What Goes on Tour (4 page)

There was something unusual about the man standing in front of her. It wasn’t just that he was so unlike Kent Downer of last night. No, there was something about him that had Libby’s story sense tingling.

“Throw in some painkillers and you have a deal,” she said as she stood and placed her bag over her shoulder.

“There’s bound to be a drugstore around here.” His smile was uncertain as he gazed over his shoulder – it wasn’t the easy grin that had made his fans crazy in the studio last night, but Libby’s heart still sped up a little.

“There is,” she said. “I just need to say goodbye to the owner.”

“I’d better check how many books we’re coming home with. I really need to buy her an e-reader.”

“And miss the fun of lugging tons of books around?” Libby laughed. “I’ll see you at the counter.”

She walked over to the owner, who was standing with his arms crossed watching her. “Thank you for your hospitality today,” she said as she held out her hand.

“You’re welcome.” He shook her hand.

He was one of those men with an overly firm handshake and Libby winced. She extracted her hand as Adrian and Kate came over carrying a pile of books.

“You sure you can carry all of those, kiddo?” Adrian asked.

“Absolutely.” Kate dumped them with relish on the counter.

The owner’s demeanor softened slightly as he rang up the total. Adrian paid and gave Kate the bag of books. “Come on, I’ll buy you a cup of hot chocolate.”

As Libby fell in step beside them, Kate asked, “Is Libby coming too?”

“Sure. I owe her a cup of coffee.”

“Yes!” Kate whooped.

***

The coffee shop was relatively quiet and Adrian was glad. He didn’t know what had possessed him to ask Libby out for coffee. Yes, he was grateful she’d helped him last night, but he didn’t do coffee dates, especially not as Adrian. He never knew what to say.

Kate led them to a table at the back and took the seat by the wall. He sat next to her with Libby opposite. Seeing her hand, the guilt washed over him again. He’d been so caught up in his own fears he hadn’t realized how tightly he’d gripped her hand. He’d hurt her without thought and hadn’t even thanked her. He didn’t know how he could be so oblivious.

Perhaps hurting people was part of his genetic make-up.

Before he could examine the idea a waitress came over to take their order. Libby ordered a slice of pecan pie to go with her coffee.

After the waitress left they sat in silence for a moment. Adrian glanced at Libby, then at Kate. What did he say now? Sorry I was such a jerk last night. Sorry I didn’t notice your pain.

“Do you have a concert tonight?” she asked.

“Yes.” He checked his watch. “I’ve got a couple of hours before I have to be back at the venue.”

“Are you going, Kate?”

“Yep. George is going to look after me now Emily’s gone.”

“George, the grump?”

Adrian drew his brows together and then remembered Kate had called George a grump in the bookstore earlier. George had not been happy about Emily quitting. He and Kate shared a smile.

“George is my manager. He’s looking after Kate at the concert tonight, as Kate’s nanny had to leave us and I haven’t had a chance to find a new one.” He shouldn’t be telling her this. Usually when he met a woman he would stick to basic information, but then again, he didn’t often meet a woman as Adrian who also knew he was Kent Downer.

“It must be exciting to see the concert from backstage. I’ve always wanted to see what goes on behind the scenes,” Libby commented.

“Nuh-uh,” Kate said. “It gets boring after a while, which is why Emily used to look after me in the hotel while Uncle Ade worked.”

His anger at Emily surfaced. She’d really left them in the lurch. He couldn’t keep taking Kate to his concerts. Susan was right about that.

Suddenly Kate sat up straighter and grinned. “You could come tonight. Can’t she, Uncle Ade?” Kate looked up at her uncle, pleading. “It would make it more fun.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t.” Libby shook one hand in a no motion.

“Libby might have other plans,” Adrian said to Kate. He regarded Libby. Though he didn’t often invite people backstage, perhaps this was a way he could make up for his rudeness the night before. “You’re welcome to come if you want. It’s not very exciting.” He didn’t want to get her expectations up. Watching from backstage was different from being part of the audience.

“Please.” Kate drew out the word as if it had four syllables.

Libby blinked. Then she smiled, warm and genuine. “I’d love to.”

