“I love you, Lily.”
“I love you too, Mama.” Lily yawned relaxing as Shelby’s long fingers brushed through her hair accompanied by the humming of one of her favorite songs.
Chapter Ten
Lily grinned as she and Shelby gave their order at the food place in the park. It had some of the best shakes, burgers, hot dogs, and fries in the city and Lily couldn’t believe her luck that Mama had said they could eat there as long as they didn’t order milkshakes due to the show that night.
Receiving their order Lily followed Shelby to a free table. Sitting down, Lily began to sit on her knees when Shelby shook her head, “Sit on your bottom, Lily.”
Frowning, Lily did as asked shifting in her discomfort but smiling again when Shelby placed her food in front of her. “This looks great, Mama.”
“I think so,” Shelby agreed. “This place has some of the best burgers around here and I love that it’s in the park.”
Lily nodded, “A burger is a nice change from a hot dog. Can we get a milkshake from here soon?”
“Someday,” Shelby allowed. “Since we don’t have shows on Monday, we can pick one up after Sunday’s show.”
“Yes!” Lily tucked her foot under her bottom as she continued to eat. “That’s great. I love the milkshake with the caramel, toffee, and chocolate pieces. Which one is your favorite?”
Shelby leaned forward on the table pretending to be in deep thought. “Well that depends on my mood. Most days I want the one with coffee in it,” she leaned forward even more and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Other days I have to make my own and add every chocolate item they have on the shake menu.”
Giggling, Lily dipped her fry into the ketchup in her basket. “I want to try that one, Mama. It sounds yummy.”
“It is, baby,” Shelby agreed sitting up once more.
They ate in silence for a few moments before Lily shifted again. “Can I please sit on my knees, Mama?”
Shelby shook her head once more, “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because we are not at home. You sit properly when we’re at a restaurant.” Shelby’s voice left no voice for argument and Lily sighed in defeat.
“Alright, but I am not happy about that.”
“Duly noted.”
Lily scrunched her face as Shelby smirked. Finishing up her lunch Lily began to look around the park with interest. Smiling Lily nodded toward the swings. They were her favorite thing to do at the park and right now they were absolutely free.
“Ready to go play?” Shelby asked.
Nodding happily, Lily put her empty basket on the tray and finished the last of her tea before adding the cup to the tray. “Let’s go, Mama, before all the swings are taken.”
“Let me empty this and then we’ll walk over there.” Shelby quickly made work of getting rid of the tray and she then followed a happily skipping Lily toward the swings.
Reaching the swings, Lily sat down and promptly stood back up frowning when she noted Shelby’s laughter. Deciding to improvise she sat on the swings so her thighs were supporting her rather than her bottom. She was just small enough to pull it off without too much discomfort and stuck her tongue out at Shelby briefly in jest as she began to fly on the swings.
Taking note that there were very few children on the playground and most of them were toddlers on the play structure Lily decided to see if Shelby was paying attention to her swinging. At just the right moment she jumped from the swing and landed perfectly holding her arms up like a gymnast sticking a landing.
“Lily!” Shelby’s shout made a few heads turn as Shelby immediately moved to Lily’s side. “What were you thinking?”
“Did you see me, Mama? Did you? I jumped and landed perfectly. Aren’t you impressed?” Lily made to get back on the swings but was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm.
“You are done with the swings, Lily Anne.”
“Why?” The whine made Shelby cringe and bent to talk softly to Lily.
“Because I do not want you leaving the park today with a broken ankle or something worse.”
“What’s worse than a broken ankle, Mama?” Lily asked. “You mean if I had two broken ankles, or a broken ankle and a broken arm?”
Standing upright Shelby pinched the bridge of her nose before responding. “Yes, Lily, that’s exactly what I mean.”
Taking Lily by the hands Shelby began to lead her from the park. “Do we have to leave already?”
“We do,” Shelby pulled Lily into a side armed hug. “We’ll come back another day, baby.”
Nodding, Lily began to walk with Shelby through the park. Stopping at the fountain, Lily fished a coin from her pocket and threw it in making a wish. “What did you wish for, baby?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” Lily teased once more grabbing Shelby’s hand and allowing herself to be led home.
* * *
The walk home hadn’t taken long and Shelby, as usual, had to call Lily back to the door to put the shoes away. Grumbling, Lily complied before Shelby nodded her approval, and allowed Lily to head to her room to play. They still had a while before they had to leave for the show, and Shelby was looking forward to the down time.
Putting her own things away, Shelby moved to the living area and decided to watch some TV while Lily played. Turning on the machine she flipped for a while before stopping and sitting straight up. Leaning forward she turned the volume up more and listened to the woman on the screen. Taking a deep breath Shelby calmed down and listened to the brief news story on the TV before turning it off and standing up.
Heading to Lily’s room, Shelby stood at the doorjamb, “Knock, knock. May I come in, Lily?”
Lily turned from her place on the floor and nodded, “Sure you can, Mama. I’m just playing audition with my dolls.”
