39. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rose
M y leg wouldn’t still. I was trying to focus on what Mom was saying about her therapist and doctor, but all I could think about was how my tour was fucked and it was all my fault. I hoped that the addition of Barry, Ruth, and Tom would help.
I saw the black limo I’d sent for them pull up. My eyes followed it as they climbed out.
“Who’s that?” Mom asked. “I thought this was a low-key place.”
“Just some friends of mine.” I got up when I saw Barry, nearly running to where he was getting out of the limo.
His long hair framed his face and he looked gorgeous in the light. My entire body loosened as I got close.
“Hey—?”
He didn’t get to finish because I jumped into his arms.
“God, I’ve missed you,” I said into his shoulder.
“Likewise, sunshine.” Even his voice was soothing.
“Hi,” Ruth said as Barry reluctantly let me go. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“You too. I’m sorry I can’t go to the concert. Work is so—?”
But then Tom walked up, offering up another Murray grin. “Hi, Rose.”
“Hey. Okay, so when we meet my mom—?”
Someone grabbed my arm and I turned to see the very woman I was talking about had followed me.
“Who’s this?” Mom asked, but her voice shook this time.
My stomach dropped. She was getting nervous.
“I’m Barry.” He held out his hand. “I’m sure you’ve heard about me.”
“A little.”
“And this is my brother and sister, Tom and Ruth.”
“W-what are you in town for?”
“Oh, just a concert,” Ruth said. “Kind of like everyone else is.”
“Lila fans?”
“Very much so,” Ruth said, and her eyes looked over at me for one second. It was an innocent move, but Mom picked up on it. A frown came onto her face, the same kind as when I’d told her my plans to pursue music in the first place.
I was in trouble.
“Why don’t we sit and eat?” Tom asked. “I know Ruth is starving.”
“‘Fucking starving’ was the phrase she used,” Barry added, a smile going over to his siblings. I wished I could join in, but I was receiving a death glare from Mom.
“We have a table,” I said.
“Oh, yes. Where is it?”
“In the back.”
Ruth nearly beelined for the table and Tom followed. Mom’s grip on my arm tightened as they walked off.
“Everything okay?” Barry asked.
“You go ahead. I need to talk to Mom.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need me.”
Mom waited until he was gone before she spoke.
“Ruth looks like she knows.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to lie, but Mom wouldn’t take it well if she knew the full truth. “Come on, Mom. You came all this way. Let’s not let one look ruin it.”
Her lips pursed. “I thought today was for us .”
“It is, but I knew they were coming weeks ago, and I really like these people. Can’t we all get to know each other?”
“It’s like you don’t know me at all.” She shook her head. “I’m going back to the house.”
“Wait—?”
“I don’t want to hear it. If you can’t value me coming all this way, then I won’t put myself through the misery.”
She took out her phone and called for a cab, saying nothing else. I opened my mouth to tell her to stay, but she walked away.
A hand gently grazed my shoulder and I turned to see Barry.
“So, everything is not okay,” he said softly.
“No,” I muttered. “Mom’s mad that I invited you guys.”
“Wasn’t she a surprise guest?”
“Yes.” I rubbed my face. “I can’t get it right with her, or anything else in my life, it seems.”
“Is there more going on?”
“Guitarist stuff.” At his worried expression, I shook my head. “Malia and Justice are on it. I’ll tell you when we’re not in public. I’m just so worried, and Mom is making it worse.”
“Come here,” he said, pulling me into his arms again. I closed my eyes and leaned into him. “Why is she here anyway? I thought she stayed in her hometown.”
“Dad connected her with a therapist and she got on medication. She really was fine until just now.”
“How did your dad get through to her?”
“I have no idea, but she said he’s coming into town too.”
“Can he help her through this?”
“He’s already done so much,” I said. “I can’t add another thing.”
As I said it, my phone buzzed with a text from him.
Dad: Rosie, I just got into town and your mother is upset. I would love to meet for dinner, but I’d rather you relax and not worry about her like I know you’re doing. I’m going to meet her at your place and talk to her.
“He’s already handling it,” I said. “Who is this man?”
“What was he like before?”
“He’s always cared and answered when I called, but I felt like he had this whole other life to live and that I was an afterthought.”
“Maybe he got tired of that way of living.”
“I should talk to him.”
Barry shook his head, his hand grabbing mine. “You can later, but for now, he’s right. You do need to relax, and if you see your mom again, it might not end well.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Why is everyone doing all of this for me?”
“Because we care,” he replied. “Do we need another reason?”
“I . . . I guess not. This is why I should keep you around, Barry. You know exactly what to say.”
