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“Matt’s wife, Vivienne, used to be a food blogger and works for an online lifestyle magazine, and they were having some sort of conference here. Dylan and his wife live in L.A. and so it wasn’t a big deal for them to join them. But once Riley and Julian heard how the four of them were getting together, they decided to fly in too. And since I’m kind of part of the family...”
It was really a no-brainer.
Plus, she couldn’t wait to send pictures to Bree.
“You don’t have to cancel,” she told him. “Just know that...this is new to me. Your world isn’t my world, and it’s not just as simple as flipping a switch. I’m a bit of an introvert and...hanging out with rock stars feels a little weird to me.”
His smile was dazzling. Leaning in, he gave her a very thorough kiss. “Trust me. You have nothing to worry about with these guys. They’re all very down to earth and their wives are a bunch of sweethearts. You’re going to love them.” He stood and pulled out his phone. “What time should we tell them to join us?”
Ugh...I hate being put on the spot...
“I would kind of love a few hours to just relax. We’ve been going since early this morning and I was looking forward to just putting my feet up for a little while.”
“Done,” he said before walking away. Then she heard him say, “Dylan! Hey! We’re all set...”
What have I gotten myself into?
****
“Oh, I absolutely adore him now, but back when Matt and I first started dating? I cringed every time I saw him!” Vivienne Reed was saying several hours later.
“You poor thing!” Sienna said, reaching over to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t know if I would have ever been able to forgive him.”
“Well, to be fair, he really had no idea who I was and...while he could have taken a minute to actually find out, once I got a taste of what a Shaughnessy tour was like, I started to understand why Mick had to do the things that he did.”
“Definitely,” Paige chimed in. “I wasn’t prepared for the way the female fans pretty much would pop up in the most bizarre places! Only once did someone get into Dylan’s dressing room, but it completely freaked me out. Mick really upped the security after that.”
Sienna was sitting in the living room of their opulent suite drinking wine with Savannah Shaughnessy, Paige Anders, Vivienne Reed, and Charlotte Grayson—all the wives of the men of Shaughnessy. The guys were all in the game room and there was a lot of laughter coming from in there, but she was enjoying this chance to get to know some of the dirt on Mick.
“I know he always felt bad about it,” Savannah said, referring to Mick’s unfortunate first meeting with Vivienne many years ago. He’d thrown her out of not only Matt’s dressing room, but out of the arena and threatened to have her arrested. “Once you and Matt got together, he mentioned multiple times how much he regretted the way he handled things.”
“He was only doing his job,” Vivienne said graciously, “but...every once in a while, it sort of creeps up on me and I just feel like a fool.”
“You shouldn’t,” Charlotte said firmly. “It’s a strange way of life and I think we’ve all had moments where we’ve wondered what we’ve gotten ourselves into.” She looked over at Sienna. “It’s overwhelming, right?”
“Definitely. And I’ve only been traveling with him for a few days,” she admitted. “Actually, when we first got to the suite a few hours ago, I kind of had a little meltdown because I just see so much of this as excess.” She shrugged. “I don’t need to stay in a penthouse or be driven around in a limo. All I really wanted was to see some sights while I had some time off.”
“And you’re a...neuro...” Paige prompted.
Laughing softly, she said, “A neuropsychologist.”
“And you and Mick grew up together?” Savannah asked.
Nodding, she explained, “He was best friends with my brother, Jason. I always had a crush on him and I practically begged him not to go to L.A. all those years ago. Thank God he didn’t listen, right?”
All four of them looked at her in understanding.
“I think it’s great how the two of you met up again after all these years,” Paige said, “but let’s backtrack for a minute. What exactly does a neuropsychologist do?”
Sienna was so used to answering the question that she rarely had to even think about it. “Neuropsychologists specialize in understanding the brain and how changes to it may affect our emotions, our behavior, and our ability to think. Which is cognition; the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.”
Everyone nodded and so she added the rest of her typical job description.
“Basically, a neuropsychologist is trained to assess and treat people who experience difficulties with memory, concentration, planning, language, reasoning, and other aspects of learning and understanding. It’s really quite fascinating, even though I’m sure it sounds incredibly boring.”
“Are you kidding?” Charlotte asked. “I would love to sit down with you sometime—you know, like when you’re not on vacation—and learn more. I’m a social worker, but I’m always interested in learning more about people and why they might behave the way that they do.”
“I’ll be sure to give you my number before we leave,” Sienna said before smiling at the group.
