She turned to Mandy. “You were about to tell me where Eamonn got his nickname?” Any distraction is good, even if it’s not a story he wants to brag about.
“Oh, yes. Well, you know he’s been working as a musician since his early teens, right?” The way Mandy said this implied that it was something everyone knew, and indeed, when Nell had eventually searched online for information about him, it was plainly public knowledge that he’d started his music career before he could drive or vote. “Wasn’t in a garage or bar band, though. His first time on a real stage was with Mad Gilbert when they were opening for the Bad Luck Opals’ Dark Jewelry tour — the guitarist they had at the time was a tool who couldn’t hold his booze, and the dumbfuck was passed out cold at showtime. Gil knew Eamonn had been learning their songs and he just took the boy on stage with them like it was no big thing. You’re maybe too young to remember, but it was a big-ass arena tour with all the usual pyrotechnics and shit. So, the Opals’ guitar tech was watching with a few of us from the side of the stage, and after the first song, he turned to look at me and said, ‘Damn, that takes balls, and he’s making it look easy. Your boy has a gift, Mandy. Easy!’ And the crew started calling him Easy after that, and eventually we all did.”
“True story,” said Eamonn, seeming faintly embarrassed. “At least, I didn’t hear Ritchie say it, but I went onstage with Mad Gilbert and played the set without rehearsal, and that was the day they started calling me Easy.” He laughed self-consciously and took a big bite of his doughnut.
Nell watched him out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to embarrass him, but was unexpectedly blown away by what she’d just heard. She’d been in eighth grade when Dark Jewelry had come out and all the cool girls had posters of the Bad Luck Opals in their lockers, but she’d thought Mad Gilbert was cooler. And Eamonn had played with them. I was fourteen the first time I got shoved in front of a crowd, she remembered him saying. He hadn’t mentioned it was in an arena, though — hardly the bar scene she’d pictured. “That’s a great story,” she said. “Why’d you let people think you got the name from…”
“Being a manwhore?” Eamonn finished when her words trailed off. “It fits. I just give people what they expect, what they want.”
There was a hint of frost in Mandy’s voice and expression as she asked, “And is there anything wrong with enjoying sex, as long as everyone involved is willing and clear about their expectations?”
It wasn’t immediately obvious whether she was addressing Nell or Eamonn with that. Oops! Sensitive point for an ex-groupie, maybe. And then Nell couldn’t help but wonder whether the older woman had fully retired from that pursuit. “Of course not,” she hurried to say. “I didn’t—”
“Sorry, Mom,” Eamonn cut in. “Good times were had. No regrets.” Nell wondered if he was repeating something his mother had told him in the past. A philosophy of life, a lesson learned? She picked up her untouched doughnut and bit into it.
The sweet deliciousness filled her mouth, and she suppressed a moan of pleasure. So good. She could feel Eamonn watching her eat, taking pleasure in her enjoyment of it. If his mother hadn’t been there…
“Easy, love, do you think you could get me a glass of water?” Mandy asked.
“Sure thing.” He got to his feet at once.
As soon as he’d vanished inside, she fixed her eyes on Nell, with an air of getting down to business at last. “You seem to like my son. You know Tommy Baxter is his uncle, right?”
“I no longer work for your brother, and he has nothing to do with how I feel about Eamonn,” Nell said firmly.
Mandy’s eyebrows rose. “Well, you’re a confident one, aren’t you? Tommy has it in his mind that you’re planning to make a fuss about wrongful dismissal.”
“I signed his waiver and took the severance. I’m sure he told you that.”
“He’s more concerned about a media circus.”
That gave Nell cause to raise her own eyebrows. A media circus? “Even if I hadn’t signed a non-disparagement thing, who would listen to me? I’ve got no platform.”
“I think you’ve missed a key point about my son, honey.” Mandy spoke with laughter in her voice now, and her eyes were kind, making Nell feel like she’d inadvertently given the right answer in an exam she hadn’t prepared for. “He could give you a platform, and Tommy knows it.”
“And apparently doesn’t know a thing about me, for all the years I worked there. I’m a martial artist; integrity is my life. When I sign something, I honor the spirit as well as the letter of it — no matter how crappy the terms were. I’m not going to use Eamonn to work some kind of end-around on that.”
“An end-around on what?” His voice startled her; he’d come back out to the patio on quiet feet, and she wasn’t sure what he’d heard or how long he’d been standing behind her.
But Mandy looked satisfied. “I can tell Tommy you’re not going down that road, then?”
And in some way, Nell understood. The older woman was defending her family, protecting her brother and making sure her son wasn’t being used for his fame. That was fair. “Yes. But you might also ask him why he fired me, while you’re at