“Let’s enjoy dinner.”
“Do you think Ruth is mad that I made her wait?”
“I’m sure she’s already ordered an appetizer.” He smiled. He pulled me close again, his mouth right next to my ear. “She’s gonna have to be patient when we’re waiting for Lila Wilde.”
No one heard it, yet my face exploded in flame.
“They don’t have to be patient because of that.”
“Then we’ll be patient because it’s you .”
A few minutes ago, my life had felt like it was falling apart. But because of him, it now felt like it would turn out okay. How did he do that? How did he level me out?
“So,” I said as we walked to the table, “I hear one of you figured something out?”
Ruth was in fact digging into an appetizer, but she paused when she registered what I said. “Do you want me to pretend I don’t know? I can be a good liar.”
Tom shook his head. “No, you can’t.”
“I can try .”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Barry trusts you, so I’m going to try to as well.”
“Good. I’ve had my run-ins with the media because of Knox. I completely understand why you did it.”
“Does Knox still have that problem?” I asked.
“Not as much anymore,” she explained. “He’s boring now that he’s been with me for months. But we’ll be careful. I won’t tell him the secret, but I can steer him away from being seen with you.”
“I can also have my agent handle some of it. She’s been burying leads ever since she found out.”
“So,” Ruth started, putting down her chip, “is your mom why you do this?”
“I’m sure you caught onto some tension. I’m sorry you had to see it.”
“It’s no problem,” she replied. “We’re very used to family drama, but usually it’s our family drama. And it’s more explosive.”
“Mom’s just stressed about everything. My dad is handling it.”
“That’s good,” Tom said. “You have a big day coming up.”
I blew out a long breath. “Yeah. I do. It’s not my first rodeo. I know the show inside and out. Mostly everything is figured out.”
Other than the guitarist.
“Then we shouldn’t think too hard about it,” Ruth said. “Tonight is for fun .”
“No alcohol, though,” I said. “I don’t drink before shows.”
“I don’t drink at all,” Tom said. “I’ve been sober just under a year. So, we’d be avoiding it anyway.”
“What should we do?” Ruth asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Tom said.
“Yeah, really don’t,” Barry piped in. “You know what I’ve always wanted to try? Topgolf.”
I stepped away from dinner to make a reservation at the local Topgolf range. When I returned, Ruth was telling Barry and Tom about something nearly catching fire in the kitchen.
“Carmen was in shock,” Ruth was saying. “She said she’d never seen something do that in the oven and now it had happened twice .”
“Who’s Carmen?” I asked.
“Selena’s mom,” Tom interjected.
“She’s been helping my mother-in-law learn to cook,” Ruth said. “And it’s going hilariously.”
“I don’t know if you can call Lynn your mother-in-law if you’re not married,” Barry teased.
Ruth glared. “I absolutely can. Knox and I are basically there anyway.”
“Where is Knox?” I asked. “Didn’t I give you all enough tickets to bring your significant others?”
“He had some work to do,” Ruth said. “But I was thinking about dragging him to Topgolf. If you were okay with that, of course. He can enter separately and with a disguise. But I don’t really think people care about him when the concert of the year is in two days.”
“It’ll be fine. You all can invite whoever you want. I, um, might have reserved the entire floor.”
“You can do that?” Barry asked.
“With enough money.” I shrugged. “Sorry if it’s a lot. It would give us some privacy and would give us enough room to invite everyone.”
Ruth snorted. “You and Knox will get along. He would have done the same thing.” She pivoted. “So, who here has actually golfed?”
Tom and I raised our hands.
“Really?”
“Dad was into it,” Tom said. “But I’m willing to try it with people who aren’t assholes to see if I enjoy it.”
“Same. My old agent liked it too.”
“So you’re gonna kick our ass,” Ruth said.
“Doubt it. Topgolf is very different than golf.”
“As long as I get to threaten Knox,” Ruth said, “I’m good.”
“Is he okay with that?” I asked.
“He’s probably into it,” Barry replied. “They have a very odd relationship.”
Ruth lowered her voice so no one could hear. “You don’t get to lecture me about odd relationships, Mr. Almost Cheater.”
I laughed. “At least you tried to tell me.”
“The fact that I told you about you will mortify me for months.” Ruth sighed. “But it’ll be one for the storybooks.”
Barry
I quickly decided that having the entire place to ourselves was the perfect way to spend the evening.
Rose introduced herself and greeted everyone who arrived. I took stock of all of my family and friends here, noticing that she didn’t invite anyone she knew.
“Couldn’t Malia or Justice come?”
