“We meant none of my siblings. There was no way I was going to tell any of my brothers or my sister about it.”
“Speaking of your siblings, how is everyone?” Dylan asked. “Paige and I stayed at Hugh’s resort in Napa last month for a long weekend. He wasn’t in town, but you have to tell him how amazing that place is.”
“It seriously is,” Paige chimed in. “It was like being in our own little world.”
Riley smiled and took a sip of his wine. “That resort is one of my favorites, too. I don’t go often just because of time constraints, but I’ve stayed with him at some of his other resorts when I was in between tour dates.”
“Does he spend a little time living at each place every year?” Dylan asked.
“Nah, after he and Aubrey got married, they made themselves a permanent home right outside of Wilmington.” He paused and smiled. “Two months ago, they got word that their adoption paperwork was approved. Hopefully, they’ll be leaving next week to pick up their new baby.”
Beside him, Savannah nodded, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “It was such a long process for them and we were beginning to think it wouldn’t happen, but…” She reached for Riley’s hand and squeezed it. “We’re all just so happy.”
Charlotte looked at them with confusion. “Will this be their first baby?”
“They have a son, Connor,” Riley explained. “But Aubrey had cancer when she was a child and had some complications with the pregnancy. They really wanted another baby, but her doctors strongly advised her not to put her body through another pregnancy.”
“And they have three large dogs,” Savannah said with a laugh. “Who they treat like babies too.”
“Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve probably heard, I come from a large family. We all think having a lot of kids is the norm,” Riley explained. “So Hugh and Aubrey are going to have two kids very soon, and my brother Aidan and his wife, Zoe, have two kids now—Lilly and Caroline. My middle brother, Quinn, and his wife, Anna, have two kids—Kaitlyn and Brian—and they’re pregnant with their third.”
“No way!” Vivienne said. “Didn’t they just have Brian?”
Savannah laughed and nodded. “Those babies will be less than a year apart.”
“Poor Anna,” Vivienne said, laughing.
“Are you kidding?” Riley asked, laughing along with them. “Poor Quinn!”
“Tell them about Owen,” Savannah encouraged.
Riley shook his head and his smile was wide enough and bright enough to light the room. “My twin brother, Owen, and his wife, Brooke, already have twins, and Brooke is ready to give birth any day now to another set of twins!”
There was a collective gasp around the table and then everyone seemed to be talking at once.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Matt said, holding up a hand and talking over everyone. “Why are we just now hearing about this?”
“Well, there were some complications, and I think we’ve all been walking on eggshells and not wanting to do anything to jinx it. I know I was afraid to say anything, but at the last doctor appointment just two days ago, everyone was healthy and ready to go!”
“Isn’t that rare?” Paige asked. “Two sets of twins can’t be all that common, can it?”
“I’d like to quote my twin brother because he’s the statistics king,” Riley went on. “Let’s just say it’s pretty rare—like one in ten thousand for the first set. Then he threw a lot more numbers at me and I couldn’t take it all in. So, um…we’ll just stick with rare.” He paused and then chuckled. “And we’re strongly encouraging them to not try for a third set.”
“Oh stop!” Savannah teased. “You know this family would be over the moon if that happened. Your father would burst with pride!”
“How is Ian?” Matt asked. “I saw him in passing not too long ago, but all we could do was wave and say a quick hello.”
“Dad’s great. He and Martha are doing well and starting to travel a bit now that he’s semiretired. I don’t think he loves not working as much as he thought he would. Luckily Martha’s the same, so if nothing else, they find ways to keep busy. They’re going out to visit Darcy and Ben next month. It was hard for them to find the right time to go to Washington—with Hugh and Aubrey’s adoption news, Brooke and Owen expecting the twins, they hate to miss out on anything.”
“And Darcy’s the only girl in the family?” Charlotte asked, fascinated by the entire dynamic.
“Don’t feel bad for her,” Riley said quickly. “You’d think you should feel sorry for her with five older brothers, but let me tell you, she holds her own pretty well and kind of scares the crap out of most of us.”
Charlotte laughed. “And I’m sure her husband had to be at least a little intimidated by all of you.”
“Please,” Savannah said with a snort. “They grilled that poor man like he was public enemy number one and he held his ground and managed to put all the Shaughnessy men in their place.”
“That’s impressive,” Charlotte replied.
“I saw Darcy at a gallery show in Seattle a few months ago,” Vivienne said with a knowing smirk. “Do you have any news?”
“She and Ben are expecting a baby at the end of March,” Riley confirmed. “I think it’s going to be hard for my dad to be far away from her for that. It’s actually weird for all of us, because we don’t want to admit that she’s grown up and married and old enough to have a baby of her own. She’ll always be the baby of the family.”
“That’s so sweet,” Charlotte said as Julian rested his hand on her thigh and squeezed.
This was good, he thought. They had been at Riley’s for just over two hours and it was already like Charlotte had known everyone forever. Maybe her nerves were all in her head or maybe she was good at hiding them, because she’d been nothing but relaxed with everyone.
