Free Closer Home by Kerry Anne King Page A

those features from Callie or either of my parents. Wherever they came from, there is nothing fragile about this girl. She’ll be a very strong woman, if the bitterness doesn’t destroy her.
    “The paparazzi will eat you alive. There was a reporter here today.”
    “In the house?”
    “In the pool.”
    Ariel gives me another look, as if reconsidering something, and then laughs and holds her hand up for a high five.
    “Ricken put her up to it,” I tell her. “So don’t you believe for a minute he wouldn’t give them an inside scoop on you if he thinks it will fuel the fire.”
    She shrugs, and I think of another problem.
    “What about Shadow? Is he going with you?”
    “Yes, he’s going with me. And before you even ask, Mom put me on the pill when I was fourteen. Just in case, she said.”
    Responsibility again. How am I supposed to have a sex talk with a teenager who has more world experience than I do? Feeling my face heat, unable to look her in the eye, I dredge up some words that are probably from high school sex ed.
    “A pill won’t protect you from . . . from . . . look, if he’s been with any other girls, then . . .”
    Ariel digs under the pile of clothes in her suitcase and holds up a box of condoms. Opened. “And I made him get tested. Okay?”
    It’s not okay.
    “Do you love him?”
    She shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t think he’s after the money, and he thinks fame is stupid. So.” She shrugs again.
    I want her to have some illusions and some dreams and a little magic. I want to tell her she shouldn’t settle, that love is the most important thing and she should wait for the right guy and then . . . that’s where I run into trouble. Then, what? Give him her heart and watch him stomp on it? At least she’s honest with herself and knows what she’s doing. So I focus on more practical matters.
    “Can you trust him?”
    “Depends what you mean by that. He’s not a stalker or anything creepy.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I just do, okay?”
    “What about his parents?”
    “What about them?”
    “Do they know the two of you are running off on a wild goose chase?”
    “What do they care? He’s eighteen. Besides, they left on a business trip this morning, and they won’t even know he’s gone.”
    She’s too young to be so jaded. My anger at my sister for the song she took from me suddenly seems a small thing compared to what she’s taken from Ariel.
    Innocence. Stability. A childhood.
    There were years of touring with different bands before Callie made the big time. She lived in Seattle, LA, New York, moving in and out of relationships with one man after another. This residency at Caesars in Vegas has kept her in one place for three years, long enough for Ariel to put down roots and make some friends. Now that Callie’s dead, she’ll lose that, too.
    It doesn’t matter what she says, I know she’s hoping to find a father who will love her, accept her, or at least give her a clearer sense of where she fits into the scheme of things. Trouble is, I know enough of Kelvin to believe that, minister or not, this will be one more dream shattered.
    “Let me help you.” The words are out of my mouth before I even know I’m going to say them.
    Ariel zips up her suitcase and turns to look at me. “How can you help?”
    “I know Kelvin. I can set up a meeting.”
    “You’d do that?”
    My head nods. Surely I’m possessed. “Give me a little time. You could leave tomorrow.”
    She turns away from me and sets the suitcase on its wheels. “You’re just trying to put me off. Thinking I’ll change my mind.”
    “What does it hurt to wait a day?”
    “Do you know what they’re planning for tonight? You don’t. Of course not. They haven’t told you yet. A full-scale soirée, right here at the house. Media people, so-called friends of my mother. Celebs. A charity fund-raiser for Ebola orphans in Africa or some shit. Like Mom ever cared about orphans.”
    I stare at her with