Rock Wedding(20)

Abe’s hands fisted against the urge to crush that scrawny fucker’s throat.

“Yeah,” Fox said as he jotted notes on a music sheet, his guitar held on his lap with one arm hooked around the neck. “Molly and Sarah met up for coffee a couple of days back.”

Abe blinked. He hadn’t really expected to hear that Sarah had stayed in touch with Molly—she’d always been a little distant with his bandmates. Maybe because, a harshly unforgiving part of his brain pointed out, her husband was a dick who left her alone a lot while he jammed with the guys or toured with them.

No wonder she hadn’t wanted to hang out with Fox, Noah, and David.

“Molly said she’s looking much better,” the lead singer added. “Healthier, stronger.” He passed the music sheet to David, the two of them so used to writing together that they could overwrite or overhaul each other’s suggestions without risking bruised egos or anger. “Sarah’s business is going really well—she’s considering a small expansion since she’s having to turn down potential clients at this point.”

Abe felt a surge of warmth in his chest; it took a second for him to realize it was a lash of fierce pride. He hadn’t been able to keep himself from reading about her when she’d been profiled in the business pages of the newspaper. So he knew Sarah had built that business on her own, had been her own first employee.

Soon after leaving him, she’d gotten a job as a cleaner who worked for a company that contracted people to work at various businesses. It messed with Abe’s head to know his wife had taken a minimum-wage job rather than rely on the money at her disposal through the credit cards he’d had issued in her name—at least until something set her off on that crazy shopping spree to end all shopping sprees—but he was simultaneously proud of her for rebuilding her life on her own terms.

According to the article he’d read, one day the owner of a restaurant, impressed with her quiet work ethic and scrupulous honesty after she repeatedly turned in small change she’d found on the floor, had asked her if she’d also be able to clean his family home. He and his wife had been so pleased with her work and, more importantly, her discretion, that they’d recommended her to other friends.

“Everyone knows my wife and I went through a messy patch in our marriage,” the restaurant owner had said in the piece. “Sarah had a front-row seat to some very private fights, but she never, not once, said a word to anyone. She even protected us from ourselves by making sure our trash was clear of anything the tabloids could dig through.”

Sarah had soon identified a small niche market—wealthy and famous people who were understandably paranoid about privacy—and set up her own cleaning business after doing a night school course to learn business basics. Her firm promised total discretion and had quickly built up a reputation among the glitterati. No one minded paying more than they would for a regular service—Sarah’s motto was if she paid her employees well, they had no reason to sell exclusives to the tabloids.

She’d also done something else extremely smart.

“We’re tight-knit,” she’d said in the interview. “I’m the majority owner, but each of my employees has a stake in the business, depending on seniority. We all rise or fail together.”

The fact she’d held on to the company despite her relationship with that prick, Vance, and that the company had gone from strength-to-strength in a relatively short period of time, was a testament to Sarah’s drive and will. A man like Vance would not want “his” woman to have any independent passions, things he couldn’t control.

“She’s changed, hasn’t she?” David looked up from where he sat in the armchair next to Fox’s, his hand stilling on the music sheet.

“Yeah, Sarah never struck me as entrepreneurial.” Noah’s voice was thoughtful rather than judgmental. “But man, she was really young when you two first hooked up.” A nod at Abe. “Twenty-one right? I guess she’s just growing up and into herself.”

Abe nodded, unable to speak past the sudden knot in his stomach.

He couldn’t understand the reason for that knot until Molly dropped by an hour later. She was on her way home after running an errand in the city, but she’d picked up a box of fresh-baked muffins for them. “Wouldn’t want my favorite men to starve,” she said with that warm, wide smile that marked her as far too nice for Hollywood.

As Fox demanded a kiss, then asked her about a project she was working on for her one-woman research and editorial business, Abe realized Fox and Molly were growing together. Being each other’s support and strength.