Kate clapped her hands. “Yay! I can show you backstage and then you can watch Uncle Ade perform. Then we can go to his dressing-room and play games. We have computer games, or board games or cards. And there’s lots of food. I never have dinner before a concert.”

Adrian chuckled. “Slow down there, Kate. You’re going to overwhelm her.” Kate was so much like her mother, Penny. Always positive and eager, ready for an adventure. He understood why Daniel had married Penny.

“Sorry.” Kate’s eyes flittered down, contrite, and then she looked up and grinned. “We’ll have so much fun.”

He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake inviting this woman he didn’t know backstage. But she already knew his secret – when he wasn’t in costume he was a plain, ordinary man with anxieties.

And it would make Kate happy.

That was the main thing.

It was too late to worry about it now.

Maybe Kate was right. Maybe it would be fun.

***

Libby was ready when Adrian and Kate picked her up just after six. They were staying in the same hotel, though Libby’s room was several floors lower than theirs. Libby had checked in with her publicist, confirmed the details for her meeting tomorrow and taken a short nap before she had to get ready.

She hadn’t fussed with her appearance, not that she had many options from her suitcase – jeans, shirt and jacket. As she was going to spend the evening playing games with Kate, she only swiped on some lip gloss and mascara.

She couldn’t help the buzz of excitement at the thought of going to the concert, though. It had been years since she’d been to one – her budget didn’t run to such extravagant events.

Kate was positively bouncing with energy as they walked out to the car. She carried a backpack, which Libby assumed was filled with books and assorted games. Adrian was still dressed as himself, and none of Kent Downer’s fans waiting impatiently outside the hotel for a glimpse of their hero recognized him as they walked past.

Libby was amazed. No wonder he needed an alter ego.

Inside the waiting car she met George. She’d obviously been watching too many movies, because he was not what she was expecting. Instead of being older, slightly overweight, long-haired, chain-smoking and on the verge of a heart attack, he was young, tall, broad-shouldered, short-haired and wearing a suit. In fact he looked like he’d stepped out of one of the high-rise buildings next door. The one expectation he did meet was that he looked harassed.

His greeting to Libby was perfunctory. As he pulled out of the hotel, he said to Adrian, “After you left this afternoon, the shit hit the fan.”

Kate giggled.

“Shoot, ah, things stopped working,” George amended.

“What kind of things?”

“Fuse blew, lighting crashed to the ground and the damn –” He stopped himself and his gaze skimmed to Kate. “The support band came down with gastro.”

“Lucky I wasn’t there,” Adrian said.

George snorted.

“Is it all sorted?”

“Of course.”

Adrian gave him a lazy smile. “That’s why you’re the details man. You feel any better?”

The stiffness faded from George’s shoulders. “Yeah.”

Libby listened to the interchange in fascination. They were obviously close and it seemed Adrian knew George needed to vent.

“George, you can play the shooting game with me and Libby if you like,” Kate said. “It helps to let off steam.”

“Thanks, Shorty.”

They pulled up at the backstage entrance of the venue and piled out. The fans yelled and then decided there was no one interesting in the car and went back to their waiting.

Adrian, Kate and George hustled into the building with Libby hurrying to keep up. Once safely inside George turned to Libby. “So you’re the writer.”

“Yes. And you would be George the grump.”

George lifted an eyebrow as Kate giggled. “You’ll keep.” He turned back to Adrian. “Do you want to give them the tour or shall I?”

“You do it. I’ve got to get ready.” Adrian turned to Kate. “Be good tonight and listen to George and Libby.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Yes, Uncle Ade.”

“George will be able to answer any questions you have,” he said to Libby, and with a wave, walked off.

She felt a twinge of disappointment.

“Right then, ladies. This way.”

For the next half an hour, George took them around backstage, answering all of Libby’s questions and explaining what was going on. Kate stopped to chat with a couple of roadies, greeting them by name and introducing Libby to them. Then the newly hired support act began and it was hard to hear anything. George made Kate wear earmuffs and Libby wished she had some. The band wasn’t great.

Kate tugged on her arm and indicated that they should leave. Libby followed her and George to a dressing-room with a Kent Downer sign on the door. Kate knocked and it wasn’t long before Adrian answered in his full Kent Downer outfit.

The change was incredible. He stood taller, his chest puffed out and the gesture he made for them to come in was large and theatrical. He caught Libby staring and winked at her.

