30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lila
A month later, the album came out with a supernova explosion. I took over people’s entire social media accounts as they dissected every part of it.
They wanted to know who the mystery man was who joined me on “On This Night.”
They wanted to know who the hopeful new beginning was with.
They wanted it all.
I wanted to disappear and become Rose, but I couldn’t leave LA.
Because I was busy .
With the tour scheduled and all of the buzz around me, I barely had time to think. We were rushing to get everything together in time to hit the road to bring my new album to life in concert.
Malia had connected me with another person at her talent management, Justice, who had taken over making everything perfect.
The first order of business was to decide on the setlist. I planned to do most of the new album, but I knew “On This Night” wouldn’t be the same if I were the only one singing it. After some back-and-forth, it was one of the ones that got cut.
Neither Malia nor Justice had been too happy about it, but I had to do right by the song. It wasn’t one I could do alone and it wasn’t like Barry would be on the tour with me.
After we finalized the setlist, we focused on the dance moves. Since we had so little time to prepare, I was going to use a lot of the ones I already knew from previous tours, and the new ones would all be very similar. While I was getting into shape and memorizing the choreography, my team focused on getting the tour visuals ready.
Everyone, including me, was working around-the-clock to get this done. And I knew I couldn’t let anyone down.
I shouldn’t have even had time to miss Barry, but I did. I missed him while I was running on the treadmill, while I was dancing and practicing, and when I finally crawled into bed at night, exhausted. We texted, but it wasn’t the same as having him here, especially now that he knew everything.
The closest thing I could do was focus on my team and my band. I knew most of these people from my previous tours and the familiar faces made this more possible. We already had a set rhythm.
Which meant I also knew if someone was off.
Jason was my rhythm guitarist, and I’d worked with him for my entire career. He was in his mid-thirties and was always the light of the tour. He made jokes and cut up with other band members during breaks.
So, when he went two weeks without talking to anyone, I was worried.
I’d asked everyone else about him, but they told me not to give it too much thought. I tried to do what they asked, only for my concern to come back tenfold.
I hated the idea of someone on my team being miserable, especially someone I’d worked with for so long.
Maybe it was my people pleasing rearing up, but when I mentioned it to Barry, he’d told me that he would be worried too. His crew was like a family, so he took care of them.
Eventually, after another day where Jason was quiet, I decided to ask him directly.
“Hey,” I said. “How are things?”
“They’re good.” He made a move to go around me, but I didn’t give up so easily.
“You can tell me if it’s not, you know. I care about everyone on this team, including you. If something is wrong, even if it’s something I did, I want to hear it.”
He slowly turned back to me. “It’s not you. It’s family stuff.”
“What’s going on?”
“My mom is sick and she lost her job.”
“Because she’s sick? Is that legal?”
“They blamed her performance, which I think is legal, but we don’t have the energy or time to fight it. She needs to be focused on getting better, and this tour pays enough for me to pay for her treatment outright.”
“But you’re not going to be with her.”
He shrugged. “We all make trade-offs.”
Not like this one, though. I shook my head. “No, you should be with her.”
“I can’t just stop everything. I can’t afford it if I’m not working.” He gave me a sad smile that told me he’d thought this through.
“I’ll pay for it. All of it.”
His eyes widened. “What? You would do that?”
“Absolutely.”
“But the tour starts so soon. Will you be able to find someone else in time?”
Justice was going to be mad. Malia too. This would make everything more complicated, but I couldn’t let Jason go through with this, not when I could do something for him. He, and all of my band, had given me their time and talent for many years. They all deserved more than a paycheck. I usually gave bonuses and food through the tour, but there was something more I could do for Jason.
I’d deal with people being mad. The right thing was more important.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, feigning nonchalance. “I’ll figure it out.”
I did not, in fact, figure it out. Justice had gone pale when I told her of my decision, but thankfully, she didn’t tell me off. Instead, she called Malia, who jumped in to help set up replacement auditions. It was going to be tight with how little time we had. No one was angry with me, which was surprising, but I could tell this might change everything about the tour.
Everything ground to a halt while we looked for someone else. We were able to tell the team they could have some well-deserved time with their families, but we all knew it was because we needed someone new.
And fast.
“So, what do you need me to do to organize auditions?” I asked the day we told everyone they could go home.
“Nothing,” Malia said. “We’ve got it.”
“But I did this. I should help fix it.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to jump in and fix it,” Justice added. “Everyone did need a break and you do too. When was the last day you didn’t run two miles on a treadmill?”
I couldn’t remember. “It’s been a while.”
