by Amy Vastine
Sawyer threw his truck into Park. “We are in full fake-engagement mode.”
Boone’s mansion was something out of Sawyer’s dreams. Set in the middle of a couple acres on the outskirts of Nashville, the house was an all-brick beauty. Being rich wasn’t Sawyer’s reason for going into music, but it sure wasn’t something he’d complain about if he managed the success Boone had.
“Well, if it isn’t the talk of the town,” Boone said when he opened the door. “I knew you’d make some amazing music together, but I gotta say, you surprised me with the baby making.” The megastar shook Sawyer’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“We really appreciate your help,” Piper said, accepting a hug from him.
“I’m happy to give it. I know all too well what it’s like to have my personal business splashed across the magazines and internet. You two deserve to keep this to yourselves for as long as you want.”
Boone was no stranger to scandal. He was preparing a big comeback next year now that he was clean and sober and a million times happier than he had been when Sawyer first met him. That probably had a lot to do with the redheaded woman standing behind him.
Boone introduced Ruby even though they had both met her in the summer. She had kind eyes, which was important to Sawyer. He believed he could tell quite a bit about someone by looking them straight in the eye.
“Dinner is supposed to be delivered in about an hour. If you want, we can take care of business before we eat. It’s completely up to you,” Ruby said.
Piper fiddled with her bracelets. “That would be great. Thank you.”
Ruby led them all down the hall and into an office off the family room. Concert photographs decorated the walls. Boone had performed for millions of people all over the world during his career. He was a big reason Piper had gotten into the business and someone Sawyer admired as a musician and songwriter.
There was an ache in Sawyer’s chest as he looked at the photos. Two days ago, he had been filled with the anticipation of getting out on the road and standing on stages like the ones Boone performed on. He glanced back at Piper, who had taken a seat across from Ruby. The thrill of touring had quickly been replaced by fear and anxiety. How was he going to convince the world he was happily engaged when he was currently miserable? All his hopes and dreams had to be put on hold once again. And then there was the fear of parenthood. What kind of dad would he be? What kind of dad would Heath let him be?
Ruby explained she’d be gathering a family history, drawing some blood and doing a thorough physical.
“Here?” Sawyer asked.
“The nice thing about a midwife is that we do house calls. It’s not unusual for me to check on a patient in their home. I came prepared.” She pointed to the medical bag by the chaise lounge. “Almost everything we need to do, I can do here, except for an ultrasound. I have a machine at my office, but we don’t need to do one this early in the pregnancy. In a couple months, you should definitely have one done, though.”
“I’m going to go set the table for dinner,” Boone said, excusing himself. He gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek. “I’m leaving you two in capable hands, I promise.”
This probably wasn’t how Piper had imagined her first prenatal appointment. She spun her bracelets around her wrist.
“We’re going on tour in a month. Is that going to be a problem?” Sawyer asked, taking the seat next to Piper.
“I don’t know if I can answer that right now. If she’s in good health, she should be fine. You guys will have to keep up with regular checkups, though.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Sawyer said since Piper remained quiet.
“How have you been feeling so far?” Ruby asked her.
“Fine, I guess. A little nauseous sometimes. Mostly tired, but that could be from my crazy schedule.”
“She fainted onstage yesterday,” Sawyer interjected. “That can’t be good.”
Ruby frowned. “That is definitely not good.” She asked Piper a bunch of follow-up questions, jotting down notes as they spoke.
As hard as Sawyer was fighting not to feel overwhelmed, everything about this made him anxious. There was so much to worry about before the baby was even born. Piper worked harder than most people he knew. How was she going to take care of herself and this baby? How was he supposed to help when they weren’t really a couple?
Ruby asked questions about their family history. Piper pulled a sheet of paper out of her purse. She was more prepared than Sawyer.
“My brother has epilepsy. Is that hereditary?” Piper asked, handing over a list of family medical concerns.
“Genetics play a role in epilepsy, but just because your brother has it doesn’t mean your child will. The baby would be slightly more at risk, but that risk is small.” Her smile seemed to reassure Piper. “What about you, Sawyer? Any significant family medical history?”
“My dad died of a heart attack at fifty. I don’t really know anything about my mom. She could be dead, too, for all I know.”
Piper gasped. “You don’t know if your mom is alive?”
Sawyer’s least favorite subject in the world was his mother. “She left when I was four. I think we got letters for a little while, but it ended pretty quick. My sister is more of a mom to me than she ever was.”
“I’m so sorry. That’s terrible,” Piper whispered.
Sawyer didn’t need anyone’s sympathy. He’d dealt with his feelings about his mother’s abandonment a long time ago. “Hey. Some people aren’t meant to be parents. Unlike us,” he said, touching Piper’s knee. He could tell she needed the reassurance more than anything. No matter how afraid he was, he needed to make her feel confident that all would be okay. “We’re going to be awesome.”
Her forehead was still creased with worry. “Right,” she said with a sigh.
