Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Juniper
I wake suddenly and sit up. I’m still in my jeans and shirt from last night.
Riley’s shifting on her bed. “Mom,” she calls out.
“I’m here,” I say, getting up from the floor where I’ve made a makeshift bed out of blankets.
Dad came to get Mom after Beau left, and I left Fisher on the couch.
I don’t know if he’s still there. Part of me really hopes he is, but I don’t expect him to have stayed.
He can’t understand how high the stakes are when your child is sick.
“How are you feeling, sweet girl?” I ask as I get to my feet.
She pushes up so she’s sitting. “I’m really thirsty.”
“Here.” I reach for her water bottle that’s on the nightstand and hand it to her. I put my palm to her head. It feels hot but not scorching like it did last night. I check the clock on my phone. It’s 8 a.m. The last round of medicine will have worn off by now. “Let me take your temperature.”
I sit next to her on the bed. I take it three times. Each time, it comes out at a cool one hundred. Much better than last night when it went to one oh four when I got home with Fisher. “You feeling a little better than last night?”
She nods. “I’m tired, though.” She takes another long drink of water, then says, “I need to pee.”
We head out of her bedroom to the bathroom, and I catch sight of Fisher on the sofa, sleeping.
He looks so peaceful. I smile to myself.
He didn’t have to stay last night, but I’m really pleased he did.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so selfish. It might confuse Riley if he’s around, but it was nice having him here last night.
Not just because he got a doctor to us, but just knowing there was someone there to give me a hug.
It’s more than I’ve had in a long time. Sure, I’ll get all the hugs I want from my mom, but that’s part of the contract when you’re a mother.
Fisher didn’t have to be here. But he was.
“Mom,” Riley says as we head back to the bedroom. “Why’s Fisher sleeping on the couch?”
I chuckle. “Well, he drove me home from Grizzly’s when Fizzy let me know you were sick.”
She nods. “He’s too big for that couch,” she says. “You should have let him sleep in your bed.”
I don’t reply. I’m not sure if my daughter’s playing matchmaker or just worried about Fisher’s back.
“Let’s get you back in bed.”
“Will Fisher stay and have breakfast with us?”
“Maybe,” I say. There’s a knock at the door. “You stay there. I’m going to see who that is.”
I head out and Fisher’s already at the door. He moves to let Beau in, but someone’s with him. A woman. She looks familiar. I narrow my eyes.
“Er, hi,” I say, as I head over to meet them.
“How is she?” Beau asks.
My gaze flits between him and the woman he’s brought with him. “Much better, thank you. I just took her temperature and it’s exactly one hundred degrees. And it’s been five hours since she had any Tylenol or ibuprofen.”
“Great,” Beau says. “This is my wife, Vivian,” he says.
Everything clicks into place, and I realize why the woman looks familiar.
Her pictures are plastered all over my daughter’s bedroom walls.
“You’re married to Vivian Cross?” I can barely get the words out.
I pull my jaw from the floor and glance over at Fisher, and then back at the pop superstar standing in my living room.
She might be the most famous woman in America.
“You’re Fisher’s artist at the Colorado Club. ”
“Guilty,” she says. “I thought I’d pop down and say hi. But I don’t want to wake up Riley.”
“Oh my… Riley’s not sleeping. And she’s going to perk all the way up when she sees you.”
“My wife is medicine in human form,” Beau says with such pride that it catches me by surprise a little. It’s so nice to see someone so proud of his wife. Riley’s dad never really liked my art. Told me I needed a real job.
“Maybe I need to…” Should I warn my daughter? “Come on in,” I say, leading global megastar Vivian Cross down my cramped, dark hallway to see my virus-ridden daughter.
“Riley, Dr. Beau has come to check on you, and he brought his wife.”
Riley watches as we file into her room, and when she sees Vivian, her mouth falls open and she leaps to her feet. “Wait, what? What is happening?”
“Hey, Riley!” Vivian says. “I’m not going to hug you if that’s okay. You got something nasty, and I’m busy in the studio up at the Colorado Club recording my new album.”
“You’re recording your new album in Star Falls? Where I live?”
“Sure am. It’s the prettiest place I’ve ever been to. Totally inspiring.” Vivian glances around the room at all the Vivian Cross posters and she elbows her husband. “See, this is me hot rather than covered in baby vomit.”
“Did you bring your baby?” Riley asks.
“She’s up at the Club sleeping,” Vivian says. “I just wanted to drop by and say hi!”
“You’re my favorite ever singer,” Riley says. “I know all your songs by heart.”
“You do?” Vivian looks shocked—the consummate professional. “Which one is your favorite?”
“Oh, I love ‘London Love Letter.’ Or ‘Darling it’s You.’ Or ‘This Time.’ All of them really.”
“I can vouch for that,” I say. “And I’m pretty sure I know most of your lyrics, too.”
Vivian laughs. “It’s nice to keep it in the family.”
“Do you think you might move to Star Falls?” Riley asks.
“We live in London,” Vivian says. “That’s home. But I’ll definitely be visiting Star Falls again.”
“Have you been to the Galaxy Grill yet?” Riley asks. “They have the best pancakes. And Fisher likes the waffles, don’t you, Fisher?” Riley raises her voice as she talks to Fisher.
He pops his head around the door. “The waffles are incredible. You really should go, Vivian,” he says.
She laughs. “Maybe I will. I’m going to leave you with my husband now. He’s going to give you a quick checkup. I don’t want to disturb him. That okay with you?”
Devastation sweeps over Riley’s face.
“But I’ll make sure you and your mom get tickets to my next concert.”
Riley’s face lights up. “Thank you! Mom! Did you hear that?”
I’m not sure how we’d get there, but I figure if she plays Denver, I can probably make it work.
“That’s so kind, isn’t it?” I turn to Beau. “I don’t think there’s any point in taking her blood pressure. It will be through the roof.
He grins. “Yeah. But overall, I think she’s feeling better.”
“I think you just cured her.”
“I can’t take any credit. My wife does all the magic stuff.”
Beau seems like a great guy.
And I know Fisher is.
And now my daughter is glowing, and I couldn’t ask for more.
I have no right to even dream of more. I know that Vivian Cross will leave, and so will Fisher.
And I’ll be left picking up the pieces of a life that I didn’t get to live—that my daughter doesn’t get to live.
But I smile and tuck the ache a little deeper inside.
Because right now, Riley is okay. And that should be enough.
Right now will have to be enough for today.