Chapter 111

Down in the dressing room, the guys were still sitting around chatting, one or other of them occasionally going over to the table to replenish a drink or grab a snack. Linda was surprised to find that she was less awestruck than she’d have ever expected, sitting casually around talking with the band which had played such a huge part in her life, though maybe the fact that she knew Richie - in all senses of the word - helped with her nerves. The guys didn’t say too much about Sara right now - it seemed kind of rude to discuss one of their new girlfriends, when they were in the company of another one! They’d be able to talk later, but Tico did touch briefly on the subject.

“Sara seems like a nice kid.” Was all he said, and while most of the others nodded agreement, Richie laughed.

“Don’t let her hear you call her a kid, T. She hates when people think she’s really young.”

“She’s not a kid, but she is young.” Linda protested, but Richie shook his head.

“Just how old do you think she is?”

Everybody chimed in with their best guess, and the consensus seemed to be that Sara was somewhere in her mid-twenties. Richie laughed again, but not too loud, since that’s what he’d thought, too.

“She’s thirty two.” He told them, and he was still getting shouted down in a chorus of dissent when the door opened and Jon and Sara walked in and the argument died.

“Hey - you look a lot better, Sara.” Linda called, and Sara nodded.

“I feel it, thanks. I’m still tired, but at least I shouldn’t fall asleep halfway through the show now.” She turned to look at Jon. “D’you want coffee?”

“Nah - I’m fine.”

Jon crossed to the couches, while Sara headed for the table. “Does anybody want anything while I’m here?”

Richie and Dave both asked for coffee, and Linda stood up. “I’ll give you a hand, Sara.”

Over by the table, Linda stood close by Sara, speaking quietly.

“Just in case you were wondering why it all went quiet when you came in, they - well, we - were arguing with Richie about your age!”

“My age? Why?” Sara knew why, though.

“He said you’re thirty two, Sara, and nobody believes him. How old are you?”

Sara laughed quietly. “Thirty two.”

“Really? Damn - you look more like twenty five! I may hate you, Sara!”

Surprised, Sara flashed a look at Linda, then realised she was kidding and giggled.

“I can’t help it - guess it’s my pure and virtuous lifestyle that’s kept me young!”

They finished fixing coffee and took the mugs to the table, Sara handing one to Dave while Linda sat down and handed Richie his, kissing his cheek briefly.

“Sorry.” She said.

“Huh? Sorry for what?”

“For not believing you! About Sara’s age.”

“Hey!” Dave said with a grin directed at Sara. “You mean Sambora actually told the truth? Damn - let me write that down! Today Richie Sambora told the truth!”

“Oh, that’s cruel!” Sara laughed. “I thought Richie always told the truth!”

“Thank you, Sara.” Richie said, bowing to her as everybody laughed.

Sara took another sip of coffee, then stood up, picking up her bag.

“I’ll be back in a sec. I need to wash my face - try to wake up properly.”

She left them sitting and headed out to where she’d seen a sign for the nearest ladies room. Of course, because this section of the arena was closed off, the place was empty, and she dug through her bag, finding moisturiser before she ran water into the basin. During the limo ride, she’d been able to freshen up with the wipes from her ‘survival’ kit that she carried whenever she travelled, so she just pulled her hair back into a rough knot and splashed cold water over her face until she felt more alert. She dried her face with tissue then put on moisturiser, feeling refreshed now, then tugged a brush through her hair and smoothed down her tunic, glad to see it hadn’t creased too badly while she slept. What she really wanted was a shower, but that would have to wait - at least she felt clean and fresh.

Once she’d thrown everything back into her bag, Sara left the bathroom, and almost tripped over a small figure standing outside the door. Catching her balance, trying desperately not to fall on top of the toddler, Sara looked down at him. Well, from the outfit she assumed it was a him, even with the mop of blond curls.

She crouched down to his height. “Are you lost, sweetie? Where’s your mommy?”

He stared at her with solemn blue eyes for long moments, then pointed along the corridor as he thrust the fingers of his other hand into his mouth, pretending to be shy, but grinning around his hand. Sara swivelled on her heels, looking where he was indicating, but there was nobody there.

“Is she along there?” There was something hauntingly familiar about the little boy’s eyes and smile which made Sara smile back at him. “Will we go find her?”

Still crouching, she offered him her hand, and he took it readily, gripping her fingers tightly with his, and Sara rose to her feet, slightly bent to let him keep his grasp on her hand. They walked along the corridor slowly, Sara pacing herself to the little guy’s speed, then she heard a woman’s voice from inside a doorway.

“He was right here! Where’s he gone this time?”

As she opened her mouth to call back, to ask if somebody was missing a little boy, Jon appeared from the doorway, and she realised it was the band’s dressing room. He stopped suddenly when he saw her with the little boy holding tightly to her hand, and it was when he grinned that she realised who the little boy must be. The vague feeling of recognition suddenly made sense - he had Jon’s smile and Jon’s bright blue eyes.

“This little guy was along the corridor.” She said with a smile of her own. “I guess you’re looking for him?”

“Yeah. Thanks, darlin’. He’s at that age where he just wanders off! C’mere Romeo.”

Jon hoisted the boy into his arms and Romeo chuckled as he tugged at his daddy’s hair, then Jon reached out his free hand to Sara.

“Come on - come meet the rest of the kids.”

As they went through the door, Jon letting Sara go through just ahead of him, Romeo lunged forward and caught Sara’s hair - not pulling, but just holding tight to a handful of long hair, and Jon laughed.