“That sounds like fun.” Shelby moved into the room and sat down on the colorful area rug with Lily accepting the doll the girl gave her with a smile. “Lily, I need to tell you something.”
“What?” Accepting the doll Lily offered, Shelby watched as Lily continued to play with her dolls.
“Lily please put your dolls down and look at me.”
Stopping her play, Lily turned toward Shelby.
Putting her doll in her lap, Shelby reached out for Lily and held her hands in her own. “I just saw something on the TV that I need to tell you about. I want you to listen to me before saying anything, alright?”
Lily nodded slowly.
“There was a brief news report about Cora’s arrest for blackmail. Not many details were given other than charges have been filed and she will be in court for arraignment tomorrow.”
“What does that mean?” Lily asked.
“That means that bail will be set or denied in court tomorrow and her trial date will be set unless she pleads guilty or is offered some type of agreement with the prosecutor.”
“Do you think the reporters will want to talk to big Lily at the theater tonight?”
“I think that’s a possibility,” Shelby acknowledged. “However, big Lily doesn’t have to talk to anyone. We can just walk in and ignore them. I doubt that there will be much attention given to it actually. Your name was only mentioned briefly in the story along with the name of the show.”
Lily nodded once more and sighed. “Okay Mama. Thanks for telling me.” Moving back to her dolls Lily slowly put them away while Shelby watched. “I don’t feel like playing now, could we just sit and rock instead?”
“Of course, baby.” Shelby stood up and moved to the rocking chair. She didn’t have to wait long for Lily to join her with Albie in hand. Sitting on Shelby’s lap Lily curled into her and Shelby began to rock the chair with her toes allowing the soothing motion to calm both of them.
* * *
Placing the now napping Lily into her bed, Shelby moved quietly from Lily’s bedroom and went back to the living area. It was time to make a few phone calls regarding the situation with Cora. Just as she was abou
t to dial her phone rang and noting the name on the caller ID Shelby smiled, “Lou, I was just about to call you. Yes, I saw it and I told Lily. She’s alright for now. How crazy do you think it’s going to be?”
Listening carefully Shelby nodded into the phone, “Yes, I understand. Okay, we’ll be sure to come in the back alley through the theater next door. I’m not sure if she’ll want to go on, but I don’t think she’s going to let this stop her from performing. Thanks Lou, bye.”
Ending the call Shelby leaned back on the couch and sighed in relief. One problem conquered. Leave it to Lou to have security already doubled, John on high alert, and the cast from the show in the neighboring theater willing to share their entrance and exit into the shared alley space between theaters. Now that they their entrance and exit were covered, Shelby knew Lily would need to contact her publicist to make sure there would be an official statement released soon.
* * *
“Shelby, Lily, nice to see you.”
“Thanks Mark,” Shelby smiled at the tall red-head who she had worked with years ago. “Sorry to be cutting through your house tonight but we didn’t have much of a choice.”
The man nodded, “Yeah, the vultures are buzzing for sure.” Turning to Lily he smiled. “Sorry about your mom, Lily. I’m sure it will pass soon.”
“I hope so,” Lily frowned. “I don’t think I can handle trying to avoid the vultures forever.”
“You never know,” Mark laughed as he walked with them through the guts of the theater toward the alley exit. “You might be able to avoid them until the next news story comes along. After all that revival down the street opens in two days and I’m not sure the movie star they’ve picked has been out of rehab long enough.”
Giggling, Lily nodded, “True. We could always send him a welcome basket full of…”
“Lily!” Shelby swatted Lily on the arm. “We are not going to do that,” she winked. “Unless we really have to,” she finished as Mark and Lily laughed with her going up the stairs toward the exit door that led to the alley.
“You ladies take care and we’ll see you later,” Mark waved as Lily and Shelby pushed the door open and headed into the alleyway. Quickly walking toward the door of their theater the women slipped inside to find John waiting for them.
“It’s about time you got here,” John greeted as he smiled at them. “Lou wants to see you in his office before you head to your dressing rooms.”
“Oh joy,” Lily muttered only to be hushed by Shelby.
John chuckled and eyed Lily, “You know we could always let the feeding frenzy happen…”
“No you couldn’t,” Lily stuck her tongue out at the man in jest. “You’re too much of a control freak to let anyone like that too close to your theater.”
“True,” John shrugged breaking off and heading right while the women went left toward Lou’s office.
“John said you wanted to see us,” Shelby said in way of greeting as she and Lily entered Lou’s office.
“I did. Sit ladies, please.” Lou waited until they sat in the two chairs facing his desk.
“What’s going on, Lou?” Lily asked.
“First I want to know how you’re doing, Lily.” The man sat in the chair behind his desk and leaned forward on his elbows watching Lily carefully.
“So far, so good, Lou. I’m not going to let Cora’s mistakes effect my work on the show if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m worried about you, sweetie,” Lou’s thick accent came through. “Really, how are you? More details are coming out about what your mother is being charged with, Lily, and I’ve been fielding calls for the last hour.”
Lily sighed, “What’s the latest, Lou?”
“That Shelby is the one pressing charges,” Lou eyed his star and waited.
