Stealing someone’s song was something that artists took seriously. She would never do that to someone, even if that person wasn’t one of her idols. There was no way she would sacrifice her reputation for a song, even if it was magic. “No. Don’t call her. It’s fine. I don’t need it.”
Chase leveled her with his stare. “It’s not about needing it, that song is yours. I knew it as soon as you sang me the chorus. Karina has had the music for a month now and I know she likes it, but she hasn’t written anything for it. Let me send her what we recorded.”
“Are you sure?” Chase was obviously someone that deserved to be trusted. But it was hard to dismiss all of the things Shane had told her over the years about Karina. Ginny did not want to get on the megastar’s bad side.
“Yes,” he assured her. Then perhaps sensing Ginny’s uncertainty continued, “Karina’s one of the coolest, most down-to-earth people that I’ve ever met. And more than anything she loves music. It’s in her soul. When she hears this, she’ll hear that this is your song.”
As much as she trusted Chase as a producer, an artist and a person, her career was in such a state of flux that she wasn’t sure rocking the boat was really the right thing to do.
“Let me think about it,” she said as a knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” he called out.
“Hey, party people,” Chase’s gorgeous wife Krista came in with Dax behind her. “Look who I found lurking in the hallway.”
“I’m on duty,” Dax clarified as he stood next to the door.
Her heart started beating double time as she looked up at him. His presence overwhelmed her. He carried an air of authority that made her stomach do somersaults. She’d seen him hours before but she was struck once again with just how flat out, drop dead sexy he was.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Krista’s long red hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned down and kissed her husband. “But we have mom’s birthday dinner at Haley and Eddie’s.”
“Oh, is it that late?” Chase checked his phone.
“Yep.” Krista popped the p sound.
Chase shook his head in disbelief. “I lost track of time. We were working on a song…”
“You don’t have to come if you guys are still working,” Krista offered.
Ginny had been in this business long enough to see spouses that said things like that but didn’t mean it. But it really seemed that Krista was being genuine. It was nice to see a couple with that dynamic.
“We actually just finished up.” Ginny grabbed her bag and stood.
It was the truth, they had just finished the song. Although before Dax had walked in she could have easily worked another twelve hours. Now that she saw him again, she realized that she’d missed him. She’d never been happy to leave the studio before, but she had to admit she was looking forward to going home with him.
“Hey, do you guys want to come to dinner?” Krista asked.
“Oh, no. That’s okay. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Believe me, you wouldn’t be. My family is so big, two more people is nothing.” Krista clapped her hands together. “Plus, my mom is a huge fan and she was so bummed that she was sick and couldn’t make it to the reopening.”
Ginny looked at Dax to see what he wanted to do. The left corner of his mouth twitched, it was barely perceivable but she noticed it. Like he was saying that whatever she wanted was okay with him.
Krista continued, “It’s her fiftieth birthday. This would be the best surprise for her!”
“If you’re sure it won’t be an imposition.” Ginny turned back to Krista and Chase.
“Not at all! This is great!” Krista smiled widely.
As the four of them made their way out Krista started running down all the people that were planning on attending. Ginny was trying her best to pay attention but she was distracted. When she’d walked out the door Dax had placed his hand on her lower back. It had only been for a moment, but she could still feel the imprint of his palm and fingers through the cotton of her shirt.
After Krista had listed off her sisters and their families and her cousins and their families she took a breath and Ginny thought she was done but she snapped her fingers. “Oh, and of course my Uncle Bob and his new wife Pam who is Katie’s mom will be there. And probably Sophie’s parents Mike and Grace and Grandpa J.”
“Grandpa J?” Ginny hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
“Yeah, he’s technically only Sophie’s Grandpa but he’s kind of adopted the entire town, right guys?” She looked over her shoulder at Chase and Dax who were walking behind them.
“The Colonel is the best,” Chase agreed.
“The guys all call him The Colonel, but the girls call him Grandpa J,” Krista explained and then continued talking about what they would be eating and the outdoor heated tent that was set up in her sister’s backyard.
Ginny didn’t hear any of it. The only thought in her mind was that Grandpa J would be there tonight. All her life she’d wondered about her dad. Wished she could solve the mystery of where she came from. Now, she was the closest she’d ever been to that being a reality.
So why did she feel like she was going to throw up?
Chapter 10
Inhaling slowly through her nose, Ginny took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her anxiety at bay as she returned to her table after her trip to the ladies room. Relief flooded through her when she saw that she had a moment to herself. It appeared everyone had dispersed after dinner was over.
She took her seat and looked around. She’d always loved observing people. Since she was a little girl, she’d enjoyed going to busy places and just people watching. It was a little harder for her now that she was so recognizable, so when she had moments where she wasn’t the center of attention she always used the opportunity to watch interactions and soak up the atmosphere.
