Strong: A Stage Dive Novella (Stage Dive #4.5)(7)

“My baby boy can be high-maintenance all right. But any four in the morning nonsense can be handled by me or his father.” She grinned. “Is the room okay?”

“Yes, it’s lovely. Bigger than my whole apartment back in New York.”

“Good. Glad you like it. We want you to be comfortable here.”

I leaned back against the antique closet, arms crossed over my chest.

“Maybe you could even be comfortable enough to tell me about that bruise on your face sometime.”

“Lizzy…”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “While I might be freaking out internally, I’m not going to push you for answers you’re not ready to give. And I really am freaking the fuck out internally, FYI.”

“Thank you for not pushing.”

“Yet.” Her shoulders rose on a deep breath as she took her time, obviously thinking over what to say next. How damn awkward. “Martha, your brother’s missed you, you know? You’re pretty much the only family he has.”

“He’s got the guys.”

Lizzy shook her head. “It’s not the same. You’re his sister, he loves you, and we’ve barely even seen you since Gibby was born. Plus my child should have an aunt he can actually recognize on sight. That would be nice.”

“Well, I’m here now.”

“Yes, but for how long?” She eyed the still mostly packed suitcase sitting open on the floor. It was a mess. A fitting description for my life right now. “Come on, hang up your clothes, Martha. Settle in and give us a chance.”

My laughter sounded brittle and false to my own ears. I doubted Lizzy would be swallowing it. The whole psychology degree thing had to get in the way. While she might not be grilling me about the black eye, her gaze kept returning to the ugly mark just the same. At least she wasn’t showing me any pity or other such unwanted weirdness.

“I’m serious.”

“Regardless of what it looks like, I don’t need protecting. You can’t really want me living here constantly in your face all the time,” I said. “The house is big, but it’s not that big. Trust me, it’ll get old.”

“Are you kidding? Since Jimmy and Lena moved and the studio got relocated to our place, it’s been designated band headquarters. People are over all the time. It’s a big part of why we got this place.” She crossed her legs, kicking one foot idly. “Unless it’s running into the guys all the time that has you worried.”

I said nothing.

“And then there’s Sam, of course.”

Still nothing. My trap could have been wired shut.

“And all of the assorted wives.”

“Are you seriously trying to head doctor me right now?” I asked. Her sudden smile was beatific, making it hard for me to hold on to the grumpy. Luckily, I had a lot of experience with being in a bad mood. “Please don’t.”

“Just because you have a complicated history with people doesn’t mean you can’t have positive future interactions with them.” After my comment, she’d clearly decided to move into full-throttle psychologist mode. “Apologies and a little attitude adjustment can go a long way.”

“Sweet baby Jesus, just strike me down,” I said to the plain white ceiling. “Take me now.”

“That’s a lot to put on a baby, don’t you think?”

“After chasing around your child all day, I believe he’d be up to the mission.”

She smirked. “You see, Martha, I feel like we’re not only sisters-in-law. But we have the potential for besties here and it would be a shame to see that potential wasted.”

“Oh, do you now?”

“I do. And if nothing else, imagine how much it will irritate your brother to have us ganging up on him.” At this thought, she outright evil-giggled. The woman’s ability to tolerate no bullshit and yet still have fun was impressive.

“Valid point.”

With all due grace, Lizzy rose to her feet and meandered over to the door. “Tell me you’ll think about it.”

I didn’t say a word.

“Damn, you’re stubborn. Just like your brother.” She pushed my bedroom door wide open as if she was inviting the whole damn world in. “You’re going to think about it and then you’ll decide to stay. Imagine it, Martha, you won’t have to be alone anymore.”

I frowned, unhappy at the choice of words. “I’m not alone exactly. There were people I spent time with. Acquaintances I guess you could call them…and I was casually seeing someone for a little while.”

Mouth shut, the woman just watched me. So much judgment in her eyes. How ridiculous. She couldn’t possibly know no one had even bothered trying to call me since leaving the East Coast.

“I’ll have you know I appeared on numerous society pages and influencers style blogs almost every other week. My life was very full until this little upset.”

“Wow,” she said flatly, obviously unimpressed. “So you basically had some fake friends, a dude you did it with once or twice, and a job that made insane demands on you and did your head in. What a full, rich, and complex life indeed.”

“You didn’t used to be this sarcastic.”

“You didn’t used to be this bruised.”