“Get some rest,” Malia said. “Maybe go see Barry.”
My cheeks heated. I didn’t expect Malia to remember Barry at all.
“I don’t know if he’s free—?”
“For you? He will be.”
“One day, I’m gonna need all the info about this Barry guy,” Justice said. “But not today. I have other things to do. You go enjoy some time to yourself, Lila. We’ll call you in about two days.”
“O-okay,” I said, shocked they were willing to let me go at all. I thought I’d be pulling all-nighters to fix this, even if it might kill me to do so.
And yet, once again, my new team surprised me.
The first thing I did when I left Malia’s office was call Barry. It was early in the day, which meant he wasn’t busy with the bar yet.
“Hello, sunshine,” he greeted. “To what do I owe the pleasure of you calling me?”
He always talked to me like I was his whole world. I didn’t know if I would ever get used to it.
“For once, it’s good news. I have two days off. Mind if I come for a visit?”
“I would love that more than anything. But how do you have two days off?”
I winced and explained what happened with Jason, up to the moment Malia and Justice forced me into a break.
“So you were right that something was wrong. I think you did the right thing.”
“I know I did, even if it’s making a lot of other people’s jobs harder. Why can’t the right thing just feel right ?”
“The world would be a different place if the right thing was easy, but it’s hard, which makes it more incredible that you did it in the first place.”
I rubbed my warm cheeks. “I don’t know if I’ll survive seeing you in person again if you say things like that.”
“Hop on a plane and we can test it.”
“Are you even free?”
“I have a family dinner planned, but I can cancel.”
“Not with your parents, right?”
“No. Ruth and Tom host something every week. I don’t always go, but they tend to beg me if I don’t. They’ll understand if I tell them something came up.”
“No, you should join them.”
“I’m not losing any time with you. Why don’t you join me? We can enjoy the benefits of you being Rose a bit.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“I doubt you will. They all invite different people each time. I swear, finding love made them all so social . It’s weird.”
“I’m sure they’re happy.”
“They are, and they’d be even happier to see you.”
I bit my lip as I thought about it. I needed the distraction. If I thought too hard about the tour, I knew I would feel the weight of everything on me again.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “I’ll hop on a plane right now.”
“And I’ll be waiting for you.”
Barry
I waited in the airport, watching the exit closely. I was sure Rose would be walking out those doors, but I had prepared just in case Lila showed up.
But then I saw a flash of long, red hair and my heart skipped a beat. She looked just like everyone else. When I got out of my car to wave her over, a smile broke across her face. She burst into a run, slamming into me to give a tight hug.
It felt right to have her in my arms and I didn’t want to let her go.
“Did you come in on a regular flight?” I asked.
“Still first class, but yes. No one even batted an eye at me. It helps that Lila is supposed to be practicing for her tour and that I let Juno join me.”
“Where is she?”
“Flirting with a flight attendant. She knew you were waiting on me, so she let me go. And family dinners aren’t her thing. She has free rein to do whatever she wants tonight.”
“Can I also have that?”
“You’d do what you want anyway. But if you’re talking about free rein with me , then yes.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” I checked my watch. “We should go before Ruth starts blowing up my phone.”
I opened the car door for her, which made her cheeks darken.
Now, that was one of my favorite things to see.
Rose and I were the last to arrive. I could see Tom’s newer car parked next to Ruth’s and Knox’s.
When we walked in, the house smelled warm and inviting and the cool air was a welcome reprieve from the near-summer heat outside.
Ruth was cleaning off the dining room table when we walked in. “Oh, hi, Barry. Welcome in.” When she saw Rose, she paused. “I didn’t know you were bringing a guest.”
“Is that okay?” I asked. “Normally, you say I can bring who I want to.”
“Yeah, of course, I just thought it would be . . . never mind.”
I opened my mouth to question her, but I was interrupted by Max running into the room.
“Uncle Barry’s here!” he yelled. “And he has a friend!”
“Are you making sure they can hear you from space?” I asked, though I was smiling.
“I’m making sure Mom and Dad can. Sometimes they get into their own world and it’s just gross.” He turned to Rose. “Hi, I’m Max.”
“Rose. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Ruth,” my sister greeted. “Sorry, I’m just not used to Barry having friends. It’s nice to meet you.”
She walked over and held out a hand to Rose, who shook it. I watched, hoping she wouldn’t look too closely.
I should have known better.
Ruth had a pretty good poker face, but I saw her eyes linger on Rose’s features for half a second too long. Maybe she didn’t notice how much Rose looked like Lila, but I doubted it. She was far too observant.
