Which meant Kari wanted this concert to be over nearly as much as I did.
The opening act went on, and I was left in the green room, where I compulsively went over every dance number in my mind. I felt shaky, but at the same time so full of adrenaline I couldn’t sit in one place. I checked my reflection in the mirror. Everything looked fine, glittery, but fine. I took deep measured breaths. That was supposed to calm people down. Or maybe it was just supposed to help in childbirth, I couldn't remember anymore.
A knock came at the door. I hoped it was just someone asking if I needed a bottled water and not Maren giving me more instructions I probably wouldn’t retain.
As I opened the door, the first person I saw was Grant.
He stood with hands thrust into his jacket pockets. His blue eyes seemed cold and formal, but besides that, he looked every bit as handsome as the last time I’d seen him. A sharp pang of longing twisted into my heart. I stared at him, desperately searching for words that would tell him how I felt. "Grant," was all I could come up with.
“No matter how things ended between us,” he said, “I told you I had a surprise for you, and I still thought I should give it to you.” He stepped aside and for the first time, I noticed someone stood behind him. My father, Alex Kingsley, walked into the room.
CHAPTER 15
Grant turned and strode down the hallway without saying goodbye. Any other time, I would have gone after him. I would have apologized again—something, but I could barely stand, let alone run after him. The air had gone out of my lungs. I stared at my father without blinking.
He was taller than I’d imagined, and looked older—in my mind's eye I'd kept seeing him on the cover of the CDs we'd had since I was a child. Each wrinkle around his eyes and the gray hair at his temples surprised me. He was fit, though, and had a confident energy.
I was torn between wanting to throw my arms around him and wanting to turn and run away. Instead I stood before him silent and trembling.
He looked me over from head to toe, his thumbs casually looped through his jeans pockets. His voice was calm, but the edge to his voice showed that he wasn't amused. "So who are you, and where is my daughter?’’
"Kari has been in rehab for the last week.” My words came out more composed than I felt. I was finally meeting my father, and I was wearing a sequined gold miniskirt. "Maren didn't want people to know about Kari's problems, so she hired me to double for her.”
"Rehab?" he repeated.
"For compulsive shopping, mostly.”
He relaxed a little when I said that, like he’d been afraid it was something worse, but accusation still colored his tone. "Maren told me that Kari was doing better, that she was out doing events to pay off her debts."
"That was me too," I said. “Kari was working on her album.”
"The album that’s not done.”
I prickled on her behalf. "She wanted to come up with hit songs on her own, so you would be proud of her.” This wasn’t exactly what Kari had said. She had said she wanted to come up with hit songs to prove to him that she could do it, and maybe I was transferring my own motivations to Kari—but I didn’t think so. She had a whole roomful of ceramic cats because he had given her some as a child. She wanted his approval.
His gaze went to the door, and his voice came out terse. "Well, I’m real proud right now.” Then he turned and left the room without another word.
As soon as he had gone, a surge of panic washed over me. I’d met my father and hadn’t said one thing I’d meant to. When would I have the chance to speak to him again? I walked out into the hallway in time to see him leading Maren by the elbow into another waiting room two doors down the hallway.
I hurried down the hall, but then paused in front of the door. It was open a sliver, but I didn't go inside. What would I say? Should I wait until he came out to try and talk to him?
I opened the door a bit more, but neither of them noticed me. They stood face-to-face, oblivious to interruptions. Alex Kingsley’s hands were on his hips. Maren's were folded across her chest. Their voices were low, but as fierce as if they’d been yelling.
Maren said, "I’m taking care of Kari's reputation while she gets help. Do you really want the tabloids parading her problems out for the whole nation to see? Do you want Kari Kingsley jokes told on the late-night programs for the next ten years? What will that do for her career? What will that do to her as a person? You should thank me for this. I did it for you."
He gave her a daggered look. "When I told you to keep an eye on her, this wasn’t what I wanted, and you know it. I bailed that girl out of her bad decisions for years, and the reason she hasn’t changed yet is that whenever she makes a mess of things, there's always someone else around to clean it up for her. She doesn’t need more people to rescue her, she needs to grow up and take responsibility for herself. If that means she has to cancel a concert and refund some money—so be it."
I should have spoken, cleared my throat—done something to let them know I stood in the doorway. But I didn’t. I didn’t even open the door further. I couldn’t intrude on such a heated conversation. Besides, watching Alex Kingsley speak hypnotized me into silence.
Maren stepped toward him, hands upward. "There’s no need to cancel the concert now. Kari’s double can do the job. The fans will be much happier that way.”
He cocked his head in disbelief. "You’re worried about the fans? Can you imagine what the press would say if they caught wind of a fake performing her concert?”
Maren shrugged as though it didn’t matter. "If you want, I’ll fire the double, but she’s been performing as Kari for weeks. She’ll keep quiet about this. I'll make sure of it."
I could see him clench his jaw, but he didn’t yell at her. His voice came out with taut restraint. "You go let the crowd know that Kari can't do the concert and they’re entitled to a refund. If they want to stick around—fine. I’ll sing a few songs for them and might be able to talk Grant into doing a few too. Go do it now. We’ll discuss your lack of judgment later.”
His words snapped me out of my trance. I didn’t want them to see me in the doorway and realize I’d listened to the whole thing. I turned and hurried back down the hallway to the green room.
I needed to figure out what to do next. Alex Kingsley would be here for a while. What would be the best way to talk to him, to explain why I'd done all this? A minute later, Maren flung the door open and stormed over to me. Before I knew what was happening, she drew back her hand and slapped me.
I stared at her openmouthed, stung as much by surprise as by the force of her blow. I hadn’t thought professional women actually slapped people. The old Alexia might have slapped her back, but I had no desire to do it now. I was better than that.
"That’s for being so . . . incredibly . . . stupid," Maren hissed at me. "Everything would have worked out fine if you’d done your job and stayed away from Grant Delray. But no, you couldn’t be happy with the money—you had to go for other perks. And now you’ve ruined everything.” I hadn't thought her eyes could grow harder, but they did. "You’re finished. Your driver will take you to the airport. Get on the next plane to West Virginia and never tell anyone about any of this. If you do—”
“You’ll charge me with identity theft,” I finished for her.