The wind tore at her hair, but she didn’t mind. She’d stopped flat ironing it and let it go wavy. Neve had added some honey highlights and taught her about products that would give her tousled beach waves. Spencer seemed to like it. He touched her hair constantly. No, he touched her constantly, and she loved it.

They were on their way to Cotter’s Creek for Zeke and Chase’s wedding. The ceremony was to be held outside Zeke’s house, near the gurgling creek. Chase was almost four months pregnant, and the last time Olivia had seen her, she’d been glowing and nearly done with her book. Oddly enough, Olivia’s publisher had bought the book in an auction, so not only were they friends, but they were both writing for the same house.

Spencer reached over and brushed her cheek. “You look happy. Are you happy?”

“Ecstatic,” she said, catching his hand and giving it a squeeze.

Olivia had done exactly what Chase had suggested and stopped avoiding the fire. When she’d gotten back to LA the next day, she’d called Spencer and invited him to dinner.

He said yes.

She discovered very quickly that the fire Chase spoke of could be quite warm and exactly what she needed in her life. Shortly after she and Spencer began officially dating, she and Neve had confronted their father about Marley. He had eventually admitted to abusing Marley, breaking down, begging them to understand that he was a changed man. Their mother had severed ties, and all the Hancock women were attending therapy together, working on their wounds, trying to be a better family to one another. They weren’t perfect, and there was lots of muck to wade through, but coming home to Spencer made her day lighter.

They weren’t technically living together, but they stayed at her place during the week and his on the weekend, mostly because it was high in the canyon and farther from her office. Spencer had left for two months to go on location in Louisiana for a movie. She’d missed him madly and worried about all those gorgeous actresses. He’d assured her that he was too damn tired to screw around. Besides, he dreamed of her every night.

She was pretty sure that wasn’t true—the dream part—but appreciated the little white lie, nonetheless. He was about to go back to work on The Hammer. Things would change again, but they’d both agreed that what they had was worth making it work.

Conrad had stopped calling after she told him that she was with Spencer. She hoped they would remain friends, but she couldn’t control it if they didn’t. Friendship wasn’t conditional based on what one person wanted. Only Conrad could decide if he would meet her halfway.