Sienna’s head snapped back while Kitty’s eyes popped open. “Mike?”
Claudia blushed. “Yeah, I know he’s probably too old for me, but there’s just something so exciting about him.”
“It’s called bad boy syndrome, and don’t you fall for it,” Kitty told her.
Quickly realizing that a relationship between Claudia and Mike would be the best thing possible, Sienna shrugged at her friend. “Oh, I don’t know. Mike’s a great guy in a lot of ways that count. He’s fun and hard-working and loyal.”
“Loyal to the guys maybe,” Kitty said. “But not to any girlfriend he’s ever had.”
Claudia’s face fell. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. I should … keep it professional.”
Kitty nodded. “That’s the smart play here. Definitely.”
Feeling the opportunity slipping away, Sienna said, “Kitty is a harsh judge of character who doesn’t believe people can change. But Mike would change for the right woman.”
Kitty narrowed her eyes at Sienna. “Would you say I’m a harsh judge of character? Because I’ve been told I have a rather keen sense of people.”
“That’s what I meant. But, you know…” Sienna trailed off, not having a way to finish that thought. She smiled at Claudia, who looked a bit confused. “Anyway, the heart wants what it wants. And if your heart wants Mike, then who knows? Maybe you two will live happily ever after, going on tour and making beautiful music together.”
Claudia looked back inside, giving Mike a wistful smile. “That sounds like the perfect sort of life.”
“Ten! Nine! Eight!”
Sienna positioned herself to be kiss-ready while also keeping an eye on Claudia and Mike, who were curled up on an oversized armchair in the corner.
“Seven! Six! Five!”
“They look cozy,” she told her husband, gesturing with her head.
“Four! Three! Two!”
She watched as his expression hardened.
“One! Happy New Year!!!”
Her heart sank right down to her sore feet as Zane gave her a sloppy, lackluster kiss to ring in the new year. When he pulled back, his gaze landed back on his best friend and Claudia, who were locked in a passionate ‘who cares who sees?’ embrace. He narrowed his eyes, then had a pull on his beer.
“Happy new year, darling,” Sienna said, hoping to get his attention back.
Giving her a distracted nod, he said, “Yeah, you too, babe.”
Sienna glanced over at Kitty (who had been a little curt with her for the last hour for obvious reasons). She could tell by her friend’s face that Kitty had seen the whole thing. A deep sense of doom came over Sienna and she turned her gaze to the floor, wishing everyone would leave. Suddenly exhausted, she wanted to crawl into bed in her flannel pajamas.
She now had the answer to the question that had been on her mind for months. Her distracted husband had feelings for another woman. The pain of it cut deep into her soul, and she knew she’d never forget the look of yearning in his eyes. She stood, feeling nauseous and powerless. The band would never fire her just because Sienna felt insecure. Asking would humiliate her. And the answer would be no, anyway. All she could do was endear herself to Claudia in the hope that earning her loyalty would be enough for the young woman to resist her husband’s charm. That, and waitfor her relationship with Mike to run its course so she’d get the boot.
NEW YEARS DAY 1990
ZANE
The difference between being hungover at twenty-two and at forty-two is like the difference between singing a little off-key versus pissing your pants on stage. One leaves a far bigger impression. When Zane finally peeled his eyeballs from their corresponding lids, he was filled with regret. He was an idiot who shouldn’t have gone so hard last night but did anyway, and he was about to spend the first day of a brand-new decade feeling like he’d be better off dead.
He hadn’t planned to get that drunk. He meant to drink casually, politely, like a responsible adult who’d wake early to cook his wife a nice breakfast. But then the ball dropped, and he saw his best friend kissing and groping Claudia right there in his living room. Instant rage, followed by one of the most destructive thoughts known to man:Fuck it. Might as well get wasted.
And so, he did. And now it was closing in on eleven and he was still lying face down in bed, arms and legs spread out. He rolled over with a grunt. He was too old to sleep on his stomach without his back paying for it. Too old to drink. And probably too old to be bringing another child into the world. His own parents were twenty and twenty-one when he was born, whereas he’d be sixty when this baby graduated high school. The thought made him feel sweaty and cold at the same time.
He forced himself to stand, then made it to the shower, where he let the cool water revive him for a full ten minutes before he even dared lifting his arms to shampoo his hair. By the time he found Sienna, she was in the kitchen in front of the stove. They’d given Valerie the day off, so they had the house to themselves for another few hours before they picked up the kids.
Sienna offered him a tight smile—the one that said she didn’t want to fight but she also had things on her mind to fight about. “Good morning.”