A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts #1)(70)

The snacks Edward fixed looked good, but she wanted something heartier. She quietly moved through the house towards the kitchen. One look at the clock had her sighing. It was only ten thirty at night. The last couple of days, hell, weeks had been so exhausting. Poor Edward, he was taking the brunt of everything on his shoulders.

He was taking care of her, the kids, the house, moving by himself, plus his usual hectic schedule. Since he came home he hadn’t had a guy's night out. She was going to change that. Tomorrow night she was pushing him out of the house. He needed that, deserved it.

She looked at the calendar. Tomorrow was Friday, a good day for him to get out and unwind and then he could have the guys over sometime this weekend for a game. She was sure there would be a game on of some sporting event. She wrote up a list of food to pick up. She would make a huge spread for the guys and take the kids out to a water park or something with Deana’s help and hopefully some security.

The phone rang. She ran over to it, wishing it to quiet down so it wouldn’t wake up Edward. “Shh, I’m coming,” she hissed at the phone. She picked up the phone on the third ring to the sound of a little girl screaming in the background.

“Hello?” she answered, wondering if it was a prank call.

“Dana? It’s Jim.”

“Hey, Jim, is everything okay? Is Cole okay?” Dana asked. Clearly Jim’s daughter Beth wasn’t okay from the sound of it.

“I’m afraid Beth got a little scared when the cat ran under her bed. She thinks it was a monster and we can’t convince her otherwise. Poor Cole is being such a good sport, but we’re thinking we should bring him home. Beth isn’t going to calm down anytime soon.”

“I’ll come get him. I could use a good walk,” Dana said.

“Are you sure?” Jim asked.

“It’s no problem, Jim. I’ll be there in a few.”

“Okay, see you then.” Jim hung up.

Dana scribbled a note. She walked into the living room and placed the note on the cushion next to Edward. She leaned in and kissed his chin. He stirred slightly, but continued to snore.

She grabbed her cell phone and keys and headed out the door. Of course the media was still set up in front of her house. She was tempted to get in her car, but that would be pointless since they would probably just block her. It was only four houses down. She could be there and back in less than ten minutes.

“Dana, are you leaving Edward?” a man yelled.

Cameras were pointed at her and clicking away rapidly, their bright flashes blinding her. She lowered her eyes to the sidewalk in front of her and walked at a quick pace.

“Do the other girls in Edward’s life make you jealous?”

“How’s the sex?” another yelled. She bit her lip. Paparazzi were known to say some pretty crude and disturbing things hoping to get a rise out of people. She said nothing and continued on.

“How’s it feel to be a second rate author?”

“I hear early reviews of your film suck.”

“I have pictures of Edward getting a blowjob in England, wanna see?”

“He was caught in a strip joint. I’ve got pictures!”

“He’s screwing around. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

In five minutes she was walking up a long winding driveway. She knocked on the door, glad the paparazzi had enough brains not to trespass. Jim opened the door with Cole standing by his side, wide awake and smiling. She saw Diane holding her daughter in the living room. The little girl was screaming at the top of her lungs about the monster.

“Hi, sweetie, are you ready?” she asked Cole.

He smiled. “I’m ready, Mommy. I missed you!”

“I missed you, too!”

“Sorry about this,” Jim said, looking embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Jim looked past her towards the media vans that had followed her to the end of his driveway. “Uh, maybe I should walk you both home.”

“We’ll be fine.”

He looked unsure. “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t get used to having every bit of privacy and simple human freedom taking away.”

“Thanks a lot, Jim,” she said dryly.

He chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Bye, guys. Let’s go, buddy,” Dana said. Cole high fived Jim and grabbed his mother’s hand. They walked down the driveway.

“Are they going to take our picture again?” He pointed to the paparazzi that were going nuts now.

“I’m afraid so.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay, Grandma says I’m very cute.”

She laughed. “You most certainly are.”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Sleeping.”

“He snores like a bear, Mommy,” Cole said matter-of-factly.

“Okay, just hold my hand and don’t let go.”

He nodded and tightened his little hand in hers as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

“Edward let’s you walk by yourself at night, doesn’t he love you?”

“What are you going to tell him when he’s older? Are you going to tell him you chased off his father?”

“I hear you won’t let his father see him.”

“His father doesn’t want him, you must be a real bitch.”