Boomerang

"We survived the wedding," Fairleigh said.

"Did you think we wouldn't?"

"I wasn't sure because of all of the paparazzi and stuff. It can be a bit much."

"Yeah, but I'm getting used to your celebrity status. It hasn't bothered me in a long time."

"I'm glad. Are you sure you're okay with me going into the studio? It'll only be for a month or so."

"I'm fine with it. Jimmy told me he wanted to produce it."

"Yeah I'm gonna let him. He set me up with a songwriter named Marty who had a hit a couple of years back, and I'm excited."

"Me too. I hope it's a huge hit and you end your career on top of the world."

"Will you visit me? I'm sure there are things for Cassidy to do in Nashville."

She was unsure, he would. She feared he'd be bored out of his mind, let alone Cassidy.

"Are there things for me to do in Nashville?"

"Me, Dummy."

They laughed.

"What's for breakfast?" Cassidy asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat.

"Whatever you want," Fairleigh said with a grin. Braden rolled his eyes at her blatant attempt to spoil his daughter.

"I don't care," the tired child groaned. "Just make sure there's bacon."

Braden laughed and said, "Okay, pumpkin. Take your shower, and then we'll find you some bacon."

"Better get room service," Fairleigh said. "I'd rather not deal with the crowded restaurants on a Sunday morning."

"Agreed," Braden said and kissed her cheek. "How about you take your shower too, and I'll order breakfast for us."

"Perfect. Make sure and order fresh fruit."

He shook his head, "Uh, huh."

She teased, "No, sweetie. It's 'yes, dear.' Get it right."

Braden ordered, then sat and looked out the window of their opulent suite. His thoughts were on the whirlwind his life became after that kiss at the ice cream shop. It was remarkable how quickly Cassidy acclimated to his new relationship. She and Fairleigh formed a tight bond, and he worried about the pain Cassidy would suffer if he for some reason didn't work out with Fairleigh.

He smiled at the absurdity of the situation. The morning of the ice cream shop ambush, he would have never imagined he would ever see Fairleigh again, let alone be dating her.

He didn't feel as if they were rushing it, or that he was in over his head, in fact, it was beginning to feel right. Not quite as they were before the break-up but close to how they used to be.

He allowed himself to briefly wonder what it would have been like if he hadn't broken it off with her. If he'd have tried to live in her shadow as she spread her wings. He didn't think he'd have made it, and it likely would have been a bad break-up as opposed to what he felt was a decent end to their relationship.

After his conversation with Jimmy, he thought there might have been a chance that they made it. The two thoughts that kept him from following that train were his daughter and the fact that had he not hurt her, she may have allowed her ego to change her for the worse.

He wondered if it was Jimmy needing her help that kept her in a good place while she pined away for him. She never had any controversial gossip threaten her career, she never got caught with a married man on vacation. She was squeaky clean, and it was one of the things he used to justify how comfortable they were after a 12-year break.

*****

"Daddy, why couldn't we go watch Fairleigh make her record?" Cassidy asked as they watched the private plane take off for Nashville.

"Well, it's because we've seen her so much, I think it will be good for us to see how much we miss each other when she's gone for a while. We'll see her in a few weeks."

"Will she miss us?"

"You know she will. She loves us."

"Then why do you need to see it?"

"Good question. I'll tell you when you old enough to understand how relationships work."

"I don't like it, but fine," she grumbled.

He knew the look she gave him. It was the 'I'll just ask grandma' look.

Braden had originally agreed to go with her for the first few days, then visit her each weekend she was gone, but changed his mind when he realized they hadn't spent any time apart since her tour ended.

He thought the time away would be good reset for his mind, and also to assess how Fairleigh reacted when she was back involved with the business. He worried that she would get the bug again and go back on her word to retire.

He refused to call her. It was an experiment to see how soon she would call him. He had to make up an excuse to take Cassidy's phone away for a fake screen upgrade so she wouldn't reach out to the star at work. He thought it had a chance to be like after she won the talent show and stopped contacting him.

A week after she left, she hadn't reached out. Then, there was a paparazzi photo of her and Jimmy in a romantic hug outside the studio. Braden saw it when one of his coworkers sent it to him.

He laughed. If it was anyone other than Jimmy, he might have been upset. He knew Jimmy was as clean as a whistle and would never mess around on Kim.

