by CL Rowell
I snickered, covering my mouth to muffle my laughter. I loved this girl, already, and we hadn’t even met yet.
“Julie!” Leo frowned at me, shaking his head.
“Yes, Daddy.” Sticking out my tongue, I turned back to listen.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know if anything would come of it. I didn’t want to either get your hopes up or piss you off for nothing.“
“I almost didn’t reply, either.” I spoke up, defending Lucy. Wiggling free, I stepped closer.“Their fans see the pictures on my page, of me with them, and message me, asking for an introduction—some of them are pretty clever, too. I was just about to click delete, thinking hers was just another one of those, but then I saw a familiar name—yours.”
She looked around, meeting my eyes. “Julie!”
“I was surprised when you ran out of the concert like you did. I didn’t know what to think.” I peeked at Jessie from the corner of my eye as I added, “Poor Jessie was devastated. He barely finished the show—and that pissed off the guys—but I kept telling him there had to be an explanation. I don’t know you very well, but you didn’t seem like a flake.” I paused, blushing and near tears, then blurted, “I agreed to give him her number—but I can’t believe you thought I’d go after your man. That hurt!”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight. So much had happened.” She squeezed my fingers, then met Jessie’s eyes, sighing. “You and I need to talk. There are things you need to know.”
“I know.” He nodded.
Lucy snickered. “No…” She shook her head, “You don’t know. You really don’t.”
I wondered what she meant, but it wasn’t my place to ask.
Then…
“Congrats on the mini me,” someone yelled out, and Callie stiffened, her face white as a sheet.
“Oh, shit,” Lucy groaned, burying her face in Callie’s hair, “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
But he didn’t listen.
“Looks just like you, man,” Todd kept talking, “I seen him in town a few times. Don’t need no paternity test on that one, do ya?”
Every ounce of animation and color drained out of Jessie before our eyes. Pain replaced tentative expectation and happiness. Apparently, Todd noticed it, because he didn’t say another word. Too little too late, though.
Her voice barely over a whisper, Cassie spoke, “Jessie, I—“ But before she could say more, he pushed past her and ran down the ramp. Too late, she yelled, “Jessie, wait!” But he didn’t look back.
“Phillip!” I grabbed his arm. “Go after him!”
“Smooth move, Ex-Lax,” Leo snarled, balling his fists and narrowing his eyes at her, obviously fighting not to lash out physically. “Hate to burst your bubble, but—no, actually, I don’t. That was a lie. Please allow me the pleasure of bursting it. I don’t know what your game is, but Jessie can’t father kids. He’s sterile. Way to make him feel like shit, though. Greedy slut.”
Wide-eyed, I leaned closer to Phillip and whispered, “Is that true?”
Before he could answer, Lucy grabbed Callie’s phone and stepped up toe to toe with Leo, showing absolutely no fear.
“Watch who you’re calling slut, asshole.” She almost shoved the phone through his head. “Look at that kid—look at him, and then tell me Jessie can’t have kids. Callie’s no slut.” She jabbed her finger at his chest. “She was a virgin before that night, and she hasn’t been with anyone else but him since then. Tell your friend to get his shit re-checked.”
“He’s not my friend…well, not just my friend. Jessie’s my brother.” He stared at Callie, a bit calmer. “That shit she said…you not being with anyone but him—that true?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
He bounced in place, chewing his lower lip raw. Finally coming to a decision, he nodded at Lucy, “Put this number in her phone, send me a picture of the kid, and I’ll see what I can do.” He rattled off his personal number. “Got it?”
“Got it.”
He grinned, checking her out. “Send me your four one one, too, gorgeous. It’s your lucky day. I’m single.”
“Oh god.” Phillip hid his face in my hair, his shoulders shaking from laughter. I grinning, trying not to join him. The crisis was over. Leo had turned on the charm.
“What?” He glanced back at Phillip. “I’m single…I don’t see no ring on this caramel cutie’s finger. If shit works out between my brother and Miss Callie, here…” He lifted both hands out to the sides and raised his shoulders, “You never know how things might go. Me and the luscious Lucy might click.”
10
*
Never one to mince words, Leo stormed into Jessie’s room. “You need to get your boys checked, bro.”
“My what?” Jessie sat there, listless, laid lower than I’d ever seen him.
“Your balls—your swimmers…your baby batter.”
“Why?” His green eyes dull, he shrugged. “I’d just get my hopes up for nothing. Why bother?”
My heart hurting for him, I had to side with Leo. “He’s right, Jessie. Callie’s son looks just like you. At least see if there’s a chance. Or—“
“Or?”
“You could go the quick route and just ask for a paternity test.”
“Should I shove splinters under my nails, too, while I’m at it? Rub sand in my eyes? Ooh, I know—I’ll walk across hot coals like those swami guys.” He slid down in the bed and rolled over, giving us his back. “I’m tired. Lock the door behind you.”
Back in mine and Phillip’s room, Leo shrugged. “I tried.”
“We aren’t giving up.”
He snapped, “We? What’s this we you speak of? You weren’t French, last I heard.”
“That’s oui, ass—o-u-i. I said we. We, us…we aren’t giving up.”
“Speak for yourself.” He reached for the knob. “I’m through trying to help her. I gave it a shot—and I failed. Now I’m going to bed.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll have to tell Lucy you are no longer interested in obtaining her digits, and delete her from my phone.”
“Wait…you have her number?”
“Yep.”
“Hand it over.”
“Nope.”
“Seriously? One has nothing to do with the other.”
“They’re best friends. Lucy is James’ godmother.”
“And? Fine, I’ll get it, myself.” He scooped my iPhone from the night stand, then sighed. “You have a password on your phone? Really?”
“I do.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not telling.”
