Page 131 of Places I've Never Been

“Wait.” Della held out a hand to stop her. “You said you’d let me finish.”

“Finish what, Della?”

“You said I have to ask then you don’t let me.” Della glared at her. “I want all of us together again. No more solo. Mattie already said yes. Lizzie thinks it will work. But you’re right. I haven’t asked you. So now I’m asking straight out. Will you come back with us? Will you be part of The Bellamy Sisters?”

There it was.

The question Piper had planned on hearing for almost six months was finally out in the open.

Funny, it didn’t feel anything like she thought it would. She’d expected a dozen different scenarios. In some of them, she’d actually been tempted to say yes.

She missed performing with her sisters. Sometimes, when she was on stage at the small VIP concerts she held for her fans,she missed her sisters so much she ached with longing. If Della had asked her then, she might have said yes.

But now she realized with absolute clarity what her answer had to be. “No.”

Della’s mouth dropped open. “No?”

Piper shook her head. “No.”

“But…why?”

“Think about it. I’m sure the answer will slap you upside the head eventually.” Piper stared down at her coffee-stained shirt, then stalked out of the kitchen toward her bedroom.

Della chased after her, hot on her heels. “You said you missed us. You haven’t even put out an album since. I thought—”

Piper threw open the door to her closet and stormed inside. “How did you see this playing out? When you pictured us all together again on that reunion tour, who did you see singing the lead on the new songs?”

Della stilled. The look of astonished confusion on her face would have been funny if the whole thing wasn’t so irritating. It hadn’t even occurred to her sister that anyone other than her wouldeverbe center stage.

“That’s what I thought.” Piper tugged off her ruined shirt and snatched a replacement off a hanger.

“I don’t get what you’re saying,” Della said.

She backed out of the way as Piper pushed past her out of the bedroom.

“You aren’t capable of sharing the spotlight.”

“Yes, I am,” Della protested. “I share it all the time. I have a whole orchestra on stage with me, plus the backup singers and the dancers. It’s not like I’m ever alone out there.”

“Backup is the key word here, Della. You don’t share. Never have, never will. It’s who you are. I thought maybe you would change. You know, grow up. Mature. But I was wrong.”Piper grabbed her bag from the side table near the door but didn’t see her keys.

“Oh yeah, you’re being real mature right now. You can’t even look me in the eye and give me a real reason why you won’t say yes.”

Piper turned to stare Della down. “I can’t—won’t—share a stage with you because I’m done coming in second. I want more than that, and you aren’t capable of giving it. If we got back together, you’d be front and center while Mattie and I would sit in the backseat like we’re part of the crew, and it would just cause more resentment and more fights. I won’t do that to Mattie, or us.”

She spotted her keys on the floor and swept them up in one fist.

“It wouldn’t be like that,” Della said. “We wouldn’t fight.”

“Yes, we would.” Piper shook her head. “You never saw how hard it was because all that time on stage you never once looked back.”

“I did too. Ihadto check positioning, and I always sang the chorus with you on your mic. Especially that last tour.”

“Yeah, I rushed up to wherever you’d decided to stand so we could sing ten words together and then you twirled off in another direction and left me standing there. That’s not sharing. That’s using me as a mic stand.”

“That’s not fair.” Della’s shoulders fell. “It was just a show. I didn’t mean to make you feel…I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I know.” Piper put a hand on Della’s shoulder. “Since you were four years old, we all made you the belle of the ball. You don’t know any different. I get that. Hell, I was a huge part of making that possible. You’re the baby of the family, and after Mom died, we all made you the center of attention because we didn’t want you to miss out. But you don’t need us for thatanymore. You have a thriving solo career, and you get to have that limelight all to yourself.”

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