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“I’m fine!” Aurora’s voice didn’t sound like her own. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” And with that, she hung up the phone, her skin clammy.
“Aurora?” Greta appeared in the kitchen, smiling. “DeeDee’s ready for you.”
Aurora walked toward the interview set-up like a woman walking the plank.
“Aurora! It’s wonderful to have you. You’re our final interview.” DeeDee smiled in a fake way and gestured toward the seat across from her.
Aurora sat and glared at DeeDee, who folded her lips.
“Remember, this is an upbeat interview,” DeeDee told her, clearly frightened that Aurora’s anger would mess up viewership.
Aurora continued to stare straight at DeeDee, trying to size her up. Could she leech something important out of Aurora? According to Aurora’s mother, a guy at a bar had stolen her music lyrics and gotten enormously famous with a pop song. Another woman had stolen Aurora’s mother’s painting technique and gotten famous in Europe.
Aurora was thirty-five, which wasn’t too young to make her art matter to someone, somewhere. She just had to make sure it wasn’t taken from her.
When the cameras were rolling, DeeDee said, “Aurora, tell us a bit about your art. How would you describe it in three words or less?”
Aurora set her jaw. “Not for you.”
At this, DeeDee tossed her head back, clearly pleased with the answer. “Now, really, Aurora. Don’t you want to share your art with our viewers at home? We’ve already taken photographs of your painting. It’s extraordinary and dark. Would you say those are two words to describe your work?”
Aurora glared at DeeDee. Behind the camera, Greta twitched with fear, as though frightened of what Aurora would say next.Did this mean Greta really was in on it? Did it mean that all of her kindness so far, including the croissants, had been just an act to get Aurora to do what she wanted her to do?
Oh gosh. Aurora couldn’t trust anyone.
“All right. If you won’t tell us about your painting, what about your music?” DeeDee asked, just as the intern from before hurried forward and shoved a guitar in Aurora’s arms. Aurora gazed at the instrument.Did they really expect her to perform on command?
“I have a question for you,” Aurora shot back. “Why are you being so nosy?”
At this, DeeDee laughed again, but her laughter was losing its luster— proof she was nearly done messing around. “Not everyone gets to be an artist for a living, like you, Aurora. Everyone at home is jealous of what you do and just wants a little bit of insight on it.”
Aurora frowned. “Nobody deserves to know.”
DeeDee’s smile dropped, and she turned toward the cameraman and made a slashing motion over her neck. “I think we’re done here,” she said, standing up and clacking her heels over to the crew.
This left Aurora in the chair with the guitar in her arms, feeling a mix of pride and anger. She’d stood her ground with this horrible woman; she’d kept her secrets to herself. But as Greta walked toward DeeDee, frowning as they discussed what had just happened, Aurora was unsure of what to do. Only yesterday, she’d felt that Greta was her friend, a confidant. But now what?
ChapterTwelve
The Thursday before Saturday’s music festival, Ella awoke at her house with her bandmates, slipped into an oversize shirt, and wandered into the kitchen to find her bandmates eating cereal, chatting about music, brewing another pot of coffee, and basically pretending they were twenty-three again. It filled her heart with longing. Will came in soon after, kissed her, and poured them both bowls of cereal with fruit as Audrey clapped her hands and said, “All right. We don’t have long to practice, so we’d better get started.”
Ella cocked her head. “What do you mean? We have all day.”
Audrey winced, then gave Will a look that meant she’d made a mistake. She always made that face when she hit a wrong note on her keyboard.
“What’s up?” Ella demanded, her heart rate rising.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Will said, shaking his head at Audrey. “Audrey, I swear, you can never keep a secret, can you?”
Ella got her answer around noon when the doorbell rang. It was Laura, Alana, Julia, Scarlet, Anna, Catherine, Ivy, and Greta— all the women of The Copperfield House. And they’d come to kidnap her for the bachelorette party “of the century.”
“Oh my gosh!” Ella spun back toward her room to pack an overnight bag just as Audrey scurried past with her own bag.
“I can’t believe it, but your family is letting me party with you guys,” she said, high-fiving Scarlet on her way out. “I almost gave it away this morning.”
“Audrey!” Julia laughed. “We swore you to secrecy.”
“My husband knows that isn’t possible,” Audrey said.
