Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
PRESLEY
“Hey, stranger.” I smile as the sound of my brother’s deep voice drowns out the noise from the bar that’s bleeding through the walls.
“Hey, rock star. How’s life on the road?”
“Exhausting.” He lets out a haggard breath. “But good. Really good. I’ve tried calling you a few times. You never call me back.”
“I text Zara.”
“Oh, I see how it is.” He chuckles. “Now that I have a woman in my life, you’re just gonna ignore me now?”
Smiling, I say, “Of course not. You know you’re my favorite sibling. That makes you irreplaceable. But Zara does an excellent job of keeping me updated on how you’re doing. So I send her my appreciation in the form of emojis and IOUs.”
“Do I want to know what you’re promising my girlfriend?”
“Makeup tips and wine.”
“Ah, so the standard IOUs then.”
Snorting out a laugh, I reply, “Exactly.”
I lean back and kick my feet up on my desk.
The small office in the back of the bar hasn’t changed much since my father’s days.
The ratty leather chair and the old wooden desk have been in here since I was a baby.
The computer I’ve been staring at for the better part of an hour, however, is brand new.
Not that it seems to be helping me with my current conundrum.
“So how are you? You feeling all right?” I ask, tearing my eyes away from the screen. Why do these stock reports not match our sales numbers?
“Yeah,” he says. “Mostly. Having Evan’s back is nice. I’m able to take time away from the stage and rest. And I started movement therapy. The doctor is optimistic.”
Tears prick my eyes, and I nod to no one in particular. When we all learned that my brother had a neurological condition affecting his ability to play bass, we were devastated. But Zara has been vigilant about finding him treatment, and they both remain hopeful.
So I will be too.
“That’s good,” I say. “I’m glad they were able to coordinate everything so quickly.”
“Me too, and I feel incredibly lucky in that regard. Not everyone has the means or a doctor like Zara at their beck and call. She found an amazing specialist. We met with her between show dates, and I’m checking in with her virtually until we’re back in LA,” he replies warmly, and I shake my head.
It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who was trying to convince me he didn’t have time for a committed relationship just a couple of months ago.
“And when is that exactly?”
“September,” he says. “We’re wrapping up in Florida this week, and then I’m taking Zara to Belize. Went all out and got one of those bungalows on the water. She’s gonna freak. Anyway, we’ll be there until we leave for the international leg of the tour. We both need the downtime.”
“Do you actually hear yourself when you talk? ’Cause it sounds to me like you’re complaining about going on an all-expense-paid trip to Europe.”
“Not just Europe, Pres. We play in Australia and Brazil. We’re very popular.”
“God…” I fake a sigh. “The fame has already gone to your head, hasn’t it?”
He laughs. “Totally. But seriously, I am excited to travel with Zara and the band, but we just need some time to decompress. Being on a tour, you’re just constantly surrounded by people. It’s a lot.”
“I can understand that. I get that way after a week at the bar.”
“Speaking of…how is the bar?”
I look down at the report, which still fills up the bulk of my computer screen. “Good.” God, why do I keep saying that word? “I’m planning an even bigger Halloween event this year.” I swallow a lump of nerves as the numbers on the report stare back at me.
Assuming I can afford it…
When I took over the bar, the profits were modest at best. Wanting to impress my father and prove he made the right choice in trusting me, I may have gone a little overboard. I booked more bands, stocked our shelves with premium liquor, and planned more events.
It’s drained the coffers considerably, but the bar has never been more popular.
It’s been worth it.
I think…
“Well, it was a huge success last year, so it would be stupid not to.”
Stupid. Right… “You’ll be back in town by then, won’t you? You said September?”
“Did I? I think I meant November.”
My eyes crinkle as a hint of a smile tugs at my lips. “Too late, Hen. Can’t back out now. And just think of all the couples’ costumes you can come as! Oh, what about Guinevere and Lancelot?”
“Hard pass.”
“Bacon and eggs?”
“What the fuck? No.”
“I bet if Zara asked you to dress up like an egg, you would totally do it.”
“Uh, no. ’Cause I’m obviously the bacon. Duh.”
I snort out a laugh. “I miss you, Hen.”
“Miss you too, Pres. I didn’t realize just how much I’d miss you guys being out on the road. Our time in LA was so brief, and with Zara getting sick, I didn’t get to see you as much as I had hoped.”
“Well, that couldn’t be helped. You were needed elsewhere.”
