Enduring (Family Justice Book 8) Read online

  Her heart nearly burst with pride when the audience let out a murmur of “Awws.” Bella Jensen, Amy Stewart, Molly D’Alessandro, Matty James, Danny St. John, and her pride and joy, Dylan Cameron, stood in a halfway straight line. They all wore a crown of bushy yellow feathers, and on the shoulders and short sleeves of their matching yellow t-shirts were more feathers. Tied around each of their waists was a wide sash attached to butt feathers.

  She motioned to them for their attention, smiled, and put a finger to her lips. Then she held up her hands, and they each followed along. When the music started, they were off to the races.

  The chicken dance is a childhood rite of passage. Her crew of chicks had been practicing for weeks to master the various gestures and movements—in their proper order. When they turned around to shake their tail feathers, and the crowd reacted with laughter, things started to fall apart. The older kids tried to keep it together, but they were giggling too hard, and D Squared was on the runway ready to take off at any second.

  Dylan broke ranks and ran to the edge of the stage where he squatted, peered into the semi-darkness, and grinned at her.

  “Hi, Mommy,” he yelled with a wave of his little hand.

  She laughed, blew him a kiss, and motioned for him to get back in line.

  At the end when they were supposed to bow during the applause, Dylan ran toward her and leaped into her arms.

  As she gathered her little chicks in the wings, Lacey did a double take when she found Remy lurking in the shadows. Glancing at the callboard, she saw that Mack Butler, fiddle master, was up next. What the heck did Remy have to do with Mack? She glanced back at the stage and was surprised to see two microphones being moved into place and not the piano.

  What the fuck was she doing?

  Remy shook her hands and tried to ease her breathing with some deep inhales.

  Was she insane? How else could she explain going so far out on a limb—with no warning or warm-up.

  “Hey, Ms. Remy,” Mack called out. The young teen ran up to her and nearly took out her eye with the bow to his fiddle. “My mom is freaking out! She brought my grandfather. This fiddle was his.”

  “I’m glad your family is here, Mack. That’s really cool. Do they know what song we’re doing?”

  He made a face. “Nah and they ain’t expecting a popular song. Usually, I fiddle the classics.”

  She laughed at the way he described his amazing talent.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked.

  “No. I do this all the time.”

  She grimaced and made a confession. “Well, dang—I’m nervous as a cat in a rainstorm.”

  He sniggered the way only a kid who hadn’t been disappointed by adulthood could. “I wouldn’t worry. You give Miley Cyrus a run for the gold.”

  They heard their names over the PA system. Remy shook off her nervousness and glanced to her left. Finn was standing twenty feet away with a garment bag over his arm and a look of shock on his face. He was about to hit the dressing room to get ready for his magic act with Bella.

  The moment of truth was upon her. She took a shaky breath and offered him a weak smile. Then, because what she was about to do wasn’t surreal enough, she blew him a kiss, grabbed Mack’s free hand, and walked them into the spotlight.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm Bendover welcome to local favorite, Mack Butler, on the fiddle accompanied by Remington Bisset singing ‘The Climb.’”

  The kid’s instrument rang out. He played like a pro. His arrangement of the pop song gave a richness to her simple vocal. During the last verse, Remy looked at Finn when she sang about facing struggles and taking chances.

  The applause was loud when they finished and left the spotlight.

  She didn’t hesitate or waver and walked straight into Finn’s waiting arms.

  “I fucking hate you for making me do this,” Cam grumbled.

  Rafe sneered and made a face. “Pussy.”

  Lacey marched out of the darkness and giggled when she saw her husband.

  “You’re the only one who could possibly pull this off,” she reminded him. “It takes a real movie buff to understand the comic nuance.”

  He nodded at her astute take on the number he and his tongue-in-cheek nemesis were about to pull off. Of course, that didn’t mean Jason wasn’t still going to complain up a storm.

  Cam scowled. “The garters itch,” he complained. “And this stupid neck scarf is too damn tight.”

