her. We need to concoct a reason to get her out here like we did these two,” J.J. said.

“She’s happily divorced, living in New York State, with our daughter.”

“Our daughter?” Hope said.

“Viv left the terms of the adoption up to me, so it’s open. I’m Aunt Goldie, but Siena knows I’m her biological mother. Viv has been generous with their lives. But it was Viv who did the raising. Viv is her mom. I’m Aunt Goldie.”

She was a little sad when she said it. She didn’t mean to be. It had worked out. Siena had a beautiful life. While Goldie had taken center stage in the movies, she was in the wings of Siena’s life. And that’s the way it should be for kids. They should be the star, not the satellite.

Libby stood up and walked over to Goldie. She crouched down and wrapped her friend in a hug. Soon, J.J. and Hope were smashing Goldie with a love bomb.

“Wow, what was that for?”

“First, that you let us hug you now! It’s nice to see your guard down. And second, I’m glad we’re all back in each other’s lives,” said Libby.

“Oh, and third, we didn’t get to back then, when you and Viv did this amazing thing,” J.J. added.

“Okay, I’m opening another bottle of wine. I want to hear all about Siena. She’s got to be brilliant,” Hope announced.

They finished off another bottle, all the food Goldie had ordered, and even dessert.

They planned what was next for the hotel and how to get the word out about it. Next summer was going to be so different from this summer. If they played it right, Irish Hills and Two Lakes Grove would be packed!

The Sandbar Sisters talked about nearly everything under the sun.

They kicked around the idea of a film festival.

Hope raved about how well Keith’s son was doing at the restaurant.

J.J. pushed back against the suggestion that she open a salon at the other end of Green Street and they all brainstormed what type of retail would work long-term in the center space.

They also giggled, like they did when they were girls, over Joe, Keith, and Greg. All of them were in the throes of a new romance, which was just as fun as back when they were girls. There wasn’t a better place on earth, Goldie decided. Nor better people.

She had a contract to sign for a movie to be shot in Toronto this winter. She had three lovely books to read to consider for rights acquisition. And she had a hotel to fix up. All of it glorious. All of it exactly what she wanted to be doing.

She took another bite of the bread that Hope had brought. It was warm and fluffy, and completely divine. She realized, for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, Goldie was full.