“I’d love to take a picture with you,” Veronica said. Dressing to please Dexter had an unexpected upside. The look he liked on her was the look the public expected from a budding music star. She was more than ready to take pictures with her fans. “In fact, my husband here will do us the honors.” She took the woman’s camera and handed it across the table to Dexter. “You don’t mind, do you, sweetie?”
Veronica knew he very much minded, but she couldn’t let that bother her right now. While she tried to be sensitive to his need for private time with her, she welcomed the attention of the fans and the support of people who knew them. To celebrate the group’s success on the show so far, Dreamland had given the family a complimentary cruise. She meant to enjoy every minute of it before they got back home and back to rehearsing for the finals show. And meeting fans like this young lady was part of her fun. She wanted Dexter to enjoy it too. He should be glad people recognized her and wanted to vote for Delilah’s Daughters. Instead, he resented the intrusion and pouted like a little girl. Men could be such babies!
“Why don’t you take two pictures of us, sweetie?” she said, her words dripping with honey.
For the first picture, the young woman stooped next to her chair. “What’s your name?” Veronica asked her.
“Melody,” the girl said.
For the second picture, Veronica stood and put her arm around the woman’s shoulder. “Now take one of me and Melody looking like old friends.”
Dexter took the picture, and then he handed the camera back to Melody. Just to irritate him, Veronica said to Melody, “Be sure to check that they came out all right. I’d hate for you to get back to your stateroom and find out my husband is no good with cameras.”
Dexter winced and Veronica smiled broader.
Melody checked her pictures in the camera’s viewfinder. “They came out great,” she said and then turned to Dexter. “Thanks.” Turning back to Veronica, she said, “Thanks again. I’ll go now so you can get back to your meal.”
“No problem at all,” Veronica said, sitting back down. “Don’t forget to tune in to the finals show now.”
“I won’t,” Melody said, backing away from the table. “Enjoy the rest of your cruise.”
As soon as the woman was out of earshot, Dexter said, “People can be so rude. Can’t they see that we’re eating?”
Veronica sipped her tea. “Please, Dexter. These are fans, and fans help determine the winner of Sing for America. If we want to win, we have to be nice to them. You know that.”
He stabbed his fork into his dinner salad. “It goes both ways. You should be nice to your fans, and they should be considerate of you. They just don’t seem to have boundaries.”
She took another swallow of tea. “They’re only being supportive. That’s a good thing, don’t you think? They want us to win, and they’re walking in faith with us that we will win. We both think Delilah’s Daughters is going to win, don’t we?”
“Of course I think Delilah’s Daughters is going to win,” he said. “You’re the best act on the show. Who else could win?”
Dexter’s never-wavering faith in her doused some of the irritation she was feeling toward him. Putting down her glass, Veronica said, “If you’re right, we have to get ready for the changes in our lives, Dexter. You’re going to have to share your wife with her adoring public, so you’d better start getting used to it.” She said the latter as a joke, but the downturn in Dexter’s lips told her he didn’t receive it as such. “Lighten up,” she told him. “This cruise is supposed to be a relaxing time for us.”
“Tell that to your fans,” he muttered.
“I’m telling you,” she said, wanting him to understand. “What’s this about anyway? Please tell me you’re not jealous of the little attention I’ve been getting.”
“I’m not jealous of anything,” he said, cutting his eyes away from her.
She thought her husband needed an attitude adjustment, but before she could tell him so, a couple more fans came over, wanting pictures and autographs. She obliged them with a smile while Dexter begrudgingly took the pictures. The stream died down after about twenty minutes.
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said.
He shook his head. “Our food is cold.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dexter, it’s a cruise. Order more food.” She lifted her arm to get the waiter’s attention. When he came over, she told him what had happened, and he graciously took new orders from them. In return, she took a picture with him.
“I hope that’s the last picture,” Dexter said.
She glanced around the room, and seeing no faces turned in their direction, said, “I think it is.”
Dexter sipped his wine. “Look, I don’t mean to be a spoilsport, but I wanted this evening to be about us, away from your ‘adoring fans.’ ”
She reached across the table for his hand. “This cruise can be whatever we want it to be, Dexter. We have reservations at Harry’s tomorrow night, which will be much more private. And we have a large suite with a whirlpool tub and a huge balcony. We can have all the privacy we want right in the suite. We can even have our meals delivered there. But when we’re out like this, we have to accommodate the fans. That’s the business we’ve chosen. That’s the business you’ve said you’d support me in. Are you changing your mind?”
He shook his head. “I’m behind you 110 percent, but I already have to share you with your mom and sisters, and now there are all these fans. I just don’t want to get lost in all the people who flock around you.”
Her heart softened a bit toward him. “That’ll never happen,” she said. “This business will never become more important than our marriage. I won’t let that happen, and neither will you.”
“How can you be so sure? Your career is about to take off, and I’m still looking for another faculty position.”
“The folks at UA were wrong not to tenure you, Dexter,” she said. “You’ll get another position, a better position. I know you will. And if you don’t, then it’s time for you to focus full-time on your writing. We’ll both be working in our dream careers.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “It is, if we allow it to be. We have to keep our heads on straight, though, and remember our priorities. We can’t let little stuff like fans wanting autographs and pictures make us crazy, okay?”
