Page 17 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge

‘What’s wrong?’Ben texted back.

‘Not a thing. To the contrary, you’ll be happy I gave you a heads up. I promise,’she texted.‘Gotta go.’

“I guess I’d better go find Eve,” Ben muttered, glancing at the wall clock. He’d seen her arrive about an hour earlier when she’d been bombarded by fans. She had to be around here somewhere. The final afternoon performance would begin in another twenty minutes, he figured. There’d be a short break immediately after Mom was finished so she could return to introduce the act. Ben had heard they were a couple of musicians from New Orleans who were members of a band calledStarlight Blues. In fact, Dad had worked with Marc Theroux, the lead vocalist, on some domestic terrorism cases, which was a pretty good indication that Marc wasn’t just a musician.

Catching a glimpse of Eve across the room near the table where the family would be seated later for the ceremony, Ben started walking her way, taking time to look around while he did. He saw Dad talking to one of the Generals who was attending to hand out some awards, but as hard as he tried to find her,he couldn’t locate the girl he’d seen yesterday anywhere. She probably just wasn’t here tonight, he decided.

Ah, well, he was probably being stupid, longing for a girl he’d never even met, he said to himself, wearing a rueful smile.

“Evie,” he called out.

“Ben. What in the heck are you wearing?” Eve replied, smiling widely.

“Everyone’s gotta be a smart aleck today just because I went traditional,” he muttered.

“Well, I’ll have to admit—I’m not sure that you could’ve topped the purple striped vest that you wore last year. Maybe it’s time to retire your statement pieces,” Eve answered.

“Haha,” he answered dryly. “Hey. Joanie says that all of us need to be there to watch the final performance that Mom’s going to be introducing onstage in about twenty minutes. She claims we’re all going to be surprised in a very good way.”

“Hmm. I wonder what’s going on?”

“She wouldn’t tell me more when she sent me a text.”

“I guess I’m curious enough to walk back through the crowd to find out what Joanie wants us to see,” Eve replied, standing. “Harry’s not going to be here for another hour anyway. He’s driving some of the family over since it started to snow again.”

“I was wondering why you were here alone. I thought he might have decided to stay home and keep an eye on Cam,” Ben said, grinning.

“He sure doesn’t let him out of his sight for long, I’ve got to agree,” Eve answered, giving him an impish smile. “He behaves more like Cam’s mother than me. Sometimes, I even have to ask if Harry will let me hold him.”

Ben laughed. “Well, let’s go get Dad. It looks like he’s having some trouble stepping away from his conversation with General Pierce.”

“What’s going on?” Dad asked quizzically, as Ben and Eve finally succeeded in pulling him away from the Colonel, steering him through the room.

“Don’t ask me,” Eve answered, smiling. “I’m clueless. Ben’s the one who’s been advised by Joanie to catch the last act on our late afternoon entertainment schedule.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be Marc and Desiree Theroux? They were only added to the list last evening since they’re here in town for a family wedding on Christmas Day. I’ve actually seen them perform several times in the past,” Dad observed. “Is there something going on that I don’t know about?”

“Apparently,” Ben muttered. “But what, I don’t know. I’m just as much in the dark about what we’re supposed to be watching for as you are.”

“Well, let’s see if we can find a place to view the stage. It’s pretty packed right now. For once, the weather’s been cooperating with us for Christmas,” Dad said. “Your mom is nearly finished with her time in the spotlight.”

“She still sounds great, doesn’t she?” Eve said. “Wait until you see what we came up with for our Christmas duet after the award ceremony this evening.”

“Let me see if I can get someone to set up a few extra chairs for us,” Dad suggested, pulling out his phone as they reached the audience. “There doesn’t appear to be any open chairs available right now.”

“Make sure you include one for Mom too,” Ben said.

“Okay. So, I’ll have them round up four chairs. Have you seen Lara around?”

Rather than rehash everything with Dad, Ben answered, “She and her friend are helping out in the dressing rooms.”

“That’s right. I forgot your mother gave her a few jobs to handle today,” Dad replied, the expression on his face definitely guarded.

By the time one of the maintenance people showed with the extra chairs, Mom had just finished her song.

Once the three of them were seated, Mom had returned to the stage to introduceStarlight Blues. As she gave her introduction, Ben could tell she was most definitely surprised to see her family seated near the edge of the audience.

As the stage went dark, Mom took the short staircase down from the stage, quickly approaching to sit beside Dad.

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