“Phillip—“
“Ignore him, Phillip. He can have her number…” I grinned at Leo, feeling smug. “After you help us fix this.”
“I—“
I threw my hands up, frustrated. “That little boy is your nephew, Leo.”
“My…” His eyes softened. “Hey, you’re right. I have a nephew.”
“And the only way you’ll get to meet him is to help us.”
“Or—I could go behind Jessie’s back.”
“Oh, that would look real nice.” I crossed my arms and mean mugged him. “I’m totally sure that Jessie and James would completely understand, too—and forgive you—for cheating them out of a father-son relationship for however many years.”
His shoulders sagged. “Fine. I’ll help.”
“You will?”
“I said I would, didn’t I?”
“You’ll talk to him again?”
“Nope.” He smirked. “But I know someone who will give him no choice. I’m calling in the big guns.”
“The big guns?” I looked at Phillip, who appeared equally mystified. “What are the big guns?”
“It’s not a what, but a who.” He kept us hanging for a moment, then added, “Mom.”
“You’re going to call your mother?”
“Call her?” A fiendish grin crept across his lips. “And be stuck on the phone all night? Do I look stupid? Besides, I’ve alway
s heard people say a picture’s worth a thousand words. Let’s test that theory.”
A light went off above my head. “You’re gonna send her James’ picture.”
“I am, indeed. Her granny clock has been ticking for a few years now. She’ll go nuts.”
I watched him fiddle with his phone for a few moments and toss it aside. Curious, I asked, “Now what?”
He kept his eyes on the door. “Now we wait—and you might want to move.”
“Move?” Worried, I reached for Phillip’s hand. “Why?”
The door flew open without any warning, not even a cursory knock, crashing into the wall hard enough to rebound shut and Phillip pulled me further into the room. “What the fuck?”
Before anyone could move, it opened again, and Jessie stalked in, holding his phone away from his ear. “Leo? I smell your meddling fingers all over this. Did you call mom?”
“No—but I might have sent her a text.”
“What text?”
Leo held up his phone. “This one.”
Snatching it out of his grasp, Jessie stared at the image on the screen, hung up his phone, and dropped down beside his brother. “This is the picture you wanted to show me?”
“Do you realize you just hung up on our mother?”
“She’ll be fine. Answer the question.”
“After she kills you, maybe—but, yes, that’s the picture. That’s James.”
“James?”
“Your son.”
“But, I can’t—“
“Take another look at the picture, then go see that doctor—because, from what my eyes are telling me, you can and you did.”
“Shit. Callie.” His eyes filled with panic.
Laughing, Leo gave him a rough one-armed hug, shaking him. “Yeah, you could have handled that better, bro.”
“He’s not the only one.” I gave Leo my patented sarcastic Mona Lisa smiley face, and turned to Jessie. “Your brother lost his cool when you ran off. Lucy had to put him in his place.”
“A chick put Leo in his place?” Jessie’s jaw dropped.
Phillip snickered. “Ohhh, yeah.”
“No, she—“ Leo frowned, thinking, then held his finger and thumb up, barely showing daylight between them. “Maybe, just a little bit—but she was hot, so I let her slide.”
“And I missed it?” Jessie shook his head. “Ain’t that just my luck…” Jumping to his feet, he crossed the room and peered out into the night. “But I’ve got an even bigger problem—finding Callie and apologizing.”
“We’ll find her.”
He glanced back at his brother, a skeptical look in his eyes. “How?”
“All in good time. First, have Mom schedule you an appointment to see that doctor when we’re back home.”
“Why?”
“It’ll put your mind at ease.”
“Or confuse me even more.”
“Yeah.”
Epilogue
We played a couple of shows after leaving Louisiana. It wasn’t their best effort. Their hearts just weren’t in it. Despite our nagging, Jessie stopped eating, worrying about Callie—and what the doctor would say about the possibility of him being able to be James’ father. He was really stressing over it. As the days passed, he looked worse and worse, his clothes hanging off his body, but he kept insisting he was fine and we tried to believe him. Until the night he dropped in the middle of a concert. Leo panicked, sure he was dying. We weren’t too far from their hometown, so their mom sent his doctor to care for him and invited us back to stay with her while he recovered. Once the doctor set his mind at rest about James, he slowly got better.
Leo talked Phillip into letting him have Lucy’s number in early February and they started talking. Suddenly, she was flying out to see him at least once a week. They were adorable together, but I bit my tongue, determined not to screw it up. I knew he’d freak if he realized he was falling for her—and they were great for each other. He was so relaxed each time after she left, smiling and laughing. It was as if years fell away and he grew younger under her wisecracking influence.
Still, I thought about Jessie and Callie quite regularly. If only they could work things out, I knew everything would be perfect. I broached the subject with Phillip and Leo and we tried to figure out how to approach Jessie without causing a relapse. Leo schemed with Lucy, and a plan blossomed. We would get both of them to the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder and hope their feelings would take over. We were responsible for getting Jessie there, and Lucy promised to bring Callie.
Our plan worked better than we hoped. Jessie and Callie spent the entire night talking—and the next morning, Jessie and Leo headed to Robeline with Callie and Lucy, so Jessie could finally meet his son. Not wanting to intrude on such an intimate moment—and having no place to park the bus in the area—Phillip and I offered to take the bus to Jacksonville and wait for them to catch up. We’re going to have two weeks to ourselves at an RV park on the beach. I always did want to see the ocean. Phillip wants to find a justice of the peace and get married while we’re there, but I want to wait for Callie and Lucy and the guys. It just feels right, because without them, we’d never have met. They should be there to bear witness at my wedding.
My wedding…imagine that. Me, Julie Ryan, a small town girl from Arkansas, marrying a hottie in a rock band. Just goes to show…sometimes, rainbow dreams can come true.
