A Ten Beach Road Christmas by Wendy Wax

Author:Wendy Wax [Wax, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-10-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

The first of the paparazzi makes an appearance Christmas Eve morning and my first thought is that certain celebrities’ public relations’ people do not shut down for the holidays.

“Hello, luv! G’morning Dustin!” Nigel Bracken is tall, pale, and British, and I’ve come to know his face and voice almost as well as my own. He’s wearing one of his ill-fitting Hawaiian shirts and a pith helmet to protect his sparsely covered head from the sun. He stands on a spot just beyond the property line that he’s made his own, as if he had a reserved parking space. I don’t answer or smile as I wheel Dustin’s jogging stroller out of the garage. Dustin’s getting a bit big for the stroller, but it’s the only way I can take him with me and jog any distance. Plus it has storage for his sand toys, which are an important part of any beach outing.

I used to wear disguises and prided myself on evading or fooling the paparazzi, but it takes a huge amount of time and effort and in the end these bottom-feeders know where we live, what cars we drive, and even what grocery stores and restaurants we frequent.

“Aww, come on, luv! It’s practically Christmas!” He says when he’s unable to get a clean shot. I remain silent and attempt to keep my face expressionless, but not bitchy, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. My neutral look comes off as royally pissed in tabloid photos. I suspect there is some special paparazzi face-correcting or mood-modulating lens that can turn carefully impassive into an ugly sneer. You know, like an Instagram filter, only instead of Crema through Perpetua they’ve got a full range from Mildly Disgruntled to Bitch from Hell.

My son, who is far friendlier and more generous than I am, flashes one of his gap-toothed smiles at the photographer.

“What time do the Hightowers arrive?” Nigel shouts as he shoots. “Is Sydney Ryan’s boyfriend going to show up? Or has he already ditched her?”

I wonder how he even knew the Hightowers and Sydney were coming and how much he already knows about her relationship with Jake Bodie, but I remain silent. If Nigel’s going to continue to make money stalking us, he’s going to have to do his own damn research. I am not my paparazzi’s keeper. “Will Daniel be coming into town?”

“My Dandiel!” Dustin’s smile gets bigger, and I pray that Nigel is only fishing for answers and not about to ruin the big fish’s surprise. I take a few minutes to stretch, careful to block his money shot of Dustin while attempting to keep moving so he can’t focus on my butt.

“Come on, Kyra! It’s almost Christmas!” He says this as if we’re friends and not prey and hunter. The fact that he considers us to be on a first-name basis makes my stomach turn. “Just one clean shot of the two of you and I’m out of here.”

This is a lie that I’ve fallen for before.

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