Chapter 8

Thanks for your patience, and your kind words.  Not my best work, but it is forward progress.  Hope you enjoy it!

Richie leisurely strolled toward the beach area where he’d watched the sun rise for the past two mornings.  He couldn’t sleep, so he figured he may as well get a head start on Allegra. 

Seating himself Indian-style on the sand, his mind tried to wrap itself around her.   She wasn’t what he’d thought.  Even with her aversion to him, she’d been thoughtful in arranging for Ava to come over.  It could have easily been an uncomfortable position for him in the couples’ setting.  He’d been surprised that she didn’t choose to let it be uncomfortable.  Instead, she created a positive situation for everyone involved. 

Of course, the way she looked last night, he wouldn’t have minded being HER date.  He had kept quiet while the other guys had gone on about her appearance, but he was no less stunned.  And she seemed to not realize how incredible she’d looked.  In his experience, all women knew the power of their beauty and used it for all its worth.  But Allegra had seemed a little put off at the attention - as if she didn’t believe that she deserved the compliments.

Jon was going to have to give up more info on this girl, because her contradictions were starting to screw with Richie’s head.

It had been another long night for Allegra.  After Jon left, she hadn’t been able to get her mind to settle down enough to sleep.  He’d made her start to question herself. What was she actually trying to accomplish by being here?  Was it just a way to delay the current reality of her life?  Did she subconsciously hope to get a moral pass, wanting to live out the clichéd self-indulgent rock band lifestyle?  So far she still didn’t have any answers.

Lost in her thoughts, she made her way toward the beach for what had become her morning ritual.  She was going to miss it when they left for Seattle in a couple of day.  She had a feeling the sunrise wouldn’t be nearly as spectacular there.  If she could see it at all with all the rain Seattle was famous for.

Almost to her spot on the beach, she noticed the still dark shadow of a person.  Slowing her pace, she was a little hesitant about approaching until a familiar voice said “Morning darlin’.”  It was Richie.

She slowly and quietly released the pent up breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.  Sliding off her sandals, she folded her legs under her and settled on the sand next to him.  “She kick you out early?”

“SHE is Ava, smartass, and she’s still asleep.  Casey’s with her.”

“Mm.”

Irritation pricked at him.  Damn I’m getting tired of this.  Why can’t we be civil to each other?  “So where’d you disappear to last night?”

“What difference does it make?”  she all but demanded.  Had Jon told him about the visit to her room last night?  Was she going to have to deal with this again?

“Jesus, would you relax?  I was just going to say that you left before I got a chance to thank you.”

“Oh.”  She felt silly now.  What was it about this man that set her on edge?  “I wasn’t feeling well and went to my room.”

“Better now?”

A lift of the shoulder was her only answer.

Richie bent his knees up and draped his arms around them.  “Allegra…” 

She didn’t bother to respond, scooping sand in her hand and letting it sift back through her fingers.    

He sighed and went on anyway, his voice impassive. “Listen darlin’, as long as I know you’re sitting out here in the dark by yourself every morning, I’m going to keep coming.  It would be easier if we could become friends, but if you don’t want to do that I can sit here and not say anything.  It’s your call.  I’d just like to know what to expect.” 

All of her animosity drained in that instant.  Crap!  She dumped the last grains of sand out of her palm as her mind flipped through the last few days.  From the moment they’d met, she had done nothing but antagonize Richie.  And looking back, she didn’t even really know why.  Was it because he hadn’t had the right expression on his face when they first met?  Or a possible wrong assumption that he had some type of smug attitude?  She just knew he had rubbed her the wrong way.  But, in all honesty, he’d done nothing out of the way.

Groaning, she dropped to lie flat on the sand, positioning the upper half of her body behind him.  She took in the few stars that were left in the sky, as though they would supply her with the right words.   At least I can’t see his face.  Maybe that will make this easier…

Softly she began, “I owe you an apology.”  Still struggling with the proper phrasing, it took her a moment to continue.  “My behavior and attitude toward you have been childish – not to mention rude.  I’m ashamed of myself, because I really do consider myself a people person.”  She paused.  “Dot mentioned that you’re usually pretty easygoing too?”  She glanced over to find him looking at her over his shoulder, nodding.  “So that means there’s no justifiable reason the two of us can’t get along.  Right?”  She finally turned her head to fully meet his gaze.

He momentarily considered disagreeing just for the sake of disagreeing, but he could see that she was being sincere.  “Of course.  And thanks for the apology, but I don’t think it was necessary.  I know that you’re not entirely to blame here, and willingly admit that my ego needs a check once in a while.”  A teasing grin claimed his face.  “Thanks for taking care of that for me.”  She petulantly stuck out her tongue and his gut clenched unexpectedly. 

“What do you say we just start over?”  he offered.  Turning his body toward her, he extended his hand.  “Hi, I’m Jon’s friend Richie.”

Propping herself up on one elbow, she reached out with her other hand to grasp his with an amused smile. “Hi Richie, I’m Jon’s cousin Allegra.”

When she would’ve pulled away, he drew her closer, placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand.  An unexpected jolt shot through her at the contact.  His eyes connected with hers in the semidarkness.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Allegra.”

She cleared her throat uncomfortably and took back her hand, sitting upright.  “So is Ava staying for the show tonight?”

He looked at her thoughtfully before answering.  “Nah.  A friend of hers is having a party at home and she wants to get back in time for it, so she’s leaving early this afternoon.  Seeing one of Dad’s shows doesn’t rate high on the list of things a pre-teen girl wants to do.  But thank you again for bringing her out here.”

“It was no big deal.  I’m glad you both enjoyed your time together.”

