Chapter 20
DRAKE
Sunday, the final day of the festival
I stared at Zeke, struggling to absorb all the ramifications of what he’d just said. He and Wesley had decided I might be the right person to take over the festival—and the compound—so they’d engineered my coming here as some sort of test?
“If Drake will go on stage with me, I’ll play.”
My attention snapped back to Charlie. Fuck. Focus on Charlie first, murder Zeke and Wesley later.
I found a grin from somewhere and said, “Can you go ahead and get set up onstage? I’m gonna see if I can borrow Agnes Peabody’s sweet Les Paul Gibson.” I managed to keep my Texas drawl to a minimum, but it was close.
Finn was regarding me with a concerned expression, but I gave him a wink and a wave as I jogged over to where the Rocktogenarians were packing up the last of their stuff. No way had Finn known about what Zeke had been planning. He hadn’t even known who I was when I hit town.
“Agnes!” I came to a stop next to her. “Hey, I hope this isn’t too much to ask, but could I please borrow your Gibson for, like, five minutes?”
Her sharp eyes flicked between me and Charlie, who was grimly walking up the steps to the stage with his guitar and amp. Roscoe, Zeke’s roadie buddy, was waiting to help him get set up.
“Charlie needs some moral support? Of course you can borrow her, my dear. Her name’s Janis.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll be careful with her.”
She scoffed. “Janis would prefer to be played hard and long.”
I grinned, for real this time. “Then that’s what she’ll get.”
She helped me adjust the strap and handed me a sparkling blue pick that matched the guitar. Then she plugged in the amp and handed it to me to carry up the steps. “Knock ’em dead, Drake.”
“I’ll do my best.”
When I got to the stage, Charlie was dithering around, pretending to fiddle with his amp.
I nudged him. “Go tell everyone who you are and what you’re playing.
Get the song started. I just need a minute and I’ll play in, okay?
” He gulped but nodded. “Remember, this is going to be fun!” He made a good effort at matching my smile.
Roscoe walked over and pointed at the front of the stage. “I set up a second mic for ya.”
“Thanks, Roscoe.” He nodded and headed offstage. The amp was battery-powered, so I just needed to turn it on. I knelt next to it, holding Janis out of the way. Charlie reached the mic, and the lights went out except a single spotlight.
Charlie’s shaky voice echoed through the amphitheater. “Hi. Um, my name’s Charlie Hapwell and, uh, you probably know Drake Derry.” Some moderate cheering broke out. “I want to dedicate this song to my parents. Noelle and Jin Hapwell, and, uh, Finn Hunnicutt.”
The audience clapped, and I barely kept myself from spinning around to gawp at him. Holy shit, that was big. I was so happy for Finn. Smiling, I leaned down to power on the amp. My bowler fell forward, landing on its crown.
Charlie strummed the first chords and began to sing. He was tentative at first, but then his voice became stronger.
I looked at my hat. I’d been planning on joining Charlie on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, using the Gibson to add chords while Charlie did the fingered notes.
But since I was here, I might as well go big and help Charlie honor both his mom and his dad.
Plus, I’d promised Agnes I’d give Janis a workout.
I let Charlie get to the chorus, then I stood, making sure I was at the edge of the spotlight. Positioning Janis in front of me, I held my bowler up high, my left arm outstretched at a sharp angle to my shoulder. I tucked my chin into my bicep and let the hat tumble down my arm and land on my head.
The crowd roared. I’d done well with the timing; Charlie was about to start the second verse. I walked up behind him and picked out the unmistakable intro to “Smooth”.
Charlie’s head spun around, but he turned back to the microphone almost instantly, continuing to pluck out the melody for his song while I sang the first verse and chorus for “Smooth”.
I stepped back and he didn’t hesitate to continue singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”.
I was so proud of how he was taking it in stride, because we’d never practiced this.
I stepped forward and back to let him know when I was coming in and out, and then at the end I joined him on the final chorus of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”. He gave me a delighted grin.
We held the final note, and the crowd cheered and whistled their approval. Charlie grabbed my hand, and we bowed to the audience.
Roy walked out onto the stage and took Charlie’s mic. “Another round of applause for Charlie Hapwell and Drake Derry!”
Charlie and I bowed again, then we went to grab our amps and leave the stage.
“Oh my god, Drake! That was incredible! I can’t believe you did the mash-up!” Charlie practically floated down the steps.
“You were amazing, Charlie. I knew you’d roll with it.” I smiled to see Finn waiting for us. He caught Charlie in a hug, so I took the time to return Janis to Agnes. “Thank you so much. Janis has a wonderful sound.”
