Chapter 205

She was still sitting there three hours later when Richie returned. He joined her on the balcony, his fingers toying with the curls resting on her shoulder as he stood beside her.

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over the house for you. Rosa says that dinner’s almost ready.”

She raised her face for his kiss. He obliged. She looked behind him into the bedroom. “Where’s Ava?”

“At Heather’s.”

He brows rose. “You left her there?”

He grimaced. “Heather begged me not to take her away. Since she let me have her after my….act of stupidity, I thought it was only fair.”

“Please tell me that Julie is there!”

He frowned. “Yes, and so is Jack.”

She waved her hand at that. “Ava isn’t his priority. If you’re going to let her stay there, I want to be assured that someone is there to look after her properly.”

He smiled. “Relax angel, she’s fine.”

She nodded and stared out at the back yard again. Richie frowned and knelt beside her chair, setting a hand on her thigh.

“Sweetheart, I’m really sorry that we had to cut our trip short.”

She turned to look at him, smiled sadly and raised a hand to stroke his cheek. “I know. So am I. But it’s not your fault.” She hesitated. “Rich….can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything. You know that.”

“Why did you go over to Heather’s alone? Why did you leave me here?”

He sighed. “Because I didn’t know what I’d find when I got there, and….honestly, I thought it might embarrass Heather to have to face you over this. I’ve been there, I know how it feels. I thought we should give her some time to pull herself together and come to terms with what she did first.” He studied her face as he tried to figure out what was bothering her. “Hey!” he shook her leg gently. “I love you!”

She nodded. “I know. I love you too.” She leaned over and pressed her lips to his. Her stomach grumbled. Loudly.

He chuckled and leaned back. “Hungry?”

“Apparently.”

He stood and held out his hand. “Come on angel. Let’s go see what Rosa’s cooked up for us.”

When they reached the top of the of the stairs, she stopped, gripped the banister and blew out a breath. Puzzled, Richie wondered at her actions. Then it clicked in and he grinned and scooped her up into his arms.

“I think maybe you should leave the stairs for a day or two yet.” She just sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “Is this why you were upstairs when I got back?”

She nodded. “I made it up, but couldn’t face the return trip right away.”

“Poor baby.” He kissed her forehead and fought against a smile.

“You better not be laughing at me or I’ll tell everyone you broke me.”

He snorted. “I think I had a little help.”

“Oh really? I don’t think I tied myself to the bed, and I know I wasn’t the one made the promise to fuck me until I couldn’t walk.”

“Maybe not, but who pushed me and teased me, forcing the caveman out? And now you can’t say I never follow through on my promises.”

She couldn’t argue the point. He was right. So she changed tactics. “Do you think ‘she asked for it’ will fly with my brothers?”

He grunted, imaging Jon’s reaction. “No. Brat!”

She chuckled and kissed him as he set her down at the bottom of the stairs. “As long as you don’t rub it in, and let the caveman – or pirate, whichever the case may be – out to play every once in a while – in moderation of course – this little episode will stay our little secret. Deal?”

“Deal.” He looked a little uncomfortable now that they were actually talking about it. “I’m sorr…”

She put her fingers to his lips to stop him. “Don’t. I’m not, even if I am sore. It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget!”

“Me either!” He grinned, pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers, tasting her thoroughly.

A cough broke them apart. “Dinner’s ready.” Rosa stood in the doorway to the living room, an indulgent smile on her face.


After dinner, Tori tried to call Karin to let her know that they were back in L.A., but just got her voicemail. She left a message, then, giving in to Richie’s pleading, headed back to the kitchen to make him cookies. Entering the living room with a plateful still warm from the oven, she found him stretched out on the couch watching a movie. She offered him one, then set the plate on the table.

“Thanks angel.” He reached out, took her hand and tugged. “Come here.”

Smiling, she stretched out beside him, her head on his chest, his arms holding her close. When the movie ended he glanced down to find her asleep. He shifted her enough to slide out from underneath her, stood, lifted her into his arms and carried her upstairs. In their bedroom he laid her gently on the bed, removed her clothing and pulled the covers over her. She sighed and turned onto her side, burrowing down into the blankets. Walking to the other side of the bed, he stripped off his own clothes, slid in beside her, curled around her and drifted off to sleep.


The next afternoon they were sitting by the pool when the phone rang. Tori could tell by Richie’s side of the conversation that it was Heather and she was upset.

