Trouble Rising (New Adult Rock Star Romance): Tyler and Katie's Story #3 (7 page)

The thought of him never playing again broke my heart.

“You need to see the baby pictures,” Sarah insisted. “Ty, you were so adorable. All that blonde hair!”

“I’d love to see them,” I said again, watching as Jay came down the stairs with Sabrina. The babies had obviously gone down easily for their nap.

“Maybe you can come over for dinner this week, Mom,” Tyler suggested. “We’ve got Jay with us… but I don’t know for how long…”

“Indefinitely,” I said, putting my hand in his and squeezing. I heard him sigh.

“So this little morsel is staying with you?” Arnie interrupted, coming over just as Jay settled on the floor by the sofa. “Where in the world have you been hiding her, Katie? This face belongs on billboards and in magazines, I’m telling you.”

“Arnie,” I warned, rolling my eyes. “She’s only fifteen.

“Look at that face.” Arnie ignored me, smiling down at Jay. “That’s the face that could launch a thousand ships.”

“Hey.” I snapped my fingers, getting Arnie’s attention. “Get the dollar signs out of your eyes. She’s not becoming a model.”

“Why not?” Jay piped up.

“Yeah, why not?” Arnie grinned at me.

“Okay, Ty, I think we should go.” I stood, looking down at Jay. “We need to get her settled. And I’m still jetlagged.”

Tyler didn’t argue with me, and we said our goodbyes, finding Jesse in the kitchen with Celeste and Daisy. Our luggage was still in the back of the Rolls. Leanne left with us, and so did Sarah and Anne, since they were her ride. I didn’t blame her for not wanting to stay, considering the babies were in bed, and Rob hadn’t been too keen on her being there in the first place.

“I can’t wait to see those baby pictures,” I said, giving Leanne a hug.

Leanne hugged Tyler, too, then she hugged Jay, who looked surprised.

“You stay in school,” Leanne told Jay, holding her chin in her hand and looking into her eyes. “Trust me, hon—even if beauty isn’t stolen from you, like it was from me—it always fades. You can’t rely on it forever. Stay in school and find something you love to do. Okay?”

“O—okay.” Jay nodded, blinking in surprise.

We got into the Rolls and Jesse circled around and started up the long driveway toward the gate. Jay settled between us in the backseat, her backpack between her feet. It was the only thing she’d brought with her from home, the poor thing.

I felt Tyler’s hand on my shoulder and glanced over at him, seeing the same exhaustion on his face. What a day it had been—what a freaking day.

“I love you,” I mouthed over Jay’s head as she snuggled against me, closing her eyes. Tyler looked down at her, his gaze softening. The way he looked at her was sweet, concerned. Almost fatherly. It made my ovaries ache.

“What happened to her face?” Jay asked, her eyes still closed. “Was she in a fire?”

“My father burned it,” Tyler said, meeting Jay’s stare when her eyes flew open at his words. “He held her face to a stove—to ‘teach her a lesson,’ or so he said.”

“Really?” Jay breathed, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded. It had been Dante who had done that, to terrorize all of them, to keep them from telling his dirty secrets.

“Jeez.” Jay shuddered, pressing against me again. “And I thought I had it bad.”

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said softly, but Jay was already drifting off.

I didn’t even know what time it was, but I was exhausted, too. I saw the concern on Tyler’s face as he looked from Jay, up to me. He wanted to know—
what are we going to do with her?

What are we going to do? `

But I didn’t know. We would have to figure it out, but right then, I just wanted to get my little family home and take a long, long nap.

So that’s just what we did.

“But my mom lets me drink coffee all the time at home,” Jay protested as we got in line at Starbucks. “Lattes, mochachinos…”

“Yeah, and your mom let you go to a Trouble concert by yourself when you were twelve, too,” I reminded her, handing over a twenty. “Decaf only. Got it?”

“Fine.” Jay rolled her eyes and sighed in true teen fashion, and I managed to hide my smile before going to find us a table.

I saw Sabrina struggling with the door and waved. I would have gone to help her, but a guy in bike shorts pushed the door from the inside, holding it open to let her wheel the double stroller in. Lucy was in front, and squealed loudly when she saw me, turning several head. Henry was in back, sucking on a sippy-cup.

“What do you want?” I asked as Sabrina parked the stroller beside the table, but out of the aisle. “I can tell Jay.”

“Uhhh… just a white hot chocolate,” she said, making a face. “I’m still nursing Henry and I don’t want to do any coffee. Even the decaf has some caffeine.”

