Chapter 11
CASH
Cash woke to his phone ringing early in the morning. He batted at it thinking it was his alarm, but it was a phone number he didn't recognize.
"Hello," he said, his voice still rough with sleep.
"Uncle Cash?" said a timid voice.
"River?" Cash sat up rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah...."
"Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"Ummmm...I'm okay."
"What's going on? Is your mom there?"
"No... Mom's not here."
Fuck... He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good. Then he heard a voice in the background. 'Are you almost done.'
"Yeah, just give me a second," River answered the voice back anxiously.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at Penn station."
"What?" Cash asked, losing all patience.
"In New York," he answered back.
"What the fuck?"
'I need my phone back,' the voice in the background was sounding more irritated.
"Can you get on a train to Glendale?" he asked.
"Ummm... No. I don't have any money...and my phone died."
"I'll be there. Sit tight. You fucking owe me."
"Thanks Cash," he said.
"Don't leave until I'm there. Be out by the main entrance."
He hung up and grumbled and pulled on some shorts and a t-shirt. He grabbed his keys and slid on some slides and made his way out to the truck. "This fucking kid," he grumbled under his breath.
He was on the road heading into the city, which would take a couple hours and it was four in the fucking morning. He was going to need so much coffee.
Once he had an extra-large gas station coffee and donut, he set off to the city.
He called his sister. She picked up on the second ring.
"Cash...What's wrong? It's the middle of the night."
He didn't even think about that. Of course, it was the middle of the night, it was four here and so in Colorado it was two in the morning.
"I just wanted to let you know River called me and he's in the city."
He heard her shuffle in bed. "What do you mean?"
"He called me from the train station. His phone is dead and he's out of money."
"He's in New York?" Her voice sounded more awake, and she sounded pissed.
"Yeah," he answered.
"What the fuck is he doing there?"
"I don't know. I should be able to get him around seven or so. I'll have him call you."
"He better fucking call me. Cash... I'm at my wits end with this kid."
"Let me get him and we'll get it figured out."
"Thanks."
"No problem. I'll have him call you."
He needed to call Wes; he would be late for camp today. He didn't know if he was more pissed about being dragged out of bed and having to drive to the city, or that he was going to miss the first day of camp. He could hopefully get there late, but it would take a while.
He called Wes. After the fourth ring he answered.
"Hello," he said with a sleepy voice.
"Hey man, I had a family thing come up. I won't be there till probably after lunch time."
"What's going on?" Wes asked, sounding irritated.
"My nephew is in the city...maybe he ran away. I don't fucking know. I'm going to call Conner and see if he can come in and help."
"Okay, do what you need to do. I'll bring Kate with me just in case Conner can't be there. I know she's not a professional player, but she's definitely good enough to help out until you get there."
"Thanks, man. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm calling Conner right now."
"See ya."
He hung up with Wes and called Conner, who picked up pretty quickly.
"Why the fuck are you calling me?" Conner grumbled out.
"I'm sorry to wake you up so early," he said.
"Is everything okay?" he heard Sasha ask.
"It's Cash," he grumbled.
"Is he in jail?" she asked.
"No, I'm not in jail. What the fuck?"
"Hold on...you're on speaker,” Conner said.
"What's going on Cash, do I need to get Hillary for damage control?" Sasha asked.
"Sasha, what the fuck do you think I did? No, everything's fine."
"If everything's fine, why are you calling me before five?" Conner grumbled.
"Fair point. I have a favor to ask..."
"Hold on..."
He heard more rummaging around.
"I'll be right back, baby. Go back to sleep."
And there was another long pause.
"What's up? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I think my nephew might have run away or something. He's at Penn Station in the city with no money. I'm on my way to get him."
"Is he okay?"
"I think so. I don't know what's going on, but I was supposed to do that camp today for the charity auction and I don't know when I'll make it. Wes is going to bring Kate, but they paid money to play with two professional players."
"Gotcha. I can be there, but not till after ten. I have a meeting at nine."
"Okay, just get there when you can. Wes can hold it down till then. I should be there around lunchtime."
"Okay, I'll be there."
"Thanks, I owe you man."
"We're good. Do you need anything else?"
"That's it. I just need to figure out why my nephew showed up halfway across the country without my sister even knowing."
"Good luck, man."
Cash hung up and took a long sip of his coffee that had finally cooled enough to drink. This was not how he saw his day going.
