Yes to Everything (27 page)

She went in Brooke’s room to double-check nothing had been missed. In her own room, she’d already packed her stuff and pulled her small suitcase to the main room. “Jackson, did the roadies take your instruments to the tour bus already?” He nodded and she did one more check of the entire suite, every drawer and shelf, the bathrooms, and under the beds. She came to them with a stray sock and a box of Becca’s colored pencils.

Taking out her wallet, she left a hundred dollar bill on the mini-kitchen bar with a hotel glass over it. Seeing Mack raise his brows she told him, “We leave a mess in the bathrooms and stuff. Someone has to clean up a disaster area. It’s only fair to tip them well.”

Taking out her laptop, her fingers flew over the keys. A few minutes later she had them checked out and dropped all the room keys next to the tip. “We’re ready guys.” The valet was at the door a moment later, a huge smile on his face as he took in the sight of her. “Good morning. We have this cart and the bus should have been pulled around by now. Thank you for your help.” He smiled at her warmly.

They went down in the elevator together and Becca held Mack’s other hand. He smiled down at her. “If Jeanette likes you, you must be the nicest person ever. You are really big, you know.” Mack laughed and squeezed her hand.

Listening to the kids chatter all the way to the lobby, she was taken aback when the doors opened and a reporter stood not far away, “Miss Rivers! Can you give us more details on the drunken partying that took place last night in a seedy bar with underage Brooke Kincaid?” Becca and Molly gasped and Jackson feinted forward like he was going to fight.

Moving the kids behind her, Jeanette pulled herself up straight and said clearly, “There was no drunken party. Brooke had exactly two sips of someone else’s beer because she performed in a military bar for the past and present enlisted personnel there. It was a toast among friends. She drank water the rest of the night.”

Looking down her nose with complete disdain, she added, “As you must know, Brooke is a strong supporter of our military and found an opportunity to do a small thing for them in exchange for all the sacrifices they make on our behalf. Furthermore, it is a private club for military personnel and she was there as a guest, as we all were, of registered members. Their bi-laws prohibit recording without consent since unfortunately, our military are not always as appreciated as they should be.”

Propping her hands on her hips, Mack watched Jeanette get truly worked up and didn’t blame his cock one bit for getting hard. “There was no bad behavior, nothing seedy about the bar or the patrons, and as hard as she works she certainly earned one evening off from performing, caring for the family she adores, and her unbelievable amounts of charity work for so many in need. Other than that, I have no comment to your impertinent and misinformed question. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Taking Becca and Molly’s hands, she stormed past the reporter with her head high and oversaw loading them into Brooke’s tour bus. Jeanette handed the valet a twenty and thanked him again. His eyes roamed over her and he told her it had been his pleasure. The way he said it made her look up with a puzzled expression and she gave him a little shooing motion with her hands. “Honestly, go away now. I have so much to do.”

He left with a chuckle and Mack said beside her, “Wait, he’ll turn for another look.” Jeanette told him that was ridiculous and when the valet did it, she looked at Mack with her head tilted. “I told you…you’re going to notice that more and more, baby.” She rolled her eyes and he laughed. “By the way honey, way to slap that reporter down. I do adore an eloquent woman.”

“They do crap like that to her all the time. She’s supposed to be perfect, absolutely perfect, at all times. They suck.” Glancing down at the ground, she sighed.

Lifting her face, Mack stared into her pretty brown eyes. “I will see you very soon baby, and don’t cry, or I’ll have to kidnap you.” The tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked hard. “Pretty baby, I’m hooked and will be following your progress and counting down the remaining days of the tour. There are so many things we’ll be doing when you’re done. I know Brooke will give you time off.”

Two motorcycles came roaring into the hotel drive and Jeanette smiled when she saw Sidney sitting behind Zane. She seemed to hesitate getting off the bike and glanced up at Jeanette with a little wave. Zane and Boyd walked beside her as they approached but they were waylaid by the same reporter. “Miss Johnson, what is your response to accusations of inappropriate behavior by Brooke Kincaid and her staff during last night’s bar binge?”

Sidney gave her sweetest smile, clasped her hands demurely, and asked, “Inappropriate behavior? Such as?”

