Chapter February 14 #2
He held up both hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I have no right to ask you that. It’ll take as long as it takes, and even if it’s ten years from now, I’d be lucky to get another chance.”
She set her jaw. “I’m not going to make you wait ten years before I decide.”
“I appreciate that. But you could, and I would happily wait for you.”
He wouldn’t. They both knew he’d wait around another six months. A year tops. Then he’d fall for someone even younger than Claudia with long legs and low expectations. And that thought made her feel sick, which surely must be a sign that she should take him back.
“I would, you know. You’re my forever girl.
I love you every bit as much tonight as I did when you first walked down the aisle carrying flowers like these.
It’s an image I can’t get out of my head, not even if I wanted to.
” He gave her that smile again. “I’d have to go in for a lobotomy or something.
In fact, if you divorce me, maybe I’ll see if I can get one so I can forget how much I love you. ”
“Well, that is just… weird.”
“Too much?” he asked playfully.
She fought her grin. “Way too much.”
“I’ll dial it back.”
“Thank you.” Needing to change the subject before she gave him an answer she might regret, she said, “All right, what was the other thing?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I should bring it up right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I already pissed you off by pressuring you into giving me an answer, then I creeped you out with the whole lobotomy thing, so you’re probably going to say no.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m flattered by your awkward attempt at wooing me.”
Hope filled his eyes. “You are?”
“All right. Settle down. I’m not flattered enough to forgive and forget. But you’re here now. You might as well come out with it.”
This time, she kept her gaze trained on the job before her.
She knew if she looked into those eyes again, a sick part of her would turn to putty and she’d agree to whatever it was he was about to ask, even if the ‘important something’ was a quickie in the powder room.
Actually, now that she thought about that, she realized she’d agree to it especially if it was a quickie in the powder room.
But then thoughts of him naked in bed smiling at Claudia zapped her right in the lady bits, and she went back to glaring at the mushrooms. Yes, that was better.
“I know it’s a big ask, but…” He trailed off in that way he did when he was trying to act like a shy schoolboy. “The thing is … Mike really loved you, and you loved him, and the concert wouldn’t be the same without you there.”
She stilled her hand, letting the knife hover above a wobbly mushroom, but said nothing. Her gut reaction was a hard no, and that would probably be her real answer too.
He cleared his throat, then said, “Kitty and the kids are coming. And it’ll look strange if you’re not there.
Like you couldn’t be bothered or something.
” He quickly followed that with, “Obviously no one who knows you would think that, but you know … celebrities are the worst gossips. Anyway, more than all of that, I need you there.”
Sienna raised an eyebrow at him. Crap. He had his sincere face on. She had trouble resisting that one.
“Oh no, not the eyebrow!” he told her, clutching his heart and grinning at her. His smile faded and his voice grew thick. “But seriously, I do, Sienna. I need you with me for this. It’ll be the first time in my entire life that I’ll be up on stage without him. I don’t know if I can do it.”
Her shoulders dropped and she closed her eyes. “Zane,” she said in a warning tone.
“What?”
“This isn’t fair, and you know it.”
“It’s the truth, babe. This is one of those monumental moments of life—I have to get it right or everything else is going to fall apart.
You said it yourself back in the fall. I need this.
The guys need it. We have to find our way back, but I don’t have the first clue how to do that without Mike.
Please don’t make me do it without you too. ”
Sienna stared at him, feeling her heart tug at his words. Yes, he was a bastard to do what he had done, but he was also the love of her life and the father of her children. And more than that, he was her best friend, standing before her, begging her to help him.
Before she could decide, Ivy sauntered into the room. She skidded to a stop when she saw the two of them together at the island. “Whoa. This isn’t what I was expecting to see today.”
Zane hurried over and gave her a quick peck on her forehead. “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetie.”
Ivy gave him a wary look. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Brought flowers for my girls.”
“Wow, those are beautiful.” Ivy walked over and picked up a bouquet.
“Those were the flowers your mom had at our wedding.”
Ivy gave him an expression that said she was impressed. “Really?”
He smiled proudly. “Yup. Back when we were just a couple of crazy kids trying to make it in this world.”
Sienna snorted. “Oh, come on, you were hardly a kid. You were thirty.”