“Yeah, I was.” That sugary-sweet tone is back in his voice, and I am almost one hundred percent sure Zara is close enough that he is either staring at her or has her in his arms.
An ache forms in my chest.
Things with Jace have deteriorated quickly. I thought he might quit after I broke up with him at my parents’ house, but he didn’t.
Instead, he’s been on time for a month straight.
He completely ignores me, but acts like employee of the month in front of everyone else. It’s fucking weird. I’d love to fire him, but I feel that doing so right after I dumped him would look bad.
“And you were apparently catching up with old friends?”
“What?” I try to pull myself out of my thoughts and focus on my brother.
“Hollis,” he says, making my heart race at the sound of his name. I still haven’t told him—or my brother—about my breakup, and I’m pretty sure the rise in my pulse when I hear his name has something to do with why. “Mom said he called out of the blue that night after the concert?”
That was the line my mom told the family when she strode into the living room, holding my phone and with Hollis on speaker. But not before she shot me a look over her shoulder that said, We’ll talk about this later.
I’m not sure what she wanted to say because whatever talk she planned hasn’t happened yet, and it has been weeks.
Maybe she felt a hint of betrayal finding out that Hollis and I had been talking for a week and I hadn’t told her, but if so, she didn’t show it that night when she waltzed into the living room with unshed tears in her eyes.
She and my dad talked to him for what seemed like hours.
Even Mercury and Myles joined in.
If Hollis felt overwhelmed by the sudden reunion, he never let it show in his voice.
He joked about feeling old when Mercury told him about her job at the recording studio.
He asked questions about Myles’s acting gigs and where he’d traveled, and he indulged my parents by telling them all about his life in Nashville.
I pretended not to notice how he hadn’t mentioned a woman in his life. He’s never talked about anyone in our conversations, so I assume he is single, but I’ve been too afraid to ask.
Why? Well, I’m too afraid to ask myself that as well. Especially now that my relationship status has officially changed.
“Yes,” I answer, choosing to stick with what Mom told him.
If I told the truth, I would have to explain why I kept it secret, and that answer was more confusing than I was willing to admit.
“He apparently still had my number saved in his phone, and with the band traveling to Nashville, I guess we were all on his mind.”
“That’s wild,” he says, and I have to keep myself from laughing. If he only knew how wild it really was. But I wouldn’t tell him about the nightclub Hollis works at. I know he feels embarrassed about avoiding Hendrix that night.
My legs start to ache from the awkward angle I’m at, so I lift them off the desk and slide them onto the floor.
I accidentally hit my keyboard in the process and hit something that makes all the programs on my computer shuffle.
Suddenly, I’m looking at the security feed instead of the stupid report I can’t figure out.
I rarely watch the live feed. It feels a bit creepy to stalk my employees during their shifts. I tend to only check it when I have someone new on board and want to ensure they’ve got the hang of things, or if something goes wrong.
Tonight, Jace and Sadie are manning the bar. Sadie is relatively new, having been here for only two months, but she’s a quick study. And since Jace has been here…
I double blink as I catch something out of the corner of my eye just before I click back to my sales report.
My brother is still talking about…actually, I’m not really sure. “Hen, can I call you back? Something just came up, and I’m needed up front.” I say the first thing that comes to mind, never tearing my eyes away from the security monitor.
“Yup. Talk to you later.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Pres.”
We don’t bother with goodbyes, and as I end the call, I set the phone down and start to pull up the recorded feed from a few minutes ago so I can replay it, praying that what I saw was just my mind playing tricks on me.
Because if it wasn’t…
I rewind about a minute or two before I accidentally pulled up the surveillance footage, hit play, and focused on Jace.
He sets the drink down in front of the older blonde.
They exchange a few words. He laughs, and she hands him a single bill before saying something else.
I’m guessing she’s telling him to keep the cash, because the next thing he does is glance over to Sadie, who’s busy pouring a beer, and then he heads to the register and…
Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
He hits the no sale button, opens the register, and then shifts his body. If he thinks he’s hiding what he’s doing, he’s dead wrong, because I see it all.
I see him pretend to make change as he clutches the cash the woman gave him in his other hand. He grabs an extra twenty and then slyly shoves it all in his pocket before Sadie even glances his way. I rewind the tape to the beginning of the night and catch him doing it three more times.
I pull up his last week’s worth of shifts and let out a curse, because now I know exactly why my report won’t add up. My fucking ex is stealing from me, and I’ve been too stupid to notice.
I guess I have that reason to fire him now.
Fuck my life.