EPILOGUE
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JOHNNY
One Year Later
Mid-morning on the day of Hannah’s twenty-first birthday party, bolts of lightning crack the sky open, and torrents of rain fall from the heavens.
“Maybe we should cancel the party,” she grumbles from the kitchen table, her fingers idly strumming the chords of her most recent song.
“No,” Cal and I reply in unison as we continue to work around each other at the counter.
He’s busy rolling handfuls of beef mince into burger patties while I chop lettuce, tomatoes, and other sides.
The buns are already buttered and ready to go.
Thankfully, there’s a roof over the outdoor patio of the small house the three of us moved into about six months ago.
Even if all the guests have to stay inside to keep dry, we’ll still be able to cook the meat on the barbecue.
Scowling, Hannah plucks aggressively at the strings of her guitar. “It’s such a perfect day to stay home, though. People shouldn’t have to risk drowning to celebrate my existence.”
Beside her, Oz swallows the last bite of his late breakfast. “Sweetness, your guests will happily risk drowning for you.”
“Not to mention,” I say over my shoulder, “if we try to cancel because of a little rain, they’ll show up anyway.”
She looks out the window, where the unrelenting downpour continues. “A little rain? Seriously?”
Cal stretches a long length of cling wrap over the beef patties. “Rain, hail, or cyclone, people are going to start arriving in an hour. You should get ready.”
“Fine.” Sighing dramatically, she tosses her ginger curls over her shoulder and rises to head for her bedroom, her guitar still in hand. It usually is these days. “But I’m still in charge of the music. I’ve been working on this playlist for a month.”
A secret smile crowds onto my face. When I sneak a glance at Cal, I see my amusement mirrored in him.
Despite her complaints, Hannah has been helping us plan this party for weeks.
She’s come to love having her new ‘family’ around her.
Over time more and more of the ‘sweetness’ Oz glimpsed the night they met has started to shine through.
“Righto,” Oz says after he’s finished cleaning up from breakfast. “What can I do to help?”
Half an hour later, we’re about done setting up when my parents arrive. Mum excitedly shows us the birthday cake she made for Hannah. “The white chocolate icing doesn’t look fancy, but the inside is bright rainbow layers of sponge cake. Do you think she’ll like it?”
Calum’s eyes mist up as he drops a kiss on Mum’s cheek. “She will love it. Thank you.”
Dad holds up a small bag. “We weren’t sure if you had enough candles.”
“Hannah isn’t a fan of birthday candles,” Cal says as Dad puts the bag on top of the cake box. “Thank you, anyway.”
My parents look at each other in confusion but follow Cal’s lead when he moves to another topic of conversation.
Watching the three of them together, my heart swells with happiness.
My relationship with my parents is better than it’s ever been, though it’s taken time for us to get here.
After my revelations last year, they finally sat down and listened to Fifth Circle’s album.
They heard the song I wrote about them, and it hurt them—badly.
We fought about it at first. Then the anger turned into questions which turned into long and difficult conversations.
We’ve learned to be more honest and open with each other.
They’ll probably never stop trying to convince me to go back to my old job ‘as a backup’ in case this ‘rock’n’roll business’ doesn’t pan out.
But they’re doing their best to accept me for who I am, and I love them all the more for it.
In the end, it was easier for them to get used to me being in a relationship with a man than I imagined.
It helped that Calum and Hannah came as a package deal.
The first time I invited them over to my place to meet Calum, they naturally asked about his family.
Cal didn’t go into detail, but he did tell them the truth.
They were bereft at the thought of two children left to fend for themselves.
Within minutes they insisted on lunch at their house the following weekend so they could meet Hannah.
I wish I could say that lunch went smoothly.
It didn’t. A tense Hannah was overly snarky.
Calum was ready to throw down in her defence.
My parents were awkward and wary of them both.
The stress saw me fall straight back into old patterns of trying to keep everyone happy at once. It was something of a shit show.
Until Mum served dessert.
The triple choc swirl cheesecake had two sets of green eyes springing wide open and tongues just about falling out of heads.
Cal and Hannah both devoured two slices of cheesecake each while gushing about how delicious it was.
