The house was quiet when she walked in. She left her running shoes by the door in the mudroom and padded to the kitchen. She was standing at the sink, looking out the sipping from a second bottle of water when Richie came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.
“Why don’t you go shower and I’ll make you something to eat?” He stroked the nape of her neck lightly with this thumbs, dipping lower, to stroke along the first few tics of her spine.
Even as goosebumps rose on her skin at his light touch, she turned, “where is everybody? Why is it so quiet?” After weeks of voices and music floating around, the house seemed almost tomb-like today. Even Lily was quiet. “Where’s Lily?” She asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
His hands slid up and down her arms, “relax Sweetheart, Lily is with Ava and Jenna and I sent everyone else home. We have the entire place to ourselves today.”
She lifted hopeful eyes to his, “really?”
“Yes, really” he nodded. “I think we need to talk, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess we do” she agreed. She pressed her lips to his in a light kiss. “I’ll take you up on that offer of breakfast too.” She gave him a quick smile before turning to head out of the kitchen.
“How do you want your eggs” he called after her.
“Over easy, with an English muffin, please and thanks.” She jogged up the stairs, aiming for the quickest shower she could manage.
Twenty minutes later she wandered back into the kitchen. Richie was just setting their plates on the counter at the breakfast bar. “Looks good, thanks.”
He looked up and his eyes traveled up to her face and down to her bare feet. She looked good. Her eyes were clear, her hair was still slightly damp as it curled over her shoulders and down her back. She wore just a simple t-shirt and jeans that hung a little loose on her hips. The fact that her eyes edged closer to brown than green told him something was just slightly off with her though. “You look like you’ve lost a little weight there Sweetheart.”
She tugged at her jeans before she sat down. She had noticed that herself when she got dressed. Where she had once had curves, she was now leaner, her muscles were tighter, more defined. Her jeans were fitting a little looser these days. “I noticed that too. Must be from all the running I’ve been doing lately.” Her little stress relieving hobby hand turned into an unbreakable habit.
He settled on the stool next to her, “good thing I made you three eggs then. You don’t need to be losing any more weight.” He liked her curves and didn’t want her losing any more of them.
Her eyes widened when she glanced down at her plate, “I may not gain weight, but I don’t want to have a heart attack either.”
“The eggs won’t kill you, Sweetheart. Eat up.”
They chatted about everything and nothing while they ate. Lily’s latest antics, local news, the weather for crying out loud. This is where she had feared they were headed. Where they had once talked about anything and everything, now they were reduced to news tidbits and the weather. Not good. She pushed her plate away, she couldn’t go through this again. Once had been more than enough. Slipping from the stool she rounded the island, scraped the remnants into the garbage and put her plate in the dishwasher. Grabbing her tea she leaned over the counter and caught Richie’s eye, “are we going to talk about the real issue here or are we going to continue to comment about how pretty a day it is outside?”
Without a word, Richie put his fork on his plate and stood, copying her motions of putting his things in the dishwasher before grabbing his coffee and taking her hand, “why don’t we go outside and enjoy the pretty day while we talk?” He led her out of the kitchen, through the sliding glass door and onto the patio.
“Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours, sweetheart” he urged as the wicker chairs creaked and groaned while they settled in. If he had to guess, he’d bet his entire portfolio that she was having a hard time adjusting to his schedule and all the people that have been traipsing in and out of the house of late, but he wasn’t 100% on that.
Setting her tea on the table between them, she leaned forward. “First and foremost, I want you to know that I have no problem with the writing and making of music that is going on in this house.” She caught his eye, “honestly, I don’t.” It was as much a part of who he was as his eye color or his shoe size. It just was.
He set his coffee mug down next to her cup. Good thing he didn’t make that bet. He’d be broke and homeless. “Then what is the problem?”
She stood and moved to the edge of the overhang where shadow met sun, staring at the sparkling still water of the pool. “Time, Rich. Time is my problem.”
He angled around to look at her, she sounded so distant, so sad. “Time?”
She turned to look at him, “the busier you got and the more people you had coming in and out had me taking on more hours and projects with Habitat. We’re both so busy now that we have no time for each other or the girls.” The mom guilt weighed heavily now that she actually said the words out loud. She was neglecting Lily and Ava and that was not acceptable.
Moving back to her chair, she sat down again. “Do you realize this is the first conversation we’ve had in nearly a week that’s been more than ‘good morning’ or ‘hey, how are you?’?”
Richie frowned, that couldn’t be right, could it?
“You haven’t even made it to bed for the last three or four nights.” And that stung nearly as much as coming in second on his planner to working and playing with Orianthi.
“I guess I didn’t realize…” he trailed off. That wasn’t quite the truth. He had been finding it easier to just crash on the couch after his friends left rather than making the effort to get himself up the stairs and into their bed. He felt less guilty about all the time he was spending with Ori and the guys if he avoided the obvious. And yet, here they were smack dab in the middle of it. He mentally berated himself. Idiot. Some plan.
“And I overheard you talking about touring this summer?” She continued on wanting to get everything out and on the table before they started figuring out how to fix this mess. “Were you going to mention it to me before you packed your suitcase and guitar to head to the airport?”
He opened his mouth to interrupt, but she rolled right over him.
“And forget about me for a minute, what about Ava and Lily?”
“What about them?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you leave your other job - she still had a hard time reconciling the fact that he was no longer in Bon Jovi - to spend more time with your family?”
