Bluestone Song Page 18

  “Seriously?”

  “One of the times I really wish I could have a drink.”

  “But you won’t.” Even she wasn’t sure if it was a question or a declaration.

  He touched the bandage over her temple. “I won’t.”

  He led them into a hotel in Houston bigger than any building she’d ever seen. It was like an indoor city, with restaurants and shops. Beth was sure she and Linda looked like hicks, staring, turning one way and then another, taking it all in. Maddox chuckled softly and took Beth’s arm, leading her toward the bank of elevators.

  “Let me get you settled. We’ve got the interview tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got some make-up people coming to try and cover up your injury then we’ll do the interview. After that, I need to get over to the arena, but I’ll send a car for you and Linda. My manager’s wife will watch Jonas. She’s got two little kids herself.”

  “Maddox.”

  “No arguments. I want you to come to the concert. I need you to come.”

  She snapped her mouth shut on her protest. How could she deny him that after all he’d done for them?

  He took them up in a glassed-in elevator and they exited onto a floor with plush carpet and a row of doors. He led them to one, showed them how to use the room key—though Beth had used one before on a high school trip to the Twin Cities—and opened the door to the suite. It was decorated in creams and reds, with beautiful sofas overlooking the city. Beth wandered forward to look out. She’d never been so far up in a building, and looking down made her stomach pitch a little. She turned to see Linda exploring the other doors, finding two bedrooms and a plush bathroom bigger than Beth’s bedroom at home.

  “Are you staying here, too?” Linda asked Maddox.

  He kept his gaze on Beth, as if to gauge her reaction, but shook his head. “I have my own room. This is for you ladies. Feel free to order from room service, or if you go to a restaurant downstairs, you can charge it to the room.”

  “You’ve already done more than enough,” Beth protested.

  “You wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t dragged you, so I’ll take the expense.” He stepped close and touched her arm, bending his head to whisper, “I’ve got to go, but I can come back later if you want.”

  She looked past him to her sister, then shook her head.

  He inclined his head, as if he expected the answer. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Sleep well.” He bent his head, and despite her sister being across the room, kissed her, long and soft. Then he touched her cheek and left.

  “Why don’t you just admit you’re in love with him?” Linda asked when he was gone, taking a seat on one of the pretty cream-colored couches and making Beth wince with the possibility of Jonas spitting up on it, or pooping, or something to ruin the expensive fabric.

  “I’m scared.” Beth shook her head, unable to put the words to why. Because he’d leave. Because she hadn’t depended on anyone else in so long. Because he meant too much.

  “You? You’re not scared of anything, not of working in the casino, or of Dad when he was coming after you.”

  “What are you talking about? I was terrified. You’re the one who thought on her feet.”

  “I could barely move. All I could think was that we needed help.”

  Beth crossed the room and hugged her sister carefully, trying to remember the last time the girl had allowed such an embrace. “You saved us. And you tried to save us again with the interview.”

  “You aren’t mad?” Linda asked, drawing back.

  “I was worried about how it would affect Maddox, and I’m not a fan of airing my personal business. But if he’s not worried, I’m not.”

  Linda blew out a breath. “Thanks.” She stepped away, around the couch. “I’ve decided something else. I’m not going to drink anymore. He was just so out of control and I never want to be like that. I never want Jonas to be that afraid of me. And I never want to be so crazy I don’t realize I’m hurting my own child.”

  Beth went boneless with relief and sank on the couch, though she wanted to hug Linda breathless. “Thank God. I know it won’t be easy, but there are groups—Maddox goes to AA and he says there are places near Bluestone. We’ll get you help.”

  Linda offered a shaky smile. “You realize what you just did there? You acted like Maddox is going to be around for a while.”

  Beth sank back into the cushions. “I did, didn’t I?”