  Rafe sighed. “Give it rest, would you?”

  He waved Jason off like a bug flying too close but watched Lacey’s every move. The lady fascinated him. And why? Because the changes in his old friend between his former life and today were nothing short of mind-boggling.

  The surly fuck who beat opponents to a bloody pulp as a way to blow off steam—the guy who never met a fellow human he didn’t automatically distrust—the touchy, thin-skinned asshole with the brilliant mind who cultivated negativity? Yeah—he completely transformed into a loving husband and father. The way Rafe saw it, Lacey Cameron had to be some sort of fairy princess with magical powers. It was the only way to explain what was right in front of his eyes.

  “Don’t fuss so,” she scolded. Slapping his hand away, she readjusted the rhinestone headpiece Jason wouldn’t stop touching. She undid another button on his shirt, and unless Rafe was hallucinating, she also swept her fingers against his chest and sighed.

  He frowned. Where the hell was his girlfriend and why wasn’t she fawning all over him the way Lacey hung on Jason?

  “Now remember,” she told them with a husky laugh. “This is adorable! You are adorable! So have fun!”

  In an unexpected move, Sinjin made for the announcer’s microphone. The crowd erupted with gales of laughter because the normally suave and debonair ladies’ man was in full Urkel costume right down to suspenders, hitched up pants, and oversized glasses. Using a comic voice that he’d obviously worked on, the guy snorted and sniveled through their introduction.

  “Brace yourselves, Bendover! Here for the first time anywhere are the legendary Dallas Sisters to perform their smash hit, ‘Sisters.’”

  Cam slugged him in the arm and growled, “Really? Dallas sisters?”

  “Go get ’em, boys.” Lacey richly laughed.

  Opening his blue feather fan, Rafe hid behind the prop and waited for their music to start. For the next two minutes, he energetically played the comedic stylings brought by Danny Kaye to the iconic “Sisters Reprise” from White Christmas.

  He loved using his size as an amusing contrast. Him prancing about like a lunatic and driving Jason nuts as they lip-synched through the movie routine was comedy gold.

  They curtsied and bowed to thunderous applause and left the stage in high spirits. He was delighted to find Domineau waiting for him, wearing a smirky grin and a big white robe.

  Pointing at his costume, she gave him some humorous eyeshade. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re going to be wearing my undies.”

  Barking with laughter, he leaned close and murmured, “Honey, my left nut wouldn’t fit in a pair of your panties.”

  Did she quickly glance around and then grab his crotch?

  Yes. Yes, she did.

  With a smartass squeeze, she pretended to move in for a kiss, only to veer off at the last second and laugh. “Hurry. Costume change.”

  He glared at her. The costume she spoke of wasn’t conducive to a hard-on.

  “Did you do that on purpose?” He grumbled.

  The only thing saving her from a scolding was her quick blush and giggly snort. “Shit. No. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  The next act was a kazoo band of about two dozen older kids. Rafe watched as they scurried into position. He saw them rehearse the other day and thought their performance clever. A little like Glee only with weird plastic instruments.

  After them was a choral group of moms and grandmoms who were going to bring the house down with their jaw-dropping version of the “Rumor Has It”-“
Someone Like You” mash-up number that was considered de rigueur in vocal competitions.

  And after that? He had to chuckle. When push came to shove, Domineau was quick to get on board with a skit Molly and her pals wanted to do. She had a wicked performance bug that he’d barely been aware of before now. They were going to blow minds with their kid-centric act.

  Meghan breezed by with Bella hot on her heels. The precocious six-year-old was in half the numbers contributed by the Justice gang. She also had the presence of mind to save Finn’s magic act by mugging through a sloppy tap dance while he took care of a technical issue.

  Domineau pushed him toward the men’s dressing room. “What are you waiting for? Get moving.” She smacked his butt and pointed.

  “Did you just fondle my ass?” he asked in mock outrage. Her cheeky smirk was just plain cute.

  He gave her a left, right, left arched eyebrow performance. “It might be time to explore taking away your handsy habits. I’m thinking the cuffs.”

