Chapter Nine
“US is not breaking up,” Usual Suspects manager, Marie Glenn, assured worried fans after rumors of a fight within the band circulated.
“The boys all love each other and hope to perform together for years to come. They’re such pros onstage that sometimes it can be hard to remember they’re still teenagers,” she reminded everyone before quipping, “and sometimes I feel more like a tired mom of four boys than a band manager.”
—What’s POPpin
After the pantry incident, Jake went to get reacquainted with the cat room while I stuck the jingle balls onto a lower shelf, not wanting to risk them raining down on me if I ended up in the pantry with Jake again.
Not that I had any intention to. But life had been throwing me curveballs lately.
“Hey, Lucy,” Amber began, nervously biting her lip for a second before continuing.
“I know you’re always there for me, like how you came to my house every day for a week after my grandfather died, but you know I’m there for you too, right?
You can trust me to keep a secret. Like, I know I talk a lot.
And maybe say things I shouldn’t. Okay, scratch that.
I definitely say things I shouldn’t. But I’d never betray something you told me in confidence. ”
“Of course I know you wouldn’t,” I said instantly, dropping a jingle ball into the box with a surprised little tink! What brought this on? “I do trust you, Amber.”
I pulled her into a half hug, careful not to bump into any more jingle balls.
“If I ever decide to rob a bank, I’m choosing you to drive the getaway car,” I promised.
She hugged me back. “I get to pick the playlist, though.”
“Ugh. Fine.”
“Especially now that I’ve actually met a singer.”
I groaned. Jake Moody even haunted my hypothetical heists.
“But that’s sort of what made me ask,” Amber admitted, letting go of me.
“All those times we listened to US, you never told me you actually knew Jake. Was that because you thought I would’ve blabbed about it?
Like, I know you’ve only known me for about a year, but I wouldn’t have, not if you told me not to tell anyone. ”
“Sorry,” I said. “Jake’s not someone I talk to anyone about. It’s definitely not you.”
“Ah,” Amber intoned, her eyes lighting up with an eerie look of understanding, like she’d just cracked a puzzle. “So it’s him.”
“Wait, what do you mean it’s—”
“I can see why you two would get along. You both really like cats and are super into music,” Amber mused to herself. “Melrose. Moody. If you two had a ship name, it would be Melody.”
“Excuse me?” I sputtered. “Where did that even come from?”
Amber ignored the flabbergasted look on my face in favor of leaning in like we were about to swap secrets at a slumber party and asking, “So what’s Jake really like?”
“I don’t know.”
I exited the pantry.
Catching up with me, Amber grabbed my arm and gave me an incredulous look. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I knew Jake back then, I don’t know him now,” I explained. “He used to be this quiet, unassuming music geek and English class nerd who’d play commercial jingles on his guitar just for fun and happily spend the day hanging out with me at the café.”
“You’re making him sound like a dork.” Amber shook her head. “Jake Moody? Uncool? You’ve got to be messing with me. I don’t believe it.”
As she said this, we rounded the corner and were greeted by the sight of Jake cradling all twenty pounds of Rumpelstiltskin in his arms like a baby as he talked to him.
“Never mind,” Amber said. “I believe it.”
Rumple’s two giant paws tugged at Jake’s chain necklace, and I could practically hear the wheels turning in Rumple’s head as he tried to figure out how to get it off Jake’s pesky, in-the-way neck so he could ferry it back to his hoard.
Shaking my head, I walked over to them and dug through my pockets for a klepto cat distraction.
Searching, I took out my house keys, making my Ferris wheel key fob smack lightly against my palm as I did.
Technically, my keys would be a perfect distraction, but I kind of needed to get back inside my house.
Reaching into my pocket again, I pulled out an orange bottle cap and tapped my nails against it. Attention caught, Rumple’s head swiveled over to me, his eyes dilating and then narrowing as he took in his new quarry.
Flicking my wrist, I tossed the cap across the room, and in a flash, Rumple let go of Jake’s necklace and sprang after it.
Thieving problem solved, I turned back to Jake, only to find him completely motionless, his eyes zeroed in on my hand, like he’d found the answer to something.
But I didn’t know the question.
What’s so fascinating about house keys?
Frowning, I asked, “Something wrong?”
“No.” Jake shook his head. “It’s just . . . the key chain.”
Oh.
It’s funny how something can become such an everyday part of your life and so distinctly yours that you forget to stop and think about where—or who—you got it from.
“You still use it?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, the key chain’s with me all the time. I never took it off,” I confessed. “You remember giving it to me?”
“Of course. I remember seeing it at the airport kiosk and thinking I had to get it for you.” He stared down at it, a fond and almost embarrassed, lopsided grin crossing his face. “It took every single penny I had left and almost made me miss my boarding call.”
“What?” Jake had never told me that before. Back then, money had been really tight for him too—tighter than it was for the café now. And he spent it all on a present for me? “I— Why?”
Jake looked back up at me, gaze open and honest. “Because I thought you’d like it.”
Short. Simple. No dancing around the topic or lengthy explanation. For once, the dreamy songwriter dove straight for the point.
I didn’t know what to do.
“Besides, you deserved it, since I ditched you for an audition,” Jake added.
“We had plans to go to the summer carnival for weeks, but I went down to LA to audition for some musical on streaming at the last minute instead and didn’t make it back in time.
” He shrugged self-consciously. “I let you down and I didn’t even get the part.
I couldn’t ride the Ferris wheel with you, so it seemed right that I get you your own to make up for it. ”
He dropped his gaze. I didn’t look away, though. Right then, he seemed like the old Jake again, the one who said sorry too much before he became the rebel who never apologized at all.
Something in my chest squeezed.
“I was never mad at you for accidentally missing it. I knew you were trying to make it back to me,” I told him.
Jake’s eyes met mine, and I held his gaze steadily. The carnival happened years ago, but he still needed to know I understood. The gentleness that crept into my tone was for the younger Jake, the one whose laughter rang out in half my favorite memories.
“I understood why you had to go to that audition—I wouldn’t have wanted you to skip what could’ve been your big break,” I said firmly. “I knew how much singing meant to you. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Yeah, I did.”
Jake smiled, his features all going soft and stealing my breath. There—there it was: the kindness I knew from him. Despite being rough around the edges now, his gaze still looked soft.
But then Jake cleared his throat and looked away, breaking the spell.
“I texted the guys that I had a favor to ask before I got distracted by Rumple,” he told me. “Phillip and Aspen haven’t replied, but Leon asked what I wanted. Hopefully, he’ll read my reply soon, so we can talk about it between ten and ten.”
“Ten and ten?” I questioned. “You mean like a.m. and p.m.?”
“Yeah. It’s better that way.” Jake grimaced. “You do not want to catch him before or after those times. Just trust me.”
Before I could ask any more questions, Rumple padded over to me. Standing on his hind legs, he peered into my hand and began pawing at it in an attempt to steal my keys.
“Enough criminal activity for today, buddy,” I said, moving my hand out of reach before looking down at the Ferris wheel key fob again. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known the full story behind it. “I feel bad you spent everything you had to get this for me.”
“Don’t. Look at it this way; if I hadn’t spent my money on that, I probably would’ve done something stupid like buy a bunch of candy that made me barf before auditions. But this? You?” Jake tapped my fingers twice where they curled around the keys. “You’re still keeping it safe.”
Jake had a way of looking at me that made me feel like we were the only two people around, like nothing and no one else mattered, not when he was focused solely on me.
It felt familiar.
Dangerous.
“Right,” I said, forcing myself to look away.
But in my head, a voice whispered, Always.