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“Did you sleep with her?”
Danny’s sigh was deep, but he looked his brother in the eye. “I did.”
If Joey was surprised by the honesty, his face didn’t show it. “Does Heather know?”
“No.” Danny’s voice was resigned. “But something changed. Deep down, you could just feel it. Lauren’s done with me.” He frowned. It still hurt to think that he wouldn’t be with her anymore, and to know she was leaving for her tour. The hurt was duller now, more an ache than the lancing pain it had been at first, but it never seemed to go away.
“Go ahead, tell me what an asshole I am.” The words were bitter in Danny’s mouth.
“You’re doing a pretty good job of that all by yourself. Don’t need my help.” Joey squeezed his shoulder and let go. “I don’t know, man. I can’t tell you if you should or shouldn’t have seen her. You gotta work that out for yourself.”
Danny glanced over at his brother. Joey was just like their father: circumspect, thoughtful, fair. He looked down at the yearbook that was still in his lap and put one hand on the cover. “It meant a lot to me when you said you’d back me no matter what I decided.”
Joey clapped him on the shoulder again, harder this time. “C’mon. Sitting up here staring at that old yearbook isn’t going to change anything. Let’s go eat and watch a little football.”
Several miles away, the engine of Augie’s Mustang rumbled as he pulled over and parked in front of the house where he grew up. It was a half-mile from Lauren’s parents’ place. He smiled as he turned off the engine and ran his hands over the steering wheel.
“You are way too in love with this car,” Lauren said, easing up from the passenger seat.
“Whatever. I know every time you’re out in the little Lexus you’re leasing, you’re doing the exact same thing. Besides, what’s the point of being a rock star if you can’t have the stupidly fun cars that go with it?”
“Point taken,” she said with a laugh.
Augie opened his door. “Ready?”
“No, but I can’t change my mind now.” Lauren had barely made it three steps up the walk before Carolyn’s twins flew out the front door. They mobbed Lauren and then turned their attention to Augie, who managed to pick both boys up at the same time and hang them upside-down until they were shrieking with laughter. The twins were followed by two of Jackie’s brood, Joshua and Kristie. They tried very hard to remain cool and grown-up as they said hello, especially Kristie, who had turned sixteen over the summer.
As soon as Augie put them down, the twins pounced on Lauren again, pulling her inside and announcing to the world that they’d found Aunt Lauren wandering around outside. She was immediately wrapped up in a hug from Augie’s parents—her Uncle Bobby and Aunt Vivian. Carolyn shouted a hello from the other room. Steph gave Lauren a smile, but with her arms full of plates, couldn’t stop.
As she turned into the living room, Lauren squeezed between bodies—with both families, there were nearly thirty people stuffed into the house and yard. If she didn’t spend half her life surrounded by fans, roadies, and the press, Lauren would have found the chaos in the house utterly overwhelming. But she just settled in and let it move around her. Augie’s four brothers were in the back yard, but Lauren figured she’d wait for him to fight his way through the kitchen crowd so they could meet up with them together. It took Augie ten minutes to run the gauntlet from Stephanie to Carolyn to Jackie before he reached Lauren.
“Groupies got nothing on family,” Lauren said.
“You aren’t kidding! Come on, let’s go see my bros.”
A chorus of hellos greeted them when they walked outside. Augie’s brothers—Marty, Nate, Johnny, and Ryan—were all there. Marty and Nate’s wives were watching some of the younger kids play and waved at the two new arrivals. The conversation soon centered on the absence of Johnny’s longtime girlfriend and the fact that, after ten years, he still hadn’t proposed to her. It wouldn’t be a Stone family event if they didn’t give Johnny a hard time about not being married yet.
A piercing squeal interrupted the conversation as Nate’s daughter, Kate, came running toward them, her mother hot on her heels. Augie squatted down and held out his arms as she ran towards him.
“There’s my beautiful princess!” he said as he scooped her up. The three-year-old shrieked again, thrilled to be the center of attention. While Augie played with his niece, Lauren fielded questions from all four of her cousins, doing a fair job of keeping everything straight. If they knew about Danny, they didn’t say anything, although Marty and Nate’s wives pumped her for information about what Jon Bon Jovi and Dario D’Scala were really like.
Dinner was a loud, happy, boisterous affair that filled tables in two separate rooms. Lauren made sure she sat as far from Jackie as possible. As they worked their way through a mountain of food, the family asked Lauren and Augie about the new music and the tour. They promised everyone that for opening night at Madison Square Garden, there would be a suite and tickets for the whole family.
Dessert was served buffet-style in the kitchen, and Lauren jockeyed for a good spot in line, jokingly trying to shoulder out her niece, Kristie. She caught Augie’s arm as he walked by with a plate of pie.
“How’d you get to be first in line?”
“I’ve been lying in wait by the pantry for the past twenty minutes. No way I was missing your mom’s pumpkin pie. Only real reason I came here today.” He stuffed a bite in his mouth.
“Thanks for talking me into coming today, Augie. I’m glad I did.”
“De nada. Now if you’d just listen to me all the time.”
“Notgoing to happen. Go eat your pie.”
The dessert table almost had too much to choose from, and despite being full, Lauren finally settled on Aunt Viv’s cherry cobbler. The pumpkin pie was a temptation, but she figured she could always go back for more of that later. While she nibbled, she talked more with her cousins and caught up on the family gossip she’d missed during the meal. After dessert, Lauren grabbed her coat.
“I’m going to get some fresh air for a minute and play with the rug rats. Save me a good seat for the game,” she said to her father.
