Chapter 22: : Chapter 21

“The Rhett Taylor Band, everybody!” Helen Generous waves a hand, showcasing the band who are already waiting on stage but are only just coming into view as the velvet curtain lifts.

While she dances a little jig around the studio on the way to her chair, the guys stand and wave to the audience. The incessant flirts make a point to catch the air kisses the ladies are throwing at them and nail them with a series of panty-melting winks. The crowd goes wild. It feels like we’re at a concert rather than on daytime television.

“So, it’s been nearly two weeks since the Booze & Bad Decisions grand opening in Nashville,” Helen Generous says to the guys while waving them back into their seats as her intro music fades out. “How are you feeling?”

They all look at one another, silently trying to decide among themselves who’s going to answer.

The girls and I, seated in the front row of the audience, hold a collective breath when it appears Aiden’s going to be the one to take it. You just never know what’s going to come out of his mouth. Thankfully most of the fans tend to find his crass sense of humor endearing rather than offensive.

“We’re feelin’ fan-fuggin-tastic.” His teeth clamp down on his lower lip and he gives his hair a flirty little flip, making an obvious attempt to seduce the camera. “We’ve played two sold-out shows so far with another planned for this coming Saturday night.”

She nods. “You sure seem to be enjoying yourself up there, Mr. Addams.”

“You know…” He scrubs a hand over the scruff on his chin. “Life’s too short not to.”

The woman looks out at the audience and shrugs as if to say, “Touché.” Her guests respond in kind, nodding and whispering their agreement.

She refocuses her attention on Aiden. “All right now, this one’s specifically for you.” Helen flips to another note card.

He sits up taller and rubs his hands together like he’s trying to spark a fire. “I’m ready.”

“With the rest of the band members all married with children—or in Lyle’s case, with one on the way—are you feeling the pressure to settle down?”

His handsome face screws up in disgust. “Absolutely not, Ms. Helen.”

I can’t help but laugh because the man looks like he just got a whiff of shit.

“I feel like I still have so much to offer the female population.”

Helen snorts behind her stack of cue cards before quickly composing herself.

I swear, women eat his bullshit with a spoon. It’s so ridiculous.

“I just…” He pauses for a second, as if giving careful consideration to what he wants to say. “I have an affinity for the ladies, you know? All shapes, sizes, ethnicities. I can’t imagine I’d ever be satisfied with just one flavor. I’m a connoisseur of c—”

He stops short when Nick elbows him in the chest.

“Right,” she agrees, biting back a smile. “Well, ladies, you heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. Aiden here plans to continue spreading his love across the globe for the good of women-kind.”

The audience titters around us.

“Rhett…” Our hostess addresses the front man while flipping to another card. “Your turn in the hot seat.”

He adjusts himself in his white cushy chair, giving her that million-dollar smile he’s so well known for. “I’m ready.”

“Our audience would like to know how you and Korie manage to juggle having such high-profile careers?” The camera pans to Korie then back to Rhett. “I understand she’s back on the circuit this season?”

“That’s right.” He pokes his tongue around in his inner cheek. “It’s especially difficult when we’re touring. Hadley travels with Korie and her mother.” He tries unsuccessfully to hide a frown. “It’s—it’s hard. That’s one of the reasons I made the suggestion to the guys about opening the club. Thankfully they were more than receptive to it.”

The guys unanimously bob their heads in agreement.

“It was a great idea, man.” That nod comes from Nick.

“What are you going to do with all the free time you’ll have between Saturday night performances?

His turquoise eyes brighten. “I’m gonna travel with my wife for a change.” He winks out at Korie, who’s positively gushing beside me. The way he loves his woman is palpable.

“I’m gonna stand out in that crowd, with our little girl on my shoulders, cheering obnoxiously loud for her momma.” He pumps a fist into the air, exuding so much genuine excitement.

Helen beams. “Think the entire audience just swooned on that one, Mr. Taylor.”

He sinks down in his seat and smirks. “They don’t call me the king of swoon for nothing, ma’am.”

“No, they don’t.” She flips through a few cards, turning her focus to Nicholas. “It’s no secret, Mr. Potter, that you’ve had some issues with alcohol in the past.”

