“But?” Kylie asked, sensing this was coming.
“But I am super uncomfortable about you and the guy being so kissy while she’s in the hospital. It feels . . . I don’t know. Disrespectful.”
“I know,” Kylie said, sighing. She kind of felt that way, too. Like she was being a dick by being happy.
“I mean, you couldn’t wait until the tour was done to be all happy with each other? You both knew how fragile she is. It’s not like all this,” she gestured at the hospital waiting room, “is a surprise to anyone.”
Kylie nodded, her guilt overtaking her happiness. Was she being that unfair to Daphne? No one questioned that she was troubled. Thing was, was it fair to ask everyone else to put their happiness on hold just so the precious pop star wouldn’t be upset?
Then again, hadn’t she signed a contract stating she’d do exactly that?
“I just feel . . . I don’t know. Really bad for her. I feel like no one has her back at the moment.” Carmela twisted her hands. “And part of me feels like she deserves it, and part of me thinks that no one deserves this, you know?”
“I know,” Kylie said softly. Because she was thinking the same thing.
—
With every ring of the phone, Cade’s stomach dropped a little lower. God, he dreaded calling Audrey and telling her the bad news. No one deserved to hear something like this over the phone. He thought of the last time he and Audrey and Daphne had been together. It had been in a hospital room then as well. Daphne had overdosed after sleeping with Cade because she thought she’d hurt Audrey and to get at the pills that Cade had been carefully hiding from her, doling out as her doctor prescribed.
Daphne had never really liked rules, though.
On the fourth ring, Reese picked up. “It’s early,” Reese groaned into the phone. “This better be important, man.”
“It’s Daphne,” Cade said quietly. “Can you put Audrey on the phone? She should know that her sister attempted another overdose last night.”
“Fuck!” Reese’s expletive was loud enough to make Cade wince. “That selfish little shit. If she only knew what Audrey—”
A low, feminine voice murmured next to him, and then Cade heard the phone being transferred. “Hello?”
Even through the phone, Audrey sounded in control. Indefatigable. So very different from weak, brittle Daphne. “Hey, Aud,” he murmured. “How’s the baby?”
“The baby’s fine, Cade.”
“And you? How are you doing?”
“Great. Now how about you quit stalling and just spit it out? Whatever it is, I can handle it.”
Somehow, he knew that. She could probably handle it better than her husband could. If there was ever anyone strong in a crisis, it was Audrey. “It’s Daphne. She got upset prior to her show last night and locked herself away and took a lot of pills.” There was utter silence on the other end of the line, so he continued. “We called an ambulance and her stomach was pumped, and she’s going to be fine. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice flat. For a moment, she sounded just like Daphne.
“They say she’s going to get out of the ICU in a few hours, and I’ll go in and talk to her as soon as she can have visitors. But I’m sure if you came down, they’d let you in—”
“I’m not coming, Cade.”
“Because of the baby? Is it not safe to fly? Let me talk to Reese and we can arrange cars so you—”
“No,” Audrey said, her voice utterly brisk. “I mean, I’m not coming. I told Daphne that if she pulled this kind of stunt again, that I was done with her. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep running to her side every time Daphne can’t handle real life and decides to take a bunch of pills to remind people how vulnerable she is. I’m not going to rush to her side and pat her hand and tell her everything’s fine so she can do this all over again. Last time, I swore to her that this was it, and I meant it.” Her voice wobbled, the strength leaving for a moment. “Have you called Gretchen?”
Daphne’s older sister? “I . . . no, not yet.”
“Good. Leave it to me. I’ll handle Gretchen.”
“Are you sure?” This was a hell of a load for a pregnant woman to handle.
“I’m sure,” Audrey said. “We both know she’s not good in a crisis. She’ll just blubber like a baby, say a bunch of things she doesn’t mean, and it’ll just make things worse.”
A half smile tugged at Cade’s mouth. She had a point. Gretchen tended to speak first and think later. “Can I do anything for you, Aud? Friend to a friend?”
She thought for a moment. “Yeah.” That quaver was back in her voice. “You can scare the living shit out of my twin so she never, ever does this again.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said softly. “I promise.”
“I know this is cruel, Cade,” Audrey said. “But . . . we just can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep doing this.” Her voice choked.
The phone switched hands again, and then Reese spoke, his normally carefree tone gentle. “Thanks for letting us know, man. I’ll have Audrey call if she needs anything, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You’ll keep us posted?”
“Will do,” Cade said. Damn. Why was Daphne so determined to ruin so many lives? He knew this was incredibly hard on Audrey . . . and at the same time he envied her for cutting all ties.