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Nora shrugged. “She mentioned that to me after that abominable date last week. All about how she was—how did she put it?—focusing on loving herself first.”
“Yeah. That’s what she said to me, too. How long do you think she’ll hold out if Julian pursues this?”
“A week,” Nora said with a laugh.
“I’ll take that bet,” I said, winking at her as I disappeared to find Jordan.
I was happy for Jennifer.
This spring, she’d gone through a string of bad dates. Like really bad dates. She’d put herself out there, and it had backfired wildly. I didn’t know if she’d go for Julian again, but I couldn’t wait to find out.
I bypassed security to get backstage and found the entirety of Cosmere lounging around at a long table. I tried to suppress my flutter of fangirling. Campbell was a totally normal guy. Why wouldn’t the rest of them be the same?
“Annie!” Campbell said, jumping up from his seat and dragging me over to the rest of the band. He’d been back a few times since the last show. He claimed Lubbock brought him inspiration, and he was writing like he hadn’t in years.
“Annie, this is the band. Yorke on guitar.” He pointed to a tall, broad guy with hair pulled into a man bun and a full beard. “Vivian on bass.”
“Viv,” she corrected him. “Just call me Viv.”
Viv had electric-purple hair cut into a sharp bob. She was a stunner.
“This is Santi,” Campbell said, pointing to the drummer in a destroyed black T-shirt and a pair of drumsticks. “And Michael on keys.”
Michael had short black curls and honey eyes that the girls went wild for. Not speaking from experience…
“Nice to meet you all,” I said a little breathlessly. “I was looking for Jordan.”
“Oh, he just stepped out.”
I nodded at them all again, trying to ignore the fangirling, and headed to the back entrance. Just as I got to it, Jordan opened the door.
“Annie.”
“Hey, I was looking for you.”
He tugged me tight against him and pressed his lips against mine. “I missed you.”
“You too.”
Jordan was true to his word. There had been no repeat of what had happened. Not even a sign of his fury. It wasn’t completely gone, of course. Nothing could just disappear, but we were working on it together. He’d come a long way.
“I do have someone that I want you to meet though.”
“You do?” I asked in surprise.
He hadn’t mentioned that anyone else was coming to the opening.
“Yeah. It was unexpected for me. Julian doesn’t even know yet.”
I arched my eyebrows. “Who—”
But my question was cut off by the man who stepped into the back entrance of the winery with all the presence of a Wright. He looked so much like Jordan and Julian that there was no denying that this was their father.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Annie, this is my dad.”
Owen Wright stuck his hand out. “Annie, I’ve heard so much about you. It’s truly a pleasure to finally meet you.”
I’d heard a lot about Owen over the years. That he was a terrible father, tried to steal the company from Morgan, and generally ruined his sons’ lives. But since Jordan and I had gotten back together, I’d also heard all the good stories about Owen. The ones that he’d tried not to remember in all of his anger at his dad. I’d known that they were trying for some sort of reconciliation. I just hadn’t expected…well, this.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I said as I shook his hand.
“I think I have you to thank for this,” Owen said.
“Me?”
“Yes, I think you’re the cause for this all-new Jordan. I’m proud of how far he’s come and happy that he’s found someone so incredible in his life.”
I flushed at the compliment. “I’m just glad that he’s happy.”
“And I am,” Jordan said, slipping a hand around my waist.
“Well, we should do dinner while I’m in town,” Owen said. “Maybe Julian and his girlfriend could come, too.”
Jordan winced. “Julian isn’t seeing anyone right now. But the three of us would be great.”
“Agreed,” Owen said. “I’m going to go find him before this concert gets started and I miss the chance.”
Jordan looked conflicted about it but eventually let him go. His dad disappeared from backstage to find Julian.
“This is a huge step, Jordan.”
“Yeah. We’re really doing better. Julian still doesn’t want to talk to him though. So…I don’t know how that conversation is going to go.”
“It’s going to be fine,” I assured him. “The show is about to start anyway. So, they won’t have long to talk.”
“It won’t take long for my dad to screw it up. Maybe I should…”
“Let Julian deal with his own problems. You can’t protect him from everything.”
“I know,” he said finally. “Still hard.”
I pressed another kiss to his lips, and he pulled me back out of the barn. Cosmere was set to go on any minute. I could hear that they’d let in the massive crowd from outside. I giggled as Jordan pushed me into the side of the barn.