Raven’s nails dig into my thigh, just above the knee. I hear the breath as it catches in her throat.

Even the audience becomes pin drop quiet, immediately sobering with the drastic change in topic.

Nick sucks his tongue to his teeth and nods. “I have, yes.”

The camera zooms in on his face exploiting his pain. His green eyes are shining. His jaw ticking as he grinds his molars.

Her sympathetic smile is acting at its finest. “But you turned your life around.” She beams. “Got sober for the twins and your wife?”

He nods.

“How’s that going?”

Nick cracks his neck side to side and takes a deep inhale. “I wish I could say it’s easy, but I don’t make a habit of lying. Especially not when it’s something many of my fans deal with themselves. It’s hard as hell.” He pauses briefly. “I do the only thing I can do: I keep up with my meetings, and I’m regularly in touch with my sponsor. Beyond that…I take things one day at a time, just like every other person who has an addiction.”

“Your transparency is refreshing. Thank you for that.” She reaches out to pat his knee. “I think it’s what connects your fans to you so deeply.”

He spins the band on his finger while smiling to himself. “My wife and kids help, tremendously.” His eyes seek Raven’s and hold them. “They give me purpose I didn’t have before. I’m a work in progress, as we all are. But I’m also the luckiest SOB in the world to have such a strong woman in my corner.”

“Love you,” Raven says, biting back tears as she kisses two fingers and holds them out in his direction.

“I love you, pretty girl.”

“This is intense,” I hear someone whisper behind me amid the sea of “awws,” as if she can’t believe Helen Generous went there. I couldn’t agree with her more. Life in the public eye isn’t for the faint of heart. The way these men have to live their lives so openly, to have their every move, every weakness, dissected before the world, is brutal.

It’s my new reality. And one I haven’t come close to adjusting to just yet.

“He handled that with so much grace,” I whisper to my friend.

She nods, her face glowing with pride for her man.

“How are little Alex and Ava?”

Nick’s posture visibly relaxes as she steers him into more comfortable territory. “They’re great.” He smiles, combing a hand through his spiky blond hair. “Getting so big. They’ll be four soon.”

“Four?” Helen jumps back in exaggerated surprise. “Seems like just yesterday when you and those little tots proposed to Raven on stage.”

“Time flies, man…”

“You also must be looking forward to being a little more settled with the kids now that you’ve opened the club?”

“Without a doubt. The twins start preschool this year, and it was important to us to have them settled and attending physical school. We want to make their lives as normal as possible.”

“I can understand that.” Helen’s short blonde bob bounces with the nod of her head. “Sounds like this place is an enormous blessing for all.”

“Indeed.”

“Now,” Ms. Generous hedges, “We’re gonna move on to the one causing all the commotion recently.”

My husband looks to his left, to his right, then spins around to look behind him.

“Oh, you know I mean you, Mr. Livingston.”

He chuckles. “I’m prepared for whatever you’ve got to throw at me, Helen.”

“Actually,” the hostess says, “John, can we get another chair out here beside Lyle for his wife, Sammi?”

My stomach drops. I can feel the blood drain from my face. This was not part of the plan. “Wh—what?” I look to Korie and then to Raven and finally to Anika for someone to notice the sheer panic on my face and put a stop to this insanity.

“Get on up there, troublemaker.” The shit grin on Anika’s face makes me want to punch her in the teeth.

I’m in a trancelike state as I climb the steps and take the seat beside my husband, who immediately clutches my hand.

“Breathe,” he whispers as he presses a kiss to my cheek.

I take a deep inhale of his familiar cologne, wishing like hell I could keep my face buried in his neck but fully aware this is the time to prove I’ve got what it takes to survive in this world.

I tighten my fingers around his, plaster a smile to my face, and turn to face our hostess, who I’m liking less and less by the moment.

“First,” she says, grinning ear to ear, “congratulations to you both on the marriage and the baby.”

“Thank you,” my husband and I answer in unison.

My stomach flip-flops, and I can’t tell if it’s bean or my nerves acting up in there.

“So, most of our audience’s questions were surrounding the two of you.” Helen has the gall to look contrite.

“Naturally.” Lyle smirks. He’s so cool and collected, while my nerves are buzzing.

