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At Jett’s side is his wife, Heather, a gorgeous blonde who’s always smiling.
If only I were at Jesse’s side…as his partner.
Sadness sweeps through me. That’s never going to be. He’s made it quite clear.
“Ugh,” Maddie says. “We’ll never get through to see Jett or Zane.”
“We could talk to Rory and Jesse.”
“Who cares about Rory and Jesse? They’re my brother and sister. We can see them anytime.”
I’m not sure how to respond to that. “Don’t you think they did great?”
“Of course,” Maddie gushes. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard them perform better. Maybe it was just the acoustics here. It’s probably a better venue than they’ve ever played. But they were awesome. They rocked so hard.”
“Theywereawesome. I can’t believe how talented they are.”
“I know. They’re amazing, and then there’s Callie the super brain.” Maddie sighs. “One day I’ll find my special power.”
“You will. In fact, I can already tell you what it is, Mads.”
“What’s that?”
I lightly touch Maddie’s upper arm. “Your kindness. Your empathy. You feel things.”
She feels things very deeply, something I failed to observe as her supposed friend. I won’t let that happen again.
She rolls her eyes. “That’s hardly a superpower.”
“I think it is.” I give her a quick hug. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? All these VIPs came to see Emerald Phoenix, but they’re paying attention to Dragonlock as well.”
“Itispretty cool. I never imagined that…” She smiles, closing her eyes for a moment. “The only thing better than this would be if I met my true love on this trip.”
“You’re certainly in a sea of European hotties.”
She grabs my wrist. “What if we both fell in love on this trip, Brianna? I mean, it doesn’t even have to be the everlasting kind of love. Think of it. Maybe a romance in Paris.”
I wish I could get excited with her, but I’m already in love, and he doesn’t feel even close to the same way. “Maddie, we’re only going to be in Paris for a couple of days.”
“I know. Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”
“You’re romanticizing it.”
“But Paris is the city of romance. And we’re going there in a mere”—she counts on her fingers—“four days.”
“No, it’s longer than that. We have to get to Edinburgh, do a concert there, then Glasgow for another concert, and then back to London for an encore concert.Thenwe go to Paris.”
“Yes, I know. I can count, you know. I’m just too excited. I guess more like five days, right?”
“Yeah. Or a week. It’s a long time. I can’t believe we’re going to be gone for so long. Don’t you think you’re going to start missing your ranch?”
“Not really,” Maddie says. “I don’t even miss Mom and Dad that much. If things had gone as planned, I’d still be at school. Of course, they’d be a lot closer and I could see them whenever I wanted. What about you? Do you miss your mom and dad? Dale? Diana?”
“Since Diana lives in Denver, I don’t see much of her. And I’ve always been closer to Donny than I am to Dale. But yeah, I miss them all. I miss my dad especially. I still feel pretty guilty about leaving him. He was so excited to get me started in the orchard when I graduated early.”
I do miss Mom and Dad. And Dale. And Dee. And the orchard. Dad says he’s going to expand the Granny Smith orchard, which is my favorite apple. I love the light-green hue, and I love the crisp flavor that’s a perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Kind of like how I’m feeling about Jesse at this moment. I’m thrilled for his success with this performance, so happy for him that he’s realizing his dream. But I’m sad, so sad, that he doesn’t return my feelings. That he doesn’t want me.