“Such as your cavorting with two men, Brooke Kincaid engaging in underage drinking, and Miss Rivers leaving the Kincaid children unattended in the hotel while she went on a, um, date.”

“Oh my goodness. Where to start?” Sidney said adorably before tapping her finger against her chin, “Hmm, okay, let me start with the kids. Jackson Kincaid is a mature sixteen. In any state in the US, that is old enough for him to watch his six and nine-year-old sisters who are also quite brilliant and self-reliant and spend almost every waking moment among friends and family. Jeanette didn’t abandon them. She had a night off for the first time in almost four months with a man who opens doors and treated her beautifully.”

She took one step closer, her voice going up a notch, “As for Brooke’s underage drinking, she participated in a toast among friends to the military since that is one of her favorite areas to lend her time, money, and celebrity. She was with her boyfriend who would never allow anything to happen to her. She drinks water or Gatorade almost exclusively. It was not a bar binge. We were escorted by Marines, honey. To a military bar where people who have served our country in the past or at present go to wind down after a stressful day of protecting your prissy tight ass.”

Raking her hands down her body, she continued, “And baby, you do not want to tangle with my personal life. I happen to enjoy cavorting with two men who, I imagine, would blow every boyfriend you’ve ever had out of the water individually, forget combined. Instead of being jealous, you should try it. It might help loosen you up, you judgmental bitch. Now get out of my face. I am not kidding. Back off or I will back you off.” She feinted forward and the woman ran back into the hotel.

Skipping to Jeanette, she smiled as she danced around her and Mack. “Someone looks extra pretty today. That makes me so happy.” Jackson leaned out the bus window laughing, “Sidney that was awesome. You look gorgeous! The guys carried all your gear to the bus. I have your duffle bag.”

Sidney winked up at him. Pulling the two stunned men closer to the bus, she said, “Jackson, this is Boyd Nicholson and Zane Warren. My boyfriends, can you believe it? You’re cool with that, right?”

“Are you kidding? Of course it takes two boyfriends to keep up with you, Sidney. I want to be you when I grow up.” To the men, he said, “Nice to meet you, I’m Jackson Kincaid. This is Molly and the little bit right there is Becca.”

They were chatting and getting to know one another for a few minutes when a familiar sound carried on the wind. “I hear Rex’s bike,” Mack said quietly, his hand holding Jeanette’s tight.

Sidney wrapped her arms hard around Boyd and Zane, laying her head on Boyd’s shoulder. An elderly woman stared at them disapprovingly. Sidney hissed at her and she averted her eyes. “You guys are going to have to bail me out of jail, I can see it already. If I call at three in the morning just, you know, come get me. You can yell at me later.”

They tugged her a short distance away and stood in front of her. Boyd whispered, “You really, really don’t care.”

“Why should I? We aren’t hurting anyone.” She shrugged her shoulders. Her pain was something else entirely.

Zane stroked the side of her face, “Please come back to us, Sidney.” She nodded and kissed them both, pulling them both down for hard hugs.

“Please don’t let me cry, please don’t let me cry,” she whispered to herself. “You need to give me an hour then I want to talk to you. Just…let me calm down for a little while.” They nodded against her and she put her hands on the backs of their heads.

Rex and Brooke pulled up and the same reporter came out of the hotel. Sidney broke from her men and intercepted the woman, skidding to a stop between the motorcycle and the woman with the microphone. “You and I…we are going to scrap, sweetheart. She’s saying goodbye to someone important to her. As we are all trying to do in case you didn’t notice. You people are relentless. Can you not give her a goddamn moment?”

The reporter made to go around her and Sidney whispered, “Oh please do it. Really. Please do it. Like I need an excuse to kick your skinny ass.” The woman stopped and backed up. “Thank you. I’m sure she’ll answer your disgusting, invasive questions when she’s done; they’ll be just as disgusting five minutes from now so be patient.”

Brooke and Rex got off the bike and suddenly more news vans pulled up. Sidney called, “You two, in the bus. Jackson, come on down here with me. You too girls.” Rex pulled Brooke into the bus where she introduced him quickly to her siblings. Country music started pumping from the bus speakers and Jackson went down the steps with his sisters.