“Yeah, and?”
“And?” Her voice rose with frustration. “When was the last time you spent any time with either of them? I know Ava’s old enough to understand your schedule and not be all that upset that you’re not spending time with her, but Lily’s not.” She left herself out of the equation once again.
His frown deepened. He had been so wrapped up in his own thing he had effectively blocked everything else out. Fuck.
“That’s what I thought” she murmured at the look on his face. “You haven’t been thinking of anything or anyone else at all.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you?”
“It’s not that,” he tried to explain.
“Then what is it?” She countered.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you going to let me talk or are you going to keep interrupting me?”
“Sorry.” She picked up her tea and sipped, “please continue.”
He had to remember that she hadn’t been around for this before. She had seen only a tiny fraction of what the writing and recording process had been with him and Jon and it wasn’t anything like what he was doing now. He studied her for a long moment, thinking about everything she had said.
“Well” she prompted, setting her now cold tea on the table. Pulling her hand back, her bracelet skimmed across the glass top, the charms jangling as they went. She re-situated it on her wrist and waited.
His gaze shifted to her wrist and the bracelet there, landing on the charm he had given her after their trip to Disneyland with the girls. That was after he tried to put the music ahead of his family the first time. He had asked her then to believe and here he was fucking things up again. He had promised to do better and, looking back, he had not lived up to his word. Not by a long shot.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He reached over and took her hand. “Apparently, my time management skills need some serious work.” He lifted her hand and touched the Mickey and Minnie charm. “The girls deserve better” he raised his eyes to hers, “you deserve better.”
She studied his face for a moment, still so boyishly handsome with just a hint of the dimples waiting to break free at the first smile. The band around her heart loosened a little. They would get back on even ground she was sure of it. Pulling her hand from his, she stood and rounded the table, taking the seat next to him. Curling her leg under her, she angled toward him. “So, how are we going to fix this?”
He pulled out his phone and held out his hand, “give me your phone.”
She dug it out of her pocket and placed it in his outstretched hand, “what are you going to do?”
He opened both phones and found the calendar apps on each. “I’m going to sync our calendars for starters. That way we’ll know what the other is doing and when there are places we need to be or if the girls have anything going on that we need to be at. Then I think it’s time I hired a new assistant, at least part time.” He hadn’t had anyone since he let Denise go and maybe it was time to find someone new. He didn’t need anyone on a full time basis, but just a few hours a week should help keep him on track.
“Okay” Stephanie agreed. “And I’m going to cut way back with Habitat. I thought about giving it up entirely, but I just can’t do that. So I’m going to let them know that I’m only available a couple days a week for a while.”
He handed her back her phone, “you sure about that? I know how much you enjoy that work.”
“I’m sure. As much as I love it, I love you and the girls more. And Lily, at least, needs me here more than I need to be there.”
As morning shifted into early afternoon, they talked and worked out the bulk of their issues. There was just one thing that was Stephanie was still stuck on and when they circled back to the music, she couldn’t ignore it any longer. But she wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up without sounding like she was accusing him of something.
Richie had been going on about some of the songs they were working on and how good a player Orianthi was when he noticed the look that crossed her face. “What?”
Stephanie furrowed her brow, “what ‘what?’”
“What was that look for?”
“What look?”
He reached out and lightly stroked the space between her eyebrows. “You got all wrinkly here and you look like you just sucked on a lemon.”
Her pursed lips turned into a frown. “I have to ask you a question and I KNOW you’re not going to like it.”
“Just ask Sweetheart.” How bad could it be?
“Okay, here goes, but just remember, you told me to ask.”
He chuckled and waved her on, “ask already.”
“Is there something going on between you and Orianthi that I should know about?” She closed her eyes and prayed for the answer she desperately wanted to hear.
Richie’s eyebrows rose to his hairline. He wasn’t sure what she had been wanting to ask, but it hadn’t been that. He waited until she opened her eyes to say anything. “Are you asking me if I’m cheating on you?” He paused, “with her?”
She just nodded her head.
“Come here.” Taking her hand he tugged her over and on to his lap. “Have I done something to put that thought in your head?”
“No…maybe…not really…” she sighed. “I don’t know.” He didn’t answer the question and she squirmed and tried to get up.
“Uh uh, you stay right here, sweetheart.” He tightened his grip, “now why don’t you tell me what put that thought in your head.”
Her fingers walked up the button placket of his shirt, pausing to scratch lightly at the patch of skin showing at his chest. “It wasn’t any one thing, but mostly its how you are with her.” She kept her gaze on her fingers, afraid to look up at him as she talked. “You’re always with her, and you look at her like you look at me. Or at least the way you used to look at me. It’s been a awhile since we were in the same room together for longer than two minutes.”
Pulling her hands from his chest he brought them to his lips and kissed the backs of them, lingering right above her wedding set. “You see this?” He angled her hand so she could see her ring.
She nodded.
“I liked it enough to put a ring on it” he aimed for a bit of levity with the Beyonce reference.
Stephanie smirked. “Nice.”
“Seriously Sweetheart, you have nothing to worry about with me and Ori. I’m having fun and learning to be a better player from her and we have a musical connection like I can’t explain, but that’s it.” Looking at her face he could still see a shadow of doubt. He re-situated her on his lap so she was straddling him, “I don’t want her.” He pressed his hips up to meet hers. “I want you.”
