Page 171 of Love Felt Like This

“He’s an asshole,” he hisses through a snarl.

“Who?” I ask.

“Beau. His manager.” He waves his hand to the closed windows and then the general air. “All of this. Everyone.”

“Been telling you that for years,” Royce adds.

“Was that his manager on the phone?” I ask Jimmy.

“Yeah.”

“Called it,” Poe says.

Jimmy continues, “Says we’ve been harassing him. I said I wanted a public apology for his harassment.”

“Some good ole groveling, eh?” Poe says with a grin.

“And?” Royce asks.

Jimmy sighs. “Fat chance. He wouldn’t apologize to a deer, even if he swerved off the road to hit it.”

Poe cackles. “Damn, Jimmy.”

But I understand the sentiment. Beau knew exactly what he was doing when he outed Ava.

Jimmy claps his palms together. “But we move on! I’ve already put the word out that you will make no comments about Ava from now until the end of time. And that if anyone tries to talk to Beverly or her family, they’ll never get an interview with us again.”

“From now until the end of time?” Royce asks.

“Exactly.”

Jimmy falls onto the recliner as I look at my phone again. Still nothing. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch, constantly flaring up beneath the surface. I place my phone on the side table and stand up. If I sit around any longer, I’ll go crazy. The sooner I have music flowing from my fingertips, the better.

“Are we ready to go?” I ask.

Jimmy leans his head back and groans, “Please.”

Ava runs back to me. “B?”

That one letter is enough to make my heart sink.

“B?” Jimmy asks.

“She means Beverly.” I squat down, resting my palms on my knees. “B’s gonna be back in town soon,” I say to Ava, but her bottom lip pokes out, and I’ve never felt more attuned to my daughter than I do now.

“B go?” she asks.

“Yes, but we’ll see her again soon.”

Hopefully. Maybe.

I’m scared that those thoughts even cross my mind.

Ava starts to whine. I gather her in my arms and tuck her head under my chin.

“C’mon.” I rub her back. “Let’s go to the studio with Daddy.”

“E?”