Grounded By You (7 page)

“What the hell, Josh?” Millie yanked her arm away from him and rubbed her elbow. “I know you’re not happy that I’ve decided not to work for dad, but I didn’t expect this reaction from you.”

Josh rubbed his face and stood with his hand on his hips. “Millie, I don’t know what has gotten into you this past year, but enough’s enough.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First, you ran off and disappeared last summer working at some backwoods bed and breakfast instead of interning at the company like you told Dad you’d do. He let that one slide. Then you take a bunch of stupid artsy fartsy classes instead of the advanced business courses that I told you take. Now you’re here, and you’re going to quit the job you haven’t even started yet? Dad is going to blow.”

Millie crossed her arms taking Josh’s tirade in. She raised her chin. “No one ever asked me if it was a job that I wanted. I love how everyone in this family just assumes they know what I want instead of actually asking me. If you did, this wouldn’t come as such a big surprise.”

“You’ve never said that you didn’t want to do this,” Josh said. “In fact, you’ve been saying since you were a kid how much you wanted to work for the firm and how excited you were that we’d run it together someday after dad retires.”

Millie softened. “That was when I was a kid, Josh. I’ve grown up. I want to do something else.”

Josh shook his head. “This isn’t like you. You’ve changed.”

“Maybe,” Millie said. “But I think it’s for the better. I have clarity into what I want and who I am. That takes time and life experience to figure out. I’m not saying that I’m there yet, but I know what my gut is telling me. Dad would never give me that chance to figure that out on my own. I am going to do this my way on my own terms.”

“You’re a St. John. You have certain obligations to the family,” Josh said.

“That’s a line of bullshit we’ve been fed since we were old enough to talk,” Millie snorted. “It’s not like we’re royalty. We’re just regular people.”

“Dad built that company from the ground up for us,” Josh said. “It’s what he’s always wanted for us. We’re his legacy.”

“He’s got you,” Millie said. “You can carry on his legacy. You love that company as much as he does. You don’t need me.”

Josh groaned. “The timing of this little announcement couldn’t be worse, Millie.”

“I’m sorry my life isn’t conforming to your timetable,” Millie snapped.

Josh leaned back against the wall. “Look, can we pretend that you didn’t say this yet? With everything else that Dad has going on right now, this would put him over the edge.”

Millie opened her mouth to respond, but Josh held up his hand. “I’m not going to try running your life. But seriously, the timing of this little announcement is horrible. Just give it a week or two, okay? I can probably stall him about why you haven’t started the job yet until then. Mother will help us cover it.”

“Mother, help me? Right.”

“She knows the pressure that Dad’s been under from the Board. She won’t want to upset him either. The last time he was at the doctor, they told him that if he doesn’t work on lowering his blood pressure, he’s going to have problems.”

Millie felt a familiar welling of guilt in the pit of her stomach. It was what always happened when she tried to exert her own will within her family. But as long as Josh didn’t actually expect her to show up for work, she figured that she could wait a few more weeks to tell her father.

“Fine,” she said, uncrossing her arms. “But on one condition.”

Josh looked suspicious. “What?”

She waggled her finger under his nose. “No more set-ups. I don’t need my big brother playing matchmaker for me, okay? You’re worse than Dad.”

Josh had the decency to look guilty. “Will is a good guy. Plus he’s heard me talk about you for years. He’s just moved to the city, and I thought it would be nice for him to get out and meet people. With you just moving back to the city, it seemed like a win-win situation for both of you.”

“Will seems like a perfectly nice guy,” Millie agreed, “But I’m not into dating right now.”

“Somebody break your heart? I’ll kill him,” Josh said in a mock threatening tone.

“Relationships bring complications that I don’t want in my life right now,” Millie said. “I need to focus on me and what’s next in my life.”

“Yeah, especially once Dad disowns you,” Josh said solemnly.

Millie sighed. “I’m hoping that once I explain it him that he’ll come around.”

Josh slung his arm around her shoulders. “Not a chance, but very nice wishful thinking.”

She mock-slugged him in the side, and they walked back to the table with grins on their faces. Millie sat down and rearranged her napkin in her lap. She felt better having cleared one hurdle.

Her mother looked at both of them expectantly. “All settled?”

“All settled,” Josh said. He reached over and patted Clare’s hand, which made Millie want to gag. “Nothing for you to worry about, Mother.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Clare said. She turned her eyes back to Millie. “While you were gone I had a chance to speak to Bethany Rochester.”

Bethany Rochester was the daughter of Pauline Rochester, who was Clare’s number one
frienemy. Pauline and Clare had a rivalry that went back years to before Millie was born. The bad blood had filtered down to their daughters. Millie hated Bethany.

“I’m sorry I missed her,” Millie said sarcastically.

“I mentioned to her that you know that boy who’s starring in that movie.”

Millie’s mouth went dry. “You did?”

“She said that she heard he lives here in the city! Isn’t that a fortunate coincidence?”

Millie set her silverware back down and wiped her mouth on her napkin trying to formulate a response. “I think I heard he was going to school here.”

“You should call him,” Clare suggested. “If he’s available, I’d love to throw a little dinner party for him. It’s so interesting hearing about everything in Hollywood these days.”

“He’s never been in a movie like this before, Mother. He doesn’t know anything about Hollywood.” There was no way that Millie was going to expose Sam to the toxic environment that was a St. John dinner party. He’d never speak to her again after it.

“Still, he sounds fascinating. I’d love to meet him,” Clare said.

“I’m sure that Millie can get in touch with him,” Josh said, looking pointedly at her across the table. “Can’t you, Millie? That would be a really nice thing to do for Mother.”

