“My mom visits. Tells me these things. Sometimes she hauls John-Mark or Michelle in with her. I see my nieces and nephews sometimes. Not Glory, though.” Jonah’s voice had gotten a little frayed. “Never Glory.”
“I know,” Eli said softly.
“She... took it hard.”
That was an understatement.
“I think because she loves you best, Jonah.”
Jonah’s eyes slowly reddened. His breathing was audible now, as he tried to get a grip on his emotions.
And then he swallowed. “Yeah. I get it, man.”
They sat together in silence a moment.
Jonah took in another deep breath. “Will you tell her I love her? And miss her?”
“Yeah. Of course,” Eli said softly.
“Miss you, too, bro.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
He didn’t know whether, when Jonah got out in about four years, his sister might be at the top of the charts. Or he might be an uncle to a baby or two.
He did know he’d probably be glad to see him, no matter what.
“I’ll talk to you again soon?” Jonah said, softly.
“Sure.”
They fist-bumped each other through the glass.
And Eli turned and walked away.
“Can you get those off easily? Because they’re going to want you to take them off.”
Eli was peering down at Glory’s cowboy boots. Above them, jets were roaring into the sky, and travelers were dragging vertical stacks of luggage toward the automatic doors.
“Don’t worry. They’re boots. I know you like it when I keep them on sometimes, Eli, but I can get these off quickly enough.”
“Okay. Ask questions anytime you’re confused. Don’t argue with the security. They’re your friends. They might feel you up a little extra after you walk through the X-ray machine, but they feel a lot of people up. It’s random. Mostly.”
“Would you blame them?” She swept a hand down her own sweet self.
“Not one bit,” he said sincerely. “Not every day you get to touch a work of art. Okay, what else... Check the boards to see if your flight changes. Or check your phone.” Eli had bought her a new cell phone; they were living together at his house now. “Britt Langley says she’ll be in L.A. for another week and she’ll meet you at your hotel and you can have dinner with her and J.T., and when you come back, you can come back with them. If you have any questions or worries about what’s going on at the record label, J.T. will hook you up with the right people, just not Francone and... what?”
She was grinning at him. “I love you, too, Eli. So much.”
He smiled back at her. “Yeah, I know. You got this. You scared?”
“Nope.”
“In other words, yep.”
“Oh, nervous. A little. We’ll take things as it comes.”
She usedwea lot these days. As often as she possibly could. She liked it.