When he pulled up to Penn Station around seven thirty, his punk nephew was there in a leather coat in the middle of June with a guitar. He could kill him.
He honked and waved. River popped up and quickly made his way to the truck. After tossing his guitar in the back seat, he climbed in the truck and didn't say a word. Cash took off back to Glendale.
They both sat quietly while Cash made his way out of the city.
"Here," he handed a charging cord. River plugged his phone in. "Call your mother," Cash said, handing him his phone.
River just looked at the phone. "Call. Your. Mother." he repeated.
River took the phone out of his hand.
"Hi mom," River said quietly. He held the phone away from his ear and Cash could hear his sister losing her shit on the other end.
"Are you done?" he asked in a surprisingly nasty tone.
"Don't you dare talk to your mother that way in front of me," Cash grumbled at him.
"I'm sorry mom.... yes, I'm safe...I don't know...bye."
"What did she have to say?"
River chuckled darkly under his breath. "Clearly, she's pissed. She told me not to come."
"She knew you were coming?" Cash glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I had an audition for a band. They’re an established band. I think it went well, but she didn't want me to audition."
"What band?"
“Turnpike."
"No shit? I've heard of them,” Cash said with a surprised glance.
"Yeah, they’re looking for a new guitarist and I met them last time they were out in Denver. They reached out to me to audition."
"Your mom wouldn't come with you?"
"No, she doesn't want me to be a musician,” said River, his sulkiness returning.
"Why?"
"You guys' father was a deadbeat guitarist and now I'm paying for it. I think I'm going to get the gig, but she’s going to make me come home. She won't have any say come August."
"Why’s that?”
“I'll be eighteen. I graduated and now I'm done."
"Is that the guitar you picked out as your graduation gift?" Cash asked with a bit of a mood change.
"Yeah, it's amazing. I'll show you when we get to your house.” After a long pause he said, “I'm not going back to Colorado."
"You might not have a choice," Cash said. "She's still your mom and you're still a minor."
"Not for long..."
"She's always going to be your mom though," Cash said gently.
"What if grandma hadn't let you play hockey?"
"It's not the same." Cash said, shaking his head. "Playing hockey put me through school, it's not the same as joining a band."
River just sat there with his hands crossed over his chest. As angry as Cash had been, he did kind of feel bad for him. He was right, it wasn't his fault their dad was a douchey rolling stone type.
"Let's just get to my place. Give your mom sometime to cool off and we'll see what's up from there."
"Can I stay with you this summer?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know. We have a lot to figure out."
River just nodded and looked out the window. Before long he was nodding off. It wasn’t much longer before his head bobbed and he was out. Cash had a lot to think about.
By the time they got back to Glendale, it was after noon. Cash dropped him off at his house with a promise to talk it over when he got back from the rink. He felt bad Conner had to fill in for him, but at least he would be there for the afternoon session.
He made his way in as Owen was blowing the whistle for lunch, where he found Conner stepping off the ice.
"Hey, Conner. Thank you so much for covering for me," Cash said.
"No problem, it was fun. It almost makes me want to stick around for the bigger kids, but Sasha and I are flying to Illinois tomorrow to meet her parents," Conner said.
"No shit? That's a big step," Cash said.
"Yeah, I'm hoping to talk to her dad and ask for her hand. He's apparently pretty old fashioned, so I'm actually a little nervous."
"Wow. I didn't know you were that serious."
"I'd marry her right now if I could, but we'll see," he said as he sat down and started taking his skates off.
Wes came over to join them. "Hey Cash, everything work out okay?"
"Yeah, I had to pick up my nephew from the city. He took a bus from Colorado all the way here to audition for a band without telling his mom."
"Damn," Conner said.
"Right, it's a mess. He's at my house right now, I'm sure we’ll figure it all out."
"The teenage camp starts at one," said Wes.
"I'll be ready."
"I'm going to grab a bite with Kate before she goes back to work. Do you want anything?"
"No, I'm good."
Conner and Wes left, leaving Cash alone in the center. He went over to the other rink to see if he could see Evie. He was excited to see her. He was hoping to ask her out this week. After their insane connection the night of the gala, he was anxious to give that another go. He also wanted to get to know her a little better. He was so drawn to her. There was no one on the ice though, maybe she was on break too.