He studied her as she started talking with Savannah about writing, and if it were possible, he was even more enamored with her. Tonight, she was wearing a little more makeup than usual, with her hair long and loose. His fingers twitched with the need to play with those curls. She had on a pair of black skinny jeans and a sleeveless blue blouse that matched her eyes, and he couldn’t seem to make himself look away.
Over the last week he’d seen her in every way possible: dressed for work, dressed for a date with him, first thing in the morning without a stitch of makeup on, and completely naked and sweaty from their lovemaking, and it didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing, she was beautiful.
Like make-his-chest-hurt, squeeze-his-heart-at-the-sight-of-her beautiful.
So many times, he’d wanted to tell her how he was feeling. But no words came to him—which was ironic, considering how writing songs was something he normally did with ease.
He stiffened at the thought. Was that what he should do—write a song for her?
That almost made him groan out loud. How cliché would that be?
Oh, hey, Charlotte, I wrote this song for you…
What was he, twelve?
“Dude, you look like you’re sucking on a lemon over there,” Dylan called across the table. “Knock it off.” Then he threw a dinner roll at Julian.
There’s your twelve-year-old.
Rather than throw it back or even acknowledge the comment, Julian reached for his wine and took a sip. “Dinner was fantastic, Savannah.”
She smiled at him. “I wish I could take the credit, but this was all Riley. My cooking skills don’t hold a candle to his.”
As if on cue, everyone began to rise and help clear the table while talking about recipes and cooking and favorite meals. Julian knew it was right up Vivienne’s alley, since she was a food blogger, which meant Matt would also enjoy the conversation.
“You okay?” Charlotte asked when they were alone in the dining room. She had a plate in her hands and Julian took it from her, placing it
back on the table.
He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close. “I’m good. You? You seem like you’re having a good time.”
She smiled, and there was that squeeze to his heart again. “I am. Everyone has been wonderful and I feel silly for being such a mess in the car. I don’t know what I was expecting.”
“You have every right to feel how you feel.” Then he leaned down and nuzzled her neck, inhaling her perfume and moaning with pleasure. “And right now, you feel and smell freaking amazing.”
“Mmm…you feel pretty darn good too,” she whispered. “But now is not the time to be thinking about that. I have a feeling everyone’s going to come back in for another round of dishes any second.”
While he knew she was right, he didn’t care. Instead of worrying, he lifted his head and captured her lips for a searing kiss. Charlotte pressed against him as her arms draped over his shoulders.
“For the love of it,” Riley teased as he walked into the room and picked up a couple of dishes. “We were gone for less than a minute. And that’s no excuse for getting out of helping with the cleanup.”
Charlotte giggled as she moved from his arms, and Julian tried to glare menacingly at their host.
“Save it,” Riley said. “I have three older brothers and a dynamo of a little sister. I don’t scare easily.”
After that, both of them carried in the remainder of the dishes and hung out in the kitchen, lending a hand where needed. With so many helpers, it didn’t take long for everything to be put away.
“Okay, Riley!” Savannah called out. “Take the boys down to the studio and show them the new soundboard you got so the girls and I can talk about all of you.”
Everyone laughed, even Julian. He knew this was coming, and he glanced over at Charlotte to make sure she was okay being left alone with the girls. She gave him a discreet nod, and unable to help himself, he walked over and kissed her again.
“Call if you need me,” he murmured for her ears only before following the guys out of the room.
As the last one down the stairs, Julian realized maybe he was the one who’d have to call for help. Riley, Dylan, and Matt were all standing at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed and grinning like idiots.
He sighed and stepped into the room. “Is there even a new soundboard or was that a code word to get me away from Charlotte so the girls can grill her?”
“Actually, we wanted to grill you a bit,” Dylan said, his grin getting bigger. “But I’m sure the girls can handle things on their end just fine.”
Julian could have turned around and walked back up the stairs, but even he was getting tired of walking away when things got a little uncomfortable.
Deciding to surprise them all, Julian went over to one of the oversized chairs and sat down, resting an ankle on his knee and looking for all the world to be relaxed.
No one needed to know how hard his heart was racing.
“What do you want to know?” he asked casually.
It was like a scene out of a Three Stooges movie, with Riley, Matt, and Dylan all scrambling around, banging into one another and grabbing a place to sit. When they were all finally seated, Matt spoke first.
“So…um, it looks like things are going well with Charlotte.”
Seriously? That’s what they wanted to open with? That just made him relax more. He got comfortable in the chair and smiled serenely.
“They are. We’ve spent the entire week together and things are great.” He shrugged. “She works long hours and it’s mentally grueling for her some days, but I bring her lunch and we have dinner together every night.”
“And what have you been doing while she’s at work?” Riley asked. “Mick mentioned you had an offer on your place. Have you started house hunting yet?”
“Nah. I’ve been thinking about it. I’m trying to figure out what I want and where.”
His friends all nodded and then looked at each other before looking at Julian again.
