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Cole remained quiet and withdrawn on the ride home. Her mother tried to draw her out, but Cole rebuffed her attempts and went straight to her room. An hour later, she reappeared. She waited in the doorway while her mother pulled the last few plates out of the dishwasher.
“Did I mess up Uncle Danny’s marriage?”
Maggie bobbled the last dish. “Oh! Cole, I didn’t know you were there.”
“Sorry. I was thinking about what Nanny said. About everything.” Her voice quavered. “This mess is my fault, isn’t it?”
“Oh, sweetheart, no. Come here.” Maggie gestured her over and hugged her. She kissed the top of Cole’s head. “This is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself for any of this. They’ve been star-crossed from the start.”
Cole broke free of the hug and leaned on the kitchen island. “But if I hadn’t written the paper, then that Roberta lady never would have called. And we never would have gone to the Sandoval show. That was where everything started, right? And it was all because of my stupid paper.”
“Maybe that was the first time they saw each other, Cole, but your uncle and Lauren are both adults. Everything that happened after that came from decisionstheymade.” Maggie leaned on the island across from her daughter. She reached out and put one of her hands over Cole’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You didn’t make them do anything.”
Cole wanted to believe her mother, but it wasn’t easy.
ChapterThirty-Four
Danny was worried that lots of people would notice the photo, the same way everyone seemed to know about the Sandoval interview. But when he went to work on Monday, only two people brought it up. Unfortunately, both seemed to think they had every right to ask him very personal questions about the party and about his relationship with Lauren. It made him angry, and he was grateful when he and Matsui got sent out to investigate a case.
As he was driving them to interview a witness, Danny said, “Thanks, Jason.”
“For what?”
“For not giving me shit today.”
“About the picture?”
Danny slowed the car ahead of a stoplight to let another car into traffic. “Go on, go,” he said, waving at the other driver before answering Jason’s question. “Yeah. Some people seem to think they have the right to know all about my business.”
“Kinda comes with the territory, doesn’t it? Public figures don’t always get the luxury of privacy.”
“I’m not a public figure.”
“You’re in a relationship with one. Guilt by association.”
Danny frowned, Jason’s phrasing hitting him on a couple of levels. In the past, he’d dealt with the rich and famous in investigations, and he’d never had much sympathy when they complained about having no privacy. He’d reacted the same way Jason did: it was the life they signed up for. But now that he was in the hot seat, he had a new appreciation for how they felt.
And he didn’t like it at all.
“C’mon, go! Idiot. Step on the gas!” He yelled at the car ahead and didn’t bother answering Jason.
“But since you brought it up, what was the party like?” Jason asked.
“Pretty incredible. I had a great time, don’t get me wrong. But watching her and the guys? They’re so at ease. I mean, I know celebrities are just people, but I sorta felt like I was pretending to be one of them when I’m really not.”
“I guess you’d get used to it, but… do you even want to?”
After a pause, Danny offered a surprisingly candid answer: “I don’t know. When I’m with Lauren everything seems to work, but when I’m alone… I just think and think about her, about Heather. About the two different worlds.” He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel.
Jason made a non-committal grunt. “Heather seen the picture?”
Danny tightened his knuckles. “Probably. I haven’t talked to her since Friday. They’ll be here this weekend for a visit—my niece’s birthday—so I’m sure I’ll find out.”
Truth be told, Danny was a little terrified of how Heather would react.
On Tuesday, Lauren stayed late at the studio. The Kingmakers had all come in early to try making up lost time. They’d made decent progress on one song, which was more than they could say happened the previous day. But Lauren was keenly aware that she was the main reason they were behind. She stayed after everyone left to noodle through some more lyrics. Finally, she’d also insisted that Tisha go home as well.
By the time seven o’clock rolled around, she’d had enough and was ready to head out. Maybe she could get a little more done after a relaxing bath. As she shut the lights out in Studio D, Lauren heard the little alert bell for the front door chime. She berated herself for being forgetful: she’d told Tisha that she’d take care of locking the door. She walked cautiously to the front lobby.
