AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nope,” West said. “I told Celia to ignore it. She’s been getting emails and texts from the press.”
“It’s the holiday,” Abby said. “They should leave her alone. Why does anyone care about it?”
“Let me see the picture,” his mother said, taking the phone out of his hand. “Oh, it is a lovely picture of you two girls. Why don’t you like it, Abby? You’ve got matching shirts on.”
Braylon laughed over that. He was expecting to get more inquiries now on who was with him. There was no one else in the picture even though the VIP box was packed with family members.
It was obvious Lily was with him, with his arm over her shoulder as he watched the game.
“We do,” Abby said. “It is a good picture, but I expected something else if they were going to find out. I knew I shouldn’t have had my ring on.”
“You should wear it,” Lily said. “It’s a symbol. Who cares what other people think or say about it.”
“Well said,” Laken said. “So now what? You told Celia not to respond. That will buy a day.”
“Guess I need to decide today on what picture we want to release,” West said, laughing.
“You know you’re going to get calls for an exclusive,” Braylon said.
“I am. That is why I asked Celia to keep it low-key. No one knows but family at this point.” He’d been told Abby didn’t wear her ring to work for her last few weeks.
He didn’t worry about Lily knowing. He trusted her.
“I’m not interested in a cover story,” Abby said.
“Why not?” Trevor said. “Don’t people get paid for those things? Can’t you pick where you want to do it and donate the money? Now is your chance to show the world what you’re really like.”
He smiled at Trevor when he said that.
“I don’t know,” Abby said.
“I think you should,” his mother said. “You know they are going to look into you even more. Braylon put a stop to it all before, but if you give your side, maybe it will shut people up. Take the bull by the horns. West knows that.”
“I’m with our parents,” West said. “I can have Celia shop it around. We’ll use the pictures from today. We’ll have the say and give what we want. Donate the money to whatever mental health foundation you want. Do it for your mother.”
“My mother doesn’t know about you,” Abby said. “Not really. We’ve kept it as quiet as possible.”
“It will be fine,” West said, reaching for her hand. “She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure of it. We don’t have to list names, just say that you have strong ties to mental illness in the family and there is so much that can be done. Think about it.”
“But think fast,” Braylon said. “That is what West is trying to say.”
He looked at Lily as she took everything in and didn’t say a word. He didn’t know what was going through her mind just like he didn’t know what she was thinking when they had some pictures taken of the two of them. Then she and Trevor were included in a big family photo.
He was thrilled his family was so accepting of his girlfriend, but he didn’t expect anything different.
When they were at the hotel later that night, he said, “You’ve been quiet all afternoon. What’s wrong?”
“Every time I think I’m getting comfortable around your family, something like VIP seats and private jets, celebrity magazine offers pop up and remind me that I’m not part of this world.”
It was not what he wanted to hear.
“Stop. West is the face behind the money and the organization. The rest of us are just siblings. We are pretty much left alone.”
“So no one is going to look into me?” she asked.
“There might be some people asking questions, but I’m not the one they are interested in.”
“Stop that,” she said. “You’re successful in your own right. Your family knows it too and they look up to you just as much as you look up to West.”