He nodded.
She slipped her foot out of her shoe and rubbed it up his leg. “Now that we’ve settled that issue, why don’t we head back to our wonderfully large suite and its wonderfully large king-sized bed? I think you need reminding that our marriage really does come first with me.”
“What about the dinner order that you just placed?”
She lifted a brow. “What about it? This is a cruise. They can deliver it to the room. That is, unless you want to stay here and wait for it.”
Dexter placed his napkin on the table and pushed back his chair. “I’m not a fool,” he said, giving her a leer. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 5
Stop looking at your watch,” Delilah told Alisha, who had recently joined her at the Lucky Sevens slot machines near the entrance of Czar’s Palace Casino on the ship’s promenade deck. “I warned you not to play those dollar slots.”
Alisha sighed. “Don’t rub it in. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Delilah pulled the lever on her machine, hoping for Lucky Sevens. Not surprised when she didn’t get them, she inclined her head toward the nearby Gloves Sports Bar, where Roxanne, looking gorgeous in a midthigh black sequined sheath, stood signing autographs for the small crowd of about twenty gathered around her. “You should follow your sister’s lead,” she told Alisha. “Mingle. Meet people. It’ll only enhance Delilah’s Daughters chances in the finals.”
Alisha frowned. “You’re kidding me, right?” She pointed to the Batman T-shirt and worn jeans she had on. “I came on this cruise to relax, not to spend time grinning no
nstop at folks I don’t know and who don’t know me.”
Delilah pulled the lever again and then scanned her daughter from head to toe. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that outfit. The T-shirt and jeans are bad enough, but do you really need to wear that silly Braves baseball cap?”
Alisha leaned in and kissed her mom on the check. “Face it, Momma. You have two daughters who are fashion plates, and then you have me.”
“What am I going to do with you?” Delilah asked, shaking her head and pulling the lever.
“Love me,” Alisha said with a big old monkey grin.
Delilah grunted and pulled the lever again. If she hadn’t recognized Alisha’s stubbornness as matching her own, she might have gotten angry with her. As it was, she accepted her daughter for who she was, quirks and all, as she did with Roxanne and Veronica. Though the girls were in a group together, they were still individuals. As she’d tried to make Charles Washington understand, their individuality was what made them so special as a group.
“Uh-oh,” Alisha said, spinning around on her stool like a kid. “Roxanne the rock star is making her way over here. Seems her fans have all been satisfied.”
Delilah looked in her oldest daughter’s direction. “Hi, sweetheart,” she said when Roxanne reached them. “I love that dress, and I love you in it.”
Roxanne kissed her mother’s cheek. “You would,” she said. “You picked it out.”
Delilah and her two daughters laughed. “What can I say?” she said. “I have excellent taste.”
Roxanne pointed to Alisha. “Except when it comes to this one.”
“Moi?” Alisa said, eyes wide with mock innocence. “I can’t believe you’re insulting me after I’ve waited all this time to get your autograph.” She picked up the napkin under the cup next to the machine that Delilah was playing and handed it to Roxanne.
“Yeah, right,” Roxanne said, pushing the napkin back in her sister’s direction. “Maybe if you didn’t dress like a homeless person, someone would ask for your autograph.”
Delilah laughed. She enjoyed the playful banter between her daughters, always had. “Don’t be too hard on your sister, Roxanne. She’s in a bad mood because she’s lost about a hundred dollars.”
“You lost a hundred dollars?” Roxanne asked her sister. “Why didn’t you stop before then?”
Delilah understood Roxanne’s surprise. Neither she nor her girls were big gamblers. They typically played somewhere between $20 and $50 each time they visited a casino, which wasn’t that often. So it was rare for one of them to lose $100.
Alisha rolled her eyes. “Because I felt the win in me.”
Delilah and Roxanne laughed. “So much for that feeling,” Delilah said. “You know better than to come to a casino thinking you’re going to win anyway.”
“Momma’s right,” Roxanne said, adding, “I’ve been around enough cruise ship casinos to know that your odds of winning are slim, even slimmer than if you were in Vegas. Heck, they’re slimmer here than they are at Greenetrack back home.”
“Don’t talk badly about Greenetrack,” Delilah said, defending the small casino about seventy-five miles from their home. “I have fun going there. The cost is no more than going to a concert and having dinner. If you throw in a Greenetrack dinner, it’s cheaper.”
“Well, I’m not going to debate you about casinos,” Roxanne said. “How long are you two going to be at it?” she asked.
“I’m ready to go now,” Alisha said, taking another spin on her stool, “but Fast Eddie here can’t pull herself away from the machine.”
Ignoring her youngest daughter, Delilah said, “I am getting sorta tired. Let me play out this fifty dollars. Then win or lose, I’ll head in.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Alisha said. She turned to Roxanne. “What are you doing for the rest of the evening?”
“I’m meeting a friend for dinner,” Roxanne said, looking above Delilah’s head.
“I’ll bet you’re meeting your secret lover,” Alisha said, grinning. “Come on, you can tell us. After all, we’re family.”
