Chapter Eleven
Back in Auckland, the week dragged. Julia spoke with Ryan on the phone each morning and most nights too. They chatted about the club, about his music and the tour and skirted the topic sitting like a dinosaur between them. Heck, there was no point discussing it until Ryan heard the results of the DNA test.
Her phone rang. “Julia, have you seen the paper this morning?” Maggie asked.
Something in her friend’s tone sent a frisson of warning darting through her in a pinball fashion.
Ryan. The baby. It was bad news.
“No, I never have time to read the papers.”
“Where are you?” The urgency in her friend’s voice confirmed her fears.
Julia squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m at the club. I wanted to run through the routine for the fan dance on the stage again. Susan will be here any minute.”
“Wait there for me,” Maggie said. “Connor and I are on our way.”
Julia hung up, forcing her mind away from Ryan and their problems. Someone knocked on the front door, and she went to answer it. Susan rushed inside, her cheeks blooming with health. She was looking good these days.
“I’m so psyched about this dance. I thought I’d be petrified, but it’s such a tease. I can’t wait to do it the first time in public.”
Julia nodded, forcing her mind into a reboot.Focus. “Me too. I hope the crowd will enjoy our new routine.”
“They will. We’re getting good numbers through the door each night. The bank overdraft has disappeared.”
“Maggie and Connor are on their way,” Julia said. “You ready to rehearse your number?”
“Yep.” Near the stage Susan tossed off her coat to reveal her leggings and tight T-shirt beneath. She vaulted onto the stage, grabbed her white feather fans from the dressing room and returned. Julia started the music and watched Susan go through her moves.
“A bit slower at the start,” she suggested. “Make each move subtle and languorous. Speak with your hands and your eyes to the audience. Yes! Perfect.” When the music came to a crashing crescendo and faded, Julia clapped. “You will wow them tonight.”
Someone hammered on the front door, and Julia’s phone rang. Maggie, she saw when she glanced at the screen. “That’s Maggie and Connor. I’ll let them in.”
One look at their concerned faces, and she realized it was bad. She stood aside and wordlessly gestured for them to enter. After shutting and locking the door behind them, she turned to them again. “It’s Ryan’s kid.”
“Yes. Wait, you knew?”
“Ryan and I talked about it last Saturday. How old is the kid?” She held her breath, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. Ryan had remembered the woman and said her story sounded legitimate. The worry in his voice had amped up her own fears. Now the truth thumped her like a death blow.
“They say he’s almost three,” Connor said.
Julia’s shoulders slumped while she groped for mental control. Okay. Everyone had things in their past—mistakes—that came back to haunt them. Lots of people had illegitimate kids, and they dealt with the problem. Ryan had said the woman was probably after money. Ryan had enough not to miss giving some away. “Is there anything else?”
“No, just speculation about Ryan’s identity.”
“Is the woman’s name mentioned?”
“She’s referred to as Leah K,” Maggie said. “I doubt it’s her real name.”
“Okay.” Julia walked past them and grabbed her fans off the stage. Not the time to think about this now. Shehadto hold herself together until she was alone. “Since you’re here, you can critique my routine. Music please, Susan.”
Julia spoke crisply, not giving her friends a chance to comment or speculate further. Fiercely concentrating on the here and now, the things in her control, she sucked in a deep breath while waiting for the opening notes. The sultry tones of the popular old song from the thirties rang through the club, and she flowed into her routine. She was the lady in the song, seductive and sensual, arms flashing. Teasing. Each flutter of the fans designed to conceal yet reveal, erotic tension at its best. She became one with the music, strutting, kicking her legs while keeping the fans in constant movement. The song came to an end and she stilled her two fans in front of her body, a little out of breath with the exertion of the dance.
For a long moment, not one of her friends made a sound, then the three of them starting talking together.
“That was amazing,” Maggie said.
“You make me look like an amateur.” Susan’s breathless opinion.
