That’s why she keeps asking if the husbands should’ve come. It’s something I’m going to have to ask Josie when she gets here. The last thing I want to do is feel like I must walk around on eggshells because I might say something stupid.
“I’m going to test out the water,” I tell her, motioning over my shoulder. I quickly ditch my cover-up and straighten out my bikini. “Wanna come?”
Katelyn hesitates for a minute before nodding. She ditches her cover-up and reaches for my hand. Together, we walk to the edge, away from the two men that she saw earlier.
“Sharks,” she says, nodding to the guys.
I glance around the resort and see that we’re surrounded. “They’re everywhere.”
“And will turn into vultures once word spreads that we’re here.”
She’s right. As much as I want to say no one cares that we are here, the truth is, they do, or will once they find out. To us, we’re the wives of men that entertain millions with their music. We’re the ones doing their wash, making their dinner, and playing dad to their children when they’re out on tour. But to others, we’re the ticket. Many think they can get in good with us, and that we’ll invite them over and let them party with the guys.
But it doesn’t work that way, at least not with Josie, Katelyn, or me. We’re a closed-off, tight-knit family with steel doors and shutters. Even the kids experience their own turmoil because of who their fathers are.
Eden is very cautious about who she brings home, and often chooses to spend time at her friend’s house over ours. I hate that for her, but I understand. Jimmy doesn’t. He wants her home, away from the temptations of the world. Even when she has a surfing competition, he’s there, and if he can’t be, a bodyguard is. Eden is protected at all times. The last thing he wants is for his career to interfere with hers.
Still, it’s happened. Her competitors accuse judges of giving her better scores because of who her father is, w
hich would make sense if her father could surf as well as she can. Now, if Harrison was her father, I could understand, but not Jimmy. He has no influence over the judging of a surfing competition. What’s he going to do, offer them a signed CD?
Knowing my husband, he would try, if Eden wasn’t any good, but that’s not the case. She’s one of the best on the junior circuit and keeps telling us that she plans to be a professional surfer by the time she’s seventeen. Most of the time I want to tell her no, that she needs an education, but can’t. I don’t want to be the parent that limits their child, but also don’t want to turn my back on an opportunity.
Jimmy blames me. Saying that if I hadn’t been adamant that we move to California, none of this would’ve happened. I, of course, remind him this is payback for knocking me up in the first place.
5
Josie
The last time I flew commercial, I had flown out to Los Angeles under the guise that I was attending a convention on floristry when in fact I was going to see Liam. I sat in coach, crammed between two men who were conducting business together, and using me as an extra tray to hold their papers. I was too nervous to say anything, even though I wanted to switch seats. There was something about being on the edge that afforded me the ability to escape, even though I knew there wasn’t anywhere for me to go.
The entire flight to Los Angeles, I had to talk myself into following through with my plan to go see Liam and demand an explanation. I wanted to know everything, and yet I didn’t. There hadn’t been a day in the ten years that he was gone that I hadn’t thought about him, even when I didn’t want to, but never in a million years did I expect him to show up in Beaumont after Mason died.
That day in his penthouse was a defining moment for me. When I let Liam kiss me, I knew I couldn’t marry Nick, no matter how much I loved him. I would’ve been lying to Nick when I took my vows. That wouldn’t have been fair to anyone involved.
Now here I am again, flying commercial but as Liam’s wife, and this time in first class. The man next to me is reading a rag mag and laughing. There used to be a time when I would see one of those and break down in tears. Liam would be plastered on the front with a random woman and an unfavorable headline. It took years before I could ignore the magazines. The local store saw how I reacted when I got to the checkout, or noticed that Mason would turn the publications around so we wouldn’t have to look. It didn’t take long before the store refused to stock any magazine with his picture on it. Liam didn’t just leave Mason, Katelyn, and me behind. He left us all. The whole town felt his departure, and when he became famous, most expected him to waltz back into town and sweep me off my feet.
Everyone that is, except for me. I knew Liam wasn’t ever coming back. If he didn’t have the heart to return my calls after he left, there was no way he’d show his face in Beaumont again. That all changed when Mason died. I had so many thoughts and emotions going through me, but not even one of them was about Liam. Not once did I think that Liam would show up or that he’d even know about Mason. But he did, and his arrival changed everything.
The man next to me shakes the paper closed, and that’s when I spot my son and his girlfriend on the front page. My stomach twists into knots as my heart beats a bit faster. As Noah’s mother, I’ve worked to protect him from the limelight, only for him to thrust himself right into it. Deep down, I had hoped he would’ve chosen a different career path, but he didn’t. He opted to follow in his father’s footsteps in a roundabout sort of way.
Everyone, Nick included, thought that Noah would accept one of the many scholarship offers he received. One of the best pitchers in the region, Noah was well sought after. The agent that wanted to sign him hours after he turned eighteen told Liam that Noah was a top draft pick, likely number one, but that wasn’t what Noah wanted. He wanted football, but the sport he loved didn’t necessarily love him back.
Many college football coaches wouldn’t talk to Noah. At first, I thought it was because of Liam and forced him to make some calls to find out. The truth was, Noah didn’t fit into their system or hadn’t done anything as a standout player to get their attention. Noah took the news with an upbeat attitude and made his own call.
Years ago, while the band was on tour and we were with them, we’d do the tourist thing. We’d check out different sites and turn each stop into an adventure. One such stop brought us to the University of Notre Dame where Noah fell in love with the Irish pride. That was the one call he made, asking the coach if he could try out for the team.
Liam and Nick didn’t have the heart to tell him that even if he did make the team, he’d be sitting on the bench. At best, he’d be the third or fourth-string quarterback and would only see field time during practices, if that.
Instead, Liam helped Noah pack and we drove him to Indiana. While I unpacked his room, Noah and Liam went and met with the coach. I cried the whole way home, worrying about my son. It didn’t take long for the call to come from Noah, letting us know that he was the starting quarterback. I made Liam fly me to his game, where I sat proudly at the fifty-yard line, cheering Noah on.
Noah played all four years for the Irish. Even though pro scouts highly recruited him, he was loyal to his coach and the program. Of course, it helped that the coach gave Noah a full ride by his sophomore year. Something Noah never stopped earning.
The Portland Pioneers, an expansion team, drafted him. Once again, I found myself wondering if Noah was making the right choice by signing the contract. My feelings never mattered, but I wanted him to be happy.
Until this week, I have never missed a game, and believe me, knowing my son is playing is enough for me to want to stay home. Except, Liam and Noah won’t allow it. They say I need this break, although I’m not sure that I do. It’s not like I live a high-stressed life or never get to see my friends. It’s true, that living away from Katelyn and Jenna is hard, but I have Whimsicality to keep me busy, and Betty Paige.
Still, seeing Noah on the cover of this magazine with his girlfriend makes me wish for a time when women were the farthest thing from his mind and his idea of dating was taking Quinn, Peyton, and Elle to the drive in where all their friends piled into the back of his truck.