Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

- but good. Joley hoped they performed better in Dallas.
    She walked to the largest round booth, where Denny was sitting, and put a hand on his shoulder. 'How'd it go with Lisa?' There was compassion in her voice.
    The other band members went silent, waiting, willing things to have gone well for Denny. He had lines on his face that hadn't been there before.
    Denny shrugged. 'We talked and I think it was good. At least she didn't just walk away from me like I deserved. But she has a son and she said she needed some time to think about us. She doesn't want him getting attached to me and then me walking out on them.'
    Joley rubbed his arm through his sleeve. 'That' fair. She doesn't want to risk her son, and that's admirable. You just have to show her that you mean it, Denny. That you're capable of being faithful and committing to her and your relationship.'
    'She flew back home after the Red Rocks concert. I didn't want her hanging around just in case it wasn't safe,' Denny added.
    Joley slid into the booth. 'Surely whatever Dean was up to didn't have anything to do with us.'
    'Whatever it was, I'm hoping it's a long way from us,' Rick said. 'I heard every single bone in his body was broken.
    Can I just say ouch?'
    'He was an ass, but he didn't deserve that,' Jerry said.
    Logan wedged himself into the booth, scooting close to Joley. 'Do you think his murder had anything to do with the disappearance of that girl? The cops were asking questions about the Russian mob. Maybe Nikitin is involved with them…'
    'Shut up, Logan,' Brian admonished him. 'Nikitin isn't involved in the mob.'
    'You ought to know,' Logan said. 'You hang out with him all time.' He plopped a stack of tabloids and magazines in front of Joley. 'Take a look at these, my little sister.'
    Joley glanced around the diner. Few people were there at three in the morning, but several of the workers had cell phones with cameras and recorders. They were busy texting their friends. The band would be lucky if the place didn't fill up immediately in spite of the hour. She sighed. It didn't seem to matter where they went, they couldn't ever have a quiet meal.
    She glanced at the stack of papers Logan put in front of her. 'What are we up to now?'
    The rest of the band pushed into the booth, making her grateful she'd chosen the largest, round one. Everyone peered at the dramatic headlines.
    'We're married, Joley. A secret wedding with our secret baby.' He pulled one out of the stack and placed it on top.
    'You had the baby and we've been hiding it.'
    She laughed. 'You have to be kidding me. Your "love" child was splashed all over the papers a week ago. Let me see that.'
    'Joley, you rock, girl,' Rick said, ripping open a cracker from the little basket on the table. 'How could you stay so slim and be pregnant? You hid it well.'
    'Didn't I?' She spread the paper on the table so they could all see.
    The photographs had been taken of the two of them standing with the baby in front of the band's bus. Joley was holding the baby and Logan was standing behind her, hands on her shoulders looking down at his child. The next picture showed him kissing the top of Joley's head. The third photograph showed Joley placing the baby in his arms, and in the fourth he was climbing into the bus to 'hide' their child.
    She scanned the article. 'Wow. I supposedly had this baby while on tour. How cool is that? All that working out kept me from showing, although appar-ently once or twice they thought they saw a baby bump.' She looked down at her flat stomach. 'I need to do more sit-ups.'
    Brian rolled his eyes. 'You've already got a six-pack there, Joley. Pretty soon the tabloids are going to say you swing both ways.'
    'I think they did that a year or so ago,' Logan pointed out.
    Joley looked around. 'Where's Tish? Has she seen this one?'
    Long ago, Tish had told them all to either ignore the tabloids totally or assume every word in them was a lie and just enjoy the ridiculous absurdity of it. Looking back, Joley realized how truly sage her advice had been. Living in the spotlight, with no letup, was an exercise in endurance. It made them all immensely popular, but in the end, they had all begun to crack. They'd come to feel like hunted animals, stalked every moment of every day. Tish had also told them they had to find ways to live out of the spotlight when they weren't touring, which had been one of the things that saved them all. Her advice was one of many things Joley missed about