  Thank god she laughed before rolling her eyes and dashing away.

  Charlie waved to Ingrid and motioned her closer. The supermom group just took the stage, so the redhead hurried toward her.

  “What’s up? No problems, I hope.”

  She smiled. “Are you kidding? Things are going great. People are over the moon. This is a definite annual event. I just wanted to check and make sure you’re ready for the finale. Is everyone in place?”

  Ingrid’s beaming grin told the whole story. “I am so glad this whole thing is being recorded! The show has exceeded my expectations. Now, as for the big production number at the end,” she murmured, lowering her voice so no one overheard. “We’ve got extras! A dozen dancers we weren’t expecting are in the audience.”

  “Yes!” she cheered and high-fived at the same time. “The Justice gang thinks they have the close-out number. As long as you cover for Brody and Heather missing the cue, they won’t suspect a thing.”

  Ingrid’s laugh was rich and deep. “I could hang out with this bunch nonstop! That’s how much fun we’ve had. Loads of hard work but the joyful energy made everything completely manageable.”

  She couldn’t agree more. In her travels and through her work with stressed-out hyper achievers and Type A casualties, she’d never encountered another group of such different people who made life something real close to a Broadway musical. These folks broke into song and dance with very little provocation, and she loved every second.

  Caleb found all of it a bit daunting, but he’d been open and on board, doing whatever he could behind the scenes.

  Ingrid touched her headset and spoke quietly into the microphone. Charlie walked away to give her space.

  The mom choir was singing one of her favorite Adele songs. Charlie couldn’t help the way her hips found the rhythm and moved to the beat. She was biding her time and patiently waiting for the after show. For the public performances, she put her talents into the sets and costumes. She wasn’t a Bendover local and didn’t think it appropriate to perform.

  But the after show? Ha! That was another thing. She helped Stephanie style the burlesque number and all but promised to paint portraits of every Justice family if only they’d let her be part of the fun. Caleb was going to be hard to handle after he got a gander at her audacious stripper moves.

  Giggling kids caught her attention. It was Bella, Molly, and Amy, acting like they were about to pull off the heist of the century.

  A slow grin broke across her face when Domineau moved into view. The girls jumped around like popcorn kernels over the flame when she removed her robe to reveal the costume beneath. Charlie’s mouth dropped open.

  Beside her, Ingrid chuckled. “Wait for it. This is nothing.”

  Another one of the announcers made the introduction and got an instantaneous laugh. Charlie was intrigued and moved to a spot where she could watch.

  “Here to perform a fractured fairy tale is Miss Rina’s dance school.”

  The little girls in their bright pink leotards and tutus pranced onto the stage and took their places at a ballet barre. Right after, Domineau Rivera in a classic black leotard and Georgette wrap skirt followed them. She had that flat-footed gait so specific to walking in pointe shoes.

  Clapping her hands like a good ballet mistress, she put the girls through a few barre moves and then the fun began.

  A voice from the wings boomed, “Sorry, I’m late.”

  The audience’s attention zoomed to the side of the stage where a hilarious looking Rafael D’Alessandro dressed in a full pink tutu swaggered from the shadows and joined the class.

  She threw her head back and laughed. Her professor father loved professional wrestling and Hulk Hogan, which meant she grew up watching a movie from the nineties called Mr. Nanny. Rafe was dressed in a similar way to the tutu outfit Hulk wore in the film.

  It was funny and then some because the girls were little, and he was so brawny and big.

  The pantomime continued with Domineau getting more and more exasperated by her clumsy male student. Her ballet mistress character also gave a quick but memorable turn on her pointe shoes that got gasps of delight from the girls as she swept back and forth across the stage.

  It looked to Charlie as though Domineau was more than a little proficient in the ballet arts.

  After some comically clumsy attempts at a simple dance routine, the skit ended as each of the girls, along with Rafe, twirled and arabesqued their way from one side of the stage to the other before Domineau wrapped things up with a beautifully executed dance.