What he didn't know was Fairleigh panicked. She saw the picture and immediately tried to call him. He never had his cell on while at work, so it went to voicemail.

"Jimmy, I have to go to him. I have to explain before I lose him."

Jimmy hugged her, "Fairleigh, you're overreacting. It's an innocent picture."

"You don't understand. He's going to freak out. He doesn't trust me yet. Can't you see? That's why he didn't come to Nashville. He's probably got a private investigator to following me around."

"Oh, girl. You're wrong, but I'm not going to stop you. Hell, if there's a PI following us, he'll know nothing happened."

Braden returned from his lunch and found Fairleigh sitting in his cubicle.

She didn't see him walking up and he teased, "Where's Jimmy?"

"Braden! It's nothing. I swear to God!"

She jumped up and hugged him so tightly he couldn't breathe.

"Kiss her, dummy," someone shouted.

She kissed him before he had a chance, and everyone in the office cheered.

"Oh, for God's sake. Take the afternoon off, Loverboy," his boss smirked.

"That won't be necessary," Braden said after she released his lips. "We can..."

"It's necessary," Fairleigh said as she dragged Braden towards the elevator.

"Fairleigh, do you think I'm upset over the photo?"

"You're not?" she shrieked.

He laughed.

"No, it's only Jimmy. Although we do have to talk about why you haven't called me for a week. I didn't even know you'd arrived safely."

The elevator doors opened in the parking garage, and he walked quickly in front of her towards his car.

"Wait," she begged. "Slow down. I'm wearing four-inch heels."

He stifled a chuckle and fought the urge to speed up.

"I'm sorry, okay? I spent the entire flight listening to the demos we're thinking of recording and couldn't stop talking about them. When we landed, I was rushed into a car. Hell, I was in the studio greeting the band before I even checked into the hotel."

"A simple text from you, Fairleigh. 'Hey, made it safely. Love you.' That's all I needed."

"Why didn't you reach out to me?" she countered with a hint of her diva side.

"Did you notice I hadn't?"

She looked at the ground.

"No. I'm sorry."

"I know. I've heard it before. Go back to work. I'll see you when I see you."

He got in the car and backed out before she could get into the passenger seat.

*****

"You left her at your office?" His mother shrieked as she poured him a cup of tea.

"I'm sure she had a limo."

"Braden! I raised you better than that."

"I know I'm being childish, but I began to feel like I felt all those years ago when she ghosted me for three weeks. I tested her and she failed."

"She's not cheating on you," Sandy argued.

He shook his head.

"I don't think she's cheating on me, Mom. I honestly don't think she ever would. What I'm worried about is her addiction to her work. I'm worried that once she makes this record, she'll get the urge again and not want to retire."

"Oh."

He shrugged, "Yep."

"And you came here because you're being childish and hiding from her."

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while."

She rolled her eyes.

"Go home, Son. Go home and talk to her. Sort this out like the adults you are because that woman is madly in love with you, and I know you love her."

"I do love her. I guess I'm just giving her the same treatment she seems to have no problem giving me."

"Go talk to her. She's probably crying her eyes out at your house."

What else could he do but obey his mother?

It only took a few minutes to get to his house. There was no sign of a car, but he knew she was there.

"Honey, I'm home," he called out sarcastically.

She walked out of the kitchen wearing a casual outfit of leggings and a t-shirt. The high heels were gone, replaced by silly striped socks, and he liked what she was wearing better.

"I see you're dressed to seduce me."

"Please don't dump me again." She started sobbing. "I love you so much."

"Sit down, Fairleigh."

She walked into the living room, sat, and watched the love of her life sigh as he sat across from her.

He began, "Why did you ghost me for a week?"

"I was working. I didn't have time."

"You're not working when you're on tour? You texted or called several times a day before I joined you at the end," he countered.

"No, it's different. There's downtime on tour. It's not like that when I'm in the studio. I'm listening to songs, rehearsing with the band, watching them lay down tracks, learning the songs. I'm constantly working."

"Isn't that why you have Jimmy?"

"Yes and no. It's my last record, Braden. It's the last time I'm going to put my voice to music, and I want it to be perfect. I need it to be exactly the way I'm envisioning it to be. Can't you understand that?"

