Chapter 5
After lunch, Adam borrowed his dad’s truck and set out to find Evan’s new studio. Following his father’s directions, he drove past the Southeast Light to a parcel of land that their friend Ned Saunders owned. Adam nearly drove by the driveway that was hidden by an overgrowth of brush.
On the way down the dirt driveway, he wondered if the brush was scratching the shit out of his dad’s truck and how much grief he’d get from Big Mac if it was.
Oh well, he thought. He could blame it on Evan’s crappy landscaping.
Getting Evan into trouble had once been Adam’s primary goal in life. Some things never changed.
At the end of the driveway sat an enormous cedar-shingled barn.
A beat-up truck and the old motorcycle he’d recognize anywhere as his brother Mac’s were parked outside.
Adam followed the music inside to a large room that smelled of freshly cut wood and new paint.
Microphone stands, amplifiers, cords galore and other equipment was scattered about the space.
Through a pane of glass, Adam could see Evan. He was sitting down while another guy leaned over him, pointing and talking with his hands as loud music pounded through the space.
Though he hated to interrupt them, Adam had come a long way to see his brothers. Adam waited until Evan looked up and waved at him through the window.
Evan’s eyes widened with what might’ve been pleasure. He said something to the other man and then removed a headset from around his neck as he stood. He came bounding down a small set of stairs to the main studio where he hugged Adam.
“What’re you doing here?” he said, speaking loudly over the music.
“Came to see you and your brothers. Heard you got into a bit of a scrape and wanted to see for myself that you’re doing okay.”
“I’m fine, Mac’s fine. Grant’s being weird, but he’s always weird.” Evan said what he thought Adam wanted to hear, but his eyes told a different story. He was exhausted, wired, disheveled, but doing his damndest to sell the all’s-well theme. “How are you?”
“Better now that I’ve seen you.”
“Awww, don’t tell me you care.”
Adam shrugged. “Not about you. Just about Mac and Grant.”
“Oh good. I was worried for a minute there.”
He and Evan had fought like tomcats growing up and continued to enjoy a vicious wrestling match whenever possible, but there was nothing they wouldn’t do for each other, including lie to each other’s faces when necessary.
“Got a minute to show me around?”
“Just. We’ve got a ton of work to do before our first artists begin to arrive next week.”
“I won’t keep you long.”
“Come and meet Josh, my sound engineer. I talked him into moving here from Nashville to work with me. He’s showing me the basics on the board.”
Adam followed Evan up the stairs to the sound booth where he met Josh Harrelson, another victim of the Starlight Records bankruptcy that had taken Evan’s debut album down with it.
“Josh, my brother, Adam, here from the Big Apple.”
Josh shook Adam’s hand. “How many brothers do you have, man?”
“He’s the last one,” Evan said, laughing. “Lots of cousins, though. I’m going to give Adam a quick tour. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Josh said. “I’ve got plenty to do.”
Evan walked Adam through three studios on the first floor.
“We’ve got soundproofed walls so we can run three sessions simultaneously.
Back here is my office, not that I’m ever in here.
Oh, hey, check out the logos we came up with.
” He held up a board with three different renditions of the Island Breeze Records logo. “Any preferences?”
“I like the one that has the island in the backdrop and the surfboard.”
“I do, too. I think we’re going to go with that one.”
“I meant to tell you—you need to cut back the brush on the driveway. This place is hard to find.”
“I’ve got Alex Martinez coming to do that this week. Remember AM?”
“Sure, his brother PM was in my class.”
Adam recalled that the brothers’ nicknames had come from one being a morning person and the other a night owl. “I thought Alex had moved off-island to work at the U.S. Botanic Garden.”
“He did, but he came home when his mom got sick.”
“What’s wrong with his mom?”
“Alzheimer’s.”
Adam followed Evan up the stairs. “Oh, shit. That sucks.”
“Big-time. I guess Paul needed help running the business and taking care of her, so Alex quit his job and moved home.”
Adam felt for the guy. It must’ve been a bitter pill to go from working at the U.S. Botanic Garden to cutting grass again for his family’s landscaping business. He knew a little bit about bitter pills himself these days.
“Is Mom having a big dinner for you tonight?”
“So I’m told.”
“I may not make it, but I’m sure Grace will be there.”
“How are things with you guys?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
Evan showed him the four bedrooms and two bathrooms they’d installed upstairs for the artists who’d be coming to the island to record at the studio. “We’re booked through the summer and into October.”