  ***

  Beth hadn’t thought she’d sleep well in the strange room, especially since she still hurt. She didn’t hear Jonas cry all night, and when she realized it, she pushed back the layers of blankets and made her way across the suite to Linda’s room and peeked inside. The room was dark, but she could make out the outline of her sister, and Jonas in the crib Maddox had sent up. She’d worried maybe Linda couldn’t manage Jonas with her broken collarbone but she had insisted on keeping him in her room. Hope had swelled in Beth’s chest. She’d started worrying about that when Linda had been talking to the pilot and flight attendants about traveling across the country. No way could Linda pursue either career with a small child. But now Beth was more willing to accept help. She’d get better at that if it meant Linda could try to see if that was what she wanted.

  But for now, everything looked fine, and Beth slipped out quietly and went to the windows overlooking the city. A glance at the clock told her it was later here than the light indicated. At home, the sun rose by five this time of year. Here, the sun was low in the sky and it was after seven. She glanced at the room service menu, but she couldn’t bring herself to order food at those prices, even though Maddox had encouraged her to do so. She’d seen a McDonald’s not far from here, and she didn’t get there much. The nearest one to Bluestone was over an hour away. She’d get dressed and walk.

  She pulled on jeans, wincing a little as her muscles protested. She slipped on her shoes, tucked the keycard and her money in her pocket, and headed for the elevator.

  When she returned with a bag carrying a variety of breakfast foods and two coffees, she saw three women waiting at the door of the suite, fidgeting, with two cases on the floor beside them.

  “Can I help you?” Beth had to set the coffee down to dig out her key card.

  “We’re here to get you ready for the photo shoot,” the tallest one, a blonde, said. “Honey, didn’t you sleep at all last night? Those bags are bigger than mine.”

  When she led them into the hotel room, Linda and Jonas were already awake, and Linda got no end of amusement from watching her sister tortured under the ministrations of the three ladies. The tall one, Millie, refused to let her look in the mirror as they worked, one ironing her already straight hair, the other doing her nails, while Millie tsked about her face.

  “Beautiful skin, but it won’t last if you don’t take care of it. Before I go, I’ll write down the names of some good moisturizers. If you’re going to be in the public eye now, you need to look your best.”

  “I’m not going to be in the public eye.”

  “Sure you are. You’re seeing Maddox Bradley. Everyone wants to know the kind of woman who won his heart. He was notoriously unattainable, you know.”

  She did know.

  “Maybe he was pining for you all those years. Do you think?” the manicurist, Betty, asked.

  “No, I doubt that. He was just too busy with his career.”

  “You should never be too busy for love,” Millie declared. “Are you ready?”

  Before Beth could ask what she might be ready for, Millie presented a mirror to her with flourish.

  She barely recognized the woman looking back at her, polished and plucked, her hair straight as an arrow. For God’s sake, she was wearing lipstick—in a very flattering color. She didn’t remember the last time she wore lipstick. She looked from her reflection to her sister, who was grinning with delight. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw that, either.

  A knock at the door had her jolting, and she jumped up to get it.

  “Oh, no
you don’t,” Millie said, pushing her back into the chair. “This needs a reveal.” She strode across the floor and flung open the door to Maddox, Viveca and a photographer. “Your timing is excellent,” she informed the two of them, and stood aside so Maddox could see Beth.

  Beth wasn’t sure what to make of Maddox’s speechlessness. He stared for a long moment before his expression softened and he crossed to her. He lifted his hand to her hair, only to have it smacked by Tina, the beautician.

  “You can’t touch her until after the pictures. She’s perfect right now.”

  “She’s always perfect,” Maddox murmured, his gaze dropping to her lips.

  “Aww, that’s sweet,” Tina said as Beth’s heart turned over in her chest. “But you still can’t touch her until after the pictures.” She turned toward Linda. “Come on, little mama. We’ll go in the other room and get you ready for the concert while these folks attend their business.”

  “Really?” Linda’s squeal of delight echoed through the room, and she bounced into the bedroom ahead of the three ladies.

