brains who don’t like fish ’n chips. You can charm them into dropping everything and performing in your little concert in just three months.” She walked to the double doors and opened one, waiting for him to exit. “Give my apologies to Amber, but I think we’ll have to pass on this one.”
“Good idea. We wouldn’t want Duchess to look like she had a heart. It would ruin her image.”
He watched her face blanch at the comment, and looked away quickly as he stood and stalked out the door. He didn’t wait for her to show him out of the house.
He stormed down the path to the gate. He hadn’t really meant to say all those things about Duchess—it had just sort of come out. But people like that made him so mad. While they sat around bad-mouthing his country, he had gotten blown up for it! What had Duchess contributed to America? Repetitive song lyrics and a distorted sense of fashion? And what did America give her for it? Fame, fortune, and adoration.
He, on the other hand, had given up his leg, his wife, and his old life for his country, and what did they give him? Disability pay, which wasn’t even enough to buy a car he could drive with his left leg, and he wasn’t the only one. He watched the soldiers who came into Veterans’ Aid every day. Their sacrifices and suffering were all for a country that would rather worship a trumped-up Brit dressed in old costumes and a mini skirt. These heroic men and women were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice—and many wished they had—while people like Duchess thumbed their nose at Americans and were rewarded for it.
He’d told Amber this was a bad idea. He stopped as he thought about Amber and Veterans’ Aid. What was she going to say? Maybe they could find someone else to be their feature artist. Why did Amber have to pick Duchess, anyway? But he knew the answer to that, didn’t he? In Hollywood, it’s about who you know. Katie was her only contact, unless she had other friends from her hometown who also managed a major pop icon. And he had messed it up.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he looked at the gate up ahead. He could keep walking and leave that big mansion and Duchess’s strangely beautiful, yet cold manager behind forever, but what would he tell Amber? What would he tell Jones or the many other veterans who had come to depend on Veterans’ Aid? He could picture their disappointed faces in his mind. As he played back the conversation in his head, he could see where he went wrong. Excuses piled up. If only he hadn’t felt so trapped—if only she hadn’t been so beautiful. Shaking his head, he knew only he was to blame, and only he could fix it.
He grunted as he realized it was going to take a lot of groveling to the ice queen in the castle behind him. It was time to see how good he was at melting ice. He knew it would take a miracle to pull it off.
Chapter Five
Katie heard the door slam, and had never been so glad to see someone leave.
“Who’s there?” Katie’s mom shuffled into the office.
“No one.” Katie didn’t really want to explain it. She sat on the couch and rubbed her temples.
“But I heard the door.” Her mother wasn’t going to let this go.
“It was just the person Amber asked me to meet with. He didn’t stay long.” She wondered why that statement filled her with regret.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted Duchess to be in a benefit concert for Veterans’ Aid, but he sure had a funny way of asking.”
“Oh? What did he say?”
Katie sighed. She supposed she needed to tell someone, or she would just keep fuming. “He said that Duchess’s music was brainless and that I make fun of Americans.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, he has something against fish ’n chips too. I mean who doesn’t love fish ’n chips?” Katie stood up and started pacing. “And I do not laugh at the deaths of American soldiers. The fish ’n chips song never mentions dying soldiers. It was meant as a joke. He should
“Good idea. We wouldn’t want Duchess to look like she had a heart. It would ruin her image.”
He watched her face blanch at the comment, and looked away quickly as he stood and stalked out the door. He didn’t wait for her to show him out of the house.
He stormed down the path to the gate. He hadn’t really meant to say all those things about Duchess—it had just sort of come out. But people like that made him so mad. While they sat around bad-mouthing his country, he had gotten blown up for it! What had Duchess contributed to America? Repetitive song lyrics and a distorted sense of fashion? And what did America give her for it? Fame, fortune, and adoration.
He, on the other hand, had given up his leg, his wife, and his old life for his country, and what did they give him? Disability pay, which wasn’t even enough to buy a car he could drive with his left leg, and he wasn’t the only one. He watched the soldiers who came into Veterans’ Aid every day. Their sacrifices and suffering were all for a country that would rather worship a trumped-up Brit dressed in old costumes and a mini skirt. These heroic men and women were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice—and many wished they had—while people like Duchess thumbed their nose at Americans and were rewarded for it.
He’d told Amber this was a bad idea. He stopped as he thought about Amber and Veterans’ Aid. What was she going to say? Maybe they could find someone else to be their feature artist. Why did Amber have to pick Duchess, anyway? But he knew the answer to that, didn’t he? In Hollywood, it’s about who you know. Katie was her only contact, unless she had other friends from her hometown who also managed a major pop icon. And he had messed it up.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he looked at the gate up ahead. He could keep walking and leave that big mansion and Duchess’s strangely beautiful, yet cold manager behind forever, but what would he tell Amber? What would he tell Jones or the many other veterans who had come to depend on Veterans’ Aid? He could picture their disappointed faces in his mind. As he played back the conversation in his head, he could see where he went wrong. Excuses piled up. If only he hadn’t felt so trapped—if only she hadn’t been so beautiful. Shaking his head, he knew only he was to blame, and only he could fix it.
He grunted as he realized it was going to take a lot of groveling to the ice queen in the castle behind him. It was time to see how good he was at melting ice. He knew it would take a miracle to pull it off.
Chapter Five
Katie heard the door slam, and had never been so glad to see someone leave.
“Who’s there?” Katie’s mom shuffled into the office.
“No one.” Katie didn’t really want to explain it. She sat on the couch and rubbed her temples.
“But I heard the door.” Her mother wasn’t going to let this go.
“It was just the person Amber asked me to meet with. He didn’t stay long.” She wondered why that statement filled her with regret.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted Duchess to be in a benefit concert for Veterans’ Aid, but he sure had a funny way of asking.”
“Oh? What did he say?”
Katie sighed. She supposed she needed to tell someone, or she would just keep fuming. “He said that Duchess’s music was brainless and that I make fun of Americans.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, he has something against fish ’n chips too. I mean who doesn’t love fish ’n chips?” Katie stood up and started pacing. “And I do not laugh at the deaths of American soldiers. The fish ’n chips song never mentions dying soldiers. It was meant as a joke. He should
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