Delilah wasn’t sure Roxanne was meeting a secret lover, but she knew something was up. Why hadn’t her oldest looked at her or Alisha when she’d answered the question? It wasn’t like her girls to be secretive about their relationships. Alisha rarely dated, so there wasn’t much room for secrets with her. Roxanne, on the other hand, dated frequently. Delilah didn’t get to meet many of the guys, but she’d never known Roxanne to deliberately hide one from her. She hoped her oldest wasn’t doing so now. A hidden man was the wrong man. That she knew for sure.
“Mind your business, Alisha,” Roxanne said.
“I don’t have any business to mind,” Alisha said, spinning on her stool. “I don’t have a secret lover, or a public one either for that matter.”
“And whose fault is that?” Delilah said, pulling the lever again. “Sometimes you can be so childish.”
“Me, childish?” Alisha asked, poking a finger in her chest and into Batman’s eye. “I’m not the one hiding my boyfriend from the family like some shy, lovesick teenager.”
Delilah took a break from the slot machine and turned to her youngest daughter. “I’m sure we’ll meet Roxanne’s guy when the time’s right.” She turned to Roxanne. “Isn’t that right, Roxanne?”
“That’s right, Momma.”
“I hope it’s during this century,” Delilah added, just for fun.
Alisha burst out laughing. “Good one, Momma.”
Roxanne slapped her sister on her shoulder. “Girl, you’re too silly. Are you gonna stay here with Momma?”
Alisha nodded. “It’s called hiding in plain sight. Nobody’s approached me about an autograph since I’ve been sitting here. I may spend the rest of the cruise between here and our cabin.”
“The autograph seekers aren’t that bad,” Roxanne said.
“You must like root canals too,” Alisha muttered.
“Don’t start, Alisha,” Delilah said, heading off another argument between the girls. “Why don’t you pull up a chair and join us, Roxanne? This really is relaxing. What time are you meeting your friend?”
Roxanne checked her watch. “I’m about fifteen minutes late now.”
“You go on then and enjoy yourself,” Delilah told her. “We’ll see you later in the suite.”
“Yeah,” Alisha said, winking at her sister, “we’ll see you later in the suite. Why don’t you bring your man by so we can meet him? We’ll be up late.”
Roxanne winked back. “I will as soon as you put on some makeup and a dress.”
Delilah laughed. Then she pulled the lever again.
Chapter 6
Guilt settled on Roxanne’s shoulders as she made her way down the passageway on the Empress deck. By the time she reached Gavin Yarborough’s suite, a heavy weight pressed down on her. She stood at the stateroom door, staring at the key card in her hand for several minutes, debating whether to enter. What am I doing? she asked herself. Why am I seeing a married man? With every fiber of her being, she knew it was wrong. What she and Gavin were doing went against all the values her parents had instilled in her. Her mother would die of disappointment if she knew. As Roxanne turned to leave, the door opened and she stood face to face with the blond, blue-eyed Gavin.
His eyes widened in surprise, and then he pulled her into the suite and into his arms. “I’ve missed you,” he said.
Stepping out of his embrace, she said, “It hasn’t been that long.”
He laughed and extended his arms. “It has been for me. I’m a fool for love. I can’t stand for you to be out of my sight.”
She smirked. “What you are is dramatic.”
He smiled. “But you love me anyway.”
She met his eyes. He’d told her several times that he loved her, but she never took him seriously. How could she? He probably repeated the same words to his wife. She wondered if his wife believed him. “If you say so,” she finally said. The droop in
the corners of his lips told her she hadn’t said the words he wanted to hear. When he sank down on the couch, she knew she’d hurt his feelings.
“Sometimes I hate that music you love so much,” he said.
She understood. Sometimes she did too. She sat next to him, put her arms around his shoulders. “We wouldn’t have met if not for the music.”
He looked up, met her eyes. “I still remember the first time I caught your show. You mesmerized me with ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings.’ I could have sworn you were singing only to me, and I bet everyone else in the audience felt the same way.”
Roxanne remembered that night three years ago well, coming so soon after her father’s death. How often did the ship’s captain make it to a show, much less invite a temporary entertainer out for a nightcap? “That was one of the best evenings of my life,” she said, settling in next to him.
“Mine too,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I knew Dreamland had found something special, and I made sure they didn’t let you get away.”
Roxanne realized now how young and naive she’d been back then. And desperate for something that would lessen the pain of her father’s death. She often wondered if her fondness for Gavin was more about what he had done for her career than about the man himself. She didn’t like to ponder that question too long, though, because she didn’t like what the answer revealed about her own character. Finding a steady singing gig had been hard to do back then. And out of nowhere Gavin made a call to someone at Dreamland headquarters, she was called in for a series of auditions, and voilà, she was hired as a salaried Dreamland entertainer. It was as though she’d been given a great gift without even having to ask for it. She couldn’t help but develop warm feelings for Gavin as a result. He was handsome, funny, intelligent, and interested in her singing career. What more could a girl want? Unfortunately, it was only much later that she’d found out he was married.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Gavin said.
Delilah's Daughters Page 3
