Free Tudor Reunion Tour by Jamie Salisbury Page B

the area but caught myself. If I had, it would let him know I wasn’t in the
United States.
    “I know you can’t tell me where you are.
I don’t want to know. Not right now. As long as you and the baby are fine, I’m
okay not knowing.”
    “Under the circumstances, it’s better if
you don’t. How are things going?”
    He took a second to answer. I didn’t
know if that was good or bad. Were things going south? What little Peter had
filled me in on indicated that the fans were loving the tour of the three. It
was behind the scenes I wanted to know about.
    “As far as the shows go, it’s been
great. Julia’s starting to show her other side. The one we saw over Christmas.
But you’re never going to guess who came to see me. Joe Franco, and he’s going
to check some things out.”
    “Good, that makes me feel better. Have
you seen Don yet?”
    “No, he hasn’t shown his face. I don’t
know that he will. Enough about the tour, Zara, I just want to talk with you. I’ve
missed you, girl. I wish things hadn’t turned out this way.”
    “So do I, but I think it’s for the best.
Elizabeth is napping, but I’ll wake her for you.”
    “No, don’t do that, Zara. I can wait for
another time.”
    “No, I know you want to hear her voice,
and I want to put her ear up to the phone. Perhaps she’ll recognize your voice.
I know she misses you. She’s confused by all this moving around.”
    “What, you’re not staying in one place?
Why not?”
    “I’m in the same place. I simply meant
that she’s been so many places the past few months.”
    “Is she walking yet?”
    “No, just crawling and pulling herself
up on everything like she was when you last saw her.”
    “Don’t forget to take pictures if she
does start walking, Zara. I wish I could be there.” I could tell even he was
getting emotional. The time apart and not talking on a regular basis was taking
its toll.
    “I will, but I don’t think you need to
worry about her walking any time soon. She’s a bit on the lazy side when it
comes to trying new things.” Okay it wasn’t exactly the truth, but I had to
take his mind out of that place.
    I had walked back into the bedroom where
I found the baby waking. The sound of my voice brought her around quicker as
she pulled herself up and stood at the side of the crib. She was babbling, and
I put the phone up to her ear, but she’d have nothing to do with it. I could
hear Amadeus loudly vying for her attention. At one point, Elizabeth cocked her
head as though she recognized him and started speaking in her baby gibberish.
After a few long seconds, I took the phone back and the wailing started. “I
think perhaps she recognized your voice, A. You hear her?”
    He laughed. “Yeah, you sure she’s not
crying because you took her play pretty away from her?”
    “No, because at first she wanted nothing
to do with it. Then she heard your voice, and she tilted her head like she was
trying to figure out where it was coming from. I think she knows it was you.”
    “I hope she doesn’t forget me in such a
short space of time.”
    “No chance of that,” I replied,
balancing the baby on one hip and trying to talk to him and keep Elizabeth from
grabbing the phone.
    We talked a few more minutes before we
both knew we should call it a day. I wasn’t sure who was more choked up,
Amadeus or me.
    “Just let Peter know when you have time
off where you can talk uninterrupted. We’re at the halfway mark, Amadeus. We’ll
start talking where to meet and stuff soon. I love you so much and miss you
just as much.”
    “I miss you two. I love you, Zara. I’ll
text Peter when I have time and let him set things up. Give Elizabeth a kiss
for me.”
    That was it. I knew he’d disconnected; he
was probably bawling just as much as I was about to. I kissed Elizabeth on the
cheek, telling her who it was from. She patted the dampness on my cheek as
though she understood what was going on.
    “Don’t worry, sweetie. It won’t be