Hitting the Right Note

by Rhonda Bowen

  “He?” Simon echoed.

  JJ stopped packing. “It’s not a he? It’s a she?”

  Simon laughed.

  “What do you know, Simon Massri!”

  “I’m not talking,” he said mischievously.

  “You know, don’t you!” JJ accused. “You know if it’s a girl or a boy!”

  “Of course, I know. I’m her doctor.”

  “Then you have to tell me,” JJ whined. “Pleeeese . . . I promise I won’t say anything.”

  “Ha! No way. You and your sisters can’t keep any secrets!”

  “That is not true!”

  “Really,” Simon said. “So I guess it was okay for me to know that you used to Google my name after you got back from Paris.”

  JJ screamed. “Ahh! Who told you that!”

  Simon laughed. “One of your sisters. I think her name was Zelia?”

  JJ closed her eyes as images of ways to kill her sister flipped through her brain. Zelia. One day her inability to keep a secret was really going to cost her her life.

  “How did she even know? The only person who knew that was Sydney, and Sydney didn’t even know that you were the guy, unless . . . Sheree!”

  JJ listened to Simon die of laughter on the other end of the line.

  “See what I mean?” he said, his British accent thicker at the end of his hearty laughter. “And you want me to tell you the baby’s sex? Sheree would be trying to kill me in the morning.”

  He chuckled again. “The lot of you are like a bad spy network.”

  JJ smiled and stood to get back to her packing. “You do have a point. But trust me, Zelia is the worst. You would never believe the secrets that girl has let out. If we want to do anything, or keep anything from Mom, we have to make sure she doesn’t know it.”

  “Yeah, there’s one like that in every family. In ours, it’s my mother. God bless her heart, she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life,” Simon said. “When my brother was going to propose to his girlfriend, he couldn’t figure out her ring size, so he asked my mother for help. Instead of just trying on one of Darla’s rings to get an idea of the size, Mum gets Darla to try on all these rings and then gives some convoluted excuse that she’s buying rings for all the women in the family for Christmas and needs to get them made in July so they would be ready in time. Of course, Darla doesn’t say a thing, and she acted surprised when Andrew proposed a month later. But later on, she admitted that my mother’s ring fiasco let her in on the whole thing.”

  JJ giggled. “Your poor mom. Not a dishonest bone in her whole body.”

  “Yeah,” Simon said. “You would love her. You should meet her one day.”

  “It seems only fair,” JJ said. “You’ve met my whole family, and we haven’t even gone out on a single date.”

  “Haven’t we?” Simon asked, amused. “I thought that was what we were doing when we went to the reserve.”

  “That was more like a kidnapping,” JJ said.

  “And dinner in New York?”

  “An apology for making me gag over your healing concoctions.”

  “Or your winnings from hustling me into drinking it with you,” Simon added.

  A knock on her hotel door pulled JJ from the bathroom.

  “I did not hustle you.”

  “Oh yes, you did.”

  She opened the door and froze.

  “Simon, there’s someone here. I have to go.”

  “Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice immediately turning serious.

  “Uh, I’m not sure yet.”

  “Call me later—no matter what time.”

  Since Simon’s tone didn’t offer much room for discussion, JJ agreed before ending the call. Then she gave her full attention to the surprise standing at her front door.

  “It’s almost midnight. What are you doing here?” JJ asked, checking the hallway to see that no one else was witnessing their exchange.

  “I’ll explain in the car,” Deacon said, sticking his hands in his pockets nervously. “Right now, I need you to get your coat and come with me. I need you to drive me somewhere.”

  Chapter 26

  Apprehension twisted inside JJ, but the look on Deacon’s face told her that he had come to her because he had no one else. So she grabbed her coat and her purse and followed him out the door of her suite. Deacon headed to the elevator, but JJ turned toward the door to the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Deacon asked, confused.

  “I don’t do elevators,” JJ said, her hand on the door to the stairwell.

  “We’re going up to the rooftop parking,” Deacon said. “I don’t have time to take the stairs.”