“It does?” I asked in surprise, looking over at Jay. This whole parenting thing wasn’t exactly easy, and I’d only been doing it for a week. I went over to give Jay another twenty, telling her what to order for Sabrina.

“You should get a hot chocolate, too,” I advised. “Did you know that even decaf coffee has some caffeine in it?”

“It’s not like it’s going to stunt my growth,” Jay said, rolling her eyes yet again. “I’m already five-seven.”

“Jay.” I’d perfected that warning ‘Mom’ tone already. In under a week. Of course, I’d learned everything I needed to know from my own mother, who I found coming out of my mouth more than I ever thought possible this week.

“Fine!” She tucked both twenties in her cleavage—where she had stashed the iPhone we got for her. This was another thing I didn’t like, the storing of electronics in her bra. It had to contribute to breast cancer, I argued. But I’d learned, even just in a week’s time, to pick my battles.

“So how’s it going with her?” Sabrina asked as I slid into my chair at the table. She had Lucy out of the stroller on her lap, but Henry seemed content to lean back with his sippy cup.

“Jay?” I shrugged, looking fondly at the girl standing in line. Several guys had done a double take when they passed her by, and I gritted my teeth at that. “She’s great. We love having her.”

That was mostly true. Really, she wasn’t that bratty. She was mostly sweet, and helpful, if sometimes a little moody. Compared to most teens I knew—heck, compared to the teenage I’d been—she was an angel. And considering what she’d run away from at home, she was doing fantastic.

“But what are you going to do with her?” Sabrina asked, narrowing her eyes in Jay’s. “You’re going to have to make a decision… sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. Tyler kept saying that, too. Her mother would be looking for her, wouldn’t she? She’d probably filed a police report.

“I mean, before we start seeing her face on the side of milk cartons?” Sabrina prompted.

“I know, I know.” I smiled when Lucy reached for me and I took her from Sabrina, settling her in my lap. “I just… I want her to get settled. Let things calm down a little…”

“Maybe she shouldn’t get so settled?” Sabrina frowned over at Jay. “I mean, she’s a runaway. She’s crossed state lines. I’m not a lawyer, but if I was, I’m pretty sure I’d be advising you that keeping a runaway in your house without telling her mother is a bad idea…”

“Her mother doesn’t care,” I insisted, bouncing Lucy on my knee. “I don’t even know if she’ll even bother with a missing person’s report.”

“She’ll care if she finds out where Jay is,” Sabrina said knowingly. “If that mother finds out her underage daughter is living with a rock star? Who has a boatload of money? All of a sudden, she’ll care a whole lot.”

“Yeah.” I made a face as Lucy reached for the silverware sitting on the table. I pushed it out of her reach and she protested. It was easier keeping the little ones out of trouble, I thought, glancing up to see Jay at the head of the line. I decided to change the subject before she came back to the table. “Hey, so I saw you and Rob and the babies on TMZ.”

“Arnie’s idea.” Sabrina shook her head, wiping a spoon with a napkin and handing it to Lucy to play with. “He’s pushing it out slowly in the press… letting them get used to it.”

“They love you,” I told her. “And the babies. The whole world loves you guys now. They’ll love you in Trouble.”

“I just wish Tyler didn’t have to quit.” She looked at me, and I saw the sadness in her eyes. “They’re crucifying him in the press.”

“He’s fine with it,” I said with a shrug.

While the media had already warmed up to the idea of Sabrina joining Trouble, printing all sorts of speculation, they’d vilified Tyler. Rumors were flying, judgements being made. It was all over the internet, op-ed pieces and comments on articles—he was selfish, he thought he was too good for Trouble now that he was acting, he wanted more money, he wanted to be the front man—you name it, they’d said it.

But Tyler wouldn’t budge. He’d refused all interviews, and he wouldn’t let them know the real reason he’d quit.
It’ll blow over
, was all he’d say, and I knew he was right. Eventually, it would blow over. But would we still be standing when it did?

“I doubt he’s ‘fine’ with it,” Sabrina said softly.

“Well…” I shifted Lucy in my lap, seeing Jay balancing a drink holder as she approached. “I guess ‘fine’ isn’t the right word. Resigned, maybe. He’s accepted it. What else can he do?”

“I guess.” She gave a sad sigh, looking up as Jay slid into the empty chair at the table.

“White hot chocolate for you.” Jay put a cup in front of Sabrina, turning to put a cup in front of me. “Grande skinny caramel macchiato for you. And another white hot chocolate for me.”

“Good girl.” I winked at her and she rolled her eyes, but she smiled behind her cup. I think she secretly liked the fact that I sweated the small stuff like caffeine and keeping tabs on her every minute of the day.

