“Oh my God, Troy,” she exclaimed in a bright voice as soon as she saw him, lifting a hand to signal to her hairstylist to give her a second. The hairdryer cut off. “You were amazing! I got chills.” She turned to her makeup artist. “Remember, Lorraine? When I said I had goosebumps?”
The woman nodded in confirmation. “She did.”
Troy shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. “Thank you.” His tone was full of gratitude he struggled to adequately express. “I can’t thank you enough for everything.”
Stella scrunched her face in a warm smile. “You’re welcome. I loved getting to do it.” On screen, the crowd murmured in excitement. The lights had gone down, and the next act was preparing to start their set. She turned her gaze to the TV, but her attention was still with us. “Y’all are welcome to stay and hang out.”
Troy wasn’t really given a choice. Some of the music executives he’d dined with last night were here in Stella’s suite, and they came over to offer their congratulations on the show.
“Do you need anything?” I asked him in the spare seconds we could grab between conversations. “Something to eat or drink?” I gestured to his monitor that was no longer hooked in his ear but hung by the cord around the back of his neck. “Want me to find someone to take that?”
“It’s fine,” he said quickly.
I smiled knowingly. He’d commented he felt legit when he’d first put it on, and he wasn’t ready for that feeling to be over.
His expression suddenly went blank. “My parents.”
I nodded. “I’ll let them know you’re here, and you’ll see them after the show.”
When I turned to go, he grabbed my wrist. “Wait, Erika . . . it’s fine, I can do it.”
It was clear he was torn. He wanted to see his folks and he worried this would be awkward for me, but I laughed. I was too happy for him to let anything bring me down.
Plus, today wasn’t about me or Jenna or Bill anyway.
“No, you need to be in here. I’ve got this.”
He was reluctant to let me go, but he did.
Outside of the suite, I could hear the frenetic, lively sound of The Red Door Band pumping through the arena. They had a fiddle player that was outstanding and always got the crowd on their feet. It meant I had to knock loudly when I gave a courtesy knock on the door to Troy’s suite.
Inside I found Jenna and Bill sitting on the white leather couch, their anxious gazes turned to me.
“Hey there.” I strode into the room and gave them a polite smile. “I just wanted to let y’all know Stella invited Troy to hang out with her for a bit, so he’ll need to catch up later.”
Jenna’s disappointment rang through her expression and her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”
I took a step closer, feeling the urge to comfort her. “This is a really good opportunity for him to network. Folks from Stella’s record label are in there, and they want to chat him up.” I gave her an understanding look. “He’s eager to see you too.”
Bill set his hand reassuringly on his wife’s knee. “It’s okay. We can see him after.”
Jenna’s gaze drifted from her husband over to me, and emotion teemed in her eyes. “I wanted to tell him how proud we are of him.” She pressed her hand to her chest, her fingers toying absentmindedly with the lanyard to her VIP badge. “Will you tell him for us?”
The way she asked was hopeful and sweet, and it was as if she wouldn’t trust hardly anyone else to deliver this important message . . . but she trusted me.
I swallowed a breath and nodded. “Of course.” I cleared my throat, trying to disguise how affected I was. “Did you enjoy the show?”
I’d expected them to say yes, to gush about how amazing their son had been. Although I wouldn’t have traded being backstage with him for anything, I was a little envious they’d gotten to experience his performance from the crowd.
What I hadn’t expected was Jenna to leap from the couch, run at me, and crush me in a hug so powerful it was hard to breathe. The force of it made me stumble back a step.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, squeezing me fiercely. “I didn’t mean the awful things I said to you.” When she relented and pulled back, she had to wipe away her tears. “I was so scared I was going to lose him.”
I heard what she meant, the unspoken words she’d left off the end of her statement. She was scared she was going to lose Troy the way she’d lost his father. I’d never met Brett Osbourne, but he’d abandoned Jenna not long after their son had been born. He’d walked away, she’d said, because he wouldn’t be tied down. He didn’t care about anyone but himself.
My heart ached for my friend.
But didn’t she know Troy would never walk away? That he was nothing like the man he shared DNA with? He was much more like his true father—the sweet man who was sitting silently on the couch, trying his damnedest not to get emotional. Seeing his wife upset got Bill every time.
“You’re not going to lose him,” I said.
“I don’t want to lose you either,” she said. “I handled it badly, but I’ll try to do better, I promise. Please forgive me.”
I blinked, stunned. She’d said hurtful things, but I wasn’t blameless either. “And I’m sorry I lied to you. Can forgive me?”
She considered my statement thoughtfully. “I don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore, Erika.”
Hope sparked inside me that our friendship wasn’t too damaged to recover. “Yes, you got it.”
“Are you in love with him?” she whispered.
I jolted. How the hell was I supposed to answer that? “Uh . . .”
“Because he’s in love with you.” She straightened and smoothed her hands down her pants, like she could wipe away the heavy emotion that easily. “I’m sorry, but you can’t expect me to be happy about that. You’re a lot older than him, and I’m going to need some time to be . . . less uncomfortable with the idea of you with my son.”
“I understand.”
Her shoulders lifted on a deep breath. “All I want is for him to be happy, and you’ve made his dream come true. Happier than anyone else. So . . . I can tell you I’ll try. I can try to be okay with this. All right?”
I was too floored to say anything. I simply blinked in shock.
She nodded like I’d agreed with her. “Good.” She’d said her piece, and her emotions turned on a dime. Excitement lurked in her eyes. “Let’s go, Bill. I want to get back to our seats before Stella’s show starts.”
I found Troy sitting in the alcove of Stella’s suite, deep in conversation with Ardy, but when I appeared, both men fell silent. It was odd, like they’d been talking about me. I took a seat on the bench beside Troy and gave them both a suspicious look.
Troy was oblivious. “Everything go okay with my folks?”
I nodded. “It went great. Like, really great.” I couldn’t wait to explain it to him later. “They’re so proud of you.”
There’d been tension in his shoulders, and it eased somewhat, but it didn’t disappear altogether.