Agnes beamed. “You gave her the picking she needed!” A faint scent of weed wafted from Agnes’ general direction, and I smiled. No wonder she was cracking jokes tonight.
Finn was waiting when I turned around. He wrapped me in his arms and kissed me, nudging my hat up when it got in the way. “Thank you. I didn’t want Charlie to miss out on the experience, and you—” He got choked up.
“I enjoyed every minute of it.” I kissed him again. “I should probably get back to judging before the next act.”
He barked out a laugh. “No need. They found a substitute.” He turned us so I could see the judges’ table, where fucking Dirk was sitting in my chair with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“What the fuck?” Finn let me go and I ran over to embrace my twin. “How are you here? I thought you had to be on set?”
“Pure FOMO. Plus we got done early today, and I’m driving back tonight. Introduce me to your boyfriend.”
I glanced at Zeke, but he waved me off. I took that to mean they had the judging under control. He and I would be having a long conversation later.
Mona waved but seemed intent on watching the next act, so I’d introduce her to Finn tomorrow. I pulled Dirk with me over to where Finn and Charlie were waiting. “Guys, this is my brother Dirk. Dirk, this is Finn and Charlie.”
Finn held out his hand for Dirk to shake, and Charlie copied him.
I gestured toward the top of the hill outside the amphitheater. “Let's go outside so we can talk.”
We all headed up the stairs. Kirk and his family waved at Charlie, who turned his puppy dog eyes on Finn. “Can I stay at Kirk’s house tonight? I promise I'll come home and change before school tomorrow.”
I could tell Finn would rather have kept Charlie close, but he merely said, “Sure. Leave your guitar and amp with me and I'll take them home. Give me a hug.” Charlie did so, and I heard Finn mutter, “I love you, and I'm so proud of you.”
Charlie came over and gave me a big hug. “Thanks, Drake. You were right. That was a hell of a lot of fun. I'm gonna try to get Kirk to play with me next year.” With a wave at Dirk, he spun around and trotted off.
Dirk smiled at Finn. “Your kid’s pretty talented, especially for how short a time Drake said he’s been playing.”
“Thanks. I'm very proud of him.”
Dirk glanced toward the parking lot. “Look, I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but I do have to be on set at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Finn, I won't give you the shovel talk, because Drake can take care of himself. I'll try to come back and spend more time with you guys later this summer.”
I poked him in the side. “You'd better. By the way I bought a painting for you. It's by this fantastic local artist. You're going to love it.”
He brightened. “Thanks! I can't wait to see it. That'll give me an incentive to come back even sooner.”
“Thanks for coming, Dirk. It was good to see you.” We hugged, and I felt myself tear up for what felt like the hundredth time today. I’d known he and I were going our separate paths for a while now, but it suddenly seemed so much more real.
I was distracted from my introspection by the feel of Dirk’s ribs under his t-shirt. “Bro, what the fuck? How much weight have you lost?”
He groaned as he stepped back, and I chuckled when Dirk wiped his eyes at the same time I did. “You don’t want to know.”
I scowled. “You said there was all this food available.”
“Not if you’ve got a sex scene tomorrow.”
“Dirk.”
He waved me off. “It’s fine. Filming will be over in a couple of months, and I can catch up on my eating then.
But for now I’ve got to be mostly naked for the camera, rolling around with my mostly naked costar.
” He made a face, and I echoed his expression.
Dirk was gay like me, and he was playing a straight character.
“That’ll be a big test of your acting abilities.”
He tilted his head back and forth. “The director said the kissing scenes were hot, so I’m hoping this’ll just be more of the same.”
I shook my head, smiling. “It’s so weird to think of you as an actor. But you need to go. Drive safe, and I’ll talk to you this week.”
“You know it.” With a wave at Finn, Dirk turned and made for the exit.
“You okay?”
I nodded, tearing my eyes from where Dirk had disappeared to look at Finn. “Yeah. It’s so strange to feel us evolving into different lives after being joined at the hip for so long.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “It wasn’t the same at all for me and Addy. Maybe because we weren’t identical, I don’t know. But we always had our own interests and our own friend groups.”
I hugged him silently for a moment. “I need to talk to Zeke tonight. But not here. I’m gonna go wait for him at the compound.”
He rubbed my back. “I can hang out in your cabin.”
“You have work in the morning.”
He met my eyes. “Waking up early is worth it if I get to spend time with you.”
I leaned back in his embrace and goggled at him. “That was terrible. Truly awful.”