Mum beamed. Dad nodded approvingly. That’s how Cal, Hannah, and my parents managed to worm their way into each other’s affections.
With treats on one side and compliments on the other.
The rain eases as more guests arrive and before long the house is overrun.
Our band family is here, of course. Oz’s friends, who have become Hannah’s friends as well, stream through the door.
Hannah’s even invited a couple of people from the new job she got after graduating university at the end of last year.
To say Hannah dislikes her job would be an understatement, but for now it seems to be what she wants and we’re all supporting her decision.
Calum, on the other hand, is loving every moment of running his new company, Ellis Music Management.
He has continued to be our very own World’s Best Manager, with the mug to prove it.
Fifth Circle is growing and reaching new heights all the time.
In fact, we’ll be leaving Australia late this year to join Dante Sinclair for an international tour to promote his new album.
He and Ned have become fast friends over the past twelve months and when Dante was considering who to have as his opening act, Fifth Circle’s name ended up at the top of the list.
Calum will join us for most of the tour but will have to travel back to Australia from time to time, as he now has other clients to take care of.
The Starling siblings Cal worked with at Rush have also kept in touch.
They’ve made no secret of their plans to jump ship from Rush when their contract is up, thanks to Arthur’s less than gentle approach.
Cal’s workload is insane, but he has an assistant now and is even talking about bringing another manager on board next year to help out.
One of his old colleagues, Jess, has been losing patience with Rush’s practices and Cal thinks he may be able to tempt her to join him. I have my fingers crossed.
It’s not until after lunch has been served and devoured that the clouds decide to part. Not that anyone seems keen on breaking their food coma long enough to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. I can’t say I blame them. This house might be small but damn it’s cosy.
I’m chilling in a corner of the room, enjoying a beer with Gavin and Ned when my mother wanders by.
She gestures to Calum, who is busy refilling drinks.
“That man is going to make someone an exceptional husband one day,” she murmurs with a pointed look.
“I’m just saying, don’t miss the boat.” She’s gone again before I’m even finished choking on my beer.
Gavin laughs his head off. “She’s not wrong.”
“That’ll do it,” Ned says with a grin. “We might as well get the calendars out now.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Shouldn’t you and Toni be booking in first?”
“What are you booking me in for?” Toni asks as he sidles up to Ned’s side.
“Wedding rings,” I say, waggling my eyebrows at him.
Toni snorts a laugh. “Who needs rings?” He wraps his arms around Ned’s waist. “I prefer to keep my man on a leash.” Ned slips a finger under the chain Toni wears around his neck, with its fancy scripted N.
“Ditto.” The kiss they share somehow manages to be both chaste and unbelievably smutty at the same time.
Chuckling at the two of them, I straighten from my lean against the wall. “All right, you lot. I have a surprise to spring so I’m gonna need you to keep an eye on Cal for a minute.”
Toni rears back to stare at me with eyes wide. “Fuck a duck, are you proposing?”
I give him a look. “On Hannah’s birthday?
I think I can do better than stealing my future sister-in-law’s thunder.
” I glance at Cal, who is chatting with one of Hannah’s new friends.
“Just make sure he doesn’t come into the kitchen.
Gavin,” I add, turning his way, “can I get a hand?” He salutes me and we ease through the crowded living area and into the kitchen.
It takes less than five minutes to set up my surprise. While I’m finishing, Gavin goes back to the living room to get Hannah into position and turn down the My Chemical Romance song blasting through the house. Soon he’s giving me a thumbs up from the doorway. “All set.”
Picking up Hannah’s cake, I carefully make my way back into the crowded living room.
“Can I have your attention, please?” Everyone turns to look at me, cheering when they see the decadent fire hazard I’m carrying.
All twenty-one candles on top of the cake are burning brightly.
“Happy birthday to you…” When I start to sing, the guests quickly join in and by the time we’re done, I’m depositing the cake on the table before the birthday girl.
Turning, I search the room for Calum. He’s the only one not smiling. Instead, he’s standing frozen. Lips pressed into a hard line. His gaze is locked on Hannah, as if worried about the reaction she’ll have to this simple tradition they’ve both been avoiding for so many years.
What he doesn’t know is that Hannah and I planned this together.