Lane caught her breath. Her daughter was bringing Gabe Greer, Grammy Award winning singer, star of TV and film, home for Thanksgiving. She smiled, thinking she’d probably better get used to it. Now that her daughter was about to be a big film star herself, her circle of friends was expanding.
“Okay. Then we’ll see you when you get here. Have a safe flight. Love you, bye.”
“Love you too, Mom. See you soon.”
Lane walked into the kitchen to find Roy Tanner enjoying a cup of coffee at the table. He stood when Lane walked in, and she waved him back to his chair.
“Good morning, Roy. What are you guys going to do today?”
“I have some leads I need to follow up on. Jamie can hang with me while I check a couple of things out.”
Ben looked at Tanner. “Can I talk to you in the office for a couple of minutes?”
Tanner stood and followed Ben into the office and closed the door.
Lane sat at the table with Jamie. “Jess just called me. She’s bringing Gabe Greer home with her today.”
Jamie looked at his mother. “The Gabe Greer? He’s coming here for Thanksgiving?”
Lane smiled. It seemed the whole family was going to have to get used to Jess’s new found star status and her widening circle of famous friends. “That’s what she said when she called a couple of minutes ago.”
“WOW. She really is famous now, isn’t she?”
“So it seems. Guess it’s something we’ll need to get used to.”
“Do you think he’ll help us at Sunset House tomorrow?”
Lane tilted her head and smiled. “That’s a good question. I’d better call Kay and see if it would be a problem.”
Ben and Tanner came back into the kitchen. Ben had stopped at the coat closet and carried Lane’s barn coat over his arm. It had turned a little chilly, and while he didn’t think he needed a coat, he was sure his wife and baby needed one to keep them warm.
Lane smiled. Ben had no idea that the baby was like her own personal little Dutch oven. She stood and kissed him on the cheek before following him to the SUV. She’d been married twice before and sometimes she felt like she’d hit the jackpot this time.
Her first husband had been in a rock band and he’d been unfaithful with every groupie who made eyes at him. After eight years of marriage, her second husband had confessed that he was gay and was leaving her for the love of his life, Ralphie, the man he’d met a year before. Ben was twelve years younger than she was, had movie star good looks, and Kennedy charisma, and he’d still chosen her. He was the most considerate man she’d ever known and he loved her. Tears welled up in her eyes and started to spill over.
Ben had just backed out of the driveway as he looked over at her. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “What’s wrong?”
She wiped at her eyes. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am.”
Ben squeezed her hand again and then brought it to his lips. “I’m the winner in this relationship, Red. I have to pinch myself every morning to make sure I’m not dreaming. I love you.”
She smiled. “And, I love you.”
Ben reached over and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I was thinking Le Peep for breakfast. Are you okay with that?”
“Le Peep’s perfect. I could go for a breakfast skillet. By the way, Jess called while you were talking to Tanner. She’s bringing Gabe Greer home with her for Thanksgiving. He wants to rent a car, so I don’t need to pick her up.”
“Gabe Greer, huh?” Ben thought his two youngest brothers, identical twins Joey and Pauli both of whom seemed to have a crush on Jess were about to have a little more competition for her attention than either of them was ready for.
She laughed. “If the guest list grows much more, we’ll have to have Thanksgiving at Papa’s.”
“Red, you know we’ll figure it out. Have you heard from Meg with a response for the Kellys?”
“She texted last night saying they’d be here. Meg’s mother likes to bake, so they offered to bring pies. One less thing for us to do.”
Chapter 11
Jess ended the call with her mother and looked at her travelling companion. “I think I might have surprised her a bit.”
Gabe smiled. “I hope she’s okay with me inviting myself for the weekend. With my folks out of the country, I didn’t have any place else to go. Besides, we’re leaving for Europe on Monday any way.”
Jess sat back in her seat. “You’d have to know my Mom. She’s okay with it. Her exact words were …” she made air quotes “… ‘the more the merrier’ and she meant it. But, that was before I told her whom I’m bringing. She might be a little star struck when we get there.”
Gabe laughed. “But you’re going to be a star now.”
“Yeah, but she gave birth to me, so, I’m just Jess to her. You’re GABE GREER, star of TV, movies and Broadway, winner of Grammys, Emmys People’s Choice awards,” she waived her arm in the air, “and the list goes on.”
He laughed again and Jess laughed with him. She had met Gabe several months ago when he had been the guest star on Lawlessness, a TV forensic crime show. Jess had played his girlfriend, who was killed in a car accident in the first scene of the show. They’d had maybe five scenes together between the accident scene and the flashback scenes. They had just clicked and when Gabe had gotten the script for Harts in Time, he’d called the producers and suggested they audition the practically unknown Jessica Lane to be his co-star. He’d even done the audition with her. She had nailed the audition and had won the role. Jess and Gabe had been in rehearsals for the last month and would start principal shooting in Europe the week after Thanksgiving. Both Jess and Gabe were playing twins in the movie, each the love interest of the other. There were still ongoing negotiations to film the two sequels concurrently with the first movie. It didn’t interfere with Jess’s schedule, but Gabe hadn’t planned to be out of the country quite as long as concurrently filming three movies might take. Regardless it was the role or is it roles of a lifetime for each of them, but especially for Jess. Gabe didn’t have any acting gigs on his plate that would interfere with staying in Europe for the nearly twelve months that filming all three would take, but he did owe his label a new album.
“By the way, the Parkers have a holiday tradition that we serve dinner to the needy. Last year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we served at a homeless shelter, but this year Mom has us serving Thanksgiving at a nursing home where one of her friends does volunteer work. I’m sure you could get out of it, after all, you are a guest.”
Gabe smiled his movie star smile, “Not on your life. If they’ll have me, I’ll be right there with you.” He’d heard a lot about Jess’s family in the last few weeks and was looking forward to meeting them. “Tell me again who’s going to be there.”
Jess began counting on her fingers. “Well, Mom, my brothers Jake and Jams, I mean Jamie, and Ben. Then there are the Bellinis. Ben’s parents and his brothers Tony, Pauli, and Joey. His uncles Sal and Vinnie Luciano. Vinnie’s wife and at least one of his daughters. My Nana Evie could come and there’s the possibility that Jake’s girlfriend and her daughter could be there.
“Wow, what is that almost 20 people? I’m an only child. It’s always been just my folks and me. This will be like the movie holidays.”
Jess laughed and shook her head. “You have no idea.”
She knew there was going to be some drama and wondered if she should warn her friend about the documents she carried in her purse and the conversation that she was going to have with Ben and her Mother. She and Gabe had grown up in two completely different worlds. He’d grown up in Hollywood. His mother was a renowned makeup artist and his father was a director of photography. Between them, his parents had at least a dozen Emmys and Oscars.