“It’s okay if you don’t know everything,” Ruby said. “We’re simply trying to identify any possible concerns sooner than later. But there are a lot of ways for us to get information about the baby.”
Ruby asked a few more questions before asking Sawyer to leave so she could examine Piper. He wandered out into the kitchen, where Boone was pulling some drinking glasses out of the cupboard.
“I’d offer you a beer, but I don’t have any alcohol in the house. I’ve learned the hard way that the only way to resist temptation is to kick temptation to the curb.”
Boone was an excellent reminder that everyone had their own issues.
“No worries. I’ll take a Coke if you have one.” Sawyer pulled out a stool from around the large island and sat down.
Boone went to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda. He slid both the can and a glass to Sawyer.
“So, you and Piper.” Boone waggled his brow and popped open his own can. “How’s Heath dealing with all of this?”
That seemed to be a popular question for anyone who knew anything about Piper. “Heath sure does love his daughter and has lots of opinions about how she should live her life.”
Boone chuckled. “You’re a brave man. I only spent one month writing one song with that girl while her father breathed down my neck, and I barely survived. You’re signing up for a lifetime of hovering. Good luck with that.”
Sawyer would always have to deal with Heath, but hopefully not to the same extent he would if this relationship was real. In truth, he wasn’t sure what would happen once the baby was born and they ended this ruse.
“I’m sure Piper is worth it,” Boone said, scratching at his five o’clock shadow.
Sawyer dropped his eyes to the counter. “Right.”
“Keep focused on the love, man. Without the love, all the other stuff gets in the way real fast. I learned that the hard way, too.”
Sawyer’s throat tightened as he nodded in agreement. He’d found that the less he said, the better when forced to lie to everyone around him.
“And you haven’t even experienced what it’s like to love a kid. That’s a whole other level. Being a dad is life changing. Hard as heck but more rewarding than anything else you’ll do.”
“You can do both, right? Have a music career and be a dad? I mean, I want both. I want to be responsible for my child, but I really want this life. I want to go on tour and make music. It’s been a dream, and the dream is this close to being a reality. Tell me I don’t have to give that all up.”
If anyone had the answers to these questions, it had to be Boone. He had lived it.
Boone set down his drink and placed his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s hard. I didn’t succeed at doing both. I missed a lot while Emmy was growing up. It’s taken me until now to realize that I have to be willing to walk away from some things in order to put her first. Luckily for my daughter, my ex was willing to step away from the spotlight for a while to take care of her the way she deserved.”
“So, it can be done?” Boone’s ex-wife was the one who had introduced him and Piper onstage last night. “Sara’s still popular.”
Boone shrugged. “The music business is tough. We’ve talked about this before. It chews people up and spits them out. You’ve got to be willing to work harder than everyone else. Especially in the beginning.”
“I’m used to hard work. You know what the farm is like.”
One side of Boone’s mouth went up. “Yeah, I know what the farm is like, but in the music business, all eyes are on you. The farm can replace you and go on. The country artist Sawyer Stratton doesn’t exist unless you’re there every day making him relevant. Sara had more experience under her belt before taking a hiatus. She also had a husband who was selling millions of records to keep her in the style she was accustomed to.”
“She chose family and you chose career.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t call that a recipe for success. We have an amazing kid, but we divorced and I nearly ruined my relationship with my daughter. I truly hope you and Piper figure out a better way.”
“What if Piper and I choose both career and family?”
“I don’t know. It’s going to be harder with both of you in this business. I mean, someone has to take care of the kid. Piper’s more established like Sara was, so she can afford to be away longer before people forget about her. At the same time, the Piper Starling brand employs a lot of people, more than the Sawyer Stratton brand does. That’s a ton of pressure. Everyone, from the bus drivers to the musicians who tour with her, depends on her. Everyone on the crew, her dad, even Dean, need her to work hard every day because their livelihoods depend on it.”
Piper had basically said the same thing. It was why she was so protective of her brand and image. “I know we could get a nanny, but I don’t want someone else raising my kid full-time. I know some people have to—even prefer to—do it that way, but I was hoping we could find a way to be more hands on while still working. Can people in this business make it work?”
“I have no idea what you two can accomplish. Maybe if you always tour together or take turns so one is home while the other is away. That’s rough on a marriage, though. Like I said, it’s all about balance, and figuring out the perfect balance is going to be up to you. The good news is you fell in love with an amazing woman. If you two hold on to that love and let it guide you, you’ll be fine.”
Sawyer didn’t love that answer. He wanted it all without having to ask Piper to make sacrifices to get it.
“It’s all about priorities. Look at my situation,” Boone continued. “I’ve been away fixing myself, and I have no guarantee that the fans will welcome me back when this album drops. Hopefully they will, but if they don’t, I’m okay with that. It was important to me to reconnect with the people I love. My relationships with Ruby and our daughters matter way more than how many albums I sell.”
“Emmy and Violet will be happy to hear that,” Ruby said, joining them around the island. Piper followed her.
