Chapter Twenty-One
NICKY
The door to Lucy’s suite swung open before he even had a chance to knock.
‘Who knew rock stars were so punctual?’ Lucy joked. Then she stopped as though stunned, and looked him over. Breathed, ‘ God .’
‘What?’ Nicky asked, rattled. He looked down at what he’d thought was a perfectly respectable Tom Ford button-down and black pants.
He really only had seventeen different kinds of sneakers, so he’d gone with the limited edition Jordans.
Maybe he should have ordered some real grown-up shoes from the Prada in the casino shops?
‘Do you always look like you were spit out by GQ or is this just a Las Vegas thing?’ Lucy teased.
Phew.
‘All of this is too much for just one city,’ he teased back.
‘Sounds about right,’ she quipped, ushering him into the room.
Lucy walked to one of the bedroom doors and knocked on it.
‘Chloe, get a move on!’ Then, to Nicky she said, ‘I told the wedding planner that brunch the morning after the bachelorette was ambitious, at best. But she insisted that it would all work out. She must be accustomed to dealing with responsible adults.’
‘Well, you look beautiful,’ Nicky said. Meaning it.
Lucy was wearing another ballet-pink sleeveless thing on top. Tight this time, with her strong arms looking good enough to lick. Snug black pants led down, down, down, to some seriously hot black heels. Gold hoops peeked out from her bob. Sexy as hell.
Lucy caught him checking her out. Her shoulders shook with a chuckle as she flitted around the suite grabbing things and shoving them in a handbag.
‘Well, all of this,’ she said, waving her hand in front of her face.
‘Is thanks to about twelve pounds of concealer, and the fact that I’m standing is only the result of near toxic levels of caffeine.
So, don’t get your hopes up. Eventually, I’m going to crash and melt like the Wicked Witch of the West. Maybe not in that order. ’
‘Fine by me,’ he said.
She stopped, looked at him with concern. ‘You really don’t have to do this, you know.’
‘Do you not want me to go?’ he asked.
‘It’s not—’ Lucy heaved a sigh as though rethinking what she was about to say.
‘You are top-notch eye candy, Broome.’ She smiled, and God he wanted to kiss the pink lipstick right off her mouth.
‘But it’s a lot. It will for sure be uncomfortable.
And this—’ she waved her hand between them ‘—is just supposed to be fun and casual, right?’
He nodded, even if the word casual was entirely inaccurate from where he was standing.
‘All of this completely bonkers family and wedding stuff isn’t … exactly … uh, that .’
Now she was getting it.
‘I want to go with you,’ he stated simply.
‘Oh,’ she chirped, tilting her head as though trying to figure him out. ‘Okay, then.’ Lucy turned back to Chloe’s door. ‘Chloe! We’ve got to go, kiddo.’
A feminine voice called back, ‘Almost ready!’
A few seconds later, Chloe emerged from her room looking every bit a young bride. She swept out in a cloud of flowery perfume, white cotton, and buoyant expectation that made her look exactly like her mother.
‘Okay,’ Lucy said, shoulders drooping, her voice laden with apprehension. ‘I guess this is it.’
‘Relax, Mom, you’re not headed for the firing squad. It’s just a simple little brunch with at least four guys you’ve slept with. No big deal.’
‘At least ?’ Lucy asked.
Chloe didn’t miss a beat. ‘There’ll probably be waiters there, maybe a ma?tre d’? I don’t know what you’ve been getting up to in this hotel. I mean, you let a strange rock star spend the night. How am I to know how far you might go?’
Chloe winked at Nicky conspiratorially, and it struck him right in the chest. The woman was smart, quick, and wickedly funny. She was confident and special. He admired Lucy all the more for having raised such a person.
Lucy grumbled, ‘And again, improv comedy summer camp rears up to bite me in the ass.’
‘I loved that camp,’ Chloe whispered to Nicky.
Nicky laughed and threaded his fingers through Lucy’s as they trooped out of the suite.
They were escorted to a small, private dining room with tall windows showing off a third-floor view of the Strip below. It was bright and cheerful, all white linen and gold-trimmed dishes. There was an enormous round table in the center and a whole lot of empty chairs.
Nicky took a deep breath to center himself, like he did before he went onstage. Nothing could be as terrifying as singing in front of thousands of people, right?
As though he had summoned the terror, it walked in – Kim. She shot Nicky a look that would shrivel a normal man’s balls to raisins. Luckily, Nicky had never been normal.
The tall, slender blast from the past sauntered in wearing jeans and one of those fuzzy Chanel jackets favored by his New York booking agent.
‘Oh, good. You’re already here!’ Lucy exclaimed with relief. ‘I thought you might get smart and sleep through it.’
