by Meg Maxwell
“Autry Jones, at your service,” he said, taking a bow. His smile almost undid her, sending a jolt to her knees.
God, she loved this man.
She froze, then felt herself tremble and took a step back.
What? She loved him?
Say something, she ordered herself. Get that thought out of your head immediately!
“So...what’s for dinner?” she asked, her heart beating so fast she was surprised he couldn’t hear it.
“My world-famous meatballs and spaghetti, with garlic bread and a green salad.”
She grinned. “I may faint with happiness. So will my father. And the girls.”
“Marissa, I did one more thing.”
“You couldn’t possibly have,” she said. What was there left for this man to do?
“I know I should have asked, but the opportunity presented itself right then and there and I took it.”
She tilted her head.
“A friend of mine bought eight tickets to a concert for his family, but there was a conflict, so he asked if I’d like to buy them and I did. I’d like to invite your entire family to go. You, me, your parents and the girls. And since there’s an extra, maybe Abby would like to invite a friend.”
“A concert? What kind?”
“It’s 2LOVEU,” he said. “With a certain dimpled lead singer named Lyle. Did I mention a backstage pass comes along with the tickets?”
“Oh my God. Abby might pass out. But I don’t know, Autry. That’s kind of out of our league.”
“Not mine,” he said.
“Let me talk to my mom.”
“Does she like 2LOVEU?” he asked.
“Everyone does. I heard her humming one of their songs while folding laundry the other day. Abby plays their album so often that the ear worm has got us all. Even Kaylee knows half the songs by heart.”
“I would love to take you all. The concert is in Seattle.”
“Seattle?” she said. “But—”
“Private jet and a hotel for the night—you, your parents and the girls will have a large suite with three bedrooms, and I’ll have a suite down the hall. If we’re going front row to a boy-band concert, we have to do it right.”
She laughed. “You really are from another universe.”
He held her gaze, his expression turning serious. “Except I’m right here in your kitchen, making spaghetti and meatballs.”
Tears poked at her eyes and she quickly blinked them back. That was the problem. He was so close—and yet so damned far away.
And leaving in a week.
And she loved him. She loved Autry Jones.
* * *
As Marissa and her mom unloaded the dishwasher long after Autry had gone home, Marissa figured it was time to bring up the 2LOVEU concert. The conversation would go one of two ways. Either her mom would say “Oh, how generous and nice, what a wonderful family trip!” or “Absolutely not, that’s too much, and setting up expectations for not only Abby but the younger girls, too.”
Her eyes narrowed, her chin lifted, Roberta listened as Marissa explained the details of the big concert trip to Seattle.
“Marissa, that’s very generous of him, but come on. Front-row tickets to the concert everyone is talking about. In Seattle. A private jet there. A hotel overnight. Backstage passes. This isn’t us, Marissa. It’s not our life. And it’s not going to be our future. Autry is leaving in a week. Then life suddenly goes back to regular.”
Marissa had to smile at how her mother managed to double up on what Marissa had figured she’d say. “So maybe a special once-in-a-lifetime event isn’t such a terrible thing.”
Her mother frowned and put the mugs in the cabinet. “I don’t know, Marissa. Honestly, I’m just not sure. He’s a good person, that much I know. He’s genuine. He is leaving in a week, and yet he was here tonight, making spaghetti and meatballs, helping Kiera read, helping Kaylee count, rearranging Abby’s bedroom furniture, going over Dad’s stock picks and fixing the crazy font increase on my desktop that I couldn’t figure out. He’s doing everyday things. Family things. He’s spent a lot of time here, Marissa, when he could have just taken you out on the town. So I can’t say he’s not a lovely, family-oriented person.”
“He doesn’t think he’s family oriented,” Marissa said. “It’s part of the problem.”
She thought about the woman who’d hurt Autry, the baby he’d lost all contact with. He’d hardened his heart against having a family for himself, against loving again, against expectations.
“For a man who came to town to visit his family and has been spending time with them and a family of three kids, two grandparents and a widowed mom, he’s more family focused than he must realize.”
Marissa nodded, taking out a stack of plates. “Do you think Abby will be hurt when he leaves?” she asked.
“I think Abby will be fine. Autry is kind of like Lyle from 2LOVEU to Abby. Sort of a celebrity, except she got to know this one a little. That he’s leaving won’t be a surprise, and you’ve prepared her well for that. I think it’s you who’ll be hurt.”
Chapter Twelve
“AHHH!” four little girls—three Fullers and a Lattimore—shrieked as the Jones Holdings, Inc. corporate jet cleared the cloud cover and the Seattle skyline came into view. Ever since Marissa had told her daughters about the concert and the trip to Seattle, they’d been squealing and jumping up and down and happily shrieking in anticipation. They’d also already written Autry five thank-you cards each.
“Almost there!” Autry said.
Marissa, with Kaylee and Kiera seated between her and Autry, looked out the window. She’d never been to Seattle. She’d been out of Montana only once, come to think of it. But Autry Jones probably couldn’t think of a city, state or country he hadn’t been to.
This is a fairy tale and then this corporate jet will turn back into a pumpkin, aka my twelve-year-old car that needs new brake pads.
