Part 301
Sitting in the stillness of the bus, his wife and daughter off shopping, Howie waded through some paperwork that Sarah had left him for the Foundation. It was mostly stuff for the cruise coming up at Christmas and Sarah was getting anxious about it. She always did but he loved her that much more. She wanted it to be perfect for him and for the fans. This year, Nick had agreed to join them so it was going to be even more special for her having Becca and Garrett along.
As he read, the ringing of a phone interrupted Howie. Looking around, he spotted Sarah’s cell phone on the table and laughed. It was probably her calling trying to find it.
"Hey, Angel! Lose something?"
"Howie?" came the surprised voice.
"Becca? Hey! I thought you were Sarah calling to look for her phone. How are you?" he gushed relieved to hear someone else’s voice OTHER than one of the guys.
Softly, Becca said, "I’ve been better, D. I take it Sarah’s not there."
"No, she left about half an hour ago to go shopping for maternity clothes. She’s really starting to show."
Becca gave a gentle chuckle. "I guess with twins, it would be normal to show this early. How’s she feeling? Morning sickness still bothering her?"
"She’s doing great." No sense telling Becca the full truth. Sarah was doing better. "She’s finally sleeping at night," with the help of the sleeping pills that he was making her take. "And yeah, she’s still having the morning sickness but neither one of us are complaining."
"I was worried about her when you guys left. She emailed me and said she was having the nightmares again…that she was afraid to go to sleep. I take it she’s not still dancing."
"No, Fatima’s replacement met us in Montreal. Her name is Fiona and she’s pretty good too."
A silence overtook them as Becca debated her next question.
Before Becca could ask though, Howie asked, "How’s Garrett?"
"He’s wonderful," said Becca and Howie could hear her smile. "He’s got his nights and days switched though and I’m feeling somewhat like a vampire but I’m following Sarah’s advice. I’m sleeping when he sleeps. Thanks, Howie."
"For what?"
"Not calling him GT."
Howie laughed, "I figured you’d appreciate one of us calling him by his name."
"Howie, I remember Sarah saying that Jesse had gone through this stage…switching her nights and days. I kinda wanted to ask her advice about it. When is she gonna be back?"
"A couple hours. Lisa has to be back for one more rehearsal that Fatima called."
There it was and she hadn’t had to ask a thing. Wanting desperately to crawl in a hole and disappear, Becca choked out, "Lisa went with Sarah?"
"Yeah, she and Sarah have been hanging out since we left Toronto." Howie had mistaken the note of jealousy in Becca’s voice for simply being tired and missing everyone. "You know Sarah…she hates shopping and with you not around, she found someone else to go with her."
"I guess," whispered Becca. Hearing Garrett, she said, "Howie, I’ve gotta go."
"It was great hearing from you, Bec. Want me to have Sarah call you?"
"If she has time. I gotta go…really. I’ll see you soon," and the connection went dead.
Howie looked at the phone surprised that Becca would actually hang up on him like that. Oh well, motherhood. She was alone with Garrett right now. Howie thought about the phone call and the tone of Becca’s voice. She must really miss Nick. Looking around the bus at the mess Nick had created, he realized how much he missed Becca. God, how many more shows did Sarah say it was before Becca rejoined them?
***************
"Bec?"
Becca jumped, dropping the receiver on the floor. "Lynne? Oh dear lord, I didn't hear you come in." She pressed her hand to her heart, willing it to slow down. She sat motionless as Garrett's cries became more persistent.
"Bec, you okay?" Lynne frowned. Becca seemed to be in another world and it wasn't like her to ignore the baby like this.
"Yeah, sure." Becca shook her head to clear it. "Oh damn, I have to get Garrett. Be right back."
"Take your time, Bec, I have a phone call to make."
Becca went to feed and change Garrett and was so distracted that she never even wondered why Lynne was at Julie's using the phone.
As soon as Becca was out of sight, Lynne pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket.
Dialing the numbers printed there, she prayed silently that he would answer.
"Hello?"
"Oh thank goodness."
"Hello?"
"Oh, I'm sorry … Kevin, this is Lynne."
Kevin sat up straighter, the sheets of music in his lap falling to the floor. "Lynne, what's wrong? Is it Becca? Garrett?"
"No, no, wait… calm down. I just need to talk to you." She closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on it and she sincerely hoped Kevin could help.
"How's it going there? Becca driving you nuts?" He smiled, saying, "Nick's about to push Howie right over the edge."
"Who's 'Lisa'?"
"What? I have no idea what you're – oh, Lisa. She's one of our dancers. Why?"
"I'm not sure, Kevin. I came over to check up on Becca and I overheard the end of a phone conversation. She was talking to Howie, and said something about Lisa being with her –I'm assuming 'her' is Sarah – and then she had a really strange look on her face. Kevin, she looked really lost and, well, hurt. And then after that, she almost hung up on Howie."
"That's strange, I have no idea what's going on. Lisa has been great for Sarah. There have been some really tense times since we left Toronto, and Lisa has been there for Sarah through all of it. They've been spending a lot of time together, you know, girl stuff." Kevin smiled, very glad he was on the fringe of it all and not having to deal with whatever 'girl stuff' really entailed.
"And Becca knows all about this?"
"Well, sure, I guess so, why?"
Lynne shook her head and sighed. "That explains it."
"Lynne, you're talking in girl code," Kevin laughed. "Speak normally, ok? I'm a man, talk to me so I understand."
Oh my yes, you are she sighed. "Kev, Becca's here all alone. Her husband and best friend are hundreds of miles away, and her best friend seems to be getting along very well without her. Do you see the problem here?"
"Damn, yeah, I think I'm beginning to. But Lynn, you and Julie are there. There's no way Becca can be lonely."
God, men are dense. Lynne rolled her eyes. "It's not the same. She and Sarah have been inseparable for years. Becca's stuck in a strange town with a new baby, and no one but virtual strangers to rely on. No matter how pleasant it's been, it's still not her home and her family." Lynne continued in a whisper, "She needs Nick and Sarah."
"Baby, it's still a few days away." The endearment slipped from his lips unnoticed by him, but seized upon by Lynne, who smiled. "Do what you can to keep her mind off it and I'll try to keep things calm here." He wasn't at all convinced he could do that, but it sounded good when he told Lynne.
"I'll try. It's good to talk to you, and I … umm … I know you're busy, so I'll let you go."
"Never too busy to talk to you, Lynne. Remember that."
"Thanks Kevin, and please don't say anything about this. I don't want to start something and cause problems."
"I won’t, my lips are sealed."
"Call me if you need me, okay?"
"You too, babe, it's been good to talk to you."
"Bye Kev," Lynne whispered.
"Bye Lynne." Kevin turned off his phone, a smile spread wide across his face. The first genuine smile in a very long time.