Epilogue
Four Months Later
Piper sat in the dressing room at The Rox for what felt like the thousandth time, except now she wasn’t alone. Her sisters were here, along with Adam, Renic, and Blake.
Having her sisters here with her reminded her of their last concert together, and what happened in the dressing room afterward. If she thought about it too hard, she could still feel the anger and bitterness of that day, but she had to really look for it now. It wasn’t just below the surface anymore. It was faded, a ghost of a memory.
If Della hadn’t gone solo, Piper might never have met Blake. She didn’t want to know what her future would have been like without him.
Mattie probably wouldn’t have met Adam, either.
Lizzie might never have made up with Renic .
Even though the breakup had been brutal and the years spent recovering had been hard, she wouldn’t trade any of it because it led her here, to this night, with Blake.
She had a feeling Lizzie and Mattie might agree with her.
“Hey, did y’all see this?” Lizzie asked. “They’re saying Conned grossed over a hundred million on opening weekend. That’s good, right?”
“That’s fantastic,” Renic said. He high-fived Blake. “Way to go.”
“We earned back our spend in the first three days,” Blake said. “Still can’t believe it.”
“It’s the Bellamy Babes fan group. I told ya, they’re rabid,” Piper said.
“What’s it done since then?” Adam asked.
“Two twenty-five and counting,” Piper told them. “But what’s better than the money—”
“Nothing’s better than the money,” Renic put in.
“What’s better than the money,” Piper repeated, “is there’s already rumors about a Golden Globe nomination.”
“That’s awesome!” Della clapped. “I want to go to the award ceremony.”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” Blake cautioned. “These things are super political, and it’s just a rumor. We might not even be nominated, much less win anything.”
“It’ll win,” Della said with authority. “It’s fantastic, and the end credit song Piper did is still topping the charts.”
“No way they don’t recognize that kind of firepower,” Blake agreed.
“You both starred in two massive hits in the same year,” Lizzie pointed out. “Didn’t Scorched break box office records?
“They say it might top a billion worldwide,” Blake said. “It’s insane how fast that took off. It turned out to be a great idea to hold the release for February. ”
Mattie came out from behind the rack of clothes in a long black skirt and crop top that revealed a sliver of stomach. “How do I look?”
Piper grinned at the look on Adam’s face. He adored her sister, and it showed.
“Baby, you look like a million stars just volunteered to leave heaven to be your dress.”
Blake snuck up behind Piper and gave her a hug. “You look better than that,” he whispered.
A stagehand knocked on the door, then opened it. “Curtain’s in five. Everybody ready?”
“Oh yeah,” Piper said. “I’m more than ready. I’ve been waiting for this for months.”
“Years,” Mattie said.
Della beamed at them. “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my entire life.”
“Okay, ladies, and gentlemen, let’s do this,” Lizzie said. She stood by the door and waited for them all to file out.
Piper did most of the show by herself, like she always did. Her fans knew something was up, and the excitement had reached a fever pitch by the time she got to the most important part of the night.
“There’s somebody special here tonight. Please help me welcome Blake Ryan!” she told them over thunderous applause.
Blake ran out onto the stage dressed in the charcoal suit he’d worn for s . She loved him like this. He looked confident and sexy, and she had a feeling he broke every heart in the sold-out arena with his smile, if the screaming from the front row was any indication.
“Would you like to hear him sing?” she asked to even louder cheers.
“I think that’s a yes,” Blake said in his microphone.
“I think you’re right.” Piper cued the band, and they played the intro for “Trouble Wandered In,” the song that played over the end credits of the movie.
Blake flirted with her, she teased him, and the audience ate it up. If this live stream didn’t boost the box office for Conned , nothing would.
When the song was over, Blake stayed on stage. She held his hand and waited for some of the noise to die down with one finger against her lips in a silent plea for them to hush.
It was a signal that her secret wasn’t out yet.
The audience started to get restless as the clapping died down.
Why was Piper standing so still? Why wasn’t the band playing something?
The drummer kept a steady beat going, but everyone else simply stood and waited. All eyes were on Piper.
She was the center of attention.
The spotlight was on her.
A chant rose at the back of the stadium. “Piper! Piper! Piper!”
She looked around with a sly smile. “Are you ready to hear my secret?”
“We love you, Piper!”
“We love you, Blake!”
She glanced off stage to check on her sisters.
Della and Mattie waited side by side, looking excited and happy and ready. Lizzie, Renic, and Adam stood behind them.
“Are you ready?” she said again, but this time the question was meant for Della and Mattie.
Della nodded, and Mattie gave her a thumbs-up.
“First, I want to tell you all how much you mean to me. I love these concerts. I love getting to see you in a smaller place like this. I can see your faces. I feel connected to you and I hope you feel that connection back to me. So the big news is…no, I’m not pregnant. I’m really not.” She laughed. “And I’m not getting married. At least not yet. ”
She winked at Blake to let him know that wasn’t a hint.
He winked back, but the look on his face seemed intense and serious, as if he was considering the idea and liking it.
Piper lost track of what she was going to say for a second.
Right. Her big secret.
“The real secret is…the thing I wanted to tell you…and I hope you’re as happy about this as I am…The Bellamy Sisters are back!”
She held her hand out to Della and Mattie, and they rushed out on stage to join her. The roar of the crowd was so deafening, it would have taken down the roof if there’d been one. As it was, she was pretty sure it could be heard from the moon.
Piper threw her arms around her sisters, and they giggled and bounced like little girls.
Girls in the front row screamed and cried, and the chants went on and on.
“Piper! Piper! Piper!”
“Della!”
“Mattie!”
“Bellamy! Bellamy! Bellamy!”
Piper soaked it all in with Blake’s arm around her and tears streaming down her face.
This was better than any movie. She was part of The Bellamy Sisters again, a movie star in her own right, and she was probably going to marry Blake Ryan.
She cued the band, and the intro to Mattie’s new song started. They had to repeat it five times before the crowd calmed down enough to listen to The Bellamy Sisters’ newest song with a solo for each of them and featuring Blake Ryan on the chorus.
The audience loved it.
By the third time through the chorus, the audience was singing along, and by the end of the song, she couldn’t hear the band, they were so loud .
Piper had a feeling the end credit song for Conned was about to be knocked off the top of the charts, but she didn’t think Blake would mind.
She squeezed his hand and sang her solo with all the love and passion he’d inspired in her.
She wasn’t in the shadows anymore.
The spotlight was shining bright, on both of them.