When Lou introduces the rest of her family, I see her dad studying me even more than her mom is.
“Patrick, these are my sisters. Nora,” she says of the older one, “and June,” she says of the younger, who looks college-aged.
They’re both variations on the same theme as their mom and sister.
Her dad has most of his short blond hair. In a pair of black Rag & Bone jeans and a black short-sleeved button-up shirt, he has a Bruce Springsteen aged rocker kind of look, although he’s gotta be a decade and a half younger than the Boss.
Wade Scott was the lead guitarist for Winona’s backing band for nearly fifteen years, although they weren’t together for those first few years.
It’s clear he’s lived harder than his wife, but it’s also clear that he loves his family very much, based on the way he puts an arm around Lou and trains his protective eyes on me.
“Nice meeting you, Patrick,” Wade says. “What do you do?”
“I’m the monitor engineer,” I say.
“And the bodyguard,” June adds, waggling her eyebrows in a way that tells me she saw the photo.
Wade gives me a confused look, and Lou rolls her eyes at June before answering.
“You know how tour speculation is, Daddy. He was helping me get custom-made IEMs, and then there was a fan incident where pictures made it look like something it wasn’t. So rather than add a bunch of rumors to the tour, my social media manager reposted the picture with a tag about how good bodyguards are hard to find, or something.”
“It said, ‘Not all bodyguards are heroes, but mine is,’” June says.
I grimace more than I should, and Lou does, too.
“Is that really what it said? That is so lame,” she says.
I nod, while Wade, Winona, and their daughters laugh.
Screams of“He hit me!”and“She’s breathing my air!”come from the kitchen, and Nora shakes her head.
“Who is their mother?” Lou teases.
“More like, ‘Where is their father?’” Nora grumbles as she leaves us for the kitchen. “If he’s out splitting more wood because it makes him feel like a man’s man, I’m gonna grab that axe?—”
What she’s gonna do to her husband remains a mystery, as she’s already rounded the corner before she finishes. The rest of us follow.
Huge windows let in tons of light, making the kitchen look even more welcoming than it already is. I do a lot of cooking at the bar—nearly all of it—and I love a good kitchen. This one fitsthe bill, with a large farmhouse sink, butcher block countertops, and a beautiful old gas range.
“I hope y’all woke up hungry,” Winona says. She and Wade hold hands as they walk ahead. “We made a spread fit for a queen.”
Lou hangs back a couple of steps, and I say in a low voice, “But is it fit for a Queenie?”
She snorts. “Wow. I didn’t expect puns from you.”
“I’m a man of many layers,” I say.
She eyes me right before we get to the dining room. “Prove it,” she says archly.
I duck my head, not letting her see me smile.
We spend the next couple of hours with Lou’s family. Her assistant, Alicia, gets up and joins us, and soon, she and June are fast friends. When the driver wakes up, Winona insists he come in the house, too.
“I know what those tours are like. Catered bus food you stock up on at every stop is fine and all, but nothing beats a home-cooked meal.”
“Or fresh air,” Winona adds.
“Or space to move around,” Nora says, shaking her head like trying to rid herself of a memory.