“Alright, alright. I’ll come over.” Richie hung up, sighed and stood up. When Tori would have too he shook his head, bent over and kissed her. “No. You stay here and relax. I won’t be long. She just needs someone to talk to who’s been there. I want to try and get her calmed down before Ava gets home from school.”

She frowned as she watched him walk into the house. She understood that Heather needed help, but she didn’t like it that Richie seemed to be the one she was reaching out for. She liked it even less that he didn’t want her around for their meetings.

A few hours later, the phone rang again. This time it was Karin. “Hey there. What are you doing back in L.A.? I thought you were supposed to be gone another week.”

“We were. I don’t know if you saw, but Heather got nailed for DUI.”

“Yeah I saw that. Prescription drugs wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Ava called, very upset, so we came home. Where were you last night? Out with the gang?”

“No, actually… I was in… New York for a long weekend and just got back this morning.”

“New York? What for? Work related?”

“No, I….um…well I went to see a play. A musical actually.”

Something in Karin voice set off alarm bells in Tori’s mind. “Oh? What did you see?”

“Um…Toxic Avenger.” She waited for the response she knew was coming.

Tori’s brows rose. Her mind was swirling. “Toxic Avenger? You mean…wait a minute…do you mean to tell me that you spent the weekend with Shirley?!”

“Well….yeah.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa….just…okay…How did that happen?” Her own problems were set aside as she pried out the details of this new major development in her friends lives.

“Well, I don’t really know. We started talking the day before the wedding when he asked me to help him with the pranks he had planned, then during the reception we danced a couple times and I chatted with him and his kids for awhile, and well, you saw what happened with the bouquet and the garter. After you and Richie left the next day, he invited me to lunch. It was actually Gabi who suggested that I go see the musical. I didn’t commit to anything, because I didn’t want him to feel obligated because of what his daughter had said, and because I really didn’t know how I felt about it. But I did give him my number and he kept calling me until I agreed to go.”

“And where did you stay?”

Karin hesitated, then gave in. “At his place. And before you ask I slept in the spare room!”

Tori chuckled. “So what’s going on?”

“I really don’t know. I mean, I had a great time this weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that much. Well, you know what he’s like. But he also has this serious, caring side that totally blew me away. We talked for hours, about everything. Don’t worry I didn’t give away any secrets or give him any ammunition against you.”

“Thank you. So are you going to see him again?”

“We’ve talked about it, but haven’t set any firm date.”

“What’s the problem?” She could hear the doubt in Karin’s voice.

“Well, it’s just the distance thing, and he’s been through a painful divorce and has three kids to consider, and….well….dammit Tori, he’s a rockstar! He can have pretty much any woman he wants.”

Tori laughed. “Welcome to my world! Remember what you told me when I was having the same feelings about Richie? You told me to forget all that stuff and give him a chance. I did, and look what happened. The distance thing is no big deal, you’re not that far apart and the tour is over, so he won’t be going far anytime soon. As for his kids, the worst part is over. You’ve already met them and they obviously like you.”

Karin chuckled. “Yeah Colton told me that any friend of ‘Aunt Tori’s’ was okay by him.”

“God! This whole situation is getting almost incestuous!” She shook her head. “Seriously though, if you like him, give him a chance. See where it goes. Pranks aside, he’s a great guy.”

“And what about his ex?”

“I don’t know much about her, but apparently they’re civil to each other. I think the divorce was pretty painful, but he’s had a few years now to deal with it, and I think he has. I can try to find out more if you want.”

“Not right now. I’ll let you know, but I think I want to talk to him a bit more about it. By the way do I need to learn how to play an instrument now?”

Tori laughed. “No, but it helps. You will have to brush up on your practical jokes though. He really is devious. You and Shirley. I can’t believe it.”

“Who and Shirley?” Richie asked from the doorway.

She turned to look at him and frowned. He looked worn out and frazzled. “Karin. It seems she spent the weekend with him.”

Richie’s brows rose. “Really? Well, I guess you’ve told her enough that she knows what she’s getting into. Tell her if she needs any help, like ideas for paybacks, to let us know.”

“Did you hear that?” Tori asked Karin.

“Yeah. Tell him thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Oh, there goes my call waiting. It might be David. He said he might call.”

“Go. I’ll talk to you later. Say hi from us.”

“I will. I’ll call you later.”