It was obvious that this was a tight-knit group. The tent was filled with people talking and laughing. Kids were running around, chasing each other in an epic game of some sort of freeze tag and hide-n-seek hybrid. A buffet table with a spread that rivaled the best catering she’d ever seen ran along the left side. In the center of the space was a square wooden dance floor, which was surrounded by five round tables with white tablecloths over them. Twinkle lights were strung throughout the trees, giving the area an ethereal glow.
Krista had not been lying when she’d claimed that two more people wouldn’t make a difference. There had to be over thirty people in attendance. Ginny had never been a huge fan of nametags, but in this situation it would have been helpful. She’d met so many people over the last hour and although she’d always had a knack for remembering names she would have to have a photographic memory to keep everyone straight. Although, there was one person that stood out.
The Colonel.
During dinner he’d made his rounds to all the tables. It was clear that everyone here adored him. He was the quintessential grandfather figure and had more charisma and charm in his little pinky than most people had in their whole bodies.
When he’d introduced himself the first thing he’d commented on was the shade of blue that her eyes were. He said they reminded him of his late wife Marie. She’d smiled and thanked him but inside she’d freaked out.
Did she have her grandmother’s eyes?
Is that what he’d just told her?
What if she had her lips and her smile as well?
Would he make the connection?
Years of media training came in handy and she was able to hide her inner turmoil as she maintained a calm and happy expression.
He’d made his way around the table and it wasn’t until he moved on to the next one that she realized she’d been holding her breath. She only exhaled after it was clear he wasn’t going to put the pieces together. To somehow, some way, figure out who she was. To recognize her.
Logically, that made no sense at all. But the fact that he’d commented on her eyes had given her false hope, or maybe it was dread. S
he wasn’t quite sure. Throughout her time at the party she’d observed him and as an outsider looking in, it appeared he had a life filled with love. She’d met his son Mike who was a firefighter, and his daughter-in-law Grace who was a nurse. Were Mike and her dad brothers? Had he lost his wife Marie and a child?
She didn’t have those answers and she was starting to think she might never have them. The last thing she’d ever want to do is bring up painful memories or disrupt his life and the life of the people he loved. She’d lived twenty-two years without having any family other than her mom and she’d been fine. Sure, she’d wanted more. She’d felt like there was a missing part of her that could only be filled with a big, extended family but maybe that simply wasn’t in the cards for her.
Her mom wasn’t close to her family and never talked about them. She’d grown up in a small town in Oregon which her great-grandparents had founded called Valentine’s Bay. When she was twelve her parents were killed in a car crash and she’d gone to live with her grandparents, who she described as overbearing and not affectionate. The day she turned eighteen she’d gotten on a Greyhound bus and never looked back. As tempted as Ginny was to visit the town that her great-great-grandparents founded, she never had because she’d always felt it would be a betrayal to her mom.
So it seemed she’d reached a stalemate in her search to connect with her family. As disappointed as she was, she reminded herself that she had more than a lot of people. Not only did she have a successful career doing what she loved to do, she also had a mother who loved her and would do anything for her. Not to mention the fact that she was young, healthy and had a world of possibilities open to her. That was enough. It had to be.
Her eyes caught Dax across the room talking to Seth, but his attention seemed to be solely focused on her. He’d been different since he’d picked her up. On the way back to his house he’d been totally silent, which was fine with her since she’d been stressing out about possibly meeting Grandpa J. Then they’d gone home to change and let Capone out and all he’d done was offer her a water. It was fine though because she’d gotten in some good doggie lovin’ and just like always, it had calmed her nerves. On the drive over to the party he’d asked her about who she’d told that she was in town and he’d seemed all business. He’d sounded so professional, like he was a cop questioning her. Which she guessed made sense since he was technically working as her security. But that’s not how she saw him. She knew that he’d told Seth that things weren’t personal but she wanted things to be very personal with him.
“Sooooo,” Krista held out the vowel as she slid into the seat beside her. “Chase tells me that you are interested in interviewing people.”
“What?” Ginny’s mind had been a million miles away.
“Chase told me about the amazing song you wrote and he mentioned that you were thinking about interviewing people about love.”
“Oh, right” Ginny sat up straighter in the chair as she regained her bearings. “Yes. I was even thinking of including clips of people in the music video.”
“I love it,” Krista enthused. “And let me tell you, you’ve hit the jackpot of interview subjects. All five of my cousins and my three sisters have fallen in love over the past few years. They’re all married except my youngest sister Becca. She and her fiancé Brian wanted to wait until after she finished her first year of residency but they just set a date.”
“Wait a minute.” Ginny snapped her fingers. “Becca and Brian…were they on a reality show?”
When she’d been introduced to them, they’d looked so familiar but Ginny had just assumed she must have met them when she’d performed at The Plate. But now that Krista said that Becca was a doctor, Ginny’s memory was jogged.
“Yep. Fairytale Love.”
“That’s right, Fairytale Love. They weren’t a couple then though, right?” Reality TV was Ginny and her mom’s guilty pleasure.
“No, not on the show. But they were friends. They’d been best friends since elementary school.”
