Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-seven
ISAIAH
“I’ll confirm your performance with CMN.” My manager, Will, is on speakerphone.
The Country Music Network nominations haven’t been revealed. The producers of the awards show booking my act early is a coup. I’ve been out of the spotlight and my appearance is a ratings boon.
“Where will I be flying in from again?” My elbows lean on the table. My thumb taps over my lip, and I look at Vespa.
“Wichita, Kansas. You had four consecutive days off that week for vocal rest. The awards show isn’t a massive intrusion in the schedule. The timing means you won’t have to rush to get there and can spend two nights in Austin. Fly in for rehearsals, sound checks, and the performance in the evening. Overnight after the parties and meet up with the bus on our way to the next venue,” she rattles off the next cities I’m visiting. Managing my travel schedule is second nature to her.
Any other year, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash. I twist around in my chair. Monty’s sitting in a corner cradling Aria, who is chugging her afternoon bottle like a frat boy chugs beer. All he does is return my look. Aria hasn’t made a peep since the phone rang. The guy is the fucking baby whisperer.
Because I understand how lucky I am to have any help at the moment I say to Vespa, “Any chance you can book the flight for that morning or is that cutting it too close?”
“I can do a red eye in and out if that’s what you really want,” Vespa says in her usual bored tone.
“Let’s consider that,” I reply, hoping that Vespa reads between the lines.
I don’t want to attend any receptions after the show never mind sit in the audience with video cameras trained on my every move. If I have time for an extended side trip while I’m touring, I’d prefer flying to Nashville. I still haven’t hired a new nanny for Aria and I’m worried about her safety, alone in Tennessee. Despite my misgivings, I knock on the wood, as if I have all the confidence in the world.
“Green light the rest.” My finger hovers over the end button.
“One last thing before we’re done, Will,” Vespa interrupts. “Are we going to be seeing you in Texas before the tour starts?”
“In all likelihood, yes. I’ve been meaning to tell you that Ben Chambers joined the team.” Will pauses. Vespa and my brows raise in unison. Ben was part of Kylie’s management company. “You both know I’m getting remarried this spring and, fuck me, my fiancée won’t quit about how I won’t be bringing work along on our honeymoon.”
“Well, good for her, but bad for me.” I’m not Will’s only client and we check in multiple times a week. However, I don’t begrudge anyone a vacation. I needed a break from my life, and the respite helped me figure out my priorities.
“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to bring Ben along when I come. That way, he’s up to speed while I’m gone. We’ll also see you during the initial leg of the tour. I don’t foresee any problems—”
“But you never know,” Vespa finishes Will’s sentence.
“We’ll, ah , manage,” I say in a tone lighter than my assistant’s.
I’m glad my manager is a veteran of the entertainment business. He’s as big a shark as Vespa. Though I’m positive no one has ever accused the older man of being the type to eat his young.
I glance past Vespa and catch sight of Cassidy lingering in the doorway. “If we’re all set here, Will, I’m about to hike across the ranch to talk to Cris Sanchez about renting some studio time.”
“We are, and I think that’s a fine idea.” Because more songs equal more dollar signs for us all.
Both sides of the conversation “tap end” call without goodbyes.
I stand quickly. “Hey Cass, did you need to go over a menu?”
“I can walk. I am available… To go with you. On the walk.” Cassidy notices her hands twisting and tucks them under her armpits. Then she immediately moves them behind her back. She’s tense and self-conscious.
“We could go now.” Do I sound over eager?
Also, who cares? Besides Vespa, that is. My assistant is rolling her eyes.
“I don’t want to interrupt anything important.”
Nothing is more important than Cassidy. She’s come to me of her own free will.
“I’ll get Aria a new diaper and a blanket.” The offer was to join us.
“Sleeping Beauty ain’t going nowhere, boss.” Monty shakes an empty baby bottle in my direction.
I don’t move right away and Monty tosses the top of his head toward the door as if to say “get out of here while the gettin’ is good”. If I don’t take the chance to be alone with Cassidy I might not get it back. So, I thank him and guide her out of the room.
“Did you want to walk to my aunt and uncle’s? I heard you say you needed to talk to him,” Cassidy asks when we hit the front steps.
I press my thumb to my lower lip, admitting, “That was actually a white lie. Cris agreed to let me record at his place already.”
“Do you lie to your manager a lot?” Cass swallows.
We stroll to the edge of the driveway.
“It’s not as dogged as it sounds. We hold information back until the right time and so does Will.” Knowledge is power and sometimes having a boon to match a bust works in a person’s favor. “Will is holding off the PR team about the video I won’t agree to. Two weeks from now, they’ll turn on Will, wanting a tribute to Kylie to appease the fans. My manager will get on my case. I’ll offer new material to play for the concert crowds as a surprise for them. Viola! I’m one step ahead and everyone is happy, though trying out new songs on the road is par for the course.”
Cassidy seems to accept my answer. A breeze blows and she pushes her hair behind her ear.