  “Then you don’t have time for me,” JJ said. “I don’t do elevators.”

  Deacon’s face wrinkled in confusion. “This some kind of phobia?”

  “Something like that.”

  He sighed. “Alright. Let’s go.”

  Neither of them spoke as they took the stairs up to the rooftop parking. Deacon’s hand on her back kept her close as they moved quickly through the sparsely lit parking area to the dark Navigator that Miles used to transport Deacon around while they were in Atlanta. This led to JJ’s first question.

  “Where’s Miles?” JJ asked.

  “Keeping an eye on Sabrina,” Deacon responded. He pressed a button on the key and the car chirped before the doors unlocked. Opening the driver’s door, he ushered JJ in before closing the door and coming around to settle himself on the passenger side.

  JJ closed her eyes and said a quick prayer before backing out of their spot and following the arrows toward the garage exit. Deacon typed in their destination on the GPS, and JJ waited until they were a few blocks away from the hotel before she opened her mouth again.

  “Okay, so you want to tell me what’s going on?” JJ asked.

  “Not really,” Deacon said. “But I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

  She looked over at him. He was wearing the same dark expression that he’d had since she opened her hotel-room door almost fifteen minutes earlier. She was starting to get used to Deacon’s severe mood swings, but this one she had never seen before. He was wearing shades, even though the night was dark, and weariness, like a heavy wet blanket, rested on his person.

  “I need to go see someone,” he said. “But no one can know about it. Not Kate, not Miles. No one.”

  “Not even Sabrina?”

  “Especially not Sabrina.”

  “But won’t they know you went somewhere, since you’re not out partying with everyone else as usual?” JJ asked.

  “Maybe, but they know Miles is my transportation, so they’ll just think I took someone back to my hotel room. There’s a DO NOT DISTURB on the door to support that.”

  JJ blinked. “So you would rather Sabrina think you are cheating on her than have her know where you’re going?”

  He turned to look at JJ. “I would rather lose Sabrina, and everything that comes with her, than let anyone know where I’m going. That’s how serious it is.”

  JJ’s head was spinning with questions. Where was she taking him? What was so important that he had to hide it from the people closest to him? And what did he mean about everything that came with Sabrina? More and more she felt she was missing some critical information connected to her bandmate.

  It took Deacon’s yelling her name for her to realize that she had missed the turn that the GPS ordered. She had to make a U-turn to get back on track.

  “Just take it easy,” Deacon said, glancing wearily from JJ to the rearview mirror. “I don’t need us getting stopped by the police. That’s why I asked you to drive me, anyway.”

  “What, you can’t drive yourself ?”

  “My license was suspended. DUI a couple months back. That’s why Miles drives me everywhere. And that’s why I couldn’t take the chance of driving myself. Sure, it’s late and I might not get caught, but if I did, it would be in the news everywhere and that would ruin everything.”

  “Loo
k, Deacon, I’m not feeling real comfortable with this,” JJ said, beginning to slow down. Maybe there was time for her to back out. “If this is something illegal . . .”

  “It’s not,” Deacon said, touching JJ’s hand on the steering wheel. “It’s just something that no one can know about. After what you did back in Philly, I know I can trust you.”

  “Deacon, you don’t know me,” JJ said. “You don’t know that I won’t sell your secret to the tabloid willing to pay the highest price.”

  “I do know,” Deacon said. “And when we get where we’re going, you’ll see why.”

  They were both quiet the rest of the ride, as the city faded behind them, making way for the Atlanta suburbs. A little more than an hour later, JJ pulled up to a massive metal gate and the GPS announced that they had reached their destination.

  Deacon pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number from memory.

  “I’m here.”

  The gates creaked slightly as they swung open on their own, and JJ followed the long driveway under a canopy of trees until a huge, three-story mansion came into sight. She began to have flashbacks of the night she first auditioned for Deacon. She wondered if tonight was going to be a similar life-changing experience.

