Chapter 1
MEMPHIS
“I need you to come to the clubhouse.” I looked down at my phone and frowned when I heard Papa Smokey’s tone of voice and wondered what the fuck could be wrong now.
Considering what had been going on with Harley, my thoughts started racing and went to the worst possible scenarios.
My grandfather must have sensed my hesitation because he assured me, “It’s okay, Mem.
It’s nothing too . . . it’s not . . . just come to the fucking clubhouse. ”
“I’ll be there in five,” I assured him as I picked up the rag I’d left on the bumper and started wiping my hands.
Papa Smokey hung up without another word, and I looked around the garage to make sure nothing needed my immediate attention before I left.
Hopefully, I would be back soon, but considering how the entire family used this garage and there were always kids around, it was always a good idea to double-check just in case you weren’t the next person to come inside.
I put the can of aerosol spray cleaner I’d been using to get gunk off the motor mounts onto a higher shelf in case any of the kids showed up while I was gone and then walked out and got into the ATV I’d gotten to ride from my house to the garage now that I lived a short distance away.
It only took a few minutes to get to the clubhouse. I parked near the back door, admittedly nervous. Not much shook my grandfather, so to have him stammering around was very concerning.
I heard voices I recognized coming from the main room and was happy to hear they weren’t raised in anger.
I wasn’t surprised to see my sister Scarlet sitting at a table with Gamma and Papa Smokey and a young woman I didn’t recognize.
Some of my cousins were scattered around the room.
I waved at Roar and Wild before I leaned over and kissed Gamma’s cheek and then sat down in the chair next to hers.
“What’s up?” I asked as the conversation ground to a halt. I chuckled before I said, “Whatever it was, I didn’t do it.”
“We have an unexpected guest that I’d like you to meet,” Gamma said carefully, her bright blue eyes never leaving mine. She didn’t even look at the stranger before she said, “This is Iliana Belushi.”
I was eager to look away from Gamma’s intense stare, so I turned my attention to the young woman and stuck my hand out across the table. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Memphis Forrester.”
The girl looked uncomfortable and glanced at my hand before she swallowed hard. I thought she might be disgusted because it was obvious I’d been working in the garage. Frankly, that said more about her than it did about me, so I didn’t pull my hand away or make any excuses - just waited on her.
She looked up as she shook my hand and said, “I know who you are.”
Even after a few years in the spotlight, it still surprised me when people recognized me, although it shouldn’t.
I’d been on magazine covers, done television interviews, and played onstage during the live filming of an iconic comedy show, so it wasn’t like I was a faceless member of the band.
We had agreed from the start to recognize that all the pieces made up the whole.
That was easy to do since we were family, and there wasn’t the usual infighting that seemed to happen with the majority of bands over the years.
When the woman let my hand go, I looked over at my sister and saw her frowning at me. When I tilted my head in question, Scarlet just narrowed her eyes and looked away.
“What’s going on?” I asked the table in general.
Papa Smokey stayed silent and pulled his lips between his teeth as he slowly shook his head.
That wasn’t a good sign at all. When I saw Gamma was watching me without the usual smile she most always had when she had the attention of any of her grandchildren.
I frowned before I asked, “What’s wrong, Gamma? ”
Scarlet leaned across the table and put a phone down in front of me. When I looked at the screen, I saw a picture of her as a child, so I looked up and grinned. “Are we walking down memory lane or what?”
“That’s not me, Mem.”
“Yeah, it is,” I argued as I picked the phone up to inspect it again.
“But who is that lady in the picture?” The pictures I’d seen of my siblings and I as babies were almost all taken at our house, the clubhouse, or at one of our family member’s homes, but I didn’t recognize the house in the background either.
Considering that Scarlet was a little older than me, I knew that flat-screen TVs weren’t really a thing when she was a child. Neither were tablets like the one the girl was holding. And I could be wrong, but it certainly looked like she was wearing Crocs, and those weren’t around when we were kids.
“Who is the woman?” I asked again.
“That’s my sister, Cassia,” the new girl replied. I had a moment of panic because that child looked way too much like me, but I’d never seen that woman before. My worry had all but dissipated until she said, “She’s been raising Ivy since her mother died.”
