No One's A Fool (Revised & Complete)

Chapter 4

"These are great seats, Wren." Matthew tells her, the second she and Gabe get back to sit down. They're in the third row, center, Wrenna now realizes. Looking up and all around her, she gasps.

"Oh wow." She says, smiling.

"And this is the benefit of having rock star family members." Danielle, Matthew's wife and one of Wrenna's closest friends, comments.

"The crazy thing is, Don isn't even the one who gave me the tickets. "It was Joe Walsh."

"I always thought your mom was friends with Don." Danielle says. "I didn't realize you guys knew Joe too."

"We don't." Matthew and Wrenna reply in unison.

"I just met him the other day when I was in meeting with my management. He was in the same building." Wrenna explains, shrugging.

"Well he must have really liked you, or heard about you, or something." Danielle guesses.

"I'm not sure. He said that he did a few shows with Mom back in the day, before I was born. And I guess he met me once when I was a baby, but I don't remember. Do you ever remember meeting him, Matt?"

"No, but that doesn't mean you didn't. I could have been with my dad." Matt offers.

"Well all I know is he hooked us up. And this is awesome." She takes out her phone to snap a photo. "I never get to sit this close with my mom's shows. She always puts me in the back of the floor."

"Yeah, we're not that special." Matthew laughs. "My mom was good friends with Don. I bet she'd love that I'm finally seeing them." Matthew's mother, Robin, had passed away when Matthew was only a few days old. Stevie had cared for him much like a surrogate mother throughout most of his life, and Wrenna had long-since dubbed him her older brother. "It's weird that we've never seen them before."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!" Wrenna says, turning to him. "I guess it just never occurred to anyone that we hadn't?"

"Guess not." Matthew shrugs. "Weird."

"Yeah, weird." Gabe echoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The show goes off without a hitch, as it usually does these days. With age comes wisdom, and now that every band member is finally clean and sober, they're performing better than they have in decades. Many of the personal issues have also been resolved, meaning the tensions have been lifted, and the audience can clearly see the camaraderie in the band as they play.

From the third row, Wrenna takes it all in. She is used to big rock shows, having grown up with parents in one of the most famous rock bands. As an adult, she understands how much work goes into a production like this, and her appreciation for it amplifies her enjoyment of the show.

After their first song, while greeting and welcoming the audience, Don spots Wrenna in the crowd.

"I want to give a special welcome to my niece Wrenna Nicks-Fleetwood. She's here tonight, seeing the Eagles play as a band for the first time. Wrenna Lyric, this next song is for you." They lock eyes, and Wrenna makes the heart motion with her hands. Gabe watches as his wife engages with Don, and then his eyes are drawn slightly to the left, where he catches Joe staring and staring. At first, Gabe isn't sure if he's looking at him, but the answer comes when Joe doesn't respond to Gabe staring back at him. He's locked in on Wrenna.

As the cheering dies and Don backs up to position his guitar, he looks at Joe. Subtly, he sidles over to him. To the audience, it looks like they're having a brief exchange about the next song, but in actuality the interaction is different.