  JJ stopped the SUV in front of the walkway that led to the main entrance. The front doors opened, silhouetting a tiny female figure.

  “Let’s go, we don’t have a lot of time.” Deacon jumped out of the vehicle and JJ followed suit, having to jog a little to catch up with him before he disappeared inside the house.

  As JJ entered, the house seemed as large as Deacon’s but felt different—more homey. The front doors led into a wide passageway that opened up into a living area. Even through the muted lighting JJ could see the plush, overstuffed couches with colorful throws tossed over them. A few stuffed animals were scattered about, and a stack of colorful DVDs sat on the floor below the large flat-screen television.

  “How is he?” Deacon asked the older woman who had met them at the door, as he cut through the living room toward the stairs.

  “Still weak, but better now than he was a few days ago,” the woman said. She touched Deacon’s arm. “Ever since you called, he’s been asking for you.”

  JJ saw the pain in Deacon’s features and her mind raced. Who was this person who Deacon needed to secretly see? His father? A brother? The woman leading their way up the stairs could easily be Deacon’s mother, but he wasn’t relating to her as if she was a parent. Then before she could question further, the door to a bedroom opened and JJ saw.

  She let out a gasp. Even with his flushed, caramel-colored skin and shock of tightly coiled brownish-black hair, the resemblance between the little boy and Deacon was obvious. No one had to tell her. This was Deacon’s son.

  “Uncle D!”

  “Xavier!”

  The little boy’s face broke into a wide grin and his eyes lit up when he saw Deacon. Sinking down onto the side of the bed, Deacon pulled the little boy into his arms and held him close. JJ was almost sure she heard something like a sniffle, but she couldn’t be sure because Deacon’s back was to her.

  “How are you, little man?” Deacon asked when he finally let the boy go.

  “I’m okay,” Xavier said. “Grandma says I’m getting better.”

  “What are you doing up so late?” Deacon chided. “It’s way past your bedtime.”

  “Mommy said you were coming tonight, and I wanted to wait up until you came,” Xavier said. “Plus I’ve been sleeping all day. Mommy wouldn’t even let me play video games. All I could do was read books.”

  Xavier made a face to let them know how he felt about that, and Deacon chuckled. JJ had to cover her mouth to hide her own laughter.

  “Is that so?” Deacon said with smile.

  “Yes,” Xavier said, nodding. “Ask Grandma. Isn’t it true, Grandma?”

  The older woman chuckled and nodded. “It is.”

  “Okay, Xavier, it’s time for bed,” a voice called. From her position just outside the door, JJ couldn’t see who, but knew that tone well enough to know it could only come from a mother.

  “But Mo-mmmy . . .”

  “No buts! You wanted to wait up see your uncle and now you’ve seen him. I’m taking your temperature and then you’re going back to sleep.”

  Something pricked at the back of JJ’s mind, but she couldn’t quite reach it. She moved away from the door to give Deacon and his “family” a few private moments together. Looking over the banister, she got a full view of the living room. She noted the piano in the corner, which she had missed during her earlier observations. Somehow it made sense that Deacon would be involved with another musician. Isn’t that the way it went in this business?

  “See you in the morning, little man.”

  “Good night, Xavier.”

  “Good night, Mommy. Good night, Uncle.”

  JJ turned around just as the door to Xavier’s bedroom closed. Then she got the second shock of the night. She gasped.

  “Now you see why I knew I could trust you,” Deacon said as he caught her shocked expression. “JJ, Xavier is my son.”

  He glanced at the familiar woman who was at his side, watching JJ. “This is Cymmone. She’s Xavier’s mother.”

  Chapter 27

  “So let me see if I understand this: Xavier is Deacon’s son, but Xavier thinks Brady is his father?” JJ asked.

  It was the following morning and she was sitting at the kitchen counter having breakfast with Cymmone. She had spent the night in Cymmone’s guest room while Deacon had slept on a cot in Xavier’s room. During the night, Xavier’s fever broke and he had woken up with more energy than the day before. Through the patio doors, JJ could see him playing out back with Deacon.