He tilted his head from side to side in a conciliatory gesture. “Well, okay, maybe, but I still didn’t know anything yet.” He took his place at the island again. “Still don’t.”
Ivy picked a few bits of cheese off the wooden cutting board and popped them in her mouth. “So? What is this?”
“Your mom is making her famous pizza.”
“Yeah, but why are you helping her?”
“Because I love hanging out with her.”
Poppy walked in at that exact moment dressed in a pair of black leggings with a shaker knit sweater that made her look very grown up. Her face lit up and she gasped when she saw Zane, which irritated the hell out of Sienna, who only got that kind of enthusiasm from the dog.
“Dad!” She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. “Happy Valentime’s Day.”
“Valentine’s. It’s got an ‘n,’ not an ‘m,’ Poppy,” Ivy told her. “If you say Valentime’s, people will think you’re a moron.”
“Ivy, that’s not kind,” Sienna told her.
“But it’s true,” Ivy said. “I’m just trying to stop her from getting bullied out in the real world.”
“By bullying her?”
Ivy shrugged at her mom, then turned her attention back to Zane. “Seriously. What are you doing? Like, is this going to be a thing now? You’re going to come over and help out in the kitchen?”
Sienna answered for him. “No. He’s trying to convince me to come to the concert.”
“Oh, yes, Mom, you have to come!” Poppy squealed. “It’ll be so wonderful and fun and you can’t miss it, Mom. You can’t.”
Sienna quickly realized the mistake she had made. As obvious as Poppy was about wanting her mom to come to Vegas, she could see in Ivy’s eyes that her eldest child was every bit as hopeful, even though she was going to take a cooler approach.
Ivy shrugged. “It might be cool if you come. We can go shopping and hang out at the pool and stuff.”
“Hmph,” Sienna answered in a noncommittal way.
“If you came, I bet Parker would too,” Zane said, giving her the puppy dog eyes again.
“I’m not going to force him to do something if he doesn’t want to,” Sienna answered.
“But he’d want to if you were there,” Zane told her. “Because if you were there, he’d stop thinking he needs to hate me in order to show his loyalty to you.”
Sienna glared at her husband. “He’s hurt, Zane. It’s not about me. It’s about the fact that he used to be your only son, and now he’s not.”
Looking appropriately sheepish, Zane said, “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Mom, we should all go. Uncle Mike would’ve wanted us there,” Ivy told her. “He’d want you there. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Sienna teared up, her throat thick with the pain of losing someone who was more like family to her than most of her relatives. “I have to think about it.”
“Pulease, Mom!” Poppy said, jumping up and down a few times. “Please, please, please!”
Sienna gave her a stern look. “I said I have to think about it, young lady, which is exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Don’t you miss Uncle Mike?”
“Of course I miss him,” she answered. “But I have to make the right decision about this.”
Zane finished up with the cheese and gave her a small smile. “I promise that if you do decide to come, I won’t take it as a sign of anything other than you helping to honor Mike.”
She pursed her lips at him. “Really?”
“Swear to God.” He crossed his heart and stared at her. “It’s a family event, and even if things don’t work out with us, we’ll have family events together.”
Sienna glanced at her daughters, her heart squeezing at their hopeful expressions. “Girls, go get your coats on. I need to talk to your father for a second.”
They hurried off to the mudroom, leaving the adults alone. Sienna set down the knife and spoke quietly. “I don’t think you appreciate how awful this would be for me. For the kids too. She’ll be there.”
“I’ll make sure to keep everyone separated.
Claudia can have the farthest trailer from ours, and we’ll get Kitty and Rusty’s kids to hang out with them.
It really will be an incredible night. Something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.
” Zane placed his hands on her shoulders.
“And I need you there. I need you to be backstage smiling at me while I try to do the hardest thing I’ll ever do.
I’m trying to fight my way through this, babe, but it feels impossible.
” He looked down at her, his eyes pleading.
“I want to bring you up on stage and sing to you about your eyes and kiss your mouth in front of the entire world and show everyone what we are together. You’re still my girl.
You’ll always be my girl, no matter what. ”
She felt herself being carried off by his words to an easier existence, back to their old perfectly imperfect life. Back to the safety and security that it was to be part of an ‘us.’ And much to her surprise, she heard herself say yes.