He sat back in frustration. The justification was weak, but understandable.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't know what to do. You're making sense, but I'm worried that you'll get the urge to keep doing it."

"Oh, Braden," she smiled. "This is it, Baby. I assure you--after this--I'm done. I am so tired."

Braden looked away. He didn't know what to say. He worried that he overreacted by testing her, even though she failed, and he knew he was on shaky ground if she found that out.

"Okay, Fairleigh, I get it. Go back to Nashville and make your perfect record. I'll still come by tomorrow with Cassidy. She misses you."

"I miss her too. I can't believe she hasn't called or texted me."

"Yeah, weird," he said looking at the floor.

She left for Nashville after a serious round of make-up sex, and later a big hug from Cassidy. Not coincidentally, Cassidy's phone was ready and given to her after Fairleigh left.

*****

The next day, a limousine picked them up at the airfield. Cassidy was anxious and couldn't sit still for the entire journey. It had hardly stopped before she exploded out the door and ran into the building housing the studio.

Braden shook his head as she ignored the receptionist and burst through a double door leading to who knew where.

"Hi, I'm..."

"Braden and Cassidy," she laughed. "We're expecting you. Here are visitor passes for you and your little girl."

"Thanks."

He walked through the doors and saw his daughter dragging a chair to a window next to the locked studio door. The sign stating recording in progress was lit.

"Daddy she's singing, look."

She climbed up the chair and pressed her ear to the glass.

"I can't hear anything," she whined.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Jimmy said, "Come on in. Just sit in the back there and be quiet so we can listen."

Cassidy burst into the room and heard the song playing through the monitor speakers.

The song ended, and Jimmy said, "That was good, let's do another. Your family is here, so let's take a break and then we'll do it again."

"No," she said. "I feel like I'm in a good groove here. Let's do it once more and then break."

Braden frowned, but Cassidy clapped her hands.

Jimmy said, "Don't think anything of it, Braden. She gets like this because her voice is really working right now. As singers age, it's more and more difficult to be consistently good."

Braden nodded, and the engineer said, "Cassidy, do you want to sit on this stool here? You'll be able to see rather than just hear."

Jimmy nodded his approval, and she rushed to her new seat.

A man walked in and sat next to Braden before they started and said hello.

"I'm Marty. I wrote this and some of her other songs."

"Braden, the boyfriend," he answered.

"I wrote this song for my girlfriend," Marty said with a smile. "I never thought I'd see it recorded."

Braden wanted to laugh. He wondered if the guy was new to the business. He didn't seem professional.

The song started and Marty cried as Fairleigh sung the words to his heartfelt song.

Braden listened to the words professing Marty's love for his girlfriend. The song was about her saving him from the despair of losing his wife and his falling for the new woman.

Marty noticed the tears that fell down Braden's cheek. When the song ended, he asked, "You lost your wife too, didn't you?"

Braden wiped his cheek and nodded.

"Your words are exactly how I'm feeling with Fairleigh right now."

"I never thought I'd love again," Braden whispered, mostly to himself.

"From what she tells us, Fairleigh never stopped loving you."

"True, but I never thought we'd get back together. That song is gonna be huge, by the way."

"That's what Jimmy thinks too. I wasn't going to release the song, but my girlfriend was adamant. She made me play it for her every day after she heard it the first time. She made me do the demo and send it to Jimmy."

"What did you think?" Fairleigh said as she burst through the door.

"It's my new favorite song!" Cassidy shouted as she ran into Fairleigh's arms.

"Well, there you go," Jimmy laughed. "If you don't give it out to anyone, I'll send you home with a copy, sweetie."

Cassidy screamed and everyone laughed.

She hugged Braden and said, "The moment I heard it, I knew I had to sing that song. I couldn't get through the first three tries in rehearsal because I was a blubbering mess. Marty wrote us."

"He wrote himself," Braden argued, "but it fits us as well. I needed to move on, and you were there to help."

"I love you so much," she whispered as she hugged him.

"I love you too."

*****

"Daddy, are you going to marry Fairleigh?"

Cassidy and Braden were shopping for clothes for the upcoming school year, while Fairleigh was in California doing her last promotional duties for her final record.

"That's an interesting question," Fairleigh's sister Korrie said walking up. She was shopping with her daughter, Martina, who was a few years younger than Cassidy.

"Well, look who's in town," Braden greeted. "How are you?"

