“Want some breakfast? I can scramble up some legs.” Oh my God! What? “Eggs! I can scramble some eggs.”
“Eggs would be fantastic,” he agreed as she moved across the kitchen to the refrigerator. “How long have you lived here?”
Walking back to the counter, she set down eggs and milk. “Since Uncle Buddy died a few years ago. I was shocked that he left the house and car to me, but it came at the right time in my life. Not that I wanted him to die, but… You know what I mean.” At Justin’s nod, she shrugged as she cracked the eggs into a bowl. “One bedroom homes aren’t exactly vogue nowadays and it could use some major repair work, but on a teacher’s salary, there’s only so much I can do. I’ll get it all done some day.” She whipped the eggs and set them aside with a plate over the bowl.
“What kind of repairs?” he asked, leaning against the counter beside her as another cup of coffee brewed.
“Little things, like the leak under the kitchen sink, sagging fence sections, a new air conditioner, and that stupid patio door lock that’s broken. Simple fixes, but expensive for me.” She inhaled and felt it all the way to her fluttery stomach. He’d used her body wash, but his distinctive woodsy smell added something provocative to it.
“Do you have any tools?”
She watched as he tightened the belt on the robe. Don’t think about Iron Man. “Yes, why?”
Justin cleared his throat. “I’ll take a look at the leak under the sink if you want me to.”
A singer that did odd jobs? This should be interesting. Silver pointed to the garage. He was gone only a couple of minutes and walked back in with several wrenches in his hand.
“Your tools would rival any handyman’s collection.”
She shrugged. “They came with the house but I don’t know how to use many of them. How do you know what to do?”
“One of the things my daddy taught me was that every man needs some basic knowledge of cars, tools, and women,” he answered with a wicked grin.
To her surprise, he sat down on the floor, opened up the lower cabinet doors under the sink, moved things aside, and leaned in.
“Yep, you have a leak under here.” He sat back up. “It’s going to cost a bit more than I thought.”
Oh, no. “How much?”
“Well, miss, could I get a side of toast with those eggs?” He leaned back under the sink.
Laughing, she opened the refrigerator again a loaf of bread. “You got it, cowboy.” She turned back around and stopped dead in her tracks at the view of him under the sink—his knees were bent and the robe had slid open a bit.
Just enough.
“Oh, geez.”
“What’d you say?” he asked with a muffled voice.
Moving quickly to the stove, she set everything on the countertop and pulled out a skillet for the bacon. “Uh, I said cheese. For the tool. Eggs!”
“Not for me, thanks. This won’t take but a couple of minutes to tighten.”
Silver gripped the edge of the counter as her heart pounded. She already felt tightened, her hands were shaking, and the temperature in the room was much too warm. Fanning herself with a potholder, she focused and mentally created a list for breakfast… Bacon into the skillet, scramble the eggs, bread into the toaster… Rats, butter still in the fridge.
“Now that’s a view every woman wants to see when she gets up.”
Silver whirled around to see Becky standing there.
“A man wearing a purple robe, fixing the sink. I could live with that,” Becky said as she pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen table. Of course, then she glimpsed the real view and her eyes widened.
It was one of those moments where no words were exchanged, but the facial expressions and hand gestures said it all. Becky smirked and leaned a little to the right, one last time. Silver reached over and pinched her arm hard enough to make her wince. “Ow!”
“Sorry, my bad.” Silver glared at her, not sorry in the least.
“All done,” came Justin’s muffled voice. “Turn on the water, someone, so I can see if this worked.”
Silver twisted the handle and heard Justin sputtering under the sink. She turned it off and leaned down to see that his face and neck were wet. Covering her mouth with one hand to keep from laughing, she reached for a kitchen towel with the other hand and gave it to him. He mopped his face and dropped the damp towel onto his lap.
Becky reached for the towel. “Here, let me help.”
Silver swatted her hand away.