Approaching Sidney, Jackson held out his hand and she took it with a curtsy. They were two-stepping to Good Directions and Molly ran to grab Jeanette. They danced around in front of the bus with Becca using her stuffed bunny as a partner until Mack scooped her up. Then they were line dancing to Boot Scootin’ Boogie.

That was the sight that greeted Travis and the Bradshaw brothers as they exited the hotel. Summing up the situation with the reporters and the fact that Brooke and Rex were missing, they joined the line. A couple of the roadies joined in then several members of Kyle’s band.

Before long, there were twenty people line dancing to a song they played around to on the road a lot. When the song ended, patrons and employees from the hotel who had come out to watch were clapping and cheering. The three Marines watched in awe.

Brooke exited the bus with her man and waved at the people gathered to shouts of, “We love you, Brooke!” The kids raced onto the bus and the rest of the people who traveled with them scattered to their vehicles. Logan and Decklan tipped their hats to Rex and he nodded.

Jeanette kissed Mack and whispered, “I’m going to lose it so I’m going to get on the damn bus. I’ll see you later.”

He nodded into her hair as he hugged her possessively and said, “You can count on it, baby. You can fucking count on it.” She ran to the bus and climbed the steps.

Sidney hugged Boyd and Zane, “Gotta go but I hate it. You can see she totally needs me though.”

Boyd said, “Be safe and come back to us, Sidney.”

Zane added, “Thank you for being so perfect.”

Squeezing them hard, she kissed them aggressively and took a deep breath, “Please don’t forget me.” They shook their heads and she ran for the bus.

Brooke hugged Rex hard, “I’ll see you in a few weeks. I miss you already. Keep my spot warm.” Rex kissed her, held her hand over his heart and put his over hers. He whispered, “Mine…yours.” She nodded with shimmering eyes and he added, “Go baby, it’s only going to get harder.” One last kiss and she was gone.

All four men headed for their bikes at the same time. Starting them with a roar, they pulled behind Brooke’s tour bus and waited for it to pull into traffic. When it did a few minutes later, they followed along behind it.

A few blocks before it got on the highway, their women appeared at the back window of Brooke’s bedroom. Pulling up the blinds, they held up three pieces of paper with black marker writing on them. “We love you”, “We miss you already”, and “Don’t Forget Us”.

Their men blew kisses and pulled over to the hard shoulder, watching sadly as the bus pulled away up the ramp headed toward Indianapolis. When it was out of sight, they drove to the bar and drank until they couldn’t stand up. All of them crashed at Boyd and Zane’s place that night. They had to leave their bikes at the bar and take a cab.

Their women called them throughout the day and it sounded like they were having a regular cry marathon on the other end of the phone. The next morning, Jeanette emailed Mack the tour schedule and the men who’d been friends and fellow Marines for twenty years formulated a plan.

Broken Bronco and their tour performed in Indianapolis then headed for the Northeast where the cities were closer together. Over the next seven nights they did six shows. After Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Albany, Portland, Boston, and Atlantic City they took New York City by storm. They sang to a packed house in Madison Square Garden and were getting three days off before heading to DC.

Everyone was physically and emotionally exhausted. Sidney and Jeanette shared a suite that connected to the suite with the Kincaid siblings. The women talked to the guys at least three times a day. After the Garden show, Sidney came back to the room, warned Jackson they were getting trashed, and they retired to Brooke’s room.

Half a bottle of whiskey later, they were in fits of laughter. It was the first time getting drunk for Brooke and when Jeanette said the words ‘web cam’, all three of them stared at one another in stunned realization.

Sidney called the guys and asked them to go on IM. The four men had gotten together to play cards at Boyd and Zane’s, where they crashed every couple of days. The two Marines raced to their enormous office to go on chat with Sidney.

The moment they clicked on her name, the multiple large screens filled with an image of all three women dressed in pajamas in Brooke’s hotel room in NYC.

Sidney was saying, “…damn thing does not work. Jeanette you’ll have to fix it. I go one more day without seeing them and there could be bloodshed.”

Screaming for Mack and Rex, they sat hard in their office chairs to stare. When all four men were standing in the office, in stunned silence, they turned up the volume and watched the three women they hadn’t seen in more than a week drinking, laughing, and dancing in Brooke’s hotel room to Fergie.