“Sammi…”

“Yes?”

“By far the most popular question was how you could claim to love Lyle when you were seconds away from marrying another man.” She crosses one leg over the other. “Would you like to shed some light on that for the fans?”

A cold sweat breaks out over my forehead. “I, umm,” I stammer, as bile climbs in my throat.

“You can do this, Li’l Bit.” My husband rubs a hand up and down my calf in a soothing gesture.

“Lyle and I were just teenagers when we fell in love.” I smile over at him, drawing strength from his unwavering confidence in me. “He was everything to me, but he was also three years older, and an actual relationship between the two of us at the time wasn’t in the cards.”

“Right.” Helen nods, encouraging me to continue.

“When he left to join the band, he all but begged me to date guys my own age. He wanted me to live my life while he was out living his. And he promised to come back for me when our age would no longer be an issue.”

“Sounds like something straight out of a movie.” Helen brings a hand to her chest for affect, romanticizing my pain.

“It was rough. Years went by, and I saw him less and less. His exploits were everywhere.” I shake my head. “All over the media.”

I watch Lyle’s throat bob with a hard swallow. Shame colors his cheeks.

“So, I started dating and found I enjoyed the attention. But my heart was never in it. For a long time, my dating life was a revolving door, until I met Trent.”

“The runaway groom?” she pries.

“Yeah.” I snort at her clever title. “He was charming and sweet, and I felt a connection I hadn’t felt with any of the others. Certainly nothing that remotely touched on what I had with Lyle, but by this point I was twenty and figured he’d changed his mind.”

“Never.” He cuts me off, shaking his head.

“But still, I held out hope…tried not to let anything get too serious. Then my father got sick. Really sick. And he was given just weeks to live and I—I freaked out.” Tears well in my eyes. “From the time I was a little girl, my dad and I talked about my wedding day. I knew how much it meant to him to walk me down that aisle.” I take a Kleenex from the talk show host to dab at my eyes. “And it meant everything to me. So, I proposed.”

“

proposed?” Helen’s head jerks back, stunned by my admission.

“I did.” My chuckle lacks any warmth. “We’d just gotten back together after a few months apart.” I pull in a deep breath. “It was the day my daddy was given roughly two weeks to live. In the heat of the moment, I went for it. And he said yes.”

“Wow.” Her eyes widen. “So, take us to your wedding day. What made this Trent fellow leave his pregnant bride on the day of the wedding. Was it just cold feet?”

“Oh, God,” I mutter, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I can’t.”

“I’ll take it from here.” Lyle smooths a comforting hand over my back.

Helen nods at my knight, encouraging him to continue with the story.

“This is the part where I’m pacing outside her bridal suite, hating myself for screwing this up. I’m about to go back to my seat because despite how desperately I want to, I can’t break this wedding up. I know the situation with her father, and had just passed him in his tux with that father of the bride glow on my way back there. I just couldn’t do it.” He clears his throat. “Then the groom shows up and goes into that room, and I overhear her telling him that she’s pregnant. That she just found out and that it might not be his.”

There’s an audible gasp from the audience.

“Remember, they’d just gotten back together after months apart.”

I’m shaking to the bone while all my dirty laundry is being aired for the world.

“The other potential father is not in the picture. It was a one-time thing on a girls’ trip…a trip she’d taken to get over him. He flipped out and completely lost it. He told her to get rid of the baby and that he didn’t want to ever see her again.”

“Wow.” Helen leans in closer. “And that’s where you came in.”

“Yes, ma’am.” My husband chews his lower lip. “It felt like fate. My girl was seconds away from marrying the wrong man, and I had no one but myself to blame. I pushed her into dating. I drug my feet on coming back for her. I just…I waited too long.” He shakes his head.

“And then lightning struck,” I say, sniffling.

“Boy did it ever,” he says, bringing my hand to his lips. “There was my girl, already in the dress, carrying a child without a father.” I huff. “Her babies were always supposed to be mine.” He places a hand on my tummy. “And so, I grabbed the ring I’d bought years ago for her, got down on one knee, and asked the love of my life to marry me. To share this child with me. To build a life with me.”

“And she said yes…” Helen dabs at the corner of her eye.

Lyle nods. “She said yes.”