He was just climbing back onto the bus to wake her up when his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Dean read the text from Sean twice, blood pounding in his ears.
Leaving for the sandpit in six days.
Damn. For his brother, it would be good news. A show of confidence from his commanding officers that he didn’t need the extended workup training. That his knowledge and skill level were deployment-ready.
“Bad news?” He jerked his eyes up. Jackie was sitting quietly on the couch.
“Uh…No.”
She pointed to the bedroom. “I hear her moving around.”
He nodded. “We’re flying ahead to Denver.”
Her brow squeezed together and he realized her hands were fisted so tightly her knuckles were white. “It really hasn’t happened that many times before.”
“I know. She told me about Savannah.”
“We didn’t ignore it.”
“I know.” He shot a quick glance toward the bedroom. The last thing Liana needed to worry about was people talking about her. He grabbed a chair and spun it around so he could sit facing Jackie. “This is new for her. The performance anxiety part. So it’ll get nipped in the bud. Don’t worry about it.”
“I just…” She screwed up her face and exhaled. “I know about things getting out of control.”
“And you know about getting them back in control, too, right?”
She nodded.
“Liana’s lucky to have you in her corner.” He stood again and tucked the chair back against the table. “We just need to insulate her a bit through this.”
Jackie started to say something, then stopped. Started again, and he chuckled when she gave up again.
“Spit it out.”
“Don’t try to protect her too much. Remember she’s still a star. She’s worked hard for more than a decade to earn her place in the limelight. She hates scrutiny. Embarrassment. But she loves attention. For better or worse.”
“Noted.”
“Even if that means you end up in the limelight, too.”
Yeah, he’d already figured that out. “Doubly noted.”
He knocked on the bedroom door.
A muffled “come in” came from the other side.
She was curled up under a throw blanket now, her tablet propped up on a pillow beside her. She was responding to fan messages.
He recounted the travel plans to her, underlining that so far, Brad and Jackie were the only ones who knew there would be any change in plans. “And you’ll do your show there just like normal. Easy peasy.”
His phone vibrated again and he ignored it.
Liana didn’t. She glanced to his pocket. He waved her off and she rolled her eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yep. Do you need help packing?”
“No. Do you?”
