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I ignore it, not wanting to pry into her business with her mother. I want to stay out of that. When we make it to my suite, I ask Elise to order room service for everyone.
Jess looks around nervously, like she doesn’t know what to do. I kick off my sneakers and pick them up to carry them into my room. With a smile, I turn to look at her.
“Have a seat, honey. I’m going to shower and change. Let Elise know what you would like to eat. No arguments, you’re having dinner with me,” I say and head into the room.
My mind is heavy with not only my thoughts from before my run, but now I can’t help wondering what has brought Jess to tears. She speaks of her father with so much love, I can’t imagine what could be going on.
I shut my mind down and move through my shower so Jess isn’t out there just waiting. Once I towel off and lotion up, I throw on a pair of shorts and a tank top.
“What’s so funny?” I ask as I enter the common area to find Jess laughing with Elise and Maggie.
“They’re telling me stories about my daddy when he was younger,” Jess replies.
“Oh, I have a ton of those,” I snicker.
“I would love to hear them,” Jess says hopefully.
The room falls silent as Elise and Maggie stare at me. I ignore them and go to grab my dinner from the tray. I gesture with my head for Jess to follow me into my room.
I want to give her a chance to speak with me freely, without having to worry about prying ears. Elise and Maggie would never break her confidence, but Jess doesn’t know that.
I settle on the bed and cross my legs in front of me. “Sit anywhere you want,” I say to Jess.
She beams at me and takes a seat at the foot of the bed. I remove the lid from my food and my stomach growls loudly. We both laugh. Jess seems to relax as she uncovers her food as well. I take her lid from her and place it with mine.
“Make yourself comfortable, Jess. I don’t bite,” I say.
She smiles wider and kicks her shoes off to fold her legs like mine. We eat in a comfortable silence for a moment. I make it halfway through my shrimp and pasta when I notice she has stopped eating and she’s just staring at me.
“Can I ask you something?”
I wipe my mouth with my napkin. “Yes, sure. What’s up?”
“Was moving to New York everything you thought it would be, or were you disappointed once you got there?”
I drop my gaze as I think the question over. The music business isn’t all everyone might think it is. I’ve had my ups and downs.
“I wish I could say I moved to New York, became a star, and had a wonderful career. However, that’s not the case. My first album took off and did great things,” I tell her.
However, I don’t tell her the part about how I did reach out to Trevor once after that letter. I never told a soul about it. His wife answered. At least that’s who I thought it was.
I hadn’t known yet that he was married. I was blindsided and couldn’t find my voice as she answered saying this is Mrs. Monroe speaking. I sat there feeling dumb.
The letter, her answering his phone. It all made it true. He didn’t want me.
“Some things happened that changed my life,” I say to Jess as I push those hurtful memories away. “I almost packed up and came back home.”
She gasps. “Was it something bad? I’ve been told how much you love music. I couldn’t imagine you giving it up.”
I bob my head slowly. “I received some devastating news. After that, I spent the next week in a fog.”
My mind goes back to that week. That call to Trevor is how I ended up in Walter’s clutches. Elise had been on a date with Cody. It was my first and last show I’d ever done without my support team there to watch my back.
“After a performance, I was invited to a private party. I had started to say no, but then I thought about how … I was hurt by a friend and thought going to hang out would get me over it,” I murmur.
That night, I had thought of how Trev just throw me away. All his promises left a bitter taste in my mouth. When I got the invitation, I thought I was grown and could show him I didn’t need him.
I clear my throat and continue. “Walter had seemed like a nice guy until he got a call and his demeanor changed. There were others there until after that call. I had a sip of champagne, then everything became fuzzy.