We pass through the driveway gates. The Tudor is on a main road outside the town proper. There’s hardly any traffic in these parts, though out of habit we look both ways before crossing. The scrub on the other side of the road is trampled or dying because of the season. Behind an old rock wall is a dense thicket.
“What’s behind the trees?” I ask.
“This is, was, no man’s land.” Cassidy and I jump up and off the stone wall. “Our parents wouldn’t allow us over here as kids. Afraid we’d get hit by cars. Only one of my cousins—Gatlin’s brother—ever really disobeyed. There was plenty of secluded land on the ranch side to find trouble in, and most of us preferred sneaking to Taysha Creek to hide a six-pack because the water would keep it cold enough to drink. Anyhow, the quints bought up a lot of the surrounding land when my grandparents were alive to fight it from becoming rezoned or developed. Aside from the acreage Gatlin and Bellamy bought and built on, there’s well over two hundred acres left over.”
I push a limb out of our path. “Perfect size for a golf course.”
We enter a small clearing. A red-tailed hawk takes flight. In the distance, I see shingles on a dark rooftop.
“Yeah, but where would anyone stay? The B&B only has so many suites…” Cassidy abruptly changes the subject. “Isaiah, I owe you an apology.”
“I’m the one who left. You have every right to believe I’m dishonest.” That’s why she grilled me about the story I gave Will. “If I were you, I’d be convinced all a celebrity asshat like me does is tell lies of omission.”
Her lip quirks as if she agrees. “But I didn’t ask for details about—” she sighs heavily, her arms widen, gesturing, “Any of this. I didn’t want to pry or dig or act possessive.”
“So, what would you have asked me—‘Hey Isaiah, got any kids you’re hiding that the press hasn’t sniffed out yet’?” I chuckle unenthusiastically. Yet my feet move closer to hers.
“Probably not.” She inspects the undisturbed carpet of leaves on the ground.
I cram my fists into my front pockets to stop myself from reaching out and grabbing her. I like that Cassidy doesn’t feel the need to snoop in my personal business. That she treats me like any other man. Falling for a woman like Cassidy Cavanaugh is as effortless as waking in the morning. I regret the days I’ve opened my eyes and she wasn’t the first person I’ve seen. I think I’m in love with her.
“Pretend you did ask that, Cass, and that I answered the way I’m about to. When we were just starting out, Kylie and I understood what the other was going through like no one else could. I stood up for her when anybody in the industry asked her to do something as a woman that I’d never have to do as a guy. And Kylie pushed just as hard to support me. We were both stars on the rise and our labels took advantage of the rumors we were a couple when all we were was friends with occasional benefits. The busier we got, the more time we spent apart. Me in the studio, her on the road. Vice versa. We had separate lives until Kylie wanted to split from her parents. Things started getting nasty. There were articles printed saying she was using drugs, and I stepped in as a friend because I loved the girl I grew up with.
“Her PR team thought her image was taking a beating. She needed a committed relationship to make her seem more mature. I agreed. Getting married wasn’t supposed to be forever, and it wasn’t changing who we’d always been to one another. The wedding brought huge publicity for both of us. Kylie liked to show off the magazines touting me as the solid, dependable guy who tamed the wild girl.”
My first clue.
“We talked about an annulment on the beach during our honeymoon. The first year, we had to prove to our fans we’d given it the old college try.” I click my tongue. “The second year, every time we got together, we ended up having sex.”
My second clue. How do you share something intimate with someone you care about and then pick up a pen, a legal pad, and divide the assets that aren’t in your prenup? We were still friends. So, I got evasive, and she used her house in LA to avoid me just as much.
“Last summer, Kylie wanted to see me at my place in Nashville. She had canceled some dates right in the middle of a tour. My team was lining up one for this year. Big budget with more stops in more cities. The difference was this time Kylie visited, she asked me for a divorce before we took off our clothes. She even showed me the draft of a ‘mutually decide to part ways’ statement her PR team was waiting to release.”
“That had to have been a shock. What did you say?”
“I told her no.” Not because our marriage ever stood a chance. I was more worried about my reputation when the story broke. I was about to announce the tour dates and I knew the media would be all over it. The DJs wouldn’t hold back during interviews. Not all of them have the same good sense that Gatlin and Bellamy do. “I hadn’t wanted to deal with the fallout. Each time she asked me to stay married another year, I grew hopeful that maybe we’d settle down someday, and I gave in. But, after a while, it became crystal clear the level of mutual cooperation in our marriage was me cooperating with whatever Kylie wanted. If the things I wanted in my personal life weren’t coming to fruition, my career deserved another year. I agreed to announce our separation once the Rumor Has It tour was over.”
Kylie got mad. She told me to suck it up and admit that the way our lives worked, a divorce would never happen at the best time for either of our careers. She was filing for divorce whether or not I liked it.
“I remember looking at her before she stormed out. Her face was puffy, and she had on big clothes.” I chalked it up to her using cocaine. “An hour later, the police were at my door. She’d wrapped her car around the tree.” On the way to the hospital, I was sure she was using. “In a million years, I never would have guessed she was pregnant.”