As a single mom in a small town, there's only one thing I want. Another baby. When all the roads to getting what I want lead to dead ends, I turn to one of my best friends for help.
In my mind, Trent Castillo is the perfect baby daddy. He has good g...
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The limo ride to New York City to see Lila is almost surreal. Mia's renewed and increased level of fame since the album release means that Pasha and one other body guard are in the front, and we're being followed by a second vehicle of security that'll be with us all weekend. We had to pre-select where we were going to go for the bachelorette gathering—I can't even call it a party—so that Mia's team could secure a VIP area for security and privacy.
The whole thing is mind boggling. I don't understand how she lives like this or even that my brother really enjoys all of it. But he seems to. Guess it all happened to the right person.
"When does the tour start?" I ask, though I have a vague recollection of something about the fall after Maggie's wedding.
"November," Mia says. "We're mostly skirting the edges of the country, staying several days in each place, with a few stops in Missouri for the hometown fans."
"I can't imagine the planning for that," Maggie says.
"It's mostly Taryn and Rebecca who handle those details, and I just hired an HR company to deal with onboarding staff for the tour."
"Do you work with the same people a lot?" I ask.
"My mom had a rule about changing people out every tour, but I wonder now whether that was to keep me isolated and dependent on her. If I didn't have many friends, there wasn't much of a chance I'd figure out Laura was more my manager than my mother, you know? She was all I knew. Sarah's been my best friend forever, but even she was someone my mom approved of—a workaholic like me." She lets out a subconscious laugh. "All that to say that I might have a couple dancers back who've toured with me before."
"I think I'd be lonely on tour," I admit.
"It can be lonely and disorienting if you're in a different city every night. It's part of the reason we're booking multiple dates in each place and hoping fans come to us. It's exhausting to pack up and move along constantly."
"Given how big the album has blown up, I can't imagine you'll struggle to fill the stadiums," Maggie says.
"Ticket sales have been going really well so far," Mia says. "No complaints from me." She grins and then digs into an armrest to bring out a bottle of sparkling water. "Anyone else want one?"
"There's water in the armrests?" I ask, lifting up mine. And sure enough, there's a selection of beverages. When I stick my hand in, it's surprisingly cold.
"How's Trent?" Mia asks, her voice quiet.
"My mom says the police have closed their investigation on him and Mullen Mechanics, but I haven't talked to him much." My stomach clenches at how little we've spoken. We've exchanged a few texts about Amir, especially since he was originally going to watch him while I was on this trip. Now that he's cleared, he agreed to stop by my mom's to do the Lego set with Amir.
