Chapter 14 #2
“I wanna talk to ya.” Carrying a tray with two cups of coffee and a white bag, Ned pushed passed him into the loft. “Put some pants on, for Christ’s sake.”
“Come in why doncha?” Evan said, annoyed and amused at the same time.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Evan closed the door, reached for a pair of discarded jeans on the floor and put them on, leaving the button undone. He gratefully accepted the coffee Ned handed him and took a sip. “Mmm, that’s good.”
“Cream and two sugars, right?”
“You got it.” Evan’s stomach growled. “What’s in the bag?”
“Blueberry muffins. I sure do miss my marina donuts in the off-season.”
“I’m sure your heart doesn’t miss them.”
“My heart is in perfect working order.”
“Is that Francine’s doing?” Evan asked with a grin.
Ned blushed like a schoolboy. “That ain’t none a yer damned business.”
Evan hooted with laughter at Ned’s embarrassment. “When are you two going to make it official?”
At that, Ned’s expression darkened. “We can’t get rid of her dirtbag ex-husband. He’s demanding to spend time with the girls. Tiffany did it, but Maddie ain’t up fer it, and we got no intention of forcing her. Far as we’re concerned, it’s already official.”
“Sorry to hear that about the ex. He sounds like a real winner.”
“Don’t get me started.”
Evan broke the top off the still-warm muffin and devoured it in two big bites. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”
“I got a business proposition fer ya.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. I’m gettin sick of watchin ya mope around waiting for news from Nashville.”
Evan sat up straighter. “Now wait just a second—”
“Hear me out, boy,” Ned said in a gentler tone. “It’s hard on all of us watchin ya suffer. Yer mama and daddy are worried aboutcha, yer brothers, Grace.”
“I don’t want anyone worried about me,” Evan said, losing interest in the muffin.
“Too late.” Ned put down his coffee and leaned in, elbows propped on knees. “Here’s what I think we oughta do about it. I think we oughta open our own recording studio right here on the island.”
Flabbergasted, Evan stared at the older man who’d been like a second father to him. “You wanna run that by me one more time?”
“You and Owen, ya know a lotta people in the business, people just like the two of ya who’ve been performing for years, but never caught a break. I’ve been reading about a coupla singers who got real lucky posting their stuff to that iMusic and You Movie and found an audience.”
Evan held back a laugh as Ned butchered the names of the online retailers.
“So I gets to thinkin, why can’t the boys do that right here? We set up the studio, you guys bring in the talent, record yer own stuff and post it out there fer people ta buy.”
Evan continued to stare at the older man as if he’d lost his mind. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to set up a recording studio?”
“About two hundred fifty grand or so, if my research is correct.”
“And where do you propose I get two hundred fifty grand to open this so-called recording studio?”
“I’ll give it to ya.”
“What? Have you totally lost what’s left of your mind? You can’t give me a quarter of a million bucks like it’s lunch money.”
“Why not? Yer gonna get it after I’m gone, so why can’t I give it to ya now, when ya need some direction in yer life, and I can watcha make somethin of it?”
“Get it when you’re gone? What does that mean?”
“Who do ya think my heirs are, ya nitwit? I ain’t got no kids of my own.
So you, yer brothers, yer sister and now Francine, Maddie and Tiffany will get it all.
And there’s a lot to get.” Ned shrugged self-consciously.
“This is somethin I wanna do. It’s somethin I think you and Owen can make a go of.
It’d keep ya here on the island with yer lady—where I think ya wanna be—and it would keep ya off the stage, where ya don’t wanna be. ”
Evan had no idea what to say. How did Ned have this all figured out when Evan couldn’t even get himself out of bed in the morning?
And how the hell did Ned know about the stage fright?
Evan had told only Grace about that, and she’d never repeat it.
He and his siblings had long suspected the guy was psychic or something.
“I, um, have no idea what’s involved with recording music. I just do the singing.”
