He chuckled. “Granted, it sounds funny, but she...she knows how to take care of people. And she’s kind of a big deal around here. Everyone loves her. She’s done so much good.”

“Kudos to her for what she’s been able to accomplish. But please don’t call her. Don’t call anyone. I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t even let on that I’m here.”

Because she was trying to disappear. That was what concerned him. How long would it take her to bounce back? Would she bounce back? Hollywood was replete with tragic stories of unstable actors who resorted to drug abuse and/or suicide. “Of course I’m not going to alert the press or anything like that. My mom would never say—”

She cracked the door open and peeked out with one eye, surprising him enough that he fell silent. “Don’t get her involved,” she reiterated. “Please. Promise me.”

Seth wasn’t out to make things any worse for Tia Beckett, but he was enough of a businessman to recognize an opportunity when he saw one. He had a bit of leverage in this situation, after all. “Come over tonight, and let me make you dinner, and you’ll have my promise.”

“No way,” she said immediately.

With the lights off and the blinds drawn, it was dark in the cottage, as he’d expected, and she wouldn’t open the door enough that he could see more than a sliver of her. “You have to feed and play with the bird, don’t you? I just want to see you eat something, so that I can work.”

“I’m not stopping you from working.”

He was pretty sure she was wearing the same robe she’d had on yesterday. She wasn’t getting up and getting dressed. She didn’t seem to be doing much of anything. “Actually, you are keeping me from my work,” he said. “I can’t concentrate with you over here, feeling sorry for yourself.”

“Go to hell,” she said and shut the door.

He’d provoked her on purpose to see if she still had some fight in her and was relieved to find that she did. If she was going to recover, she’d need every bit of it. “Fine. But if you won’t start acting like a normal person, I’ll have to call the newspaper in the morning and let them know that the famous actress Tia Beckett is right here in Silver Springs,” he called out.

“Do that and I’ll leave,” she called back to him. “Do you want to take care of Kiki while Maxi’s gone?”