Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(77)

If I tell them everything, maybe they’ll lose interest and leave Charlie alone.

And maybe it would give her just the opportunity she needed to make things up to Travis and Charlie.

Gemma put the card in her pocket. “I’ll think about it.”





Chapter Twenty-Five




* * *





“ARE YOU CRAZY, Travis? You’re at the top of your game! Why would you want to take a step back now?” Big George asked as he paced the room.

“Because I want to be there for my kid, George. What part of that don’t you understand?” Travis could understand George’s concern that if he slowed his momentum now, when he was barely past thirty, he might not have a large enough fanbase to start his own label later on, but he was determined. It was about time he got a life other than his career, and spending time with Charlie was suddenly his biggest priority.

“People don’t slow down until they’re getting ready to retire!” George argued, his voice rising with each word.

“I’m not ready to retire. I’m just going to take the next year off, buy myself a house in my hometown, and be with my family,” Travis said patiently.

“What family? I thought Gemma kicked you out,” George said, his face flushed. He lowered his voice slightly, “Are you sure the kid is even yours? It wouldn’t be the first time—”

“He’s mine, no doubt about it. And I never said Gemma kicked me out,” Travis said, not wanting to discuss his marriage with George. He liked the man, had been with him for ten years, but George was a money man, and anything else in life came second.

“All right, he’s yours, fine. But it doesn’t mean you have to go off the grid. We could hire a tutor and the kid could come on the road with you,” George said.


“No. I want my son to have stability and security. I want him to have a home, school, friends . . . not drifting around like a vagabond,” Travis said. He smiled as he added, “Besides, Gemma wouldn’t like it.”

“I don’t know why you care what that woman likes; she kept your son a secret for ten years and then married you without mentioning it. If I were you, I’d sue her ass for full custody and forget her,” George said.

Travis was starting to lose patience with George’s hostility. “Good thing you aren’t me, then. I’m not taking my son from his mother and I’m done with this discussion. You know what I want. Make it happen.”

“All right, and Chelsey Cooper? How do you want to handle her?”

When George had discovered the leak about Gemma’s name had come from his opener, Travis had been livid, wanting her head on a figurative plate.

“I’ll take care of her. You just handle the rest.”



GEMMA STOPPED OFF at the mailbox and found a small rectangular package mixed in with her bills. Looking at the return address, her hand shook. It was their wedding video.

I’m not going to watch it. What good would it do?

Gemma wasn’t sure, but as she walked through the door, she was reluctant to set the package down. Clutching it to her chest, she could hear her mother singing along to Alan Jackson, off-key and loud. Setting the groceries and the rest of the mail on the counter, she asked, “How is he?”

Her mother turned around, her light brown eyes amused. “Stubborn, like his mama.”

“So he still won’t talk to me?”

“The minute I started to give him my opinion, he shut down tighter than a clam and wouldn’t talk about it. Best thing I can tell you, sweetheart, is to go up there and try. He loves you; he just needs to realize that even you make mistakes,” her mother said, frowning. “Then I want you to call my son-in-law and tell him to get his ass back here pronto.”

“Mom, I don’t think—”

“That’s your problem, sweetheart, you don’t really think. You’re impulsive and you let your emotions run away with you until they’re so big you can’t see the truth. The truth is you should have told Travis about Charlie the minute you realized you were pregnant. I know you’ve convinced yourself that you were just protecting Charlie, but that’s not the real truth. There’s no shame in being afraid to take a chance, honey. But it’s when you spend your life running away from the hard things that you miss out on the good stuff. Just like you panicked again when those reporters showed up. Instead of sticking with your husband and solving the problem together, you took the easy way out,” her mother said.

Gemma’s eyes filled with tears. “You think it was easy telling Travis I didn’t care? It wasn’t.”

“You used to do the same thing when your father got angry with you. This look used to come over your face, like you were in a daze and far, far away.”

“That’s because I was. After a while it was easier to tune him out,” Gemma said.

“I know your father was a stubborn, loudmouthed jackass, but he wasn’t all bad. You two had your good times, too. The problem was that when he wouldn’t bend, you broke instead,” she said, shaking her head. “You held onto all that anger and resentment, and it’s been eating at you. You gotta learn to pick your battles and decide when you should be bending instead.”

“You’re wrong, Mom. I forgave him. It was Dad who wouldn’t let go and admit he was wrong.”