Her lips pressed together. “I let them know they could join, but I highly doubt they’ll be able to—?”
As she said it, Malia ascended the stairs, dressed in what looked to be slacks and a fancy blouse. She must have come directly from her office.
“Rose,” Malia said, smiling. “It’s good to see you.”
“You could come? I mean, is everything okay with . . . you know, the thing ?”
“We’re working on it,” Malia reassured. “I can’t stay for too long, but I wanted to see you and ensure you were doing okay.”
“Anything I can help with?” I asked.
Malia smiled. “We can talk in a few. Let’s try and have fun.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to wait until later, but Rose was the first up, and I tried my best to focus on her. It was hard to care about hitting a ball when I could see the tense line of her shoulders from a mile away.
The first shot she took flew across the field with more force than I’d ever seen from her.
“Whoops,” she said, laughing awkwardly.
“Holy shit,” Ruth muttered.
“I think the club is light. Does anyone else want a turn?”
Ruth took it and announced the club definitely was not light. I raised an eyebrow at Rose, but she shook her head and she sat next to me.
I turned to see Ruth miss the ball on the first swing.
“Not good at golf?” I teased. I was worried, yet I couldn’t help but egg on my sister.
“Hang on. I’m trying to remember how to coordinate my hands and eyes.”
The second time she hit it, the ball went about half the distance that Rose’s first shot did. Her score, however, was remarkably high, far too close to Rose’s.
“They have to inflate that,” I said.
“It’s the angle she hit it at,” Rose explained. “Mine went straight to the back.”
Knox went next, but didn’t hit it as far as Ruth.
As they teased each other, I checked on Rose one more time; she was watching Tom teach Max how to hit a ball in the other bay. The soft smile on her face told me I needed to watch too.
It took a bit of trial and error, especially when Max missed the ball on the first shot. Tom showed him again. Max’s excited face was worth it when he finally got the hang of it.
My eyes slid back over to Malia, who hadn’t yet taken the offer of a turn. She was on her phone, biting her lip.
“Do you want a go?” Rose asked, breaking my focus.
“Oh, yeah.” I took the club from Juno, who had just finished her turn. I’d never played golf, but it wasn’t hard to smack it across the field.
I only took three shots before I let Rose go again, and while she was distracted, I knew I needed to talk to Malia.
She obviously had the same thought because she gestured for me to follow her before I could even ask. We went to the opposite end of the level, out of Rose’s sight.
“What’s going on with the tour?” I asked.
“Mickey is no longer the guitarist.”
I blinked. “What? Is that why you two are off?”
“I’m supposed to be figuring out a replacement, which is why I’ve been on my phone.”
“What happened?”
“He hit on Lila and Justice fired him.”
“The concert is in two days.”
And I could now see why Rose had nearly lost it in front of the restaurant.
“Yes. Justice thought she could strong-arm you into taking his place, so she didn’t think twice about letting him go.”
“You know I can’t step on that stage.”
“I do.”
“What are the other options?”
“We could use a studio recording temporarily.”
“But if you get caught, fans would be pissed the whole show isn’t live.”
“Exactly,” Malia said. “So, I’m brainstorming. Or at least trying to.”
“What, like I sit backstage playing guitar?”
“It’s an option.”
“She wanted me to see the show.”
Malia sighed. “I don’t know if this is a situation where we can all have everything we want. Either you watch the show and we use a recording, or you do it backstage. You’re our only option with this short of notice.”
“Have you asked her what she thinks of it?”
“Rose is barely hanging on. She was near tears when Justice told her not to worry about it.”
“And her mom is in town,” I added.
“What?” Malia asked. “That too? God, I know I said I would tell her everything, but I’m afraid she won’t be able to go onstage if we do.”
“What have you told her?”
“That we’d handle it and she needed to take care of herself.”
“All true things. We will handle it.”
“So, you’ll play? It can be just for the first show. Maybe .”
I opened my mouth to say I’d do it for as long as they needed me, but I couldn’t exactly promise that. I was supposed to be back in Nashville in a few days to work on some burnt-out lights at the bar.
“I can promise opening night.”
Malia sighed in relief. “Thank you, Barry. I’ll need to get going to figure out some things, but I do have one question for you.”
“What is it?”
“If there was a way to keep your identity a secret and be onstage, would you do it?”
The question hung heavy.
“It’s not possible. I have the bar and—?”
“I’m not talking about forever. I’m talking about right now. Do you want to be on the stage?”
“Of course I fucking do. She shines out there and being backstage feels like I’m missing the sunrise.”
“That’s what I thought.” She gave me a half smile. “We’ll talk later.”