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His voice was whiskey-soaked gravel. For the briefest moment, she felt the old breathlessness claim her. This man had once been her world. She’d flown across the ocean on an hour’s notice to be with him. London, Tokyo, West Berlin. It didn’t matter where. Night after night as he’d come offstage, she’d stripped the tight, sweat-soaked costume from his body, smoothed his long, damp hair with her fingers, parted her lips, parted her thighs, made him feel like a god.
But in the end, it was only rock and roll.
Their last face-to-face communication had taken place the day she’d told him she was pregnant. From then on, everything had been handled through an intermediary, including the blood test after Dean was born. How bitterly she’d resented Jack for that.
She pulled herself back together. “Just me and the frogs. How have you been?”
“My hearing’s shot, and I can’t get it up anymore. Otherwise…”
She only believed the first part. “Lay off the booze, cigarettes, and teenagers. You’ll be amazed how good you’ll feel.” She didn’t need to mention drugs. Jack had cleaned up his act years before she’d been able to.
A leather and silver bracelet slipped down on his wrist as he ambled forward. “No more teenagers, April. Cigarettes, either. I haven’t smoked for a couple of years. And hasn’t that been a mission from hell? As for the booze…” He shrugged.
“I guess you geezer rockers need at least one vice.”
“I have a few more than that. How about you?”
“I got a speeding ticket on my way to Bible study a few months ago, but that’s about it.”
“Bullshit. You’ve changed, but not that much.”
He hadn’t always been able to see through her so easily, but he was older now and, presumably, wiser. She shrugged her hair from her face. “I don’t have much interest in vice anymore. Too busy making a living.”
“You look great, April. Really.”
Better than he did. For the last decade she’d worked hard to repair the damage she’d done to herself, detoxifying with endless cups of green tea, hours of yoga, a little nip and tuck.
He tugged on a small skull earring. “Do you remember how we used to laugh at the idea of a rocker over forty?”
“We used to laugh at the idea of anybody ever reaching forty.”
He stuffed a hand in his pocket. “AARP wants me to pose for the cover of their fucking magazine.”
“Damn their black hearts.”
His crooked smile hadn’t changed, but she wasn’t going to wander down memory lane with him. “Did you see Riley?”
“A couple of minutes ago.”
“She’s a sweet kid. Blue and I have been quite taken with her.”
“Blue?”
“Dean’s fiancée.”
He pulled his hand from his pocket. “Riley came here to see him, didn’t she?”
April nodded. “Dean’s tried to stay away, but she’s persistent.”
“I wasn’t the one who told Marli about him. She had a fling with my former business manager last year and weaseled out the information. Until I got your message, I didn’t know Riley had found out.”
“This is a hard time for her.”
“I know. I had some things I needed to take care of. Marli’s sister was supposed to be watching out for her.” He glanced toward the cottage. “Riley said she left her jacket.”
“No. She wasn’t wearing her jacket when she came here.”
“She was stalling, then.” He slipped his hand in his shirt pocket, as if he were looking for cigarettes. “I could use a beer.”