“That’s great, Ev. Congratulations. It looks amazing.”
“Thanks.” Evan gave a not-so-subtle glance at his watch. “I hate to say it, but I’ve got to get back to work.”
“No problem. Hope we can hang out while I’m home.”
“Yeah, sure, I’d love to. Good to see you, bro,” Evan said as he jogged up the stairs to rejoin Josh.
Adam left feeling like Evan was working awfully hard to act like everything was fine. He knew Evan almost as well as he knew himself, and all his instincts told him his little brother was anything but fine.
Her cell phone began ringing around five, and Abby ignored the first call from Cal as well as the second.
By now he’d found the note she left him and might be upset that she’d left.
Or maybe he was relieved. Probably the latter.
After the second call, though, she became curious and checked her voice mail.
“Hey, babe. I’m just home from my mom’s and wondering where you are and what you want to do for dinner. Give me a call.”
Abby let out a groan. He hadn’t found the note she’d left in plain sight on the kitchen table.
Knowing him, he’d gone directly to the fridge for a beer and was now sprawled on the sofa watching ESPN.
The familiar image gave her a pang of longing for him that she quickly pushed to the back of her mind.
She’d made her decision, and now she had to live with it.
She listened to his second, more urgent message with a growing sense of dismay. Was she going to have to tell him she’d left him? God, she hoped not. It’d been hard enough to write the note. She couldn’t imagine having to say the words, which was why she went with a text.
I left you a note on the table.
Oh, sorry, missed that. brB.
Knowing full well what the note said, her heart beat fast and her hands got sweaty while she waited for him to read it. When the phone rang a third time, she took the call. She owed him that much after the year they’d spent happily together before it all went wrong.
“Are you serious?” The anger in his voice came right through the phone.
“Are you really surprised?”
“Hell, yes, I’m surprised!” His Texas drawl became more pronounced when he was upset. “You never said a word about leaving until you were gone. What the hell, Abby?”
“Nothing has been right between us since I got there. You know that.”
“I’m dealing with a crisis! I’m sorry if I wasn’t able to give you enough attention.”
“You think that’s it? Proves how totally clueless you are.”
“Will you please stop talking in code and tell me what the hell that means.”
“You have unresolved feelings for Candy.” Saying the other woman’s name made Abby feel a bit sick. “I’m not willing to compete with that.”
After a long stretch of silence in which Abby wondered if he was still there, he said, “Feelings for Candy. Right. That’s why I asked you to marry me, because I still have feelings for her.”
“You admitted you still think about her! I have eyes, Cal. I can see the way you respond to her. You never look at me the way you look at her, and I got tired of being the other woman in my relationship.”
“I cannot believe you didn’t talk to me about this.”
“I did talk to you. You said I shouldn’t worry about your feelings for her. I don’t agree. What’s there to say?”
“A lot! You left without even giving me a chance!”
“I’ve given you lots of chances. I got tired of being ignored.”
“And we’re back to that. My mom is sick. She needs me. I’m sorry if you felt ignored.”
“Your mom isn’t the only one who needs you. Candy does, too. You should be with her. The two of you have all kinds of history, and your mom loves her.”
“I don’t love her! I love you.”
“You do love her. You’re lying to yourself—and to me—if you deny it.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re telling me who I love!”
Abby wiped away tears. “I left the ring in your top dresser drawer.”
“So that’s it? Over and done with?”
“I’m sorry, Cal. But I’ve done this once before—”
“You’re really going to compare me to Grant McCarthy?”
“The situation is similar. That’s the only comparison I’m making.”
“It’s not similar. I love you, and I made a commitment to you, which he never did. But if you don’t feel the same way, I can’t do anything about that.”
“I do feel the same way. I did…”
“Past tense?”
“It’s been very hard for me to watch the way you react to her, and to realize it wasn’t going to work out between us after all. It was very…hard.”
“I never meant to give you the impression anything was happening with her. I swear to you that’s been over for years.”
“I’m sure you’d like to believe that.”
He released a frustrated sigh that she heard quite clearly through the phone. “Where are you?”
“Where else? Gansett.”
“You should’ve talked to me before you left.”
“Maybe so, but I knew you’d try to talk me out of doing what was best for me.”
“This isn’t what’s best for you or for me.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out for us, and I hope your mom continues to improve.”
“This is not over.”