28. Gavin
Gavin
“S top pacing, boy, you’re making my heart act up.” Granddaddy turned away from the stove with a scowl, sauce-covered wooden spoon aimed threateningly in my direction. “Suzie will be here soon, and she’ll probably even bring her ornery brother.”
I nodded at his words, knowing they were true. Suzie had sent a message saying that she would be here at eight o’clock and it was only a quarter till. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
“That’s a big piece of burnt bologna and you know it. You’re worried because you love Suzie, and you don’t want her to reject you or stand you up. Don’t worry, Zola and I will be on our best behavior.” His gaze landed on my sister just as she walked in through the back door.
Zola stopped and looked from Granddaddy to me. “What? Am I too late?”
“Nope.” Granddaddy chuckled and aimed his spoon at her with a smile. “You’re fifteen minutes early, which means you’re right on time. Take that wine out and the sparkling cider stuff.”
Zola nodded and opened the fridge to do as Granddaddy asked. “If I’m not late, why were you looking at me like that?”
“I promised Gavin we would be on our best behavior tonight.” His words held a hint of warning, which made me laugh because Zola and I were both adults, not answerable to him. “And we will. Won’t we?”
Zola shrugged. “Sure, I like Suzie. She’s smart and capable, a good boss who only wants her doctors to shine.”
“And her brother,” Granddaddy asked with a knowing grin.
Zola froze. “Drew will be here?” The deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face sent a hint of worry through me. “Why?”
“Because,” I sighed, “we’re all going to be family and I want us to get to know each other, get used to each other, before I have to hit the road again.” I didn’t even want to think about leaving for L.A. or going on tour. I didn’t want to be away from Suzie for so long.
Zola groaned and poured herself an oversized glass of red wine. “Fine. I’ll be nice and pleasant. Civil. For the sake of my little niece or nephew.”
“Thank you, Zo.”
At five minutes until eight o’clock, Suzie showed up with Drew scowling behind her. “Hey, Suzie Q. Looking good.”
She rolled her eyes but that signature smile was in place, telling me she appreciated the compliment. “Thanks, Gavin. You look good, too.” Her words were breathless as her big green eyes took me in behind the darker green frames of her glasses. “You remember my brother, Drew?”
I nodded and took a step back so they could enter. “Yeah, hey, Drew. How’s it going?”
He looked at me with amusement shining in his eyes, lips curled into a crooked smile. “Gavin. I’m well. Tired and surprised by this invite, but good.”
Suzie smacked his arm. “It’s called a blended family—you know, like how we grew up?”
Drew snorted. “We weren’t blended. You’ve always been my big sister and you always will be, even though you’re a little squirt now.” He wrapped an arm around her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “And I’m always up for a free meal.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “What’s the chef making?”
Granddaddy chose that moment to make his appearance, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. “Come on in the kitchen and find out. None of it is heart healthy, so that should please you and Zola.”
“Granddaddy,” she groaned loudly from the kitchen. “For the last time, I don’t want people to have heart problems.”
“Um, neither do I,” Drew said, amusement still coloring his tone.
“Yeah, yeah,” Granddaddy insisted and opened his arms for Suzie. “Hey there, Suzie. You look as pretty as a picture today. Hope you brought your appetite.”
She laughed and patted her growing belly. “It comes with me everywhere I go these days.”
“Now, that is music to my ears. Come on, I got some sparkling wine without alcohol just for you.”
“And me,” Drew added with a grunt. “I’m on call tonight.”
“Too bad for you,” Zola offered with an insincere smile.
Suzie inhaled deeply and groaned. “That smells amazing, Granddaddy, what is it?”
“It’s my lamb stew, safe for pregnant women. Or maybe it’s the trout baking in the oven.” Granddaddy took Suzie by the arm and gave her a quick tour of the dishes. “Couscous with butter and herbs. Salad, because my boy insisted the baby needed fresh veggies. Mashed potatoes because they go with everything, then some brown gravy and a cherry and mint chutney.”
Suzie’s eyes were wide. “You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”
“You kidding? This makes me feel like I’m young and sprightly, back in the kitchen.”
“You’re a sweetheart.” She kissed his cheek and took a step back. “What can I do?”
