Free The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) by Maggi Craft Page A

might decline my offer at first, but after a few quiet moments, she said, “I kinda want to get outta here too. Where are we going?”
    “Anywhere. Let’s pack a bag in case we find somewhere to rest or something. Play it by ear. Whatever we feel like.”
    I left her getting ready and went to my parents’ to pick up one of Dad’s cars. I was kind of hoping he wouldn’t be home, but I wasn’t that lucky. He and Brady were in the kitchen talking about a golf tournament when I came in.
    “Hey,” I said.
    “Hey,” Dad responded. When we made eye contact, I knew Mom had told him what had happened. Not that I expected her not to, but I didn’t want to talk about it right now. He must have guessed that because he said, “What are you doing today? Wanna go with us to check out a new golf course?”
    I looked at Brady, who was waiting for my answer. He didn’t seem to have Dad’s same look of pity, so he must have been unaware of our loss. Dad, however, was still looking at me very intently. “No, maybe another time. Can I borrow one of your cars?”
    “Yeah, that’s fine. Go take whatever.”
    Wow, that was easy
. No questions asked. “Have fun golfing.”
    “You should go. We might even let you have a handicap,” Brady teased.
    “Another time.” I headed out to the garage.
    I grabbed the keys to that same silver Stingray we’d taken to the drive-in on our first real date here in LA. I loved that old car. It seemed like the perfect car for this trip.
    Dad met me in the garage. “Hey, are you OK?”
    I nodded. What was I supposed to say?
    “OK. Well, your mom and I are here for you. You know that, right?”
    I nodded again, not looking at him.
    “Well, go have fun. We can golf anytime.”
    “Thanks.”
    Arden was waiting in the living room when I got back. “I put some clothes together for you.” She pointed at a bag by the front door. “Unless you wanted something in particular.”
    I picked up the bag and held out my hand for her. “Nope. Sounds perfect. Let’s go.”
    The first thing I did was drive through Starbucks. I knew she’d missed her caffeine. Not that I wanted to remind her why she could have it now, but it just felt normal to get it. We needed some normal right now.
    The weather was beautiful. It was the perfect day for this. We were both quiet for about an hour. Finally she asked, “What did you tell work?”
    “Family thing.”
    She nodded, understanding. She leaned her head back in the seat and closed her eyes.
    After a couple of hours, I pulled off in Del Mar, at this quaint little mom-and-pop-looking restaurant. She opened her eyes. “Are you hungry?” I asked. She nodded, and we went inside.
    We had left LA behind, and it was great. No one was paying us any attention, and I was extremely glad.
    Once we were seated in our little booth in the corner, I opened a sticky laminated menu. Arden crossed her arms, pulling her palms into her sleeves. I reached across the table and grabbed the tip of one of her pinkie fingers.
    She looked up at me, and a tear rolled down her face. I moved next to her, putting my arm around her and pulling her head onto my shoulder. “It’s OK,” I whispered, kissing the top of her head.
    She said nothing but sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve-covered palms just in time to look up and give her fake smile to the young female server bringing us our drinks.
    “Are you ready to order?” the server asked, never looking up from her pad.
    “No, we still need a minute,” I said, and she looked up at me.
Damn!
    “Uh. OK.” She smiled and walked away.
    “Great,” Arden mumbled.
    “Hey. I just wanted to get out of the house, baby, but if you want to go back home, we can do that. We don’t have to stay here. We don’t have to go anywhere.”
    She tried to smile. “I know. And I’m glad you did. I just can’t think of anywhere I want to be right now.” She grabbed my hand and smiled. “I’m OK.”
    I noticed our waitress and one of her