“Guess I turned it the wrong way,” he mumbled as he reached up to the pipes again. “You might want to hold off on cooking until I’m done. This won’t take a second.” Silver could hear him muttering “Rightie tightie” to himself.
A half hour and two more mishaps later, and after Silver had moved Justin’s clothes to the dryer, the leak was fixed, and she could walk to the refrigerator for the butter without any danger of a peep show.
As the three of them sat down at the table to eat, Silver looked at Justin while Becky grabbed a bottle of chocolate caramel creamer for her coffee.
“I can’t believe you fixed that leak for me. Thanks, cowboy.”
He tipped a nonexistent hat. “My pleasure, miss.”
Giddy under his gaze, she pointed to his plate. “Sorry if the eggs are a bit dry.”
“It’s all good.”
Becky sniffed loudly. “Hey, Sil. Did you get a new air freshener? It smells like flowers in here.”
Justin shrugged. “Uh, that’s me, I think. The body wash goes well with the robe.”
“We won’t tell anyone, cowboy,” Becky quipped, making them all laugh.
The reporter’s instincts must have come alert after two cups of coffee because the next thing Silver knew, Becky leaned forward to ask questions. “What’s it like on the road all the time? Doesn’t your family miss you?”
He bit into his second slice of toast. “We’re close, if that’s what you’re asking. And no, they don’t miss me since I live in the converted basement at the house.”
Silver frowned. “You still live at home? Isn’t that a little…”
“Weird?” he asked with a laugh. “Maybe, but I took six years to get through college, then a…family situation…kept me home for a while. Now I’m launching my career, so it’s the logical choice since I’m not home that much.”
Becky snorted. “Kind of tough on the love life, isn’t it?”
When Justin took a long drink of coffee and didn’t answer, Silver changed the subject.
“How did you get into country music?”
Justin wiped his mouth with a paper towel. “My mom loves it, and it played all the time in our house. I started singing at a young age and fell in love with the new style of country when I was in middle school. Friends talked me into trying out for some talent shows around the area, and I won a couple of them. By that time, I decided to be a singer.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“Union High School. Go Redskins!” he mock-shouted with a grin.
“Becky and I went to Marshall Heritage Academy,” Silver offered.
Justin choked back a laugh. “Good school. Really lousy football team.”
Silver squinted at him in irritation. “Hey, I was a cheerleader for that lousy football team.”
“Uh…great cheer squad!”
Becky laughed and leaned back in her chair. “Ever been married?”
He picked his fork back up and speared some eggs. “Not ready for that.”
“Why don’t you want to be part of the family business?”
Justin hesitated long enough to make Becky frown. Silver stood with her plate in hand. “Becky, are you finished?” She leveled a look at Becky she hoped said “enough.”
Her friend handed her plate across the table. “I guess so, for now. What’s my W.O.W?” asked Becky.
“Demassify: to break down into elements more pleasing to individual tastes.”
Justin looked back and forth between them. �
��Wow?”
Silver explained. “Word of the Week. I give her a new word each week and she has to use it at least once a day.”
“It helps my writing, too,” Becky added.
“Sounds fun. What’s mine?” Justin said.
“Really?” asked Silver.
“Sure. Why not?”
Silver thought for a moment then she said. “Pugnacious. Easy or quick to argue.”
“I like it. I’m feeling very pugnacious,” he said mischievously.
She laughed. “Good job.”
A sudden banging on the door startled her. Was someone yelling for Justin? No one knew he was here, did they?
She watched as Justin rose and walked through the living room. Setting the dishes in the sink, she motioned for Becky to follow. When Justin opened the front door, Silver stood on tiptoe to look over his shoulder and saw his manager scowling in the doorway.
“What the hell, Sam. How’d you find me?”
Catcalls and hoots testified to what a front lawn full of reporters thought of Justin’s attire as pictures by the dozens were taken. Loud voices shouted questions. Sam shoved Justin back into the house and slammed the door shut.
Silver looked at Becky. “Uh oh.”