“Really? Wow.” Ginny watched so many dating shows that the specifics were hazy, but it was starting to come back to her. The show paired couples up as fairytale princes and princesses and she’d actually rooted for Becca and her prince but on the finale Brian had shocked everyone by declaring his love for Becca.
“So was the whole thing set up?” Being in the entertainment industry, Ginny knew that most things were scripted. She suspended belief when she watched the shows, but she’d always been curious about that one because it had seemed so genuine.
“Noooo,” Krista shook her head. “That was happening in real life and real time.”
“I loved that finale. Do you think they would possibly agree to be interviewed?”
“I’ll ask. They’re a little busy because their wedding is in a few months, but even if they can’t fit it in, I’ve got plenty of backups with great happily-ever-after stories. Chase and I were high school sweethearts but he left town abruptly and we didn’t speak for years and only reunited because his mom, that I think you met, was having health issues. I never got over him, and he never got over me.
“My sister Jessie met her hubby when she went to an open house and the owners of the brownstone, Mable and Margie or the M&M sisters told them they only wanted to rent the place to a couple. So Zach and Jessie pretended to be just that.
“Then there’s Haley, whose house we’re at. It used to just be her husband Eddie’s house. Eddie was a single dad and she was in love with him for years, even babysat his daughter Emily when Eddie would go on dates. It was kind of pathetic, in my opinion, but it all worked out. She got her man, she’s an amazing stepmom and I’ve never seen her happier.
“And that’s just my sisters, my cousins all have amazing love stories too. Not to mention the older generation. My parents and Sophie’s parents Mike and Grace have been together forever and Grandpa J was married for like sixty years I think, he loves talking about Marie, I’m sure he’d let you interview him.”
“Great!” Ginny hoped that her media training was still in full affect and she hadn’t had any reaction when Krista had said his name.
She suddenly felt like an impostor. Like she was here under false pretenses. Which, was kind of true. Chances were, if she’d never seen the picture on Chase’s Facebook page, she might not have made time in her schedule to come to the grand reopening. If she hadn’t played that night she never would have come back for Stephanie’s birthday. She never would have started talking to Dax that night about houses and renovations and gone back to his house where she fell madly in crush with him. And she most likely wouldn’t have sent her mom on a month-long honeymoon out of the country so she could come here alone.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Krista leaned forward and lowered her voice. “The reason I came over here is because I have a favor to ask you.”
“Sure,” Ginny said, possibly a little too brightly. Maybe her media training wasn’t that great after all.
* * *
Dax watched Ginny from across the room, or tent as it were, while he finished his conversation with Seth regarding the new developments in his assignment. She was at their table talking to Krista. They were huddled together and she was smiling but something was off with her. Something had been off with her since they left Chase’s studio.
On the way home she’d been quiet, but he figured that she might be tired after working in the studio all day. But when they’d stopped by the house to change and let Capone out, she’d barely said two words. Well, to him anyway. She’d had a lot to say to Capone. She’d told him she missed him, that he was a good boy, that she wished she could take him to the dinner, that she was so sorry they were leaving him again but she would bring him a treat. Again, he felt jealous of his dog.
Then on the drive to Eddie and Haley’s house he’d asked her about the trip to the grocery store. Asked her if she’d talked to anyone other than Jules and told them where she was staying. She’d answered him but had almost sounded defen
sive about it.
His first thought was that maybe she had social anxiety. But he’d dismissed that theory because he’d seen her at The Plate with large crowds around her and she’d been in her element. Tonight she was distracted and anxious.
He’d asked her if she wanted to go several times since they’d arrived and she hadn’t wanted to. But even when she’d declined leaving, something felt off to him.
“All right, man. Keep me updated.” Seth slapped his shoulder before heading back to his wife.
Dax pushed off the bar he’d been posted at and he was headed back to Ginny when Riley stepped in front of him.
“Nothing going on, huh?”
He appreciated that Riley wasn’t big on small talk, but he really didn’t want to get into this now. “No.”
“You haven’t stopped staring at her all night.”
“I’m on the job.” Dax knew that Riley was going to call bullshit on him, but he didn’t care. Technically, it was his job. He was hired to protect her.
“You always drink when you’re on the job?” Riley motioned to the beer Dax was holding.
“You know what I mean.” They both knew that he wasn’t “on the job” right now. This was technically after hours.
“Can I get everyone’s attention?” Haley called out from the front of the tent. When the room quieted down she continued. “Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate my mom Sandy’s birthday. She is the most selfless, amazing woman I know. She would do anything for anyone and always puts everyone else’s needs before her own. So I’m happy to announce that tonight we have a special guest who happens to be her favorite singer.”
“Hey!” Chase called out and laughter filled the tent.
“Sorry, Chase. Favorite female singer,” Haley qualified as she chuckled. “Virginia Valentine has agreed to lead us in Happy Birthday.”
All He Feels - Dax & Ginny (Crossroads Book 11) Page 9
