When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

46. Ellie - Present Day

Just before my own call time, there's a knock on Wyatt's trailer door. It's still early. No one else is awake yet. Cautiously, I peer out the window. Please don't let it be Anna. A tall woman, bundled to the hilt is standing outside, bouncing up and down on her toes, her face almost completely obscured by a scarf.       Who the hell is she? She's not familiar. Putting my face close to the latch, I call out, "Who's there?"

"Camila Silva. Wyatt asked me to come. I'm an addiction specialist. Anna's here somewhere?" Her voice is firm, calming.

I open the door and usher her in out of the cold. As each layer is removed, I get a clearer picture of the woman who saved Wyatt from himself. She's older than I expected, but attractive with her shoulder-length dark hair, dark eyes, light brown skin, and muscular stature. She must work out a lot.

With all the layers gone, she thrusts out her hand. "Camila. It's nice to meet you in person, Ellie. I've heard so much about you."

Last night, Wyatt admitted Camila wasn't sure he should come after me. I'm a trigger. That part of the discussion hadn't been fun to hear. My presence, my existence might be harmful to him. Who wants to hear that?  "Nice to meet you, too." I accept her hand. "He's told me a lot about you and how you single-handedly saved him."

"No." She gives a sharp shake of her head and purses her lips. "He's not giving himself enough credit. He saved himself. No one saves you when you're an addict. You have to want to save yourself more than you want the next drink, the next pill, the next whatever. The struggle never ends. Every day, he saves himself."

Scary and comforting. I threw a lot of money at the biggest addiction charity on the island, but I never asked a lot of questions. The answers weren't ones I want to hear because I didn't have Wyatt anymore. I do now. I need to pay attention. "He's on set. Anna's in my trailer."

Camila's dark eyes assess me. "And you're in Wyatt's trailer."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. It's easier to work with people, to provide solutions, when I have the whole picture."

"He probably had you sign some sort of contract?" I take out a cup for tea, and I hold up the kettle to Camila. "Care for a cup?"

"Tea isn't strong enough if I'm dealing with Anna this morning. Coffee, if you have it, please." Camila crosses her arms. "And yes, we have a few ironclad, very expensive contracts protecting him from leaks. I'm very careful. As much as he trusts anyone, he trusts me."

"Good to know." I flick on the coffee maker. "Anna was a surprise. She's worse now than she was before. And we didn't get along before."

Camila purses her lips, clearly holding something back. "He's been very good to Anna over the years. His patience with her is unending."

"I think that might be coming to an end."

Camila sinks into the closest couch. "You two are back together?"

"We are." I sip my tea.

"And you're asking him to choose?" She squints at me, as though she can't fathom why I'd do that.

"I can't have Anna around Haven." My hand lands on my abdomen. Her gaze follows my gesture. "You know what Anna is like—better than most. She showed up raging yesterday."

"Yes, she does that. She's mostly harmless. All bark." She sits up straighter. "Wyatt would never agree to leave Jamal with her, so you've asked him to go after custody?"

"She's not good for Jamal." Anna isn't good for anyone right now, and the trauma she's causing her son might take years to fix if we don't act soon.