"I'm Mason Adams, Ash's younger, more handsome little brother." Ash stood back while Mason offered his hand to Audrey.
"Hey, Mason, nice to meet you. Happy birthday. Ash told me you were here celebrating. I'm sorry for stealing him for a second. I was telling him about my daughter starting gymnastics. I didn't mean to steal him away for so long."
"No worries!" Mason said, holding a sincere smile and not flinching when she mentioned her daughter. He was agentleman at heart in spite of his rascal tendencies. "Well, our food arrived, and I figured if I didn't come get my brother, we might never see him again."
"Oh, yeah, I know he's got a party to get back to. Nice meeting you, and happy birthday." She glanced at Ash before reaching in for a quick hug. "I'm glad you came over here. It was great seeing you."
Mason was waiting for him, and she was obviously saying goodbye, but Ash didn't want to walk away so quickly. He paused. "Good luck with the… audition…" He said it in a hesitant tone because he was thinking about adding that she should check in with him about it later. He wanted to know what role she got and when he could come see the show. He didn't say any of that.
She smiled and waved. "Thank you, Ash. I'm glad you came over."
"Me too. See you, Audrey."
They did an awkward little handshake thing as he turned to walk away with his brother. The lobby was crowded, and it was good for him to leave her and walk back to his table. He just didn’t want to.
"Dude, you did not tell me she had a kid," was the first thing Mason said to him as they walked back to the table.
Ash glanced over his shoulder to see if they had been close enough for her to hear, but she was moving and not paying attention to them. She was at the counter now. Ash glanced her way several times as he took his seat, but she never glanced at him.
"What happened?" Val asked as they sat down. She was right next to Ash, talking straight to him.
"Nothing. I just said 'hi' to my friend."
"She has a kid," Mason said, leaning around Ash.
"She does?" Val asked, seeming surprised.
"Yes. Luna."
"How old?"
"Five," Ash said.
"Just one?"
"Yes," he said.
"Just one what?" their mom asked from across the table.
Everyone was preoccupied with eating, but half of them looked at Ash when his mom asked that question.
"We're talking about how many children my friend has," Ash said, trying not to feel embarrassed.
"I thought you said she wasn't your friend," Aiden said.
Ash ignored him because, at the same time, his mom said, "How do you know her?"
"From the series we filmed."
She glanced over her shoulder with a look of concern.
"She's a nice person." He paused and then added, "She's a chef, and she's trying out for a play—a musical." He knew they weren't asking for more details, but he didn't want Luna's existence to be the one and only thing his family knew about Audrey.
Chapter 2
Audrey Wells
"Were they okay? I'm sorry I was late," I said a little while later when James came back into the lobby of the local high school after delivering the pizzas for me. He was carrying a lot of different things, and I went over to help him. He had a huge backpack and duffel bag over one shoulder, and his hands were loaded down with two wadded-up handfuls of brown paper towel that looked to have come off a bathroom roll. He had just delivered the pizzas for me, and I could see as he got closer that he was carrying two slices for us—one in each hand.
