Page 109 of Two Hit Wonder

"Tough day?" Iona asked. Ellie wasn’t always in her chair.

Ellie groaned. "Not even. Jake insisted. Said if I was coming to this party and expected to drink like a rock and roll star all night and play on The Late Show with you lot this weekend, then I had to take things easy." She sniffed. "Plus, it means I can sit down on the Tube."

Iona laughed.

"Watch this." Ellie pressed a button and the arms of the wheelchair folded down, smooth as anything. "Custom modification. Lets me play my bass even when I’m sitting down. Not bad, eh?"

"Pretty cool," Iona agreed. "Also makes it easier to somersault out if you need a quick escape."

Ellie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. There was color in her cheeks, a brightness that hadn't been there two years ago when everything had fallen apart and then somehow miraculously, come back together. The Stage Women. Second album. International tour. Three Grammy nominations, which they'd lost to a pop star with more social media followers, but still.

"Iona." Shepherd appeared at her elbow, looking slightly hunted. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Now?"

"It's sort of important."

Speaking of important, she’d almost forgotten in all of the rush of moving and then the party. Which was inexcusable. Not that she thought Mo was serious. And Maeve had said she was dealing with it. But Shepherd was Mo’s father and… She took a deep breath. "Probably not as important as the fact that our daughter is getting married."

Shepherd's face went through several expressions before settling on confusion. "She what?"

"Getting married," Iona said.

"To?" asked Shepherd.

"Well, Oliver, obviously," said Iona. "I mean, I’m not thrilled, but at least it’s someone she’s actually been dating for two years and not a complete stranger."

"She's sixteen."

"That's what I said."

"And she thinks…" He stopped. Pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to go find her."

"Might not be a bad plan," Iona said. Between Shepherd and Maeve, the problem would surely get solved, right?

Shepherd stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head and walked off, presumably to locate Mo and assess the damage. Iona watched him go. Whatever he'd wanted to tell her, it could wait.

"Oh god, you’re not going to be a grandmother, are you?" Ellie asked helpfully.

Iona glared at her. "Don’t start," she said. "Yours will be sixteen soon enough."

Ellie laughed and helped herself to a drink.

✽✽✽

Cam had acquired a disco ball.

Maeve didn't want to know where it had come from. She especially didn't want to know how it was now hanging from the ceiling of the dining room, which didn't even have a proper light fixture yet. Some questions were better left unasked.

What the dining room did have was amplifiers. Several of them, in fact, lined up against the far wall. And someone had plugged in a microphone. In fact, Ellie was already tuning her bass.

"We're not playing," Maeve said.

"We're absolutely playing." Cam came in and settled behind her drums. Where the drums had come from, Maeve also didn't want to know. It looked like Cam had priorities when it came to moving. Priorities that put drums over things slightly more useful. Like a couch, say. "This is a housewarming. You can't have a housewarming without music."

"You can. People do it all the time. They have wine and cheese and make small talk about curtains."

"Boring. We're a band."