“You left me to go to high school.”
Mia regarded Ivy in dumb silence. “You were in a show on Broadway. I wanted to be normal.” Because she’d been just an average kid with no particular talent or ambition.
If Ivy had never become a pop star, Mia might have ended up like Eva, in a job she loved far from the music industry with its bright lights and soul-crushing pressure to make it big.
“You don’t think that’s what I wanted?” Ivy’s pupils were like pinpoints, something Mia had learned to watch for. “To go to school with my friends and just worry about passing a chemistry test or what boy might think I’m cute?”
“So why didn’t you say no?” Though Mia asked the question, she already knew the answer.
“You think it’s because I love all the money and fame.”
“I do. Ever since we were kids you always needed to be the center of attention.”
“It gets old. Sometimes all I want is to be invisible.”
“So quit.”
“And do what?” Ivy glared at her. “I don’t write music like you do. All I have is my voice and this body.”
Mia wished her sister could look beyond show business. “What about going to college. You could get a degree. Or you’re passionate about fashion. Start a clothing line.”
“Sure.” Ivy gave a bitter laugh. “Like Dad would let me quit singing and acting to become a fashion designer.”
“You don’t have to quit. Do both. See how it goes.” For the first time in what felt like forever Mia saw the old Ivy peering out at her. She impulsively took her sister’s hands. “Why don’t we take Saturday and go do something fun? Just you and me. Like when we were kids and we used to sneak off to the park.”
“I’m flying to LA with Skylar and Riley tomorrow to meet with the guy who is going to manufacture their line of purses.”
“Tomorrow?” Why hadn’t she been told any of this? “But you’re scheduled in the studio tomorrow. When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know. Skylar and Riley really need my help.”
“And by help you mean they want you to invest money.” If Mia had disliked Skylar and Riley before, the discovery of the pills made things so much worse.
“I don’t care what you think.” Ivy glared at her. “I’m going.”
“Then I’ll go with you.” If Ivy was taking painkillers again, Mia really couldn’t afford to let her sister go back to LA without her. “I’ll message Nate and explain everything.”
Well, not everything. She’d shared a lot of her secrets with him, but couldn’t tell him her fears about Ivy without explaining about Ivy’s near death overdose.
“Sure, whatever. But do it somewhere else. I’m tired and I just want to sleep.”
“Then you’re not going out tonight?”
“Geez, Mia. It’s only seven. Nothing gets going around here until at least midnight.” And then Ivy lay on her bed and buried her face in a pillow.
After covering her with a throw, Mia took the now cool cup of tea and went to her bedroom to Skype with Nate. To her surprise, he was fine with the change of plans. He told her he’d head up to LA as well to meet with Trent, and would arrange for Ivy to do a bit of recording at West Coast Records with a producer friend of his so they could keep the schedule moving forward.
By the time Mia signed off an hour later, she was feeling a whole lot better. Nate had that effect on her. But her equanimity lasted only until she went to check on Ivy and found her sister’s room in an uproar of rejected outfits, but otherwise empty.
Mia hesitated just a minute before starting a systematic search through Ivy’s room. The last time her sister had given into her addiction, she’d squirrel away pills in all sorts of places. Mentally crossing her fingers that she wouldn’t find anything, Mia began going through Ivy’s drawers and closet. After forty-five minutes of searching, she’d unearthed no contraband, but that didn’t mean Ivy couldn’t hit up Skylar or Riley tonight.
Mia would have to keep a close eye on her sister to avoid a repeat of the relapse that had happened three years ago, while Ivy was on her first concert tour. Mia had been in LA working on a demo for one of the songs Ivy hadn’t wanted to record. Preoccupied by the opportunity to have a career as a songwriter, Mia hadn’t been paying attention to her sister and Ivy had started taking pills again.
Sometimes it seemed that every time Mia tried to grab something for herself, Ivy found a way to spoil it. Which explained why keeping quiet about her relationship with Nate was so important. But at what cost? The question roused a host of emotions ranging from frustration to guilt. She’d already lost Nate to her sister’s demanding personality.
Was she planning on sacrificing her entire future to it, as well? How long could she live in Ivy’s shadow before dissatisfaction with her situation turned love into animosity? Choosing her sister over Nate had been hard the first time, even though she’d known him only a short while and could dismiss their fling as a tour romance. But now that she was working with him every day and accepting his help to develop her music, she was discovering richer layers to her feelings for him. Not sexual or even professional, but a complicated stew of romance, friendship and respect.
He was a brilliant musician and a wonderful man. When the time came to choose, how was she going to give him up again?