They hugged and then he saw Avery walk up.

"Hi, Braden and Cassidy. Buy anything cute?"

Cassidy grabbed the bags out of Braden's hands and started to show them everything they'd bought.

Avery giggled and said, "Why don't you guys join us for lunch. We can look at it there instead of the middle of the store."

"I love Sbarro. That's where we were going after this. Do you like pizza?"

"Everyone loves pizza," Martina chimed in.

Korrie shrugged and said, "Pizza it is then."

After getting their slices and sodas, Korrie said, "Braden, I believe your daughter asked a question which was never answered."

Avery looked on with curious eyes, Cassidy smiled as she chewed her pepperoni slice of heaven.

Braden sat back and sighed.

"Things are going well. It's only been a few months though, you know?"

Cassidy added, "I think they should get married. Then Fairleigh can be my mom."

Avery gave him a look that dared him to respond to his daughter negatively.

"Look, we're in love, okay. It's just that we've only been back together for a short time. She's not even fully retired yet. She's still on press and promo tours for her last record."

Avery laughed, "Even with that, you spend more time with her than I did with my husband."

They all laughed. Her husband was a retired international financier and spent weeks at a time overseas when he was working.

Korrie added, "She hasn't been this happy since before she hit it big. My sister is madly in love with you. She'd say yes in a second."

"Oh, I'm sure of that," Braden agreed. "There's a lot that goes into a decision like that though. I have a daughter that needs a mother, not a pop star."

"And you're waiting to see if she goes back on her promise to retire," Korrie frowned. "I don't think she will."

Avery nodded in agreement.

He countered, "You have to admit, it's hard to turn down all that money. Look at Kiss, Motley Crue, and all those others who announced retirements and didn't stop."

"They don't have you and Cassidy as motivation," Korrie argued.

"When are you going to find a husband?" Braden spat back. "You've been divorced over a year. Don't you think it's time for you to find someone?"

He took a bite of his pizza, satisfied with his turning it around on her. Avery tried to fight her smile, as she'd been asking her daughter the same questions.

"Look at me, Braden. I've got a mom bod. My hips flare out, my breasts sag, and I wear khaki shorts with flip flops. No man would want me, especially considering my other special circumstances."

"She means me," Martina chimed in.

"No, baby. That's not what I meant," Korrie lied.

"Anyway," Braden interrupted. "You're a beautiful woman, and any man would be lucky to be with you, Korrie. I can set you up with a friend of mine."

"No way, I'm not...hey! How did you turn this onto me? You're supposed to be telling us when you're going to make an honest woman out of my sister."

They all laughed, and the youngest ladies laughed the hardest having no idea what her last comment meant.

*****

The TV host asked, "Fairleigh, this is your final record and you're quitting the music business while you're still young and in great shape. Your voice sounds amazing, yet you're giving it all up while still on top. What brought this on?"

"It's just time. It's time for me to settle down and have a family; I don't want my kids growing up with nannies or on a tour bus."

"Surely, you can find a work/life balance without quitting?"

"I don't even want to try. I have an amazing man back in my life and I'm going to help him raise his daughter and have a bunch of my own babies."

She smiled at the thought of having Braden's children. She was ready to head home and take him directly to his bed.

"Do you see yourself coming back and putting out an occasional single? Or guest singing on other artist's songs."

She shook her head.

"I really don't. This decision's been a long time coming. I don't want to stay past my prime. I don't want to sing a song and struggle to hit the high notes. I don't want to look back and say, 'I should have started a family when I had the chance.'"

"Thank you, Fairleigh. Good luck to you."

"Thank you," Fairleigh said and shook the reporter's hand.

She pulled her phone out and texted Braden.

"I'm coming home."

He responded with a heart emoji. She responded with an eggplant and kissyface.

*****

"Do we have to sell our house, Daddy? I love my room," Cassidy whined when Braden told her they would be moving in with Fairleigh once their new house was built.

Cassidy's real problem was that she would have to leave her friends and school. Braden understood that but Fairleigh didn't.

"Sweetie," Fairleigh began, "I'm going to build us a big house with a huge yard, and pool. Your bedroom will be as big as you want. You're gonna be able to have all your friends over and they'll all fit in your room."

"I won't have any friends!" Cassiddy shouted and ran off to her bedroom.