“I am.” Shelby ran her hand through her hair distractedly and then decided to just tell him what was going on. “Cora tried to blackmail us and I contacted the police. We set up a sting and she was caught on tape trying to blackmail money from me.”
“What on Earth could she try and blackmail you about?” Lou asked.
“Our relationship,” Lily’s voice was soft and she was also relieved that Shelby had the foresight to close the office door when they’d arrived. “We’re dating, Lou. Though my mother didn’t really know that. She just threatened to tell the world that I’m living with her and warned us she’d spin things to make it look strange.”
“How could she possibly do that?” Lou asked in confusion.
“She saw us at the park one day having a picnic,” Shelby picked up the story. “She overheard Lily calling me mama and decided to…”
“To use our in-house joke to her advantage,” Lou filled in.
“Yes,” Shelby confirmed. “She texted pictures later that day with captions that could easily be misconstrued. I decided I wouldn’t put up with it and contacted the police.”
Lou nodded his head and stared at his fingernails for a long while. Standing he eased back around his desk and sat in the black leather chair before pointing his index fingers together and bringing them under his chin. “Okay, as far as your relationship, I don’t care what you’re doing. You’re both adults and the show isn’t being effected. Does anybody else know?”
“I don’t think so. We don’t want it getting out yet and now that Cora has been arrested I think it best if we keep our private life private.”
“I agree.” Lou looked hard at Lily once more and leaned across the desk to study her better. “Are you sure that you want to go on tonight?”
“I am,” Lily smiled at the man. “I thank you for your concern but the press would eat it up even more if I decided not to go on. So unless this mess starts to effect the show or my performance we’re just going to pretend it’s not happening eight times a week.”
“Alright, kid. Whatever you say.” Lou stood up once more and intercepted Lily as she stood as well. Pulling her into a rare hug, he shrugged at her with a sheepish smile. “We protect our own, Lily. Don’t worry about this. You and Mama go do your thing tonight and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Thanks Lou.” Lily automatically reached out for Shelby’s hand and Lou smiled again as he watched them leave his office. Sighing heavily he headed back to his desk and picked up the phone, “John, we need to have extra security tonight. I’ll be damned if some of those vultures get in here and ruin the show for Lily or Shelby.”
* * *
Hearing a loud curse Shelby released Lily’s arm and turned sharply to see an unknown man fall to his knees picking up pieces of what used to be a camera. John had already retrieved the now visible memory card and Shelby noticed with interest that he had slipped it into his pocket without the photographer noticing.
“So sorry about that,” John said with no remorse. “You were told no reporters backstage or in the wings. You shouldn’t have been taking photos.”
“That’s no reason to kill my camera.” The man stood to his full height, which was still a few inches shorter than John. “I want to see whomever is in charge.”
“I’m in charge of backstage security. If you want to see anyone else you’ll have to use the proper channels and make an appointment.”
“Fine, just know that this isn’t the end of it.”
“I hope for your sake that it is,” John looked over the reporter’s shoulder, “Hey, Jake, take Mr. Nosy here and show him the door. Let security outside know if they see him again he’s to be detained so we can turn him over to the local cops for trespassing.”
“Will do, boss.”
Things began to move normally again backstage and John slowly made his way toward Lily and Shelby. “You and I need to talk, Mama.” He smiled down at Shelby and then looked hard at Lily. “And you need to stop giving Mama such a hard time.”
Blushing Lily nodded and turned to Shelby. “I’m going to get ready to leave, Mama.”
“Meet me in my dressing room when you’re done, Lily.”
Wa
ving her hand that she’d heard Lily headed toward her dressing room as John escorted Shelby to hers. It was rare for John to escort the actors anywhere backstage and even rarer for him to visit one in their dressing room. Entering the room behind Shelby he closed the door quietly and then leaned up against it.
“What did you want to talk about, John?” Shelby asked sitting in her makeup chair taking off her shoes and trying to relax.
“Any idea of what happened with that reporter?”
“No but I have a feeling that you’re going to tell me.”
John smirked and nodded, “He got a picture of you swatting Lily. Nobody who works here thinks anything of it anymore, Mama, but he would have made something of it.”
Shelby leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. “Thank you for taking care of that, John.”
The man smiled. “I protect my own, you know that. Besides that little girl needs you and you need her just as much, Mama. Not everyone is going to understand the relationship that you have with Lily but it’s clearly what you both need.”
“John?” Shelby’s eyebrow raised in question and the man let out a deep laugh.
“Think you’re the only one with a little girl of their own, Shelby?” The use of her name made Shelby shake her head.
“And here I thought you were just teasing me by calling me mama all the time.”
“Nah, just letting you know that I understand.” John grinned at Shelby’s expression. “I’ve been lucky myself. Been with my little girl for close to fourteen years now. I think you and Lily will be one of the lucky ones as well. Let me know if you ever need anything. I make one hell of an uncle according to one of my wife’s best friends.”
It was Shelby’s turn to laugh at this bit of information. “I’m sure that you do, John and I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks again for having my back.”
Broadway Baby Page 18