Millie got the hint. She was about to do something that would upset the whole family. The least she could do was offer up something in return. Sam had become the sacrificial lamb to keep a semblance of peace in the St. John family.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention that Dad’s having a small get together Friday night at a new restaurant in the meatpacking district for some people from the firm. He expects that you’ll be there,” Josh said, suddenly unable to meet her eyes.

Millie almost launched her plate at his head. “Oh, he does, does he?”

“We need to put up some big numbers for the second half of the year. It’s just a little something to get everyone on the same page,” Josh said. “In fact, my friend Will is going to be there too.”

“Will Colman? He is such a nice young man,” Clare said. “I think you’d adore him, Amelia.”

Millie glared at Josh when he looked up and winked at her. She realized that he had just outmaneuvered her. Again. But the fight wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Two days later, Millie fretted about the fact that she couldn’t pick out which of her artwork pieces to bring the meeting with Evelyn Ward, the gallery owner who offered to meet with her. And she hadn’t heard a peep from Sam. She might have been able to put that out of her mind if his face wasn’t splashed everywhere she looked. His name seemed to be on everyone’s lips, from the people in the coffee shop line to the dry cleaners to the
internet forums.

“I can’t even believe it,” Kate said when Millie finally managed to reach her on the phone late that afternoon. “How did he forget to mention that he moved to New York and decided to audition for that movie?  I actually joked about it with him when the producers came to check things out here. Remember how he always told us he wanted to play Jackson Monroe if they ever did make the book into a movie?”

As usual, Kate sounded slightly frazzled. Millie was incredibly proud of her best friend for finally figuring out what she wanted to do with her life, but it had put a real dent in their usual daily chats. Normally Millie wouldn’t mind at all, but since moving back to the city and dealing with her family and her new life, she felt more alone than ever.

“Well, I’d be surprised if he can even walk around on the street right now without a pack of woman chasing him like some kind of prey,” Millie said. She was pouting, and she knew it.

“I saw his interview on TV this morning,” Kate said. “He seemed to be right in his element. Who knew that Sam was meant to be a movie star? He looked great.”

“He did look pretty great,” Millie said with a sigh. She had seen the interview as well. Sam’s easy smile and relaxed attitude endeared him quickly to the show’s hosts. It was as if he was born to be in front of a camera. She wondered if the nerves that she thought she saw two days prior had been a bit of an act to make her feel sorry for him so she’d hang out with him.

“Oh, I gotta go, Millie. I’m sure you’ll pick out the perfect pieces for the meeting. Seriously, stop stressing about it. I think anything you take will floor her.”

Millie knew that Kate was up to her ears in reservation requests. She told Millie that since the news broke about Sam, the daily hits to the Willoughby website had tripled and were increasing by the day. Sam wasn’t the only one enjoying the newfound attention.

Her phone lit up showing the number for the front door. Millie picked it up hesitantly. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and it was four o’clock in the afternoon. “Hello?”

“It’s me. Let me in, quick!” Sam’s voice was terse.

Millie automatically hit the button to open the door. She ran over to the window and looked out at the street. At first she didn’t see anyone, but then a man with a camera and a long-range lens peeled out from under an awning across the street. He looked inquisitively at her building before stepping back into the steep shadows.

The knock came on her apartment door a few minutes later. Millie opened the door and found Sam standing there looking at her with a half-grin.

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in,” she said.

“Can I come in? I’m sorry to drop by without calling first. I was a few blocks over on my way home from the gym, and then a photographer started tailing me and wouldn’t go away. I needed to lose him, and I was hoping you’d be home.”

Millie stepped back and swept her arm up to invite him in. He was wearing a hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans. It was a different look for him, but it suited him.

“You’ve been busy,” she said, following him into her living room. That’s when she realized there wasn’t anywhere to sit down. All of her canvases were strewn about the room. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to pick out the pieces I wanted to take with me for my meeting. I’m having some trouble deciding.”

“Want some help?” Sam asked. “I’m dying to talk about something other than myself.”

Millie laughed. “You are a strange one, Sam
Groveson. Usually people can’t stop talking about themselves.”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. Contrary to popular belief right now, I just
don’t think I’m all that interesting.”

Millie slugged him lightly on the shoulder. “Hate to tell you this, buddy, but I think you’re in the minority on that point.”

She couldn’t be certain, but she thought that Sam looked dismayed by that statement. It was completely opposite from the man she saw on television that morning. She was starting to wonder which face of Sam Groveson was the real one, and which one was the part he played for everyone else.

“So, which ones were you thinking of?” he asked, changing the topic.

Millie sighed and turned in a circle. “It’s like having to name your favorite child. I love all of them for different reasons. Each one represents a different piece of me. I’m still so new at this that I explore everything in my work and not just one specific theme. That was one thing that really resonated from the feedback that my teachers gave me.”

“What’s that?” Sam asked.

She loved this part of spending time with Sam. She always felt as if he listened to every word she said and absorbed it, giving it proper attention. It was one of the first things that she noticed about him after she met him. Sam was introspective and wise, even at twenty-two, and that was because he listened to everything someone said, including the things they weren’t saying.

“They said not to censor myself. That in the moment of creation I needed to let myself be free to tell the story that was waiting to be expressed in my soul. That probably sounds silly and trite.”

“It doesn’t,” Sam said thoughtfully.

He moved to the painting in the corner. It was a mix of bright colors of red, oranges, and yellows leaves splayed in all different directions like a kaleidoscope. It was one of her first attempts at painting, and she had spent long hours trying to shape each individual leaf perfectly to match the image in her mind.