He walked into the office to check in with Owen and there she was. Still in her skates with blade protectors and leggings with a tight zip up fleece. He tried to stop all the blood from flowing to his cock at the sight of her round perfect ass in those leggings. Her hair was pulled into a bun showing off her graceful neck and he wanted to kiss that neck.
"Cash," Owen said, pulling him out of his Evie-induced haze. "I'm glad you were able to make it."
"Yeah, I came as soon as I got everything settled," he said.
Evie turned and looked at him with a look that cut straight through him. She was still beautiful, but the icy glare she gave him pulled him up short.
"Nice of you to join us," she said, and she turned and left the office.
"Here, let me give you this,” Owen said, like nothing happened. “This is some of the information from the guys coming in this afternoon. We have some pretty talented players, and their coach was hoping you guys could work on some of these things. Wes is going to do some shooting drills with these guys, I'm working on skating drills. I'm hoping you can work on defense and corner work."
"Yeah, that sounds great."
"Also, we'll probably open with you and Wes sharing a little about your stories since you both started where they are."
"Of course, that's why we’re both here."
By the time he was able to finish talking to Owen, it was time to start getting stuff ready. Evie was already out on the ice. He watched her instructing a group of teenage skaters, she was amazing. He could tell she was tough, but she knew what she was doing.
After the skate and the kids were gone, Owen called him and Wes into his office for a little more planning for the rest of the week. This was stuff Cash could do in his sleep; he just needed to be told when and where to show up.
But he was anxious to go find Evie. The way he looked for her was new to him. He needed to find her and convince her to go out on a date with him, and he was feeling hopeful after their interactions. By the time he left Owen's office it looked like she was already gone. Damn. Well, there's always tomorrow.
As much as he wanted to text her and take her out tonight, he did need to get home and sort things out with River.
When he got out in his car, he pulled out his phone to text her, but he saw he had missed calls from his sister and River. He had a feeling this was just the beginning of whatever family drama this was. Being halfway across the country, he didn't get pulled into the family drama much, but it looked like he was in deep this time.
He decided to call his sister first to find out what he was supposed to be doing.
"Hello."
"Hey, how's it going?" he asked as he got in his truck.
"Hey." She sounded less than pleased, but he couldn't blame her.
"So, what's the plan? Am I putting him on a plane back to you?"
"No."
"No?"
"Cash, I don't know what to do with him. I was kind of thinking maybe he could just hang out with you this summer and you could help him to shape up."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea. I have all kinds of plans this summer. I don't have time to babysit."
"He's seventeen, he doesn't need a babysitter. He needs a decent man in his life. Please. Or else I'm going to lose him.” The desperation in her voice pulled at something inside him. “He's going to be a hapless musician like his dad and our dad. I don't want that for him."
"I'm not sure you can stop him. Is he any good?"
"Don't start. He needs to go to school and get a real job."
"When did you become the man?" Cash chuckled.
" I'm serious. You went to school and got your degree, and you have your shit together. Maybe if he spent the summer with you, he might be able to figure out his own shit."
"I don't know..."
"Please. I'm begging you. I'm so worried about him."
He gave a defeated sigh. "Does he want this?"
"Yeah...and if I bring him back, he’ll just run away again, he told me. I can only keep him here until he's eighteen anyway. I’d love it if you could talk some sense into him and be a role model."
That was a funny thought. Cash as a role model. That wasn't exactly what he was known for, but he knew he could do it.
"I'll talk to him when I get home and if he's on board, it is fine with me," Cash said, resigned to the current predicament.
"Thank you, Cash."
"You owe me," he said.
"I know."
"I'll text you after I talk to him."
He made his way home and as he pulled into his garage. The sound of a loud guitar coming from his living room. Damn...he was good. This was going to make for an interesting summer.
"River," he called loudly over the music. Cash gave an approving nod because he was actually pretty good.
"Hey..." he said, making his way into the kitchen.
"So, I just got off the phone with your mother," he said.
River just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"She mentioned you two haven't been getting along. She thought you might like to spend the summer here. I'm okay with that, but only if you want to."
A smile tried to find River's face, but he pushed it away. "It beats living with her."
"Now there will be some rules, but for tonight let's just order a pizza and watch a movie. We can figure more of this out tomorrow."
And just like that, the two of them settled in the TV room in the basement with an enormous TV and let the day fall away. Cash knew he needed to talk to him about what had happened, but they could both use a good night's sleep before that.