For tonight, she’d take the fairy tale. In a few days, Autry would be flying off to Paris, and then life would go back to normal.
When the plane touched down, Abby and her best friend, Janie, started clapping and singing “Only You,” one of their favorite 2LOVEU songs. Even Grandpa joined in, making everyone laugh when he knew the chorus, even if he was completely off-key.
By the time they arrived at their hotel, via a private car that had met them at baggage claim, Marissa was as starry-eyed as her daughters. The hotel was right across the street from the concert venue, and had an amazing fountain across both sides of the entrance. The Fuller-Raffertys craned their necks to look up at how high the skyscraper went—maybe forty floors. The lobby was as grand as the outside—marble floors and exquisite rugs and paintings and plush couches and chairs. Marissa counted two bars and two restaurants.
Autry took care of checking in and then they were going up in the express elevator to the twenty-eighth floor.
“I’m in this room,” Autry said, as he walked past room 2802. “And I booked this three-bedroom suite a few doors down for you,” he added, stopping in front of room 2810. He opened the door and they all gasped.
Wow. An entire wall of windows offered an expansive view of Seattle, including the famed Space Needle. A seating area of two sofas surrounded an entertainment center, and there was a desk and kitchenette. Three doors opened to three bedrooms. Two had king-size beds and one had four twin beds.
Each bedroom had its own private bathroom—of course—with fluffy white bathrobes, including kid-size ones for the girls, and slippers.
“Oh, is this going to be nice,” Roberta said, smiling as she looked around the suite.
“Told you,” Ralph whispered.
As the girls went racing into their room, flinging their overnight bags on their beds and pulling out the one s
tuffed animal that each was allowed to bring, Marissa smiled at Autry.
“Thank you,” she said. “We needed this. All of us.”
“I needed it, too. I just didn’t know it until I met you.”
She squeezed his hand, but really wanted to fling herself into his arms and kiss him.
“So who’s hungry?” Autry asked. “We have an hour before the concert starts.”
“Lines at the food stands can get pretty long,” Ralph said. “We’d better head over now. A hot dog with the works for me!”
“And me!” Abby said.
“Can I have a corn dog?” Kiera asked.
Kaylee wrinkled her nose. “I just want a plain hot dog.”
“Hot dogs?” Autry said, scratching his chin. “Sorry, guys. But I’m not sure if they’re serving that to the fifty superfans who get to dine with the band backstage before the concert.”
“What?” Abby shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Ahhh!” She was jumping up and down and laughing and crying with her friend and sisters.
“Oh, Autry,” Marissa said. “I should have figured.”
He smiled. “Always figure.”
“I’m learning.”
“And who says money can’t buy happiness?” Autry whispered.
Marissa glanced at him and could see that even he knew it couldn’t. Because even though they had tonight, all the money in the world couldn’t buy a fix for what stood in the way of their happiness.
* * *
Autry, surrounded by tens of thousands of squealing, screaming, shrieking girls of all ages, almost wished he’d brought earplugs. But after a while, even he got into the boy-band music and enjoyed the show, which came complete with pyrotechnics and choreographed dances and three encores. Abby had vowed she’d never wash her right hand again after Lyle, the lead singer, shook it when they met during the superfan dinner. She was speechless when he said hi and told her he liked her sparkly green hair band, and when she shrieked, he seemed very used to it.
About an hour in, Kaylee started showing signs of tiring. The music was just too loud for her, so Marissa’s parents took her back to the hotel. Autry could tell they were ready to make their escape.
When the concert ended, Abby flung herself into Autry’s arms. “I’ll never forget this. Never in a million years, no matter what happens in my life. I’ll always have this.”
He hugged her tight and glanced at Marissa, and could see tears glistening her eyes. Her daughter’s happiness meant so much to her, and he’d been glad to make this special night happen for and her bestie.
Five-year-old Kiera had managed to fall fast asleep, so Marissa was about to scoop her up from her seat when Autry did instead, easily picking up the girl and cradling her against him. Kiera didn’t even stir. He looked down at the sleeping angel in his arms, and the old ache poked at his heart and gut. Once, he’d thought this would be his life. But he knew better now. Things didn’t last. People changed, feelings changed, and the woman looking at him with such tenderness in her expression could slam a door in his face three months from now. A virtual door, since he’d still be in Europe in three months, but still... If he cracked open his heart even just a sliver and let these people in, really in, one day he’d wake up and find them gone, and in their place would be a gnawing void. Just the way it was when Karinna had dumped him and he’d lost Lulu.
The sooner he got back to the hotel and into his own suite, the better. Carefully holding Kiera, he headed into the aisle with the throngs of others, keeping Marissa, Abby and Janie in his sights. Kiera shifted and sighed, off in dreamland, and he couldn’t help a little smile, despite how off balance he felt.
“Good job, Dad,” said a man who was leaving with his daughter.
“No, I—” Autry started to say, then didn’t bother correcting the guy.
Dad.
He was no one’s dad and would never be. Couldn’t be.
