Page 87 of Rumor Has It

The first week of the tour, “Lead Us Home” was the lead-in to the second half of the show. By the end of the week, a lot of people shared concert videos on their social feeds and the crowd knew the lyrics. My media team jumped, posting a teaser of the song on my socials and the live performance on YouTube. The audience’s reaction to new music was stunning. Exactly what I’d expected when I kept the song for negotiating power. When we pushed the single onto the airwaves, it debuted at number eight on the charts and bumped up the rank of the song fans are so sure I wrote about Kylie.

During rehearsal, the band and I are practicing a medley of the two songs I’m going to perform at the Country Music Network awards show. When Will brought up the appearance, I hadn’t wanted to take the stage at all, but the way the tunes overlap has me anticipating the audience’s reaction.

But there’s always a downside to success.

Someone on the crew leaked to the press that my personal chef is here in more than a professional capacity. Rhiannon snapped Cassidy a headline image that readRoomered Romance. Then Celebrity Snoopers discovered the tie to Kingsbrier. Media hounds descended on the estate and Gracyn’s husband, Joe, the deputy sheriff, arrested several people for trespassing on private property. Gatlin’s wiki entry was updated, denoting Cassidy as a relation. Callers to the morning show forgot their manners and asked Gatlin and Bellamy about us directly. They responded by leaving Cassidy out of it and saying they weren’t discussing my private business.

Not responding to any conjecture was our plan as well. So, my friends’ response made it easier, especially when reporters started digging through birth records to discover more about the baby. They’ve come up empty for Cassidy Cavanaugh in Texas. Aria’s birth certificate lists Jane Doe as her mother, and guardianship records are sealed in the state of Tennessee.

The tabloids have reported every falsehood; from Kylie, distraught over our affair, intentionally crashing her car into the tree to I’m the father of Cassidy’s child. A contingent of Kylie’s online superfans have painted Cassidy as a woman down her luck and in search a meal ticket.

Honestly, the confusion works to our benefit. There have been so many lies printed, no one knows what to believe and people tend to believe whatever conspiracy theory suits their purpose.

Even after Cassidy explained to her parents, we prepared for whatever was coming. I wound up on the horn with Colton when he and Keely became concerned about Cassidy’s and Aria’s safety. I assured Cassidy’s dad the security team sticks to my girls like glue. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Three weeks into the tour, Cassidy and Aria sequester themselves to the privacy of our bus as crowds gather in the evenings.

All of this is why my mother is calling.

“I’m proud of your success with the new single.” Mom Cheshire grins. My success is tantamount to her success. “But I want to caution you about the romance rumors, darling.”

“That’s funny. I thought you believed even bad PR was good PR?”

“Tell me all of this is for show. What’s being reported in those nasty tabloids is beneath you.”

“Agreed.” The woman I love and I are accepting the brunt of someone else’s choices at the cost of our reputations. No one guaranteed life or the decisions we’d make were fair.

“A cook? A single mother?”

Refilling our coffees, Cassidy stills.

“Whoa there. You were a single mother when dad died,” I retort. “You’ve been a single mother since your divorce from Ezra’s father.”

“I wasyourmother when I first became a single mother. You were already a celebrity,” Mom pshes. “What do you even know about this woman?”

I leave the question hanging.

As is her routine, Cassidy serves herself last. I recall her comment about never eating at mealtimes and watch her lean against the counter, staying out of the way as she digs into her eggs. Cook or girlfriend, she shouldn’t stand up to eat.

“There’s room at the table, chou,” I remind her I’m not keeping my feelings about her a secret.

I have no doubts Mom loves me. But she deals with death—my father’s, my wife’s—by disregarding it. While most mothers would smother their child after they lost a spouse, mine made herself scarce. Her reaction is borderline neglectful compared to the way the Cavanaugh family surrounds one another.

I have to admit I’m not a stranger to rejection sensitivity. Monty and Vespa were the only people around who cared and that did shit for my mental health. But I don’t subscribe to cutting people out of your life, and perhaps that’s something I need to continue to talk with my therapist about. I have built a nice wall to cope with my mother’s behaviors and use it to remind myself I’m not responsible for the way she grapples with her own demons.

Professionally, I was also wary of being left behind by Kylie when I’d served her purpose, but she abandoned me before I was even aware. When my wife died, and left me responsible for a child I couldn’t keep, it fed into my fear that I’d always be without familial bonds to count on. So, unless this call is my mom extending an olive branch, the amount of attention I’ll focus on our relationship until the fall, when Cassidy and I go home, is equivalent to the empathy my mother has shown me. I know where my priorities lie, and it’s with the family I’m creating with a woman who’s proven to me I can count on her.

Sliding my laptop over, the camera points at both of us as Cassidy takes her place next to me. She scoops some cubed avocado and diced tomatoes off her plate and onto Aria’s tray.

“Is your breakfast still warm enough?” I inquire as Cassidy lifts her fork.

She hums her acquiesce. Aria wiggles, humming her usualmmm. Everyone surrounding us chuckles.

Looking uncomfortable, my mother clears her throat.

It’s not that I don’t trust my mom won’t sell me out. She’s protective of my reputation and, despite adoring Kylie, she complained about my first marriage. But I’m an adult.

“Haven’t heard from you since your voice message at Christmas, Mom. What have you been up to? How’s Ezra?” My stepbrother is her favorite topic and I haven’t gotten a text from him in a while.

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