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He raised his chin. “I have some things on my mind, but I’m here now. It’s all good.”
“Something you want to talk about?” she asked.
“In the middle of rehearsal?”
“If you brought it into rehearsal, it must be important.” Her hands slid from her hips to tuck into the back pocket of her jeans. “Come on, Roddy.”
Something silent passed between them. Adam watched while Callum closed his eyes and dipped his head, staying so still, he seemed to be meditating. Neither moved to interfere. They let Iris take the lead with Rodrigo, whose rhythm had been so slightly off, I hadn’t noticed. But my focus hadn’t really been on him, and I was no fuckin’ expert.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. Since this seemed to be a moment between the band, I stepped out into the hall to answer my ex-wife’s call.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
“Ronan.” She said my name like she was in the middle of laughing. She always had. When we were young and in love, it was one of the things she did that would make my heart feel much too big for my chest. Now, it felt like nostalgia biting me with sharp, serrated fangs.
“I’ll be in town on the weekend. Let’s have dinner.”
I huffed, hackles rising at her assumption. “And if I have plans? If I’m working?”
I could almost hear her roll her eyes. “It’s been months since we’ve seen one another. I think you can manage to rearrange your schedule for an evening. Bring Finn. I’ll have my assistant, Bea, with me. He’ll like her.”
With a sigh, I slapped the wall beside me. Having known Elizabeth most of my life, she knew damn well what kind of reaction her demands would bring out of me. She wanted me to reprimand her so she could laugh and tell me she didn’t have to do what I said anymore. More than half a decade apart, and she still took glee in getting under my skin.
“Text me your schedule. I’ll see if I can find the time.”
She paused, probably put off by my answer. Not the easy agreement nor the verbal smackdown she’d been expecting.
“I hope you can, Ronan. Seeing you and Finny always reminds me of home.”
“Have you been back?” I asked.
“Not for so long. I flew my mam and da out to see me last month. I took them to Disneyland. I’ll text you a picture of them in Mickey and Minnie ears. It was a sight, Ro, I’m telling you.”
I snorted a laugh. “Did you have them too?”
She groaned. “Fine, I’ll text a pic of me in my Minnie ears too.”
I shook my head. “Wait and show me in person, that way you can see me laughing at you. I bet you looked adorable, Lizzy.”
“Oh, fuck right off, you. Call me Lizzy again and you’ll be the one wearing Minnie ears. They’ve got pink sequins which will look lovely on you.”
A squeak on the tile behind me had me spinning around. Iris darted by quickly, pointing to the restroom on the other side of the hall. Alert now, I quickly said goodbye to Elizabeth with a promise to be in touch with my schedule.
I stood outside the restroom, waiting for Iris to emerge. When she did a minute later, her steps faltered and she turned her frown on me.
“I can go to the bathroom by myself.”
“I don’t doubt that. But since I was already out here, I thought it would be nice to walk you back into rehearsal.”
She slid her eyes to the side, then snapped back to the front. “You didn’t have to end your call. It sounded entertaining.”
“It was, but I’m working, and we were finished anyway.”
She gripped the handle of the door to the rehearsal space. “Okay.”
One word had never been more loaded. What I couldn’t decipher was exactly what it might have been loaded with. It appeared to be jealousy, but that was impossible. I couldn’t imagine Iris had ever been jealous a day in her life. Not of other beautiful women. Not of lovers gaining attention from someone else. Not of her bodyguard taking a phone call from a woman.
Rehearsal went on for a couple more hours. Iris stopped twice more, getting on both Adam and Callum’s case. She didn’t yell or get angry, but she was firm and direct. For their part, her bandmates did not argue with her. They took in her directions or corrections like soldiers to their general.