“Take a seat, all of you except the tall one,” Granddaddy said and pointed at Drew. “You can help me bring everything to the dining room. We’re eating fancy tonight.”
Zola and I laughed at what passed for fancy in Granddaddy’s world. The separate dining room was meant to be the formal dining room, but it was decorated in an understated way. “It’s not fancy,” I whispered to Suzie before we stepped through the sliding doors.
“Too bad. I’d love to make fun of you forever over one of those over-the-top chandeliers. Oh, please tell me it’s one of those ridiculously long tables that seats twenty people or more.”
Zola laughed. “Close.”
“Twelve,” I growled at my sister who only laughed at me.
Suzie stepped inside and looked around, taking in every detail with a smile. “Not exactly not fancy,” she offered with a smile, “but it’s nice. I like the artsy light fixture and the hand-carved table.”
“Thanks. My drummer makes furniture when we’re not in the studio. Or touring.”
She ran her fingers along the edge of the table, admiring the artistry. “It’s beautiful.” She turned with a finger aimed right at me. “Don’t buy me one.”
I flashed an innocent smile. “Would I do that?”
“You would,” she grunted and shook her head. “It won’t fit in my place, and I don’t need something else to baby proof.”
Zola laughed but it died quickly when Granddaddy and Drew arrived with the food.
Finally, dinner got under way, and as the minutes ticked by, my shoulders relaxed. Suzie was mostly quiet, trying desperately to hide her yawns behind napkins and food. “It’s all so good, Granddaddy. But I’m afraid I might embarrass myself.”
Granddaddy smiled wide and sat up a little tired. “No reason to be embarrassed, a woman who eats is damned sexy.” He winked and scooped another mountain of mashed potatoes onto her plate and then his. “Eat up, honey. Make an old man feel good.”
“All you do is feel good, Granddaddy. I don’t know any old people like you.” Zola smiled affectionately at him and it made me feel good that I was able to give her some of the same normalcy I had growing up.
“First of all, I’m not old. I’m wise. And if you think I’m bad, you should visit the community where I live, I swear it’s rowdier than when I was on tour with the Rusty Nails.”
“No kidding?” Drew spoke up, his interest finally piqued. “I love them!”
Granddaddy frowned. “A little before your time, aren’t they?”
“They’re classic, old man, and classics never go out of style.” Drew reached for another piece of lamb and Granddaddy pulled the platter away.
“Old man? Don’t think I won’t knock you one just because you save lives.”
Drew laughed. “Don’t think I’ll let you get over on me just because you’re wise and my niece or nephew’s grandfather.”
That seemed to please the old man, who slid the platter back to the middle of the table. “Glad we settled that, then.”
Drew nodded. “So, were you really on tour with the Rusty Nails?”
“Oh, yeah. It was all sex, pot, and music.” Granddaddy laughed and shook his head. “It was good time. You should’ve been there.”
“I was still in my dad’s nuts back then.”
Granddaddy exploded with laughter and pointed at Drew. “You’re not the stuffed-shirt I thought you were, Dr. Drew.”
Drew’s lips twitched. “Don’t call me that.”
Zola laughed and soon, Suzie joined in, and I had no idea why. Neither bothered to fill us stupid men in on what was so funny. Drew’s lips twitched and soon he was laughing, too.
It was a great moment, one of those moments that would sustain me on the road, thinking about our crazy families having dinner together for the first of what I hoped to be many dinners. Everyone smiled as laughter filled the dining room.
It was perfect.
“Who wants to fill me in on the joke?” At the sound of Alex’s voice, the laughter died slowly. “Gavin,” he said as if he hadn’t noticed the revelry his presence had broken up. “We need to talk. Right away.”
My heart stopped and I slid a look toward Suzie. She did her best to appear unaffected by Alex’s presence when I knew damn well that she knew what it meant. I was leaving. My heart started up again and kicked against my chest like a bull in a rodeo.
“All right. After dinner.”
“Now,” he said, his tone serious.
“After. Dinner.” I stood and pointed to the seat beside Drew. “Sit and eat or wait for me in the office. Or outside. Somewhere else.”
“We need to go over the schedule, Gavin. No time to waste.”