“It WAS a big deal,” he disagreed.  “ You’re still new to most of us, and I can’t imagine what kind of hoops you must’ve jumped through to get in touch with Heather.  AND I know how difficult Heather can be, so you must have been amazing to get her to agree that quickly.  It was a lot of work, and I want you to know that it meant a lot to me to have Ava there last night.”

“Well, in that case -  you’re welcome.”   She smiled at him, and received a dimpled grin in return.

“Will you be at the show tonight?”

“I’m not sure.  I have to make the dinner preparations and since the ladies are here, it’s a little bigger event.”

“Have you ever been to one of our shows?”

“No,” she admitted.

“Then come.  I’ll make sure Jon puts some of the early stuff in the set list for you.  Besides, you might actually like it,” he teased.

“You never know.  I just might.”  Allegra looked out over the horizon, surprised to see that the sun had made its grand entrance while they’d been talking.  “But for now, I’ve got to get moving.”  She propelled herself to her feet and picked up her sandals.  “If I don’t see you before, have a good show.”

He looked up at her and winked.  “Thanks darlin’.  Enjoy your day.”

That afternoon Jon looked up, surprised, as Richie entered his dressing room, arriving for the afternoon sound check almost an hour early.  His axe man was never late, but he firmly believed that showing up early was just wasted time.  “Hey man.  What are you doing here so early?”

Richie patted him on the back and shrugged carelessly, grabbing a seat next to him on the sofa.  “Ava just left, and there was nothing better going on so I just thought I’d head on over.  Besides, I wanted to ask you about the set list tonight.”

Laughing, Jon said, “That’s always something you’ve been happy to leave up to me.  Since when do you give two shits about what goes on the set list?”

“I still don’t care what’s on it,” he affirmed, fiddling with a magazine on the coffee table.  “But I was talking to Allegra this morning and told her I’d ask you to put some of the older stuff in tonight.”  He tossed the magazine aside and leaned back into the couch.  “She’s never been to one of our shows, so I told her to come.”

“I must have heard you wrong.”  Disbelief was evident in Jon’s voice.  “You actually had a conversation with Allegra?  How the hell did that happen?  And you said this morning – as in before noon.  Who are you and what have you done with Richie Sambora?”  His tone was teasing, but he was only half kidding.  The guitarist was infamous for never getting up while the letters a.m. were still needed to describe the time.

Richie’s face flushed slightly and he bristled.  “I was up late, not early and it’s your fault, asshole.  She’s been sitting on the beach by herself watching the sunrise the last few mornings.  You’re the one that asked me to watch out for her.”

They’d been friends too long for Jon to let it go at that.  “So you’ve been watching the sunrise with her every morning since we got here?”

“Technically,” Richie muttered.

“What the fuck does technically mean?  Isn’t that like being a little pregnant?  Either you have or you haven’t.”  A thought occurred to him, and his eyes narrowed.  “Unless you’ve been busy doing things that distracted you from watching the sun rise.  Are you screwing around with her?” he asked incredulously.  Throwing his hands up in the air, he spoke more to himself than the man sitting next to him.  “Jesus, who knew she was going to be sleeping with everybody on the fucking tour?”

That got Richie’s undivided attention in a hurry.  He grabbed Jon’s arm and forced him to meet his eyes.  “First of all, NO I’m not screwing around with her.  Secondly, what the hell do you mean she’s sleeping with everybody?”

Jon pulled away, obviously regretting his words.  “Forget it.  I’m an idiot.”  He looked Richie in the eyes again though.  “Look at me and tell me you’re really not screwing around with her though.  Man up and be honest.”

He lightly smacked his frontman in the back of the head, exasperated.  “Listen dumbfuck, you asked me to help you keep an eye out for her.   I know you well enough to understand that wasn’t secret code for ‘boink my cousin if you get a chance’.” 

The phrase ‘sleeping with everybody on the tour’ continued to echo through Richie’s mind.  “You still didn’t answer my question.”  For some reason he couldn’t let it go, even knowing that the other man had obviously not meant to say anything, and that it wasn’t any of his business.

Dragging his fingers through already messy hair, Jon looked at the floor.   He pondered how much to tell Rich, as he moved to rest his elbows on his thighs and clasped his hands between his knees.  “It’s nothing.  I went to check on her last night and she was with a guy.  It surprised me, was all.  I overreacted.  I told you she’s like a little sister to me.”

“Who was it?” 

Richie’s tone was strange, and it prompted Jon to study him speculatively, before purposefully stalling, “It isn’t important who it was.”

“You said it was one of our people.  I’d like to know who – especially since I’m on guard dog duty.”

Jon was afraid he would regret this.   Allegra would have his head if she knew he was sharing information about her personal life.  “Montana.  But keep that to yourself.”

Much to his surprise, Richie simply nodded once and went on as though they hadn’t sidetracked into a whole different topic.  “So what’s on the set list for tonight?”

Even though he was startled at the abrupt change of subject, Jon elected to go with it for now.  “I thought we’d open with Blood, do Superman and a couple others off the new album.  Allegra likes Roulette, so we’ll put it in.  Maybe Shot Through the Heart?  Oh, and Diamond Ring as our duet.  Anything else you want in there?”

Richie had only half-listed and wasn’t looking at Jon.  “Nah.  Sounds good, Bro.”  He stood up and rubbed his palms down his thighs.  “I’m gonna go get warmed up.  See you on stage,” he said as he made toward the door.

“Yeah.”  Jon watched his friend’s retreating back, still a little bewildered at the last ten minutes.  I can’t wait to hit the stage.  At least everything there makes sense.