“‘Uh oh’ is right!” The frenzied manager surveyed Justin up and down with disbelief. “What are you wearing?”
Justin ignored the question. “Where did those reporters come from?”
“I called them,” Sam replied, and when Justin’s eyes narrowed, he exclaimed, “What? You don’t think this is newsworthy? I mean, it’s not like you’ve been nominated for Best New Artist, or picked a fight in a local honky-tonk before spending the night with some knockout blonde. Oh, wait—you have!”
“Knockout?” Silver repeated.
“It wasn’t a fight,” Becky said. “It was a single punch. And it was a barbecue restaurant, not a honky-tonk.”
“And he slept on my couch,” Silver insisted. “This is my uncle’s robe. We’re just washing Justin’s clothes. Nothing happened.” She started for the front door. “Let me go outside and talk to them. I’ll clear all of this up in a—”
“Are you crazy?” Sam grabbed her by the arm. “I’ve got an E! News live satellite feed out there! Entertainment Tonight and Extra! Star magazine and any other tabloid you can think of—all of them parked outside on your lawn!” He dragged his fingers through his hair, leaving it sticking out in all directions. “I can see the headlines now: ‘Small-town teacher has wild night with up and coming country superstar.’” He grinned at Justin. “GramMer is going to love it!”
Silver gulped in realization. “This is a disaster.”
“Disaster?” Sam blinked at her. “Are you kidding? We can’t buy this kind of publicity!”
Justin stepped forward. “You think this is a good thing? What the hell kind of manager are you? I didn’t ask for the press to be called, and I sure as hell don’t want to hurt innocent people.”
Silver felt a chill from the morality clause in her school contract. When GaGa and the school board found out… “How do we get out of this?”
“Come up with a story and stick with it,” suggested Becky.
Justin turned to Becky. “What kind of story?”
“Don’t worry your pretty heads about it.” Sam waved offhandedly to the women.
Becky crossed her arms over her chest. “Hey, this affects us, too.”
Sam snorted. “Right, and you have so much to offer this discussion. I don’t think so.”
“Don’t be so pugnacious.” Justin turned to Silver with raised eyebrows “I like that word. It comes in handy.”
Silver didn’t laugh. “What is happening to my world?”
Slowly Justin moved away from Sam as the doorbell began ringing again. “Don’t answer it, Silver.”
“Maybe this isn’t as bad as it seems,” Silver offered. “What if we don’t say anything?”
Justin peeked out the living room window between the blinds then pointed to her flat screen television. “Where’s the remote?” he asked.
Silver opened a drawer under the coffee table and handed the remote to Justin. He turned on the television and clicked through a few channels to the one he wanted.
“Is that the Gossipy Gail Show?” Becky stared at the screen, where a perky young reporter holding a microphone stood in front of Silver’s house.
“Oh no,” Silver echoed in a whisper, and gripped her friend’s arm in a panic as they watched the well-known talk show host lean toward the camera.
“It appears that Justin Rivers, who’s been nominated for ACMA’s Best New Artist, was seen early this morning sporting a new style.” The reporter gestured to a picture that appeared over her shoulder as she continued. “This shot of Justin was taken a few minutes ago at the home of private school teacher, Silver Madison.” The camera zoomed in to show him in the purple robe. “The color is great on you, Justin, but the style isn’t country at all. What were you thinking?”
Turning off the television, Justin turned to Silver. “Things could get really ugly.”
A crisp knock on the door made her groan. “Worse than this?”
“I’ll see if I can get them to leave since this is private property.” Becky peeked out the peephole and stepped back. “Sil,” she whispered. “Who is the absolute last person on earth you want to see right now?”
“Is it Entertainment Tonight?” asked Sam eagerly.
“I wish it was,” mumbled Becky with a pained look at Silver.
Silver swallowed and put a hand over her mouth.
Yes, the day could definitely get worse.