“He likes you.”

Sara turned as best she could, seeing the young girl who’d spoken and smiling at her nervously.

“Really? I’m glad.” After a tiny hesitation, Sara held out a hand. “Hi. I’m Sara.”

“Stephanie.” The girl shook Sara’s hand, flicking a glance at her dad, then back at Sara. “But call me Steph.”

Jon grinned wider, knowing this was a mark of approval from his daughter, and very thankful for it. He knew well enough that Steph was always going to be the hardest one for Sara to get to know, but it looked as though his little girl was at least going to try to get along with her.

Smiling, Jon nudged Sara forward into the room, seeing Dot standing unobtrusively by the wall as Steph called Jesse and Jake across to meet Sara. They said hello and shook hands, seeming pretty comfortable with Sara, then Dot finally came over.

“Hi. I’m Dorothea. Dot. Nice to meet you.”

“Sara Holland.” She held out a hand with a smile. “I’m glad you came.”

They shook hands amiably enough, both of them feeling the strangeness of the situation, especially since Romeo still had a grip on Sara’s hair, even though Jon tried to prise his fingers loose. He finally managed to make his son release her, but the second he did, Romeo tried again to grab Sara, his little face crumpling into tears as Jon pulled him back.

“Like father like son.” Dot said quietly, and Jon looked at her sharply, but relaxed when he saw she was smiling warmly, just kidding with him.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Jon bent and put Romeo down on the floor, laughing as he turned and grabbed onto Sara’s leg.

“You’ve made a friend, baby.” He grinned, and Sara reached down to ruffle Romeo’s hair.

“He’s gorgeous. Your whole family is.” She looked up at Dorothea as she said it, and the smile on the other woman’s face was more genuine now, then Dot reached down and eased her son off Sara.

“There you go. He really does like you, Sara. He’s not normally like this with new people.”

Everybody moved further into the room, Jon following the boys across to the couches as they descended on their ‘Uncle Mookie’ and the other guys. Sara hesitated for a moment, then went over to the buffet table, picking up a diet coke and sitting down at the table. The two boys were keeping everyone’s attention, and Dot had her hands full with Romeo, so it was Stephanie who noticed Sara sitting alone, and she walked over to her.

“Um….are you okay?” The girl asked tentatively, and Sara smiled brightly at her.

“I’m fine, thanks, Steph. I just thought I should give your dad some time with you guys. I guess he’s been busy lately, and hasn’t seen as much of you as he’d like. I don’t want to intrude.”

Steph tilted her head as she thought about that, then she sat down next to Sara, looking at her seriously.

“Can I ask you something?” Sara nodded, so Steph continued. “Do you love my dad? I know he loves you, because he got so sad when you left, after you’d fought.”

Dammit, thought Sara. Nothing like starting out with a tough question!

“I think I do love him, Stephanie, yes.” She said carefully.

The young girl smiled happily. “In that case, come on over. Please? I know dad’ll want you to.”

Standing, Steph grabbed Sara’s hand and pulled, and Sara let herself be dragged from the table and over to the couches. Dot was watching now, and when she caught Sara’s eye, she just nodded with a tiny smile. Sara couldn’t quite believe the meeting was going so well, and she sat down on the couch next to Linda, who was grinning at her. Jon was half-buried under his two sons, but he got a pleasant shock when he looked across and saw Sara sitting on the couch, Steph perched on the arm next to her. His daughter really did surprise him sometimes.

“Hey, Steph - did I tell you Sara rides horses?”

“No. Do you?”

“I haven’t done much for a few years now, but I used to ride a lot. Actually, I used to do a little teaching, but that was a really long time ago!”

They were still talking about horses when Jon managed to extricate himself from Jesse and Jake, coming across to Sara with a pass in his hand.

“You’ll need this, Sara.” He hung it carefully around her neck then glanced at his watch and looked at the rest of the band. “Guys - I guess we should think about getting ready for the show.”

“Which is our cue to leave the room I suppose.” Dot said with a laugh, picking up Romeo. “Jon - if it’s okay with you, I’ll take the kids up to the box to watch the show. It’s easier to keep this little monster under control up there.”

“Sure. Sara - do you want to go up with them, or watch from down here?”

“I think I’d rather stay down here - it’s years since I’ve been to a concert, and I’ve never been to a rock concert, so I’d like to see it up close.”

Linda turned to look at her incredulously. “Seriously? You’ve never been to a Bon Jovi concert?”

Sara blushed, turning even redder as Jon laughed, remembering her faux pas in Cornwall. “Better than that, guys - we heard Who Says when we were in Cornwall, and Sara didn’t recognise it. She goes more for older stuff, right babe?”

“I do normally,” she glanced right into his eyes as she spoke, knowing he’d catch her double meaning, “but I’m open to new experience, learning new things.”

Jon kissed the kids, and Stephanie produced another surprise as she quickly hugged Sara, then they all left, heading up to the owners box. As they left, Jon yelled to his security guy, asking him to take Linda and Sara along to the stage and find them somewhere to sit to watch the show. Before he let them go, Jon kissed Sara then hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear.

“I told you everybody would love you. Even Steph seems to like you already.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to cause any friction for you, Jon.” She gave a husky chuckle in his ear, rubbing her hips ever so gently against his crotch. “Well, not that kind of friction anyway.”

“Hussy.” He nipped her ear lightly as he drew back. “We’ll discuss that later, Sara.”

“Look forward to it.”