  Leaving Beth alone with Maddox—and the media.

  “I apologize for my sister,” Beth felt compelled to say to Viveca. “She thought she was helping everyone out by making the story more exciting than it was.”

  “Maddox has more than agreed to make up for it with this exclusive session,” Viveca said with a wave of her hand. “It was partly my fault for being in such a hurry that I didn’t verify the information. Shall we do the pictures first?” She turned to the photographer. “This is John, and he’s very good. Do you want to stay in the room or go down to the lobby?”

  “I’d rather stay here,” Beth blurted, though she wasn’t sure the question was directed at her. “I’m already self-conscious enough without people watching us.”

  Viveca glanced at John, who shrugged. Stiffly, she moved through the poses he set up—the two of them pretending to dance, the two of them staring out the window, holding hands, what he called the “romance novel” pose, which had her holding her head at an impossible angle, her hair cascading behind her as Maddox dipped her backwards. He arched her up a little higher, so her breasts brushed his chest, and he waggled his eyebrows at her, which made her laugh and John swear.

  “How about some bedroom shots?” John suggested.

  “How about not?” Beth countered.

  Finally, after a few dozen more awkward poses, John was done, and it was Viveca’s turn. Suddenly, Beth realized that the questions would be more revealing than any photograph. Maddox motioned for Beth to sit at the end of the couch and he sat beside her. She was grateful for the buffer of the couch arm on one side and Maddox on the other.

  Viveca produced a recorder and set it on the coffee table between them. “So, Maddox, what made you go back to Bluestone?”

  Maddox slid a palm down his thigh, took a deep breath, but his voice was smooth and steady when he said, “After the car accident earlier this summer, I wanted to get away from the people, from the speculation. I went back to a place where I’d been happy when I was a kid. A place that was peaceful and out of the way.”

  “Did you know Beth was still there?”

  “I didn’t, no.”

  That surprised her. “You didn’t?” She angled her head to look at him.

  “No. I mean, I thought about you being there, but I didn’t know for sure.”

  “So when you saw her again, what happened?” Viveca redirected.

  Maddox grinned. “She wanted nothing to do with me. Of course we were in the middle of the bar and she doesn’t like attention drawn to her. So I went to her house and met the baby. My first thought was, shit, I’m too late.” He curled his hand around hers.

  “But you weren’t,” Viveca said.

  “Not in the way I thought, but fourteen years is a lot of time to make up for.”

  “So tell me about your romance fourteen years ago, Beth.”

  Beth squared her shoulders. “We dated for a couple of summers, starting after my sophomore year. I wasn’t technically allowed to date, but I was working at the diner and he’d come in all the time, with his parents and without. He’d drink about ten pops sometimes, just to hang out. And he’d leave me a good tip, before he started waiting for me to get off work and walk me home down by the lake. I was worried about what Dad would say, so I’d leave him at the end of the road and walk home. He was always really handsome, you know, with that wicked smile that goes right down your spine, you know? He was the first boy I ever kissed.” She smiled at the memory, at the way he’d slid his hand under her hair as they stood on the shore of the lake, the way he’d angled his head and given her the most perfect first kiss. “He left with his family at the end of summer and promised to write. I didn’t believe him, but he did, all through my junior year. I had to hide the letters from Dad, so I got to know the mail woman really well. And then he came back the next summer. We would stay out all night—”

  “Really?” Viveca smiled.

  “We wouldn’t do anything. Well, we’d kiss. A lot. He was really good at it. And he’d play guitar. He had an old acoustic he bought at a garage sale. It was a piece of junk, but he had such a good voice. And he wrote his own music, so there were a lot of songs about me.” She laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear. God, she’d been so young and carefree. She wished she could grab that feeling again and hold onto it. “I’d come in just before dawn. Dad was usually passed out so he didn’t catch me, and it was –wonderful.”