Chapter Six
In a crisp pale blue suit and silk blouse, with her shoulder-length, blonde hair softly styled, diamonds on her ears and fingers, and taupe shoes on feet that wouldn’t dare be over a size seven, Amelia Madison epitomized a regal matriarch. She sat on the edge of the sofa, her back ramrod-straight, knees together, hands folded in her lap as she stared at her daughter.
The rigid posture spoke loudly of disapproval without speaking at all. But the fury in those green eyes, so much like Silver’s, showed a barely-contained storm.
What else was new?
Now began the diatribe that could rival any filibustering politician in Washington, D.C. Her mother held a severely judgmental attitude toward certain people, and as a lifelong member of that select group, Silver knew Amelia’s ritual.
Becky escaped to the bedroom, supposedly getting dressed, but Silver knew she hated seeing how Amelia treated Silver. After an icy stare from Amelia, Sam paled, muttered something about “damage control,” and quickly disappeared outside.
Sitting in a chair across from her mother, Silver waited. She knew better than to start the conversation. When Justin stepped forward and cleared his throat, Silver held up one finger and shook her head, stopping the purple-robed cowboy, then folded her hands in her lap and waited for the sign. She was relieved when he stepped back and waited patiently. Her mother’s sigh gave permission for Silver to speak.
“Mother, this is Justin Rivers. Justin, my mother, Amelia Madison.” Not surprisingly, her mother chose to ignore the introduction, focusing instead on the object of her current disdain: Silver.
“I’m sure you know why I’m here, Silver, and I must say, of all the trials we have endured with you, this may be the most stressful.”
The elegant woman paused for a moment, staring at her hands, another indicator of how much she chose to let this latest insurrection affect her. When her mother looked up, she directed the Wrathful Amelia face toward Justin. Silver had seen strong men reduced to gelatinous masses by that glare.
“Young man, do you have any idea what kind of embarrassment you have brought on this family? My telephone began ringing at the ungodly hour of five o’clock this morning, thanks to my daughter’s concerned neighbors, when reporters began setting up camp outside.”
Again Silver shook her head to keep him from answering. Justin put a hand on Silve
r’s shoulder and gently squeezed, causing her to flinch. She wasn’t used to support when dealing with Amelia’s disapproval.
“I can see your taste in men has changed, Silver,” Amelia continued. “Indeed, this one seems to have an even more colorful lifestyle than your father’s brother.”
This time Justin stopped her from responding as his fingers tightened slightly when she started to stand. Swallowing against the surge of anger, Silver gripped her hands together and waited for the next volley of words.
“How do you propose to explain all of this to the school board members? What possible plebian excuse could you have for this excessive display of poor judgment? Your father will be ashamed of you when he finds out.”
Silver fought the sting of tears, refusing to reveal how the words hurt. Usually it took a full half-hour for her mother to become revved up enough to toss those final cutting remarks at her, but this time Amelia Madison had come fully loaded and ready for the kill. Justin’s hand left her shoulder, causing her to feel as if she were facing the firing squad alone.
But her knight in purple feathers stepped forward.
“Mrs. Madison, while I understand your discomfort with the situation, you don’t have the facts. By listening to what the media and the neighbors are saying, you’ve misjudged your daughter. You’ve also misjudged me, which, frankly, I don’t appreciate.”
Silver gaped in stunned surprise. No one had ever defended her against her mother or spoken to Amelia Madison like that and gone unscathed, not even her father. Justin continued speaking to her mother, who appeared shocked at the challenge.
“Silver has done nothing wrong, and neither have I.”
Maintaining control was essential to the very fabric of Amelia’s existence, so she stood up to face Justin. “I don’t care who your family is or what you want to be when you grow up.” Her eyes glinted with satisfaction when Justin’s jaw tightened in irritation. “This doesn’t only affect my daughter. It affects me, as well, and my standing in the community.”
“I understand, but I’d advise you to not make false accusations about either of us.”
Midnight Diamonds Page 6