  This sure was turning out to be a night of surprises.

  “Well, they’ve missed their cue. I guess something held them up. But don’t even worry about it. Without Brody and Heather, there are still two dozen of you. Nobody will miss them.”

  Ingrid winked at Charlie and fussed over the assembled group. The entire extended Justice family, babies and grandparents included, were about to take the stage for an a cappella number following Meghan’s thanking the audience for coming.

  A stirring round of applause and shouts of, “Well done,” and, “Thank you,” rang out. Ingrid started shooing the large group onto the stage, and they gathered in groups around a series of microphones—Charlie’s cue to peek into the audience and make sure everyone was in place.

  Caleb appeared and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Is this the big finish?” he whispered.

  “The start of,” she replied. “Shh.” She put a finger to her mouth. “You wanna listen to this.”

  She couldn’t hear what Meghan told the audience, but she was sure an explanation for the song they were going to sing was part of it. From the rear of the crowd, Alex, Parker, and Finn clapped out a specific rhythmic beat. When everyone caught the tempo, they wove a stunning harmony around an old Beach Boys tune called “The Farmer’s Daughter”—a song that Ashleigh Marquez pointed out was covered by Fleetwood Mac.

  Her heart did a happy dance when she found Bella and Matty holding hands and swaying together as they sang their parts. Those two created an extraordinary vibe when they were together. Their energy was blazing a trail for Junior Justice.

  “I know this song,” Caleb told her with a hearty squeeze. “It’s pretty.”

  “Okay, okay. They’re almost finished. Get ready for something amazeballs!” She pushed him away and told him to act normal.

  The Justice crew wandered from the stage and were milling about when Meghan noticed the house lights hadn’t come on.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Ingrid.

  Smiling up a storm, Ingrid hugged Meghan over and over. “We’ve reserved the first two rows so quickly get out there and sit. There’s a surprise.”

  Charlie jumped up and down like a manic cheerleader and clapped her hands with glee. “Oh my god!” she squealed to her amused lover. “This is going to be epic.”

  She heard Ingrid say, “Cue the spotlight and cut to Johnny.”

  A single spotlight illuminated a woman sittin
g at the edge of the audience. She seemed startled by the sudden light.

  A low murmur erupted from the crowd when a man dressed in yummy black and wearing a microphone headset stepped into the light and growled, “My baby doesn’t sit in the corner.”

  Gasps and excited chatter broke out in the auditorium as people started to grasp what they were seeing.

  The man in black put out his hand. The woman took it, rose, and followed him into another spotlight. They took their places in the center of the stage and their music cued up and just like that, Justice exploded with excitement and the fuse was lit.

  Brody’s amazing voice filled the auditorium with a throaty growl and let everyone know he was having the time of his life.

  Heather looked stunning and nearly unrecognizable wearing a perfect reproduction of Baby’s pink dress and hairstyle from Dirty Dancing. When her voice blended perfectly with Brody’s and people realized they were going to sing and dance, the screaming started.

  She snickered silently. Damn. Brody Jensen was hot! Charlie glanced at her boyfriend, decided no one was hotter than Caleb Merrill, and went back to enjoying the show.

  After some very sexy dirty dancing that was dramatically lit so a full shadow appeared behind them and Brody’s magnificent hip twirl of a perfectly poised Heather, the dancers Ingrid placed throughout the audience morphed into an enthusiastic, screaming flash mob.

  By the time Brody, as a completely believable Johnny Castle, jumped off the stage and started dancing down the center aisle, all hell had literally broken loose.

  Ingrid’s talented crew got into the act and brought it big time—amazing the audience with the precision and blurred reality of a mob performance.

  Brody, of course, killed it. The guy was a natural performer. His vocal and Heather’s was spot-on—not easy to do when you are also dancing.

  The lift that thrilled movie audiences led the Bendover crowd to shriek, holler, and cheer as the two talented lovers let the world know that they were the epitome of badass.

  This jaw-dropping surprise finale would be talked about for a long time.