“Everything good?” Sawyer asked, hoping for some good news. Boone’s answers had only served to overwhelm him more. There was so much to think about, and not having to worry about how Piper was doing would help immensely.
“We’ll have to wait for the blood tests to come back, but Ruby said I seem in tip-top shape.”
“We still need to talk about eating right, foods you need to avoid and the inevitable weight gain that’s coming. I hope you have a good seamstress going on tour with you.”
“I have the best and a huge wardrobe budget.”
While they chatted about tour budgets and the benefits of a good crew, Sawyer tried to wrap his head around what Boone had said. He made it sound even more difficult than Sawyer had anticipated to juggle this career and a family. Sawyer had grown up watching his father do it all. He had run his own business, coached Little League, made dinner for the family every night. Faith and Sawyer never felt like they were a burden. Big John had made it look so easy. Too easy. How was Sawyer going to pull that off? Boone was also under the assumption that Sawyer and Piper were in love and had that on their side to get through all this.
Love wasn’t on their side, only deception. There was no telling how this was going to end.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“AFTER THE INTERVIEW, we need to hurry back downtown to meet up with the perfume people so you can choose from the scents they’ve narrowed down for you. I also confirmed your seven o’clock reservations at La Cage so you and Sawyer can make your first public appearance.” Lana had a hard time keeping up as they made their way through the lobby of the Los Angeles Four Seasons.
Thanksgiving was next week, and Piper and Sawyer—and her team, of course—had successfully put everything they needed in place to make the big relationship reveal. Piper was scheduled to appear on the Whitney Hansen Show to talk about the new album and tour. What Whitney didn’t know was that she was getting the scoop of the century.
Sawyer pulled his baseball cap down. He was about to become Whitney’s surprise guest. He walked out to the limo first to make it appear as if they were trying to hide the fact that they were a couple.
A minute later, Heath held the door open for his daughter. Piper smiled and waved at the mob of fans who had given up their morning to wait outside the hotel in hopes of getting a glimpse of her. Two brawny security guards stood in front of the metal barricades that lined the entrance.
Everyone began shouting at once.
“Piper! You’re the best!”
“We love you!”
“Was that Sawyer?”
“Piper, can you sign this?”
“Piper, can I get a pic?”
Everyone wanted their piece of her, but there wasn’t time to greet them all. She smiled for some selfies and autographed glossy prints of herself. Near the end of the line, the most adorable little girl with big brown eyes and sandy-blond pigtails held out a magazine with Piper’s face on the cover.
“How are you today, sweetheart?” Piper asked as she scrawled her name across the bottom of the photo.
“Good,” the little girl replied. “I love you.” Her fans, big and small, warmed Piper’s heart in ways they would never understand.
Piper handed back the magazine. “You are so sweet. I love you, too.”
“Can she please get a picture with you?” a woman standing beside the girl asked. Her phone was out and ready. “We traveled all the way from Vegas to meet you.”
“That’s so far! Thank you for coming to see me,” Piper said before her dad grabbed her by the elbow.
“We’re on a tight schedule. No more pictures.” He tugged her toward the limo and away.
The look of confusion on the child’s face was heartbreaking. Piper hated disappointing anyone, but a child was the worst.
She slid into the back of the limo as a familiar unease settled in the p
it of her stomach. It wasn’t like her to challenge her father, but something made her speak up this time. “It only would have taken a second to pose for a photo. Those people came a long way.”
Heath didn’t bother looking up from his phone. “That woman filmed the whole exchange between you and her little girl. Trust me, she got what she came for and then some.”
There was no arguing with her father. He was not one to admit he was wrong. Ever. Not that Piper tested those waters very often.
“Lana, next time we’re in town, let’s make sure not to leak the hotel online. I think we’re past the need for all that. Incognito is the way to go,” Heath said, slipping his phone into his breast pocket and fixing his tie.
Lana added that to the list she’d made on her phone. “Are we still tweeting where she eats dinner tonight?”
“Of course, we want everyone to see the happy couple. Hopefully Sawyer will learn how to smile by the time they go eat. Otherwise, the media is going to think he’s a miserable piece of garbage who somehow got lucky enough to be with my daughter.”
“Wow, Heath. Here I thought you and I were finally becoming buddies.”
“Dad, please don’t start. We all need to appear like a happy soon-to-be family this afternoon.” Piper spun the diamond she had picked out to play the part of her engagement ring around her finger. There was no turning back now. Once they made the engagement public, the pregnancy would be next. Hopefully both pieces of news would be well received by the fans.
The ride to the Burbank studio was short. Inside, they were greeted by Whitney’s assistant, whose badge identified her as Casey. Casey was tall, slender and impeccably dressed. She gushed and couldn’t thank Piper enough for coming.
“Thank you for having me,” Piper replied. “I love Whitney.”
“Well, she loves you, too. Let’s get you settled backstage in your dressing room.”
Casey left them alone, and Piper paced around the tiny room. She was about to lie to millions of people on national television.
“What are you so nervous about? You’ve been on this show before,” her father said.