Chapter Ten
Julia studied the sparkling rings on her left hand. Even though she’d worn them for four weeks now and Ryan had left to do theFrench Lettertour dates, the rings never failed to pull her up short. She was married to Ryan Callander, and he was wearing a wedding band too.
“Julia, are you listening?” Susan demanded with the air of one who’d asked several times already.
Maggie chortled, her eyes sparkling with a warning that she intended to tease. “She’s daydreaming about Ryan and what they’re going to do together when she flies over to Sydney for the weekend.”
“Have you noticed Dubois, the lead singer ofFrench Lettersis wearing a wedding ring?” Christina asked.
“Funny you should mention that,” Susan said, and Julia couldn’t fail to see the faint quiver of lips when her friend attempted to pull off serious. “I noticedFrench Lettersare playing some of the original songs Ryan and Caleb have been performing on stage atMaxwell’s.”
“I noticed too,” Maggie said. “I wonder if we should call in the lawyers and sue. Start a social media campaign, a call to action. I mean, it’s shocking the lengths some artists will go to to obtain new material.” She didn’t even try to restrain her amusement.
“Have you been keeping secrets from us, Julia?” Susan asked. “A husband is a pretty big secret. Somehow I think we’ve only scratched the surface of this big, fat juicy mystery.”
“We should do a fan dance,” Julia said. “You know—the big feathery fans.”
“Oh no,” Christina said, shaking her finger back and forth. The tinkle of her bracelets highlighted her refusal to allow a change of subject. “We should do the dance, although I’m not about to take my clothes off no matter how big the feathery fans are to hide my naked bits. We’re still talking about your sexy husband.”
“Please confirm,” Maggie said. “You are married to one of the sexiest men to strut across a stage.”
“We’ve been rubbing shoulders with rock royalty,” Susan added. “And you didn’t tell us.”
Her three friends advanced on her, shoulder-to-shoulder in their demand for the facts.
“Okay.Okay.” Julia sighed. “True.”
“And the man is wearing your ring,” Susan said. “The same wedding ring that has the gossip mags abuzz.”
She sighed again. “Yes.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. You’re married to Dubois!” Maggie shrieked.
“Shush.” Julia glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see none of the others had arrived for dance practice yet.
“Julia and Dubois sitting in a tree,” Susan sang. “K. I. S. S. I. N. G.”
A laugh burst from Julia. “I can neither deny nor confirm that one.”
Christina’s eyes gleamed behind her glasses. “But you are meeting Ryan for a sexy rendezvous in Sydney.”
“Yes,” Julia said.
Susan clicked her fingers. “I knew it.”
“So what about the fan dance?” Julia asked.
“I want their autographs,” Maggie said. “A fan dance would be fantastic. Go for a sort of Gypsy Lee Rose theme. Have you done it before?”
Julia shook her head and grinned. “I’m sure Ryan or Caleb will arrange their friends to sign a T-shirt or something for you. From memory, Mum did the fan dance a few years ago. I can ask her to help choreograph the dance if she’s up to it. Janet said she’s becoming antsy with all the inactivity while she waits for the surgery, so it might keep her out of trouble.”
“I’d be a starter for the fan dance,” Susan said. “I didn’t realize I’d enjoy dancing so much. It’s helped me lose weight and tone my muscles. I could do the strip part as long as the audience doesn’t see my boobs.”
Another laugh escaped Julia. “Great. We’ll do it.” Voices trickled in from the front of the club and several young women bounded inside, already wearing their dancing gear.
“Maggie, can you cue the music for us?” Julia clapped her hands together. “Everyone ready? I have two new routines for us to learn. I’d like to do one of the new ones next week if we can get it down today.”
The dance practice went well with the dancers from the local dance school picking the moves up without difficulty.
