Kellan shook his head, but told him, “Yeah, let’s make it happen.” Satisfied, Justin headed out with Evan, Matt, and the girls; his fingers were entwined with Kate’s as they left the room.
Yawning, exhausted from the day and probably the tryptophan in the turkey, my parents left next. Anna and Griffin went with them. They really didn’t have much of a choice, since Mom wasn’t relinquishing their child. Anna complained about it as she tried to get Mom to put Gibson into her car seat before they headed downstairs. “Mom, if you hold her nonstop, she’s going to get used to it, and I’m never going to be able to put her down!”
Mom rocked Gibson back and forth, clearly not going anywhere near the car seat yet. “She’ll be fine, Anna, and I have to hold her. I just have to. I don’t get to see her as much as you.”
Griffin nodded as he agreed with my mom; I never thought that would happen. “Babies should be held. It helps them form bonds and shit.”
Aside from the swearing, I thought he made a good point. But Anna’s point was good too. For the first time maybe ever, I wasn’t sure which one of the two parents was right. Grinning at Kellan, I was grateful that I didn’t have to deal with any of those kinds of questions yet.
After the five of them left the room, closing the door behind them, Denny and Abby were the only ones remaining. Noticing how late it was getting, I asked him, “You guys heading back to the hotel soon?”
Relaxing back in a chair, he nodded as he grabbed Abby’s hand beside him. “Yeah, in a minute. Now that everyone is gone, there is something that Abby and I wanted to talk to you guys about.”
Remembering what he’d said earlier, I sat up on the bed. “What is it?”
Denny opened his mouth to answer me, but Kellan’s phone started ringing. I was going to ignore it, but I recognized the personalized ringtone that meant Sienna was calling him—it was the song “You’re So Vain.” I’d programmed it into Kellan’s phone after the last time Sienna had called him, when she’d ticked us off by refusing to help quell the rumors. Kellan thought it was funny, so he’d left it that way. Plus, I’m pretty sure he didn’t know how to change it.
We all looked over to the nightstand where I’d stuffed Kellan’s belongings. “Sienna,” Kellan muttered. “I wonder what she wants.”
Standing up, I hurried around to the other side of the bed. I wondered what she wanted too. Finding the phone in Kellan’s plastic bag, I quickly answered it before it could go to voice mail. “Sienna?” I asked.
“Oh, is this Kiera?”
A little bit of heat seeped into my voice upon hearing her accent. Aside from the flowers, this was the first we’d heard from her. “Yeah, Kellan’s a little out of commission right now, so I answered his phone for him.”
Her voice was instantly remorseful. “I am so sorry. So very, very sorry. I never meant for anything bad to happen to him, to you.” She sniffled, and my anger faded a bit.
“You played with people’s heads, drummed up a juicy story that wasn’t even real. What did you think would happen?”
I heard the light sounds of crying, and my heart softened. “I just wanted to make a splash. I just wanted a little bit of a spotlight. I never wanted him to be chased or hounded. You have to believe me. I never wanted this.”
I sighed. I did believe that she didn’t want him hurt. I did not believe that she “never wanted this.” The circus that we’d found ourselves in was just what she’d wanted. “Hold on, Sienna. I’m going to put you on speaker.”
I switched the sound setting on the phone as I placed it on Kellan’s lap. “Go ahead,” I told her.
Her tinny voice immediately started gushing. “Kellan, love, I’m so sorry about what happened to you. I feel awful, just awful. I don’t even know how to fully express how horrid I feel.”
Kellan smirked at the phone. “Yeah, I got your flowers,” he dead-panned.
Sienna sighed. “Look, I know you don’t understand, but everything I’m doing, I’m doing for you, for the both of you.”
Denny looked thoughtful while Kellan narrowed his eyes. “You’re right, I don’t understand.”
Voice soft, she told him, “You will never have to worry about being manipulated by me again. I give you my word. And you won’t have to worry about Nick either. My contract was up after that last album. I’ve threatened to walk if he bothers you again.”
Shocked, Kellan looked between Denny, Abby, and me. “You . . . what?”
Sounding more put together, Sienna added, “I also spoke with the president of the label, Nick’s father. He’s none too happy about how his son has been handling things lately. He doesn’t want the label associated with scandals. You calling the label out on the radio got his attention. My admitting to him what Nick helped orchestrate . . . well, let’s just say that Nick will probably have to get permission to take a piss from now on.”