Chapter 24 Not Long Ago
Not Long Ago
Paloma hadn’t stayed in a high-end hotel in decades, and she had to admit, doing so now was pretty sweet.
The comforter was comfy. The toiletries were luxe.
And thankfully, the king-size bed had plenty of room for both her and Jace, because they weren’t slim youngsters who could fit on a futon anymore.
Not that they would ever choose to sleep on a futon at this stage in their lives. They were grown-ass women, after all.
She woke up before the sun rose and looked over to the right side of the bed.
Jace was zonked out on her stomach, her face crushing the puffy white pillow, her lips parted not so much seductively as functionally, since she’d acquired seasonal allergies over the last couple of years and had trouble breathing lying down.
Her hair was mussed, and one foot was sticking out of the covers.
Without being conscious enough to worry about the image she was projecting to the world, she was completely relaxed and vulnerable.
Paloma smiled fondly before snuggling up and putting her arm around Jace’s bare waist.
Yet between Paloma’s spontaneity and Jace’s determination, they’d had a great, great time and spent the rest of the weekend together. Rennie had even thrown Paloma a grin and a thumbs-up when they drove up with Livvy to gather Jace for the ride home, which was more endearing than embarrassing.
They’d managed to see each other a few times since.
Paloma snuck down to Clawson the following weekend, and Jace found time to drive up to Stone Beach before going into overdrive for the benefit.
And now they were able to take advantage of Paloma’s comped hotel room ahead of the show.
Paloma didn’t want to think about how they were going to manage this ridiculous commute over the long term, but she trusted that they’d talk and work it out.
At dawn, Jace’s phone pinged loudly. She startled awake and jostled Paloma as she grabbed her phone off the bedside table. She put on her glasses and sat up, scrolling through her messages and cursing. Paloma sat next to her and cuddled close, whispering, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Jace replied, distracted.
“Anything wrong?”
“There was a brownout at the venue last night. Louis said he has to reset all the light cues, and the box office manager is on her way in case that screwed up our reservation system,” she said, typing a reply.
“In other news, the mayor wants to stop by for photos with Sabine right before doors open, and Jerome texted me at two in the morning to see if one of my crew could help him get photo releases from everybody waiting in line to get in the show. And so the chaos begins.” She put her phone back on the table, then kissed Paloma’s forehead. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go.”
“Do you want breakfast or coffee?” Paloma asked, watching Jace pull together some clothes from her overnight bag. “I think the café is open downstairs. I can get you something.”
“No, I’ll grab something on the way out,” Jace said as she started the shower. “Just go back to sleep, babe.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Thanks, though.” She closed the bathroom door.
Paloma dozed while the water whooshed and came to once Jace was dressed and tying the laces of her boots. In her black T-shirt and black jeans, she was breathtaking.
“Anything I can help with at the theater?” Paloma asked, appreciating her view of Jace’s very fine ass.
“No, we’ll handle it,” she said, standing and putting her phone and room key in her pockets. “Besides, you’re ‘talent.’ You don’t have to show up until sound check.”
Paloma reached over to the floor and picked up the hotel robe she’d cast off the night before. She walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. “Do you want me to bring your tux later?” she asked before swishing water in her mouth.
“I’m taking it now,” Jace replied curtly. “I’m fine.”
Paloma walked over to loop her arms around Jace’s waist. “Are you really?”
Jace rested her hands lightly on Paloma’s shoulders. “Yes.”
“We agreed: no more saying what we think the other person wants to hear.”
Jace crumpled a little. “I am under an insane amount of stress right now. My crew has done everything possible to ensure the show is flawless, but right this moment I’m processing the very real fact that something could also go horribly wrong and derail the whole night, and there may not be anything I can do to fix it.
But it’s my job to handle all this so you and Sabine and the bands and our audience will never know there was ever anything amiss.
” She looked at Paloma. “And I haven’t had my coffee yet, so I’m testy. ”
“I have complete faith in you, with or without caffeine,” Paloma said, giving her a light kiss on the lips, followed by a more insistent one.
Jace pushed the lapel of Paloma’s robe back and nibbled her neck, which still had the power to turn her insides into warm honey.
But just when Paloma was about to drag her back to bed, Jace pulled away.