“You know,” Ruth started, “you look so familiar.”
“I just have one of those faces,” Rose replied, but her voice wavered.
“You two also like the same coffee shop,” I replied. “Maybe you’ve seen each other there.”
“That must be it,” Ruth said, looking away. “And props to you for remembering the coffee shop I liked.”
“You got caught there with Knox.”
“So you did see that. Thanks for not mentioning it at the time. That whole situation was a nightmare.”
“I bet,” Rose replied. “It’s nice to actually put faces to names. I’ve only really met Wilfred.”
Ruth’s jaw dropped. “She has? When?”
“She went with me to meet him,” I explained. “Moral support and all that.”
“Yeah, because you’re so quick to ask for moral support,” Ruth said. “Did you blackmail him to make him trust you? Be honest.”
Rose laughed. “No. I just annoyed him into it.”
“If only that worked for me, but then again, I’ve annoyed him in so many other ways that I think I should spare him. How did it go, meeting Wilfred?”
“Um, good,” I said. “He was all right.”
More than all right, but I didn’t want her to know that just yet. Not when we were finally getting along.
“Uncle Barry, I hate to pull you away from your conversation,” Max said, “but we have much to discuss.”
“About?”
“Our favorite singer.”
I paused and could practically feel Rose’s eyes shoot to me.
“Oh, yeah.”
“ Goodbye, Hello ? The future album of the year? Amazing. Easily the best thing she’s ever put out. I can’t stop listening to it, especially with the mystery man. I need to know who it is.”
“Mystery man, huh?” Rose asked. I could hear her smile. “I wonder who he could be.”
“Hopefully someone who makes her happy,” Max said. “Are you a fan too?”
“Sometimes I am.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. She knew exactly what she was doing.
“Barry!” Knox called as he entered the room. “Welcome in. I’m glad you could come. It feels a little empty since my parents couldn’t make it.”
“Why couldn’t they make it?” I asked.
“They’re having a date night.”
“I planned it,” Ruth added. “They deserve some time to themselves, especially with how hard they work.”
“So it’s just us nonparents. Except for Selena and Tom, of course.”
Tom came into the room and I introduced Rose to him. He didn’t have the same reaction Ruth had, thankfully, which meant we would make it through this dinner with her secret intact—as long as Ruth believed my explanation.
I thought she had, but as we sat to eat, I could see her constantly glancing over at Rose.
Max talked about Lila, which meant Rose was too busy tossing teasing looks my way to notice Ruth’s attention. Apparently, she found the way I talked about Lila with Max hilarious.
But eventually, as Max talked about how happy Lila sounded, she leaned into my ear.
“Can I do something?” Rose asked.
“What?”
“I was going to offer for Lila to meet him.”
“That might not be the best idea.”
“He’s such a sweet kid, Barry.” She nearly pouted, which meant she would get anything she wanted.
“Fine, but I’ll offer it,” I whispered back, “and say I know Lila from the bar.”
“Good idea.”
I looked up, only to see Ruth watching us with narrowed eyes.
“Um, Max,” I said, clearing my throat. “I do have something kind of cool to share.”
“What’s that?”
“I might have a . . . distant connection to Lila Wilde.”
He choked on his drink. “What?”
“Yeah,” Tom said, his eyebrow raised. “What?”
“I met her once through my job. And I . . . might be able to have you meet her sometime.”
“You what ?” Max nearly yelled. “How could you keep this from me?”
“I had to make sure she would be willing to, and I wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh my God, yes!”
“You really know her?” Selena asked, her eyes wide.
“I do.”
“C-can I meet her too?”
“Of course.”
“You’re always full of surprises,” Ruth said, and I glanced over at her. The smile on her face was more curious than anything else. I knew Lila would have to play this perfectly if she wanted to escape with her secret untouched.
But Rose’s smile was so wide that I didn’t regret it.
“No one else can know,” I said. “But I figure if Tom trusts you, then I can too.”
“You’re lucky I’ve learned how to keep secrets,” Max said.
“Where did you learn that?” Selena asked. “I didn’t teach that to you.”
“Yeah, but I see what you do when you’re hiding something. Diversion is really easy.”
Selena sighed. “Yeah, that was gonna happen eventually.”
“How about tomorrow?” I asked.
The house nearly exploded with everyone sharing their plans. Ruth mentioned she would bring Lynn, Knox’s mom, and Max and Selena talked about what they would say. I leaned back and glanced at Rose, raising an eyebrow and giving her one more chance to back out.
But she looked just as excited as everyone else.