They talked, they planned, they adjusted and readjusted their lives together. No soprano could hope for a more perfect husband. And he still loved when she sang naked for him.
*
As Thad headed home, he remembered the serious doubts he’d had about Liv’s competence as the mother of his future child. How could he not have doubts after he’d watched her sing Azucena in Il trovatore? Crazy Azucena, who throws her own fricking baby in the fire! Witnessing The Diva’s glee as she prepared for the role, then watching her onstage as she sang that wacko woman with way too much enthusiasm, made him consider a vasectomy. When he’d expressed his doubts about leaving her alone with an infant, she’d gone off into whoops of laughter, jumped in his lap, and started kissing him.
Nine months later, Sia was born.
The light of his life, Theodosia Shore Owens, should be asleep by now, and it was time for him to get home and relieve their nanny.
Now they had another baby on the way, which meant they’d be facing more of the chaos they’d gotten so good at untangling. He couldn’t wait.
He turned the volume up on his favorite classical radio station. Tonight they were playing a recording of Olivia singing bel canto, and his wife hit a Rossini passage that covered him with goose bumps. “I wouldn’t be able to sing the way I do without you,” she’d told him more than once.
He didn’t believe it, but what he did know was this: At the end of the day, when her makeup and costumes came off, Liv loved being Mrs. Thad Owens. Almost as much as he loved being Mr. Olivia Shore.
Author’s Note
I am especially indebted to the three women who helped me on my journey through the world of sopranos and opera. Dr. Ramona
Wis was there with me as I started my journey. Marianna Moroz, public relations manager at the world-renowned Lyric Opera
of Chicago, graciously answered my questions. And the brilliant author Megan Chance, who knows exactly what another writer
needs, helped bring this story home. Thank you all and forgive any liberties I might have taken with this cherished art form
and with those who keep it alive.
As always, I am more grateful than I can say for my team at HarperCollins, William Morrow, and Avon Books, led by my dear
friend and longtime editor Carrie Feron.
I hope readers who aren’t familiar with Cooper Graham and Piper’s story will enjoy reading it in First Star I See Tonight. A list of all my Chicago Stars books is available on my website, susanelizabethphillips.com. Thank you for being the best
readers any author could hope to have!
About the Author
SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS is an international bestseller whose books have been published in more than thirty languages. She’s the only four-time recipient
of the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Favorite Book of the Year Award, and a recipient of their Lifetime Achievement
Award. Among her other accomplishments, Susan created the sports romance genre.
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