“No time, really?” I folded my arms and glared at my agent. “So, the first thing on the schedule is tomorrow morning?”
Alex blinked. “No.”
“Then I can damn well finish my dinner.”
And I did, but the mood was different after Alex’s arrival, so I postponed the brownie pie Granddaddy made and took Alex to my office.
“All right, what was so damn important that it couldn’t wait?”
Alex sighed. “Sorry,” he said without a hint of apology in his tone. “Starting Monday, we kick off three weeks of promo, doing the rounds on TV, radio, and internet. Magazines, too. We’ll get your face in front of everyone we can. We’ll do a few live spots of you playing some of your biggest hits and then ten days of downtime that may or may not include a few interviews.” Alex sighed and looked up at me—finally—for approval. “The week the album drops, you’ll be going pretty much nonstop with live musical performances of your first couple singles. Then,” he sat back with a smile, “North American tour for four months to start.”
My heart sank. Four months. To start. That would definitely cost me this chance I had with Suzie. “Why so soon? Usually, we wait to see how the album sells before setting up a tour.”
Alex laughed. “You’re Gavin fucking Ross, man. A guaranteed stadium sell-out artist. And the pre-sale orders are through the roof. This is a good thing, Gavin.”
“I know it is, Alex. The timing is just awful, but I’m on board. No worries.”
Now I just had to go out there and tell Suzie.
I found her sitting quietly in the theater room, a stoic, almost blank expression on her face. “Suzie.”
She looked up with a small, sad smile. “It’s all right, Gavin. We knew this would happen, and sooner rather than later.”
“I know, but I hate it.”
Her smile flashed and it was still sad, but more affectionate. “When you came to Jackson’s Ridge, you were worried you might not ever sing again, and now you have an album and a half worth of music and a tour in your future. This is a good thing, and I don’t want you to be unhappy about it. This is your career, the thing you love most.”
Not anymore. But she wouldn’t be able to hear those words, not now. “Still, I’m not ready to leave you.”
She sighed and pushed off the sofa. “And I’m not ready for you to leave, but you have to. This is what you do, it’s your superpower. And you’re contractually obligated to do it.” She put a hand to my chest and gave me a small pat. It felt like goodbye, like she was trying to put the distance between us that she’d talked about at the start of the week. “Go out there and make the world fall in love with you through your music.”
“I’m just trying to make you fall for me, Suzie Q.”
“Even if I did, you’d be too far away to do anything about it.” Her words weren’t coy, they were honest. She felt for me what I felt for her, even if I couldn’t voice it yet.
“I’ll keep in touch regularly, so much that you get sick of me, but I need you to promise to do the same. I don’t want to miss one moment of this pregnancy, as much as I can help it. I want to know everything: your weird food cravings, how much your nipples hurt, weird hormone dreams you’re having, all of it.”
She laughed. “Have you been secretly reading pregnancy books?”
I nodded. “I may have downloaded a few to my e-reader.”
“That’s sweet, Gavin.” She sighed as her thumb caressed my jawline. “I’m really going to miss you.”
“No,” I told her. “You’re not, because we’re going to talk all the time. About doctor’s appointments, your day at work, the weird things celebrities ask for on the road. We’re going to talk and text and video chat so much that you won’t have time to miss me. Right?”
Suzie took her time responding and after a while I was sure she was trying to find a nice way to refuse my request. To reject me. To tell me that once I was gone, I should forget all about her. I prepared myself for the sting of rejection. Then, her shoulders fell in resignation and hope returned.
“Yes. Okay, Gavin. I can do that. For you, I can do that.”
All the tension left my body and I pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you, Suzie Q.”
She hugged me back and whispered in my ear, “Don’t make me regret it.”
“Never,” I whispered back, and then I put my lips to hers and gave her a long kiss that felt like a goodbye but wasn’t. “See you soon, Suzie Q.”
“Not if I see you first,” she added with a shy smile. “Good luck.”
“You, too,” I told her and put my hand to her belly. “Don’t forget about me while I’m gone.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if I could. You’re only my favorite artist ever.”
“I’m auditioning for a different role this time, babe.” I winked and walked out of the room before she changed her mind.