Rhett stuffs his hands in his pockets. “How you doing, Rory? Heard you’ve had a tough time.”
“I’m better now. Thanks for coming.” Since they only know about Edmond, Jace fills them in about Susan and how he’s taking off a week or two to stay with me.
Paige looks dumbstruck. “Your manager’s wife attacked you? She seemed so nice.” After I share what happened, I play the video for everyone. Paige shakes her head. “Thank goodness you recorded her. What made you think to do that?”
I rub the bump on my head. “She’d been talking about serial killers, and something felt wrong. I didn’t have time to call anyone. Recording felt like the only thing I could do that might matter later. You know, in case I wasn’t around to explain it.”
She shivers, and Jace sits on my other side and wraps his arms around me. “God, don’t say that.”
I grab his arm and turn to look at him. “You should stick with the tour. You have a music festival next weekend. You shouldn’t miss that. I can fly out to Chicago and meet you in a few days.”
He goes still. Studies me for a long moment. “Explain.”
I blink. “What?”
He tilts my chin up so I have to look at him. “That thing you do where you make everything easier for everyone else and harder for yourself. Explain why you’re doing that right now.”
My throat tightens. “Because the tour matters?—”
“You matter.” He says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “More than the tour. More than Niles. More than any of it.” He runs his thumb over my cheek. “I’m not leaving you. So you can stop trying to make me feel okay about it.”
I press my face into his chest and let him hold me.
Paige clears her throat. “Bay and I can stay with Rory until she recovers. That way you don’t get in trouble with your label.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I don’t like the idea of leaving her.”
When I lean back and our eyes meet, my heart melts. Has he always looked at me like this? Like I’m some great treasure? “You’re not leaving me. Not really. And I won’t be alone.”
He sighs. “Let me think about it.”
When everyone leaves, Paige takes Layla to her room so we can get a little downtime. When Jace and I slide into bed, I wrap my arm around him. “The thing that scared me the most was when Susan said she was going to let you think I ghosted you. I hope you know I’d never do that.”
He pulls me closer. “I know that, baby. Go to sleep.”
I yawn. “But what about the make-up sex?”
“There’s time for that. Get some rest. You’ve been through a lot, and I wanna take care of you.” He turns to kiss me. “Don’t worry. When you’re not black and blue, we’re gonna tear up the sheets.”
I can’t wait.
57
RORY
The wind blows,and I smile as I inhale the scent of cotton candy. The sun is setting as I make my way through the growing crowd. I’m grateful I don’t have to push Layla through these fairgrounds. They’re enormous. And bless Paige and Baylee for helping us. They flew out to Chicago with us and are staying one more day to babysit tonight.
I eventually talked Jace into going to his next concert date. It took some back and forth because he was adamant about taking care of me. Once he was sure I was recovering, he relented when I told him I’d made peace with his band, but if he bailed on them, they’d be upset with me again. In the meantime, he missed a radio interview, but the station let him call in, so he joined his bandmates virtually.
I’m relieved because I don’t want to be responsible for messing up his career, and canceling a show is a huge deal. But I love him to pieces for wanting to stay with me.
Although he agreed to go, he had the band take the bus up to Chicago without him, and he flew up yesterday for the Skyline Summerfest. He wanted to stay with me as long as possible to make sure I was fully recovered. Paige, Baylee, Layla, and I flewup this afternoon. My sisters-in-law stayed with Layla back at the hotel since the flight wiped her out.
This is a huge event, and I’m so glad I could make it. I text Quinn to let her know I’m in town and confirm we can do lunch tomorrow.
I gently press the bruise on my head. It’s tender, but the swelling has gone down a lot, and my hair hides it. Otherwise, I feel pretty good.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the map and try to figure out if I’m headed in the right direction. Wayward Sons is playing on a stage on the north side of Grant Park, which is a massive, sprawling garden in downtown Chicago that’s sandwiched between Lake Michigan and towering skyscrapers.
