Chapter Thirty-Three
NICKY
Nicky made his way down the hallway outside his suite, feeling every minute of the hours he should have been sleeping.
He only ever felt his age in his knees. At some point maybe he could replace them with titanium and feel like he was twenty again.
And now he needed to add knee-replacement fantasies to the ever-growing list of pathetic things his forties had done to him.
Nicky had left the room hours before, his notebook and acoustic guitar in his arms, racing down to meet the concierge.
He’d needed a piano to make the music in his head arrange itself into something usable.
Luckily, he was rich and famous with a very fine concierge at his beck and call.
The man had found him an unused grand piano in one of the hotel’s many nightclubs – mercifully closed.
As Nicky reached for his keycard, he heard a door down the hall click open. Hoping it was Lucy’s, he waited to see who might emerge. The noise had come from her suite, but it was Chloe who stepped into the hall.
The hem of a long, flowing white nightgown peeked out from under a trench coat, fuzzy slippers on her feet. She closed the door sneakily, and backed away from it on tiptoe.
When Chloe looked up, she spotted Nicky immediately. Then tipped her head and rolled her eyes.
Busted.
She walked toward him, and Nicky teased, ‘Where do you think you’re going, young lady?’
‘Cute,’ Chloe replied. ‘I’m going to see my fiancé.’
‘Isn’t that bad luck?’
‘I’m not superstitious,’ she said. ‘And it’s an evening wedding, as you well know. I can sleep in after I sneak back.’
‘Got it all figured out, huh?’
Chloe nodded with a naughty gleam in her eye.
‘All right, I guess.’ Then, in a stern fatherly voice added, ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’
Chloe tutted. ‘You’re a rock star, Nick. What exactly might that be?’
‘Oh, there’s something. And it’s real bad, kid.’
‘I’ll need diagrams on that sometime, but right now I’m off. Sleep well.’
‘You, too, Chloe … eventually, I mean,’ Nicky said with a wink.
Chloe walked on, and Nicky tapped the keycard to his door.
‘Wait,’ came Chloe’s voice.
‘What’s up?’
She walked back to him and he flipped the bar lock on the door to keep it open.
‘Look, it’s probably not my business.’ Chloe stuffed her hands in the pockets of her trench coat. ‘But my mom, she can be … timid.’
Nicky’s disbelief must have shown on his face because Chloe added, ‘About certain things. About herself.’
‘I don’t—’
Chloe interrupted, ‘One time, when I was about eight or nine, I was on this baseball team. Co-ed. We’d had a tough loss and after, as we were walking to the car, my mom and I saw one of my teammates crying. A kid named Jeffrey.’
Nicky had no idea where Chloe’s story was headed, but he needed information on Lucy like he needed oxygen, so listened carefully.
Chloe continued, ‘Jeffrey was walking with his dad, a complete troll, who said to Jeff, “Don’t be a pussy. Quit crying.”’
‘Oh, boy,’ Nicky grumbled.
‘Yeah,’ Chloe replied. ‘So, without any hesitation, my mom goes right over to the troll and says, “Excuse me, what is your definition of pussy? Because I have one and I’m a fucking badass.”’
‘Jesus,’ Nicky said, feeling the smile split his face.
‘I know, right?’ Chloe said with her own smile.
‘Then she says to the troll, “Don’t be a dick .” She bent down to Jeffrey’s height and said to him, “There’s no shame in crying, Jeff.
It shows you’re human and you care.” Jeff’s dad was so stunned, he just stood there like a complete moron and watched us walk away. ’
‘Wow.’
‘Needless to say, the troll avoided us from then on, and Jeff practically worshipped the ground my mother walked on. He ended up getting the last laugh on his dad, too. Mom helped him get into Yale where he and his boyfriend study dance.’
Nicky laughed.
‘Yeah,’ Chloe said. Then, she became more thoughtful, serious.
‘Thing is, when it comes to others – me especially – she would go full ninja in a heartbeat. But when it comes to herself, she doesn’t have the same sort of bravery.
She would defend anyone. She sees the best in them and will bend over backward to make their dreams come true.
But herself?’ Chloe just shook her head.
‘She’s tough, but sometimes she aims all that badassery in the wrong direction. Know what I mean?’
It was Nicky’s turn to nod. He understood. Completely.
Chloe added, ‘I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but … just, maybe, don’t give up on her.’
Nicky tried, ‘I—’
Chloe stopped him with a hand to his arm. She said, ‘No promises to me. Just wanted you to know.’
‘Thanks, Chloe.’
‘Anytime,’ Chloe said over her shoulder as she walked away, her fuzzy slippers flip-flopping as she went.