“Doncha know people who do? Couldn’t ya get ’em out here to teach ya?”
Running his fingers through his hair, Evan got up to pace the small kitchen.
“Well, doncha?”
“Yeah, I suppose I do.”
“And doncha know all kinds of singers and musicians who never got a break who might be interested in tryin something new?”
Evan nodded as a spark of interest and excitement began to take root inside him.
“Y’all could create one of them”—Ned waved his hand as he searched for the term —“artist communities right here on the island.”
“I don’t know, Ned. You’re talking about a huge investment of time.”
“And do ya got so many better things to do at the moment?”
Hands on his hips, Evan met Ned’s challenging gaze.
“Well, do ya?”
“No.”
“All right then.”
“I can’t take that kind of money from you.”
“Ya ain’t takin it. Think of it as an investment. We’ll be partners. I’ll be silent, of course.”
Evan raised an eyebrow.
“What? I will be silent.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Believe whatcha want. If yer interested in this, I’ll finance it. If you ain’t interested, no harm, no foul.”
“I’ll need to talk to Owen.”
“I’d expect ya would.”
“Can I get back to you?”
“I ain’t going nowhere.” Ned got up and put his empty coffee cup in the trash.
“Ned?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. I’m truly overwhelmed that you would’ve given this so much thought and come up with such an . . . intriguing . . . idea.”
Ned patted Evan’s face affectionately. “I wanna see ya back on track, boy. It ain’t nothin.”
“Yes, it is.”
Ned shrugged off the praise. “Let me know whatcha decide.”
Evan walked him to the door. “I will.” He watched Ned bound down the stairs with the pep of a man half his age. Ned drove off in his cab with a toot and a wave.
Evan closed the door and leaned back against it, his heart racing with adrenaline and excitement and a healthy dose of skepticism that kept him from getting too far ahead of himself. Could they really make something like this work?
Pushing off the door, he headed for the shower, anxious to get cleaned up and go find Grace. He needed to know what she thought of the idea before he did anything else.
Laura awoke with a start. She’d been dreaming about falling, spinning through space with nothing to break her fall.
All at once, she became aware that she was sleeping in Owen’s arms. His familiar scent and the steady beat of his heart under her ear calmed and soothed her.
Then she remembered what had happened the night before, and she started to pull away from him.
“Stay,” he whispered. “Just for a minute.”
Reluctantly, Laura returned her head to his chest, but couldn’t seem to relax into his embrace the way she usually did. At what point during the night had she moved across the bed to him? Justin was right. She couldn’t do anything by herself. Even sleep. The thought disgusted her.
Owen ran his hand over her back in a soothing rhythm. “What’re you thinking about, Princess?”
The nickname she’d once loved now rankled. “Nothing.”
“Come on. I know better than that. You’re always thinking about something.”
Laura wished that wasn’t the case. She wanted to turn off her brain and forget about the ugly encounter with Justin.
The desire to unsubscribe from her thoughts reminded her of the weeks after her mother died when she’d been desperate to stop the merry-go-round of painful memories.
She’d learned then that there was no way around these things, only straight through them to the other side, as painful as that might be.
“I’m sorry about last night,” she finally said. “I totally punched out on you.”
“Don’t be sorry, honey. I don’t want you to worry about me. Let’s focus on what you need right now, okay?”
“You’re too good to me.”
“We’re good to each other. That’s what it’s all about.”
His kind words brought tears to her eyes. She closed them, trying to contain the flood.
“Whatever he said to you,” Owen continued in a soft, soothing tone, “it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter and neither do his opinions. If you let him get to you, he wins.”
“I know.” She brushed at the dampness on her face. “I need to call my dad. He’ll be wondering about what happened.”
Owen nudged her hand out of the way and finished the cleanup job for her. “I talked to him last night. He said to tell you to call whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you for thinking of that.”
“No problem.” Owen’s lips were soft against her forehead. “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe if you let it out you can let it go.”