“I’ve got to go,” she said, sounding supremely frustrated. “I’ll see you at the Artemis. We’ll have a car waiting for you outside the lobby at four-fifteen, okay?”
“Okay,” Paloma said, a little breathless.
Jace slung her computer bag over her shoulder and was reaching for her garment bag when they heard a ping! With a sharp sigh, she took her phone out of her back pocket.
“New chaos?” Paloma asked.
“At least it’s the kind I like,” she responded. “I just got a message from the Artemis Reconstruction Fund. There’s been a last-minute donation of twenty-five thousand dollars.”
“Wow! Who from?”
As Jace read on, her eyes got wide. “It’s from Madeleine Grady-Poole.”
“Who’s that?”
“The Adoption Academy fundraising exec,” Jace said, mystified. “The one who fired me.”
Paloma came over to read over her shoulder. “Any note?”
“Let me see,” Jace said, rolling down to the bottom of the auto-generated message. “All it says is, ‘Honoring Jace Randolph and the talented team at Function Fest,’ then it has her phone number.”
“Is she coming tonight?”
Jace popped over to the sales report. “I don’t think so; she didn’t reserve tickets. Shit, I always figured she was loaded. Now I have proof.”
“You gonna call her?”
“Yeah, I have a few questions for her,” Jace said, still seeming pleasantly shocked. “Hope she can wait until this circus has left town, though.” She slipped her phone back in her pocket and, garment bag in hand, kissed Paloma’s cheek. “Love you. See you!”
“You too!” The door closed.
Too wound up to go back to sleep, Paloma showered and puttered around the hotel room, running through a five-point plan she and her therapist had developed to cope with the stress of the evening:
Eat and stay hydrated.
Focus on your friends in the audience, who’ll make the crowd more personal and less intimidating.
Just because there’s an after-party doesn’t mean you have to go if you don’t want to.
Don’t invent problems. Control what you can and let the rest go.
And stop to smell the flowers.
With the last tip in mind, she buried her nose in the bouquet that Sabine had sent, chock-full of the freesia that smelled like her gothic perfume. She chuckled, remembering what her card had said: Jace loves you, and I love who Jace loves. Friends again? Hope so! XO
Riding the elevator down to the lobby café, she texted Kaden to see if he wanted anything; his silence told her he and Cindi were still asleep.
Taking her food back up to the room, she arrived in time to receive a series of texts from Bobbie, one of the few people Paloma knew who was up at this hour:
Hello Paloma from Bobbie and Bud! We are so prud of you!
*proud
Brake a leg tonight!
*break—I hate texting so much!!!
Much love and see you back in Stone Beach!
Once she finished breakfast, she realized she had nothing else to do except go with the flow of the day.
She was having lunch with members of the Rousers, the Queenlords, Zoodiac, Britt Ney, and other bands performing at the benefit followed by a photo shoot, but otherwise she was unscheduled.
She decided to keep herself occupied by cleaning out her email before getting back to work on a song she was writing for an alternative-ska band out of Minneapolis.
At the top of her inbox was an email from the Artemis Reconstruction Fund account with the subject line: Someone made a donation in your honor!
“Aw,” she said, surprised as ever that anyone would send in their hard-earned money and name her as the reason.
Most of the donations so far had been from fans of Olympia, California or former Detroiters who lived out of state but virtually bought a “ticket” as a contribution to the cause.
But when she saw the message from this pair of donors, her heart stopped.
We saw on TV that you are the star of the show tonight. We’ll be there in spirit. You make God happy by being yourself. Keep shining!
Mama and Daddy
They’d given fifty dollars, which was how much they used to tithe to their church each week, even before rent or groceries: “God’s money,” they’d call it.
She reread the message to see if there was an email address or phone number, but there was none.
She hit reply to see if she could reach someone to track down more details, but she got an automated message that the account wasn’t monitored.
Her pulse thumping, she realized the fundraising team had their hands full and wouldn’t be able to get back to her with more info anytime soon, and she wasn’t about to pull the “Do you know who I am?” card to get them to do a last-minute favor.
And it wouldn’t be fair to call Jace, who already had enough going on today. Instead, she hit speed dial.
“Good morning, Paloma Doralle!”
“Bobbie, hey there,” Paloma said, steadying her voice.