My eyes shot to my sister, and I saw she was watching me with a scowl. When I looked over at Papa Smokey, he seemed almost cheerful, but Gamma’s expression scared me.
“You didn’t know about this baby, did you, Memphis?”
“No!” I exclaimed. “I mean, she certainly looks like me, but I don’t even know if .
. . I mean . . . if she is my kid, then why speak up now?
” Gamma’s eyes narrowed, and I hurried to say, “Not that I’m saying I don’t want to take responsibility if she is my child, but I was wondering why her mother .
. . okay, so she’s not her mother. Fuck, I need a minute, okay? ”
“Scarlet, honey, why don’t you take Iliana on a tour of the place while Memphis comes to terms with the . . . possibilities,” Papa Smokey suggested. I could tell Scarlet was about to argue, and so could Papa, so he added, “Give us fifteen, okay?”
“Yessir,” Scarlet muttered. She looked over at Iliana and gave her a blinding smile, which I knew was fake, before she said, “Come on. I’ll show you around.”
As soon as they were out of earshot, I whispered, “I have no idea who the woman in the picture is or who the baby’s mom could be, but . . . damn, that baby looks an awful lot like the pictures I’ve seen of us when we were that age.”
“I know you’re on edge and your mind is probably racing, but she mentioned that your . . .” Gamma cleared her throat before she said, “Encounter . . . with the child’s mother happened after a concert in Dallas.”
“We’ve played in Dallas at least . . .”
“From the birth date she gave us, it would have been a little over three years ago.”
I thought about it for a few seconds and then yanked my phone out of my pocket to call England Thompson, our media director. As soon as she answered, I asked, “Did we play in Dallas three years ago?”
“Well, hello to you, too, Memphis,” England drawled sarcastically.
“Yeah, whatever. Please, England. Were we in Dallas around . . .”
“We were in Dallas in September of that year. Looks like it was a Thursday. Why? What’s up?”
“I’ll call you later.”
“Is something going on I need to know about, Memphis?” England insisted. “Where are you? I’ll come . . .”
“This has nothing to do with the band, England. I’ll call if I need you.”
“If it has to do with you, then it . . .”
I hung up and didn’t care how mad that had probably made her. Right now, I had more important things on my plate - like the fact that I might be a father.
Holy shit.
“The timeframe matches up?” Papa Smokey asked. When I nodded, he asked, “I know it’s been a while, but do you remember that . . . event?”
“Event? Encounter? Let’s call it what it was.
Did you hook up with some woman in Dallas three years ago?
” I looked at Gamma in horror, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been around the sun a few times, young man, and I raised four boys who didn’t know how to keep it in their pants until they were well into their twenties.
It’s not like you’re the first Forrester to accept opportunities that are thrown at them, Memphis.
” Papa Smokey snorted, and Gamma slowly turned her head and glared at him before those blue eyes met mine again.
“If this baby is yours - and I’m not a scientist, so I’m just basing my opinion on the picture and my gut instinct, but my guess is she is - what are you going to do? ”
“What is there to do?” I asked in horror. Gamma’s eyes got wide and then I saw a scowl that had never been directed at me before. I shrank back before I stammered, “I mean, there’s nothing to do but raise my child, Gamma. It’s not like I’m gonna ignore this.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that maybe we should listen to this girl’s story, get a little insight into the mother - or the aunt .
. . I’m still not really clear on all of that - and then rely on science to give us a definitive answer,” Papa suggested.
He reached over and squeezed Gamma’s hand.
“Memphis is a good man, and he’ll do the right thing. ”
“Of course he will!” Gamma agreed. We all looked up when the door opened and watched as Scarlet led the young woman back to our table.
Before I could say anything, she smiled at Iliana and warmly said, “Have a seat, sweetheart. We’ve had a few minutes to let everything sink in, and we have some questions for you. ”
“Gamma, before you ask her anything, I think you should listen to the story of how lucky she is to have her Aunt Cassia in her life.” When Gamma’s eyes narrowed - probably because she was thinking the same thing I was: that there was a woman out there who didn’t want me to know she had my child - Scarlet said, “I really think you’re going to appreciate what Iliana has to say. ”