“He’s her husband,” Janet said.
Julia groaned, bracing herself for the inevitable fallout.
“You never told me you were married,” her mother said.
Julia swallowed, seeing the hurt in her eyes, hearing it in her chiding voice.
“Are you ashamed of me?” her mother asked. “I thought you’d got past your embarrassment with my occupation.”
“I worked here too.” Once again, Julia’s attention slid to Ryan. She could practically see the questions ticking over in him, and she silently implored him to stem his curiosity.
“It’s not Julia’s fault,” Ryan said. “I asked her not to make any announcements because…well, it’s complicated and a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” her mother said, showing a little of her usual fighting spirit. She struggled to right herself on the pillows, and Ryan was at her side in an instant, assisting her with gentle hands.
“Not tonight,” Julia said.She’d kill him. The minute she got him alone, she was going to kill him. “I need to talk to you about the club. I’ve looked at the books, and we need to make changes before we go broke. Are you okay with that?”
Janet and her mother exchanged glances. “We’ve already talked about a revamp,” Janet said. “Elise knows the club is in trouble, but she hasn’t had the energy to do anything to get things back on track.”
“Do you want me to run things past you before I put them into action?” Julia was surprised by her mother’s willingness to let Janet speak for her.
“Janet is a silent partner in the business,” Elise said, answering her unspoken question. “It’s fine with me as long as Janet agrees.”
“If Julia will take responsibility for the club, it means you and I can find somewhere sunny to take a real break for a change.” Janet reached over and patted her mother’s hand, the action speaking of easy intimacy. “What do you say to that, Elise? As soon as you have clearance from the doctors, we’ll book ourselves a holiday on a Pacific Island. Imagine sitting by the pool, sunning ourselves during the day, and watching the sun go down with a cocktail in our hands.”
“White sand. The gentle music of waves coming to shore. It sounds wonderful,” her mother said with a soft sigh of longing.
“Wait! You’re not Elise,” Julia said, speechless at the idea of her mother agreeing to a holiday. She glanced around the bedroom at the pile of glossy magazines sitting on the bedside cabinet, the dressing table with the crystal bowls and antique hairbrush. “What have you done with my mother?”
“Hilarious,” Elise retorted. “The club is all yours. Have at it. Now tell me about this man of yours. How did you meet?”
Ryan followed Julia down the stairs. Her straight back and stiff gait vibrated with fury. She didn’t want him here. Too bad. He’d married her for the long haul, and he’d do whatever it took to win her back.
“I should have ignored your advice to keep quiet about our marriage,” he said. “I should have argued harder until I convinced you to travel with the band or at least come over to visit me for a few weeks.”
“Your manager doesn’t want the band members to have permanent women,” she said brusquely. “Wives.” She stalked over to her friend, the one with the long straight hair and freckles, who was taking care of the wages. His gaze followed the gentle sway of Julia’s hips beneath her tight black trousers before he hurried to catch up.
“And we both know Seymour can’t force me to remain single.”
She stiffened even further, if that were possible, and swung around to face him. “The way you’re carrying on you might as well take an ad out in the newspaper.”
Good point. He and the rest of the band didn’t want word to get out about their true identities. “Meet me tomorrow for lunch and we can talk.”
“I’ll have to work here tomorrow.”
“You have to eat. I’ll grab something and meet you here.”
She muttered something under her breath before scowling at him. “Fine.”
“Good, it’s a date. Since Caleb and I are here, we’ll help. Give us an assignment.”
She tossed her head, setting her long blonde curls in motion. “Leave.”
Caleb jogged across the club to join them and overheard their last words. “You’ve put your friends to work. What do you want us to do?”
Julia’s shoulders drooped. “You’re not gonna leave, are you?”
“Nope,” Caleb said, grinning in the familiar stir-it-up way he had.