Libby gaped at him, refusing to step back though she wanted to distance herself. The lovely and shy Adrian of this afternoon had been replaced by this cocky, confident man. A man who reminded her of her ex. She suppressed a shudder.

She couldn’t quite believe Kent and Adrian were the same person, despite the fact that she’d seen Kent the night before. Did he have some sort of personality disorder? Which was the real man?

Libby entered the dressing-room with its mirror-lined walls and big, comfortable brown couches. Kate dumped her backpack on the wooden coffee table and pulled out a board game.

“What are you going to play tonight?” Adrian asked her.

Kate looked up. “Are you playing, George?”

“Sure, Shorty.”

“Then we’ll play Clue. Do you have time for a round, Kent?”

Libby was surprised as Kate referred to her uncle by his stage name. Adrian checked the time. “If it’s a quick one.”

Kate deftly set up the board game and Adrian waved Libby onto the couch next to her. He and George sat opposite them.

“What time do you go on, Adrian?” Libby asked.

He glanced up. “Call me Kent when I’m in costume. I don’t want anyone to associate Adrian with Kent.”

It made sense to separate the two – they were so different.

“In about an hour.” He scanned through his cards and marked something off on his score sheet.

Kate rolled the dice and whooped as she moved her piece around the board. “I suggest it was Colonel Mustard in the library with the knife.”

Libby checked her cards, showed one to Kate and then rolled the dice. She’d forgotten how much fun it was to play board games. Growing up, her family had never bothered with ‘bonding activities for the mundane’, as her father put it, but her best friend Piper’s house had always been full of laughter and games.

She’d spent every free moment she could with Piper, and Piper’s family had welcomed her and made her part of their own family. Libby felt far more comfortable with them than she did with her own family. They had wanted her. Libby had been devastated when they’d moved back to Texas.

This game was the same: full of suggestions, jokes and laughter. Libby relaxed and let the mood infect her. If she ever had children, this is what she’d want it to be like. Finally Kate said, “Ah ha! I know who it is. I accuse Miss Scarlet, in the kitchen with the lead pipe.” She pointed an accusing finger at Libby, who was using the Miss Scarlet piece.

“Go on then, kiddo,” Kent said handing her the envelope from the middle. “Check if you’re right.”

Kate snatched the envelope and cautiously peered at the contents, one card, then the next and the final one. She threw the three cards down onto the board. “Told you!”

“Good one, Kate,” George said as he dropped his cards on the table. He checked his watch. “It’s almost game time. We’ll play again after Kent hits the stage.”

Kate stood. “Kent needs quiet time before he starts,” she explained to Libby. “I’ll show you the best spot to see the stage.”

Kent flashed Libby a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He drummed his fingers on the table as she stood.

Nerves again.

She’d not detected any when they were playing the game, but the moment they stopped, they were there. “Break a leg,” Libby said, and then paused. “Do they say that to singers?”

“You can, as long as it doesn’t come true,” George said and ushered them out of the room.

Kate held Libby’s hand and moved toward the stage. The support band had finished and roadies raced back and forth to set up for Kent’s band. Kate weaved in and out, dragging Libby with her. Libby checked to make sure George was following. She didn’t want to get in the way.

“Hold it there, Shorty,” George called and Kate stopped so suddenly that Libby bumped into her.

George caught up and pointed to an alcove in the wings. “You and Libby wait there until they finish setting up, otherwise you’ll get trampled. I’ve noticed something that needs my attention. You’ll be all right here for a minute?” His eyes were focused on the other side of the room.

“Sure,” Kate said.

George didn’t wait for Libby’s response. He turned and walked toward one of the roadies, calling out as he did. He might be a grump at times, but it was obvious he cared for the young girl.

And why wouldn’t he? Kate was a sweet girl. But why was she touring with her uncle? Maybe Kate’s parents were like Libby’s own, happier when she wasn’t under foot. At least Kate had Adrian.

Around her the roadies moved in a sequenced dance, moving equipment, avoiding each other and transforming the stage into a rock star’s lair. They were a team, obviously experienced and certain where each item should go and what should be done. Only once did Libby see two men almost crash into each other. They swore at each other good-naturedly and continued on their way.