  “Yes,” Cymmone said. “When I stepped back from the spotlight, I was already pregnant with Xavier. Brady knew about it, but he also knew that I loved him and that there would never be anything between me and Deacon. In spite of my pregnancy, he still wanted to marry me. So I said yes.”

  “But why let Xavier think Brady is his dad?”

  Cymmone sighed. “That was all Deacon’s idea. He didn’t want Xavier growing up in the spotlight, being constantly photographed and followed around. He wanted him to live an ordinary life, the way Deacon had, growing up. He knew that if people knew Xavier was his son, that would never happen.”

  “And Brady was okay with that?” JJ knew she was asking very personal questions, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  “Not at first, but Deacon insisted, and after a while, we all just agreed.” Cymmone looked toward the patio. “Sometimes I wonder, though, if that was the right decision.”

  JJ followed Cymmone’s gaze to where Deacon and Xavier were horsing around. She watched Xavier squeal as Deacon picked him up and spun him around a little. JJ had never seen Deacon look so happy—not even when he was onstage.

  “He loves that little boy,” JJ said absently.

  “And Xavier adores him too,” Cymmone said. “Sometimes I wonder if somewhere deep inside he already knows the truth.”

  JJ was struggling. She tried to understand what Cymmone, Deacon, and Brady must have been going through, the circumstances that had caused them to make the decision they made. But having grown up most of her life in a situation where her parents didn’t live together, she had a perspective that maybe was unfamiliar to Deacon and Cymmone. And despite the challenges her family situation may have caused, she would never have wanted her parents to lie to her about any of it.

  “You can’t think there’s anyway this could end well,” JJ said. “Xavier is going to figure out the truth one day, and if it’s not from you or Deacon or Brady, he’s going to end up resenting one or all of you for it. And even if you break it to him later on, how devastated and angry is he going to be about having grown up being told a lie?”

  Cymmone’s eyes were glassy when she turned to look at JJ again.

  “I think about that every day. Believe me, I do,” she said, he
r quiet voice shaking. “But it’s complicated. Brady loves Xavier like his own. He was there when he was born. He could never think of him as anything but his son. And maybe if Deacon was a deadbeat dad, this would be easier. But he’s not. He loves Xavier too. Anytime Xavier needs Deacon, he’s there. Why do you think I was in Philly the same time as the tour? Xavier wanted to see Deacon, and that was the only way to do it without drawing too much attention. You remember a year ago, Deacon canceled the last three shows of his tour?”

  “Yeah,” JJ said. “I remember fans were upset, until they were offered free tickets to a show later in the year. News said it was because Deacon was injured during a rehearsal.”

  Cymmone shook her head. “Xavier swallowed a pen cap and it got stuck in his throat. We had to rush him to emergency. Deacon was there before Xavier was even admitted.”

  “Pilgrimage to Africa right before this tour?” Cymmone offered.

  JJ’s mouth fell open. “No way . . .”

  Cymmone nodded with a smile. “Camping with Xavier, Brady, and my brother.”

  “But there were pictures!”

  “From when he went there earlier this year.”

  JJ sat back in her chair and looked outside again at Deacon with a new appreciation. “Wow.”

  “Yeah. I know this doesn’t make sense to you, JJ, and you probably think we’re wrong for doing this, but we don’t see any other way,” Cymmone said, getting up from her stool and taking her mug over to the kettle. “It’s not just about keeping Xavier out of the spotlight, it’s also about raising him in a way that is pleasing to God. Deacon would make a great dad, but the way he lives would be a lousy example of the kind of man Xavier should be. I want Xavier to grow up in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ. I want him to have a personal relationship with Christ—to see him as his all in all. How could God want him to grow up in an environment where that would be impossible?”

  “So you’re saying God wants you to lie to your son instead,” JJ said.

  Cymmone’s mug slipped through her fingers and tipped over on the counter, creating a soppy mess of green tea that spread across the surface and began to drip onto the floor.