  “You loved him then.”

  Beth sighed and looked up at Maddox, warmed by the way he was looking at her. “Yes.”

  “So why did you let him leave?”

  She twined her fingers through his on her lap. “Because I didn’t want to be the one holding him back.”

  He threaded his fingers through her hair. “She was the one who believed in me most. I wouldn’t be where I am without her.”

  “Oh, please,” she said.

  “It’s true. I wouldn’t give up because I didn’t want to let you down.” He curled his arm around her shoulders. “That’s why I want you at my concert tonight.” He turned to Viveca. “Are we about done? I need to get over to rehearsal.”

  Viveca reached for the recorder and clicked it off. “I think we’re good.”

  “Okay.” He lowered his mouth to Beth’s. She relaxed into it, grateful the interview was over, and the shutter of John’s camera whirled.

  Viveca laughed when Beth drew back, surprised. “Get used to it, Beth.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The rest of the day was spent in a buzz of anticipation. Beth had never been to an arena show, and wasn’t sure she had quite the thing to wear. The three of them went down to the shops in the hotel, but Beth’s budget wouldn’t allow her to indulge in anything more than a snug-fitting t-shirt she thought Maddox would admire. She hoped that Maddox would come back to the hotel room with her tonight. She knew Linda would understand, and she needed him close, needed to feel his love.

  After dinner, the manager’s wife, Allie, showed up with her own kids to take care of Jonas. Beth was wary, but Maddox had promised she’d be a good babysitter. Next, two assistants arrived and whisked Beth and Linda to dinner. Beth couldn’t stop wondering if Maddox ate before the concert, or if he was nervous. She couldn’t imagine—she was nervous enough for both of them.

  After a dinner she couldn’t bring herself to finish, though it had to cost a fortune, the two women were taken to the arena. Excitement bubbled as they saw the crowd streaming into the building, as searchlights flashed across the sky. Their car pulled around to the back and they were escorted backstage.

  She couldn’t believe the bustle, and had to pull Linda out of someone’s way more than once as she scanned for Maddox. Would he be out here in all the mess, or did he have his own dressing room?

  “Oh, my God, it’s Miranda Lambert!” Linda squeaked, gripping Beth’s arm and pointing as they were guided down a narrow hall.

  The countr
y star flashed a smile at Linda. The girl froze and Beth had to pull her along since the assistants were still walking and Beth was afraid they’d get lost in the madness. It was as if the entire population of Bluestone was crammed into this tiny area, and they were all in a hurry to get somewhere.

  And then there, with his foot on a rail and his guitar on his knee, his head bent as he strummed, was Maddox. Her heart gave a tumble and she quickened her step, releasing her sister, passing the assistants to get to him.

  A hand caught her arm and she staggered to a halt, looking into the forbidding gaze of a man two times her size.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Maddox looked up and straightened, then gave her a blinding smile. “She’s with me.”

  The towering man released her with a murmured apology and Maddox swept her into his arms, hugging her first, then kissing her.

  “You okay?” he asked when he released her.

  “Nervous.” She pressed a hand to her shoulder. “You’d think I was going out on stage instead of you.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve done it a time or two.” He kissed her again. “You should go get in your seats. The show’s about to start.”

  “Okay. Good—”

  He held up a hand, palm out, eyes wide in alarm.

  “I mean, break a leg.”

  He grinned and winked at her correction, and then she and Linda were swept out into the audience. Their seats were to the right of the stage, and they were settled moments before the first act. And soon, Maddox would be out there, Maddox, who had dreamed about this as long as she knew him.

  They enjoyed the two acts before Maddox, but anticipation buzzed in Beth’s blood. What would it be like to see him play with his band, on this huge stage? What would it be like to hear the audience’s reaction?

  Her heart swelled with pride when he finally took the stage, the third act of four on the Fourth of July, opening for a multi-platinum, multi-award-winning band.