Page 87 of Indescribable Love

“Simon…”

With a nod of his head, he led her to their master suite and closed the door behind them. There was a small seating area in their room, and he placed the tray down there before going back and locking the door.

“Sit, my beautiful girl, and breathe. Everything is going great.”

She sat, but she didn’t believe him. “It just feels like I’m forgetting something.” Then she yawned. “Sleep. That’s what it is. I’ve forgotten to sleep.”

Grinning, he picked up an apple slice and fed it to her. “I know. It’s been fun christening all the rooms in this place.”

And it had been, but she was paying for it now.

“I’m afraid I’m going to fall asleep later and embarrass myself.” That’s when she noticed there were two steaming mugs of coffee on the tray. “You thought of everything.”

“I just know what you need. And if I’m being honest, what I need. I can tour the world and put on concerts and feel like I can stay up for days, but moving into a house was way more exhausting.”

They ate in companionable silence for several minutes when Simon’s phone dinged with an incoming text.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Noah. He said they’ll be here in fifteen. Mom and Jax are with them.”

That meant rest time was almost over.

Dammit.

So she made sure to eat a little more and drink her coffee, because once his family started to arrive, it meant everyone else was close behind. Dinner was set for six outside in the tent, followed dessert and then the premier of the film.

Tomorrow’s screening was really just for publicity’s sake. They would walk the red carpet and Simon would do interviews. It was more about the footage of him going into the theater than anything. Oddly, she was more relaxed about that than she was about tonight. She hadn’t seen the film yet, but Simon had. She’d asked about it and begged for some clips, but he’d held firm and said he wanted her to be surprised.

Although, she had no idea how she was possibly going to be surprised when she’d seen his concert live every time he performed it for the last four months. Still, it was cute that he wanted the whole thing to be seen for the first time by everyone around him.

Mick and his wife were joining them tonight and so were the members of the band, but that was it.

“Take one more bite,” Simon urged her, holding up the last cube of cheese. “Everything’s going to be great.” Standing, he kissed her. “You’re beautiful and it’s time to show off our house. You ready?”

It wasn’t like she had a choice, but when the doorbell rang out in the distance, she smiled and followed Simon out of their room to greet his family.

Tonight was the night.

Simon stared at his reflection for several long moments and felt the kind of jitters he had the very first time he stepped out on stage in the third-grade chorus concert. Oddly enough, he had some things in common with that day so long ago: then, it was his first time on stage in front of his friends and family, and tonight was his first time being the subject of a movie that was premiering in front of his friends and family.

And just like that chorus concert, he had big plans for the finale.

He had the solo at the end of that concert—something he didn’t tell anyone about in advance. Afterwards, his mother had taken him out for an ice cream sundae, and it had been like a dream come true at the time. They never had money to do anything special like that, so the fact that she found a way to make it happen had always meant so much to him. Tonight he was hoping to make another dream come true.

The knock on the bathroom door broke him out of his reverie.

“Hey, you okay in there?” Juliette asked. “Dinner’s ready and everyone’s heading out to the tent.”

One last look at himself, he nodded and walked over to open the door. Smiling, he gave Juliette a quick kiss. “It’s my big night and maybe I feel like being a diva and making an entrance.”

She snorted with laughter but didn’t correct him.

Together, they joined their guests out in the beautifully decorated tent. There was a long table with seating for 24 people. There were flowers and candles and soft music and it humbled him that this was all to celebrate this achievement.

“There’s the man of the hour!” Jax called out. “Finally!”

He and Juliette took their seats and then food was being served, wine was being poured, and conversation flowed. Simon sat at the head of the table and let out a long, quiet breath. Juliette sat to his right, his mom to his left, and that’s whose hand rested on his arm.