‘Never!’ Kim said, hugging Chloe. ‘Just went out for some hair of the dog.’ She waggled a large Bloody Mary at them.
Lucy turned to him. ‘Kim has recently discovered the delights of day drinking.’
Kim took Nicky’s proffered hand and shook. She purred, ‘It’s most likely not becoming a problem.’ Her grip was firm, pointedly so, as she said, ‘Long time no see, Broome. I think the last time was at the … beach ?’ The words were friendly, but the tone was damn near venomous.
‘Yeah. Good to see you, Kim.’
Nicky barely had time to get the feeling back in his hand before a group of people filed in. He sucked in a deep breath, and Chloe noticed.
With a twinkle in her eye, she said, ‘Yeah. Better buckle up.’
‘I guess this must be the place,’ said a jocular man of about Nicky’s age and height. He was sewn into a gray linen suit, expensive and new. He had the look of a frat boy made good, lots of gym-hewn muscles and overpriced cologne. ‘There she is,’ he exclaimed, opening his arms to Chloe.
Must be Brandon.
‘Hi, Daddy,’ Chloe cooed. ‘I’m glad you could make it.’
‘Wouldn’t miss it, Cricket,’ he said softly into Chloe’s hair.
Behind Brandon was a young, pregnant woman.
Instinctively, Nicky wondered if she was a half-sister or something until Chloe said, ‘Jenna, this is Mom’s friend, Nick Broome.
Nick, this is my dad’s wife, Jenna.’ She pointed to Jenna’s silk-clad belly and added, ‘And in there is my little half-sister.’
Oh boy.
The room went silent, and Nicky knew that all assembled were beginning to piece together who he was and what exactly the word ‘friend’ implied.
This particular reaction wasn’t uncommon, especially if he was showing up at a place unannounced.
These people were expecting to have a family gathering and had come face to face with someone they’d only ever seen on TV.
He imagined it would be a bit like waking up and finding a space alien in your living room. Amusing maybe, but also jarring.
The whispers he’d been expecting started up soon after.
As did the awkward gaping looks as he shook hands with a rugged, bearded guy named Sam, Lucy’s second husband, and his new spouse James.
And then again when Devin, Lucy’s apparently much younger and third ex-husband, tried to smash Nicky’s heavily insured fingers in a bone-crushing handshake.
‘Chandler’s not joining us?’ Brandon asked as all assembled found seats.
‘No, he and his parents are on a thrilling tour of the Hoover Dam today,’ Chloe said, unfolding her napkin. ‘Just my side of the family for brunch.’
Nicky, who had spent the majority of his youth with his father as his only family, had a hard time wrapping his head around the whole scene.
It was amazing that Chloe had so many people willing to truck to Las Vegas and show up for her.
It was even more astonishing that all of Lucy’s ex-husbands could sit in the same room.
Nicky tried to imagine his ex-wives doing the same, and could envision only a heap of smashed china and broken fingernails, with Andy Cohen doing the color commentary.
‘I tried to warn you,’ Lucy whispered to him from behind her water glass.
Nicky slid his hand under the tablecloth, and onto Lucy’s thigh. Gave it a good squeeze. ‘It’s all good, Lou.’
He watched her struggle to swallow. Then, stared at her stunning profile – probably a bit too long – when she turned back toward the table.
After a waiter had been in to take their orders and drinks had arrived, Chloe said, ‘So, Nick, let me give you the SparkNotes version of the family.’
It sounded great if only he knew what the fuck a SparkNote was.
Lucy leaned in before he could even exhale and whispered, ‘Like CliffsNotes, if you were born after the cell phone.’
Ah, got it.
Chloe continued, ‘Brandon is my bio dad. He lives in New York with Jenna where his business is making money reproduce like bunnies by exploiting the stock market in ways that are mostly legal.’
‘Excuse me,’ Brandon objected. ‘Don’t forget the bond market.’
‘Sorry,’ Chloe said to her dad, then added, ‘and the bond market. He and Jenna have been married for three years. She’s growing an online knitting business. And a baby.’
‘Got it,’ said Nicky, returning Jenna’s warm smile.
‘We won’t be offended if you need your Notes app to keep track of all this, by the way,’ joked Chloe. ‘There will be a test after.’
A rumble of laughter circled the table, from all but Devin. He seemed to be trying to grind his perfect white teeth to dust.
‘Next,’ Chloe said dramatically, ‘is Sam. He was with us when I was in elementary school. Sam is the reason I can ride a bike and throw a punch.’
‘Because I taught her those things,’ Sam said to Nicky, running a hand over his beard. ‘Not because she had to ride away or punch me back.’
‘Yes,’ chimed Chloe. ‘He married James when I was fifteen. I remember because I was the only flower girl in history with braces.’
‘You were perfect,’ offered James, tipping his glasses further up his nose.