“Okay,” he said with a weary sigh. “Spit it out. I can tell you’ve all got something on your minds, so just—say it.”
“I think we sounded great on Friday,” Riley stated, his tone and expression going serious. “I know we’ve jammed here and there over the last few years, but on Friday we just sounded better than I remembered.”
“I agree,” Dylan said, and Matt nodded.
Before Julian could comment, Riley started talking again. “There’s the big anniversary thing for the label and we want to play it.”
With a shrug, Julian said, “And you should. I’m sure it’s going to be huge.” But he wasn’t an idiot. He knew exactly where this was leading. So, he straightened and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Look, I get it. I do. I had a lot more fun on Friday than I thought I would. And all week, I’ve had music in my head I want to get down somewhere.”
Dylan jumped to his feet. “So, let’s do it now! C’mon! We can do some of it right now! The girls are all hanging out and they’d totally understand if we stayed down here for a couple of hours. We’ve done it before.”
“No,” Julian said adamantly. “I wouldn’t do that to Charlotte. She doesn’t know the girls, and she was nervous enough about coming here. It would be ridiculously rude of me to leave her like that.”
They stared at him as if he were crazy.
“Screw you,” he said to them. “It’s not my fault that I have manners and none of you do.”
“Jules, you can’t tell us you’re ready to just walk away from all of this,” Matt said evenly. “We were all there with you on Friday and you were loving it just as much as we were. And if you’ve got music that you’re wanting to try out, why not do it?”
Where did he even begin? All week he’d thought about it but… He sighed. Might as well just get it out there.
“You want to know what I did all week while Charlotte was at work?” he said with a hint of frustration. “I spent most of that time trying to figure out what my future looks like. And you know what? The only thing right now that’s tripping me up is the business.”
Three pairs of eyes looked at him in confusion.
“Can I play music? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Definitely. Do I want to step back into a studio or go to an event where I see anyone who I knew before?” He paused. “No.”
“Julian…”
“Every time I think about it, it grabs me by the throat,” he cried in frustration. Standing, he began to pace. “I’ve always been a confident guy. Always. And even when all this was going on, I managed to convince myself that I was okay with it. That no one looked at me like I was a sucker when she was cheating on me or that I was to blame. But I was kidding myself.”
“What would it take, Jules?” Riley asked. “Do we change labels? Do we only record our music ourselves? Never tour again? Because I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re willing to meet you on this if it means staying together!”
He stopped pacing and stared at Riley, not doubting the sincerity in his words. “I can’t ask that of you. Of any of you.”
“Why not?” Riley asked. “When we decided to take a break, didn’t you reach out to me when I was struggling with my solo album?”
“Well, yeah. But…”
“Didn’t you offer to send me some songs?”
Julian looked guiltily at Matt and Dylan before turning his attention back to Riley. “No one was supposed to know about that.”
“And they didn’t until right now,” Riley said. “You reached out and were willing to do whatever it took to help me.”
“How many games of chess did you play with me and listen to me talk endlessly about how messed up my life was?” Dylan asked. “I was so screwed up and doubting every single aspect of my life, and you sat and listened to me and helped me put everything into perspective.”
He shrugged. “That�
�s what friends do.”
“You did the same for me, Jules,” Matt added. “When I was hiding out, you were the first one to call me. The first one to offer to come and get me and take me wherever I needed to go.”
“Not like you listened,” Julian said with a smirk.
“And good thing I didn’t,” Matt said with a laugh. “If I had taken you up on your offer, I never would have found Vivienne again.”
“We can go on and on with this,” Riley said to Julian. “We’re friends first, a band second. And we are willing to do whatever it is that you need to do to keep playing. Could we find another drummer? Yes. Do we want to? Hell no.”
The thought of Shaughnessy playing with another drummer bothered him more than he was willing to admit.
“You know I’d walk through fire for any of you,” Julian began solemnly, “but we all know there’s no way to function as a band at our level by doing the things you’re suggesting. It’s just not practical, and I’d hate to be the reason we disappointed the fans.”
“But they’re going to be disappointed if we come back without you,” Dylan said. “You know that. After all this time away from the circuit, it would mean so much more going back on stage with the four of us. We all know we can play with other people and the fans are okay with it, but the same thing keeps coming up—when is Shaughnessy getting back together. If it’s not the four of us, then it’s not Shaughnessy. End of story.”
“All right, all right,” Riley said. “Now it’s coming off like a guilt trip and that’s not what we’re going for, I swear. We just thought…you know, maybe you’d started to reconsider. That maybe having Charlotte around to talk to would help you come to grips with some things.”
“And why would that happen, exactly?”
The look of panic on their faces would have been comical if the implication wasn’t quite so insulting.
“You think I’m sleeping with Charlotte as some sort of—what, therapy? Is that what you’re saying?” he snarled.
“No!” Riley said quickly, his hands going up defensively. “That’s not it at all. I’m just saying I thought…well, just having someone else to talk to and going out and engaging in life again—that you’re seeing that all is not doom and gloom.”
One More Moment Page 15