Lucy squirmed in my lap, trying to crawl across the table to Jay. They hadn’t seen each other since Tyler’s announcement, but clearly Lucy remembered her. Jay laughed and held her arms out. I put Lucy on the floor and she toddled around the table to sit in Jay’s lap.

“Wish I could find a nanny she liked as much.” Sabrina blew steam off the top of her hot chocolate, watching Lucy and Jay together. “Remember that psycho we had on the road last year?”

“I remember,” I told her. “I was the one who picked up the slack after you fired her.”

“I guess I’m spoiled.” Sabrina gave a dirty look to a woman with a laptop at the table next to us. Lucy was laughing and squealing and banging a spoon on the table, and the woman looked like she wanted to wring the little girl’s neck. “With Daisy and Jesse and Celeste—we have such good help.”

“It’s the main reason I never get around to hiring anyone,” I said with a laugh. “Who could live up to Daisy’s cooking?”

“Right?” Sabrina reached over to unbuckle Henry’s belt, taking him out of the stroller just as he was starting to fuss.

“Ohh snap.” I sank lower in my chair, seeing who was coming through the door. “That’s her.”

“Her who?” Sabrina craned her neck to see past the line of people.

“Alisha McKenna.” I sank a little lower, as if that could keep her from seeing me.

“That reporter?” Sabrina had located her and her eyebrows went up. “The Variety one?”

“Yup.” She’d seen me—her fingers were waggling in my direction. Ugh.

“Well look who’s here.” Alisha slipped through the crowd, arriving at our table. I sat up straighter, since she’d already spotted me. “Where’s your other half?”

I shrugged, not saying anything to her, taking a sip of my coffee. It was way too hot and I burned my tongue, but I pretended I hadn’t.

“So it’s really true then?” Alisha smoothed her obviously-dyed red hair behind her ears. She was dressed for work, which must have been paying her well, given the Jimmy Choos she was wearing. “Tyler Cook is leaving Trouble?”

“You should know,” Sabrina snapped. “You were the one who printed it first.”

“Tell Tyler I missed him this week at the studio.” Alisha ignored Sabrina’s laser-beam look, focusing on me. “Have him call me to reschedule.”

I glared at her, ignoring the implication. I seriously doubted Tyler had arranged a meeting with Alisha McKenna. He knew how I felt about her—especially after what she’d printed, after he’d asked her not to.

“Come on,” Alisha wrinkled her freckled nose at me. “You know I’ll treat him right. Why don’t you put in a good word for me?”

“The only word we’ve got for you, sweetheart, is ‘no’.” Sabrina waved her away, dismissing her presence and turning back to me. “So are you taking Jay shopping?”

“Yes!” Jay’s face lit up. “New clothes—I can’t wait!”

“So who’s this, then?” Alisha’s reporter instincts came out like a cat’s claws. I could practically see her sniffing the air, trying to catch the scent of a rumor to start.

“My cousin.” That was the story we’d be sticking to.

“Hm.” Alisha cocked her head at Jay, her eyes narrowing slightly. “She’s gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Jay laughed, tickling Lucy, making her squeal with laughter, garnering another dirty look from laptop-lady.

“You don’t look anything alike.” Alisha slung her Gucci bag over her shoulder, sending her offhand barb straight through me. I didn’t even answer her, pretending it didn’t bother me in the least. “Tell Tyler I said ‘hi.’ I’m sure I’ll see him around.”

“Bitch,” Sabrina said under her breath as Alisha flung her red hair over her shoulder and turned to go. I know Alisha heard her, but she didn’t react, going over to stand in line for coffee. Sabrina looked at Jay and offered her a smile. “She’s right though—you are gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Jay wrinkled her nose at the compliment. “Maybe you can tell Katie that. Arnie gave me his card, but she won’t let me call him.”

“Do you really want to be a model?” Sabrina asked. “Be careful what you wish for.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jay said with a shrug. “What girl wouldn’t want her face on Glamour?”

“Girls who like food.” Sabrina laughed.

“You should see her eat.” I snorted. “Jay eats more than I do.”

“Must be nice to have that metabolism.” Sabrina sighed. “So where are you taking her shopping? I’m so jealous. I haven’t been shopping in ages. Hard to try anything on with these two.”

“K-Mart.” I laughed when Sabrina choked on her hot chocolate. “Just kidding. We’ll probably hit Neiman Marcus and Macy’s.”

“Wish I could come.” Sabrina sighed, shifting Henry to her other side, away from the narrowing gaze of laptop-lady. “But I’ve got to get these two down for a nap.”