* * *
As Abby and Janie chattered on excitedly about every moment of the flight, the hotel rooms, the superfan dinner and the concert itself, Marissa glanced at Autry carrying Kiera. For all anyone knew, they were a family. A mom, a dad and their three daughters leaving the concert.
For a moment, she relished how it felt to be a full unit, even just in appearance. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed that, walking to the park with Mike and the girls, a family. But the past two years, one very important family member had been gone.
She glanced at Autry again, slightly rocking Kiera as he walked, smiling now and then at Abby and Janie’s conversation, now focused on how cute Lyle, the lead singer of 2LOVEU, was and how neither of them were ever washing their right hands again, no matter what, unless their moms made them.
Marissa smiled.
They looked like a typical happy family. And as Marissa realized how much she wished they could really be one, her heart started beating really fast. She loved this man. And she’d have to let him go in just a few days.
Back in the hotel suite, Autry gently put Kiera on her bed, and Marissa tucked her in, careful not to wake Kaylee, who was fast asleep, her arm around her stuffed monkey.
Abby and Janie were both still too wired from the concert to head to bed, so Grandma and Grandpa let them talk their ears off about the parts of the concert they’d missed.
“Well, I’d better let you all settle down to bed,” Autry said, heading to the door.
Abby and Janie both raced over to thank him profusely and hug him, and he seemed truly touched by their gratitude.
“You’re very welcome, girls. It was my pleasure,” he said.
When the girls ran into their room to change into the concert T-shirts Autry had bought all the kids, Marissa went to the door, wishing she didn’t have to say goodbye for the evening. She didn’t want him to go, didn’t want to stop looking at that handsome, kind face, didn’t want to stop being in his presence, which calmed her, comforted her and yet made her feel things she hadn’t even thought about in years. Excitement. Romance. Sex.
Roberta got up, and as she passed them on the way to her bedroom, she said, “Why don’t you two go have a nightcap at one of those fancy bars downstairs? It’s time for bed for little ones and grandparents, but you two go enjoy yourselves. No need to rush back. Dad and I will hold down the fort.”
Marissa almost gasped. Was her mother actually engineering a little one-on-one time with Autry involving alcohol and a hotel? It sure seemed that way. Or perhaps her mother was just wanting the two of them to get some time to themselves, since they’d been surrounded by shrieking kids for so many hours.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Autry said, extending his arm.
“Thanks, Mom,” she whispered and took Autry’s elbow.
“I keep expecting to have to cover my ears to escape a shrill scream of joy over a cute band member leaping onstage or something,” Marissa said as they rode the elevator down.
He laughed. “I know. Sometimes I realize I’m talking too loud because I’ve been shouting to be heard for the past three hours.” He leaned close and whispered, “Is this too loud?”
Every nerve ending in her body tingled. “No, that’s just right.”
She held on to his arm and he led the way to Bar 22. It was elegant, low lit, with club chairs and couches and secluded corners. They chose a plush velvet love seat in one of those spots meant for two, and a sleek waiter appeared to take their orders.
“I don’t feel dressed up enough for this place,” Marissa said, glancing around at the women in cocktail dresses or stylish casual clothes. She was in a silky tank top and jeans, a light cardigan sweater tied around her waist, her usual silver ballet flats on her feet and her hair loose around her shoulders. In other words, dressed just right for the Ace in the Hole or a teenybopper concert.
“You look per
fect and beautiful as always, Marissa,” he said. “And I mean that.”
She reached up to touch his face before she could think about it or stop herself. He so often said exactly the right thing, the thing that slipped inside her heart and kept adding check marks in the pro-Autry column. The con column had only one check mark in it: for the fact that he was leaving in a few days. There’d been another, the little business of him being from a completely different world, where private jets and superfan dinners with the most popular band in America were no biggie, but Autry didn’t act like he was from another galaxy. He acted like a regular person. Someone she could love. Someone she did love.
Someone who would poof away with all the magic, leaving her as Cinderella, but without a missing glass slipper. He would go his way and she would go hers, and they’d have their memories, but that would be that.
Marissa sipped her red wine. “Autry, I know I’ve said it quite a few times tonight, but I have to say it again. Thank you. For a perfect evening. For making my family so happy.”
“What about you, though, Marissa? What would make you happy?”
“When my crew is happy, I’m happy.” She smiled. “I guess it’s hard to separate one from the other. It’s been a long time since it’s been just me, you know?”
He didn’t challenge her, didn’t keep asking, didn’t push, and she could tell from the way he was looking at her that he was thinking about what would make him happy right then. To be upstairs in bed with her.
Which made her happy.
Oh God. She just realized that having sex with Autry Jones would indeed make her happy. It might break her heart later, but now, right now, she wanted nothing more. And later, she’d have her memories. Yes, she thought. Why shouldn’t she allow herself just one night with Autry Jones? A perfect night to wrap up a perfect evening. Today was a fairy tale and it would end happily. Tomorrow she’d be back home, back in her regular life, looking for lost light-up sneakers and pulling Oat Yummies out of ears and doing load after load of laundry.
But while mopping the kitchen floor or scrubbing the upstairs bathroom, she could see herself stopping to think about her one perfect night with Autry, and the magic of it would sustain her.