Epilogue
Three Months Later
The crowd gathered in the Hollywood Bowl cheered, the sound the loudest it had been all night. Beside me, Cooper and Jillian were clapping and hollering, practically floating with how happy they were.
I couldn’t say that I blamed them.
Of all the bands Hawk and the guys had showcased this evening, the last one, called Ante Up, had certainly been the best. A group of young kids in their early twenties, they were talented and smart, their lyrics clever and relevant in a way that good bands always managed to do.
They also had a girl on lead guitar, a brilliant woman named Piper Money who played with such finesse and skill that I was both impressed and jealous.
Cooper was over the moon, completely thrilled to see a hot band with a woman leading the way.
“That was amazing!” Cooper yelled, her voice rough after a night of screaming. “I can’t believe how good they were.”
“They really were,” Jillian added, her face flushed with excitement. Cooper and I had been more than a little surprised when her phone had suddenly been reactivated a few days after the infamous kitchen video had gone live.
But I had been downright shocked when her father had allowed her to spend the last week of her summer vacation with us in California. It looked like Tori’s confession had helped in more ways than I could have anticipated.
It had also caused quite a stir in the music world. Victoria Castor confessing to drugging Hawk with the intent of sexually assaulting him had started a very overdue conversation about how assault really was a genderless crime, and should be treated as such by the law.
Hawk had been really upset when he’d learned the real reason he had next to no memory of that night, and rightfully so. He struggled to talk to me about it, but I was hoping when things calmed down with the label, he’d consider talking to a professional.
It may have been fifteen years ago, but it was still damaging. There really was no time limit on dealing with trauma.
At the advice of Mick and his team of lawyers, Hawk had also started a civil case against Victoria, planning to donate any monetary damages awarded to him to victim advocacy groups.
I was so freaking proud of him.
“He’s on!” Cooper suddenly shouted, drawing my attention back to the stage at the center of the open-air venue. “Mom, he’s on again!”
She wasn’t wrong. Standing there, under the bright lights that decorated the large white dome, was Hawk, his mere presence sending the crowd into another roaring frenzy. For several long moments, he did nothing, content to simply exist in the spotlight, letting the adoration of his fans wash over him and the guys.
The guys had played a couple songs through out the night, giving the audience a few of the greatest hits between debuting their new artists. It was strange to see Black Kite on stage without Lewis, but after everything was said and done, he had once again sided with Victoria. It was sad, but also not entirely surprising.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
“They sure do love him,” Dakota said from my other side, and I turned my head to smile at her. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with her, what with the guys being so busy filming all over the country for their Black Kite Records documentary, but I had a good feeling about her.
I would have had a good feeling about anyone who could put up with spending time in close quarters with those guys. They were a mighty big handful sometimes.
“Of course, they love him,” Sabrina cut in, her smile huge as she turned from the stage. “What’s not to love?”
“You’re only saying that because he’s put you up in his beach house,” Dakota teased, but it was true.
Sabrina had been more than willing to blow off our Minnesota lake house vacation plans for a trip to the West Coast. Claiming one of the guest rooms in the Santa Monica house, she had spent the entire summer living it up with us.
And so far, she showed no signs of leaving.
Not that I minded, but something was up with her. She was being cagey about why she left her last job so abruptly, and while I hadn’t managed to get the truth out of her yet, I hadn’t given up.
She’d tell me when she was ready.
“I mean, there is that,” Sabrina agreed easily. “But there is also the fact that he’s shown excellent judgment by removing the evil harpy from his life and settling down with the two best girls in the world,” she said, flashing a smile at Cooper where she and Jillian were still dancing like lunatics. “After all, everyone loves a happy ending.”
“They do,” I agreed, listening to the crowd gave one last cheer as Hawk lifted the microphone to his mouth, ready to speak.
“How you all doin’ tonight, Los Angeles?” he called, and the crowd lost their minds again. “It has been one hell of a show, hasn’t it? These bands have rocked hard for you, so how ‘bout you show them some love one last time?”
This time, when the crowd roared, so did Black Kite, Gavin firing off with a solid beat while Alex made his guitar sing.
“Now,” Hawk said, his hands cradling the microphone close to his mouth, “before we say goodnight, the guys and I thought we’d send you off with something new. Something really special.”
“Yeah!” squealed Cooper, her arms in the air as she shook her head back and forth. “Mom! This is it!”
“You see,” Hawk went on, and my heart clenched. “Earlier this year, something pretty amazing happened. Something unexpected but so very magical. I found a piece of myself that had been missing a long time. Two pieces, in fact.” Turning his head, Hawk’s gaze zeroed in on us, the love and devotion shining there for the whole world to see.
And just like every time he looked at me like that, I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude.
Because every single morning I woke up in his arms, I thanked my lucky stars that Hawk and I found our way back to each other. That the trials and obstacles that had kept us apart had finally been overcome, and that our future looked bright.
“By now, you all know my girls,” Hawk was saying, pointing at us from the stage, and Cooper leaned forward, waving back at him. “I see you, Coop. I think the whole stadium sees you.” He chuckled, causing the entire audience to laugh along with him. “But what you may not know about Wren is that she’s a pretty incredible song writer.”
Holy shit. What was he doing?
Slouching in my chair, I ducked my head, still not entirely comfortable with being the center of attention.
“She’s being shy, but believe me when I tell you, this woman is about to take the industry by storm.”
Oh, how I wished he’d stop talking. I really, really needed him to stop talking.
“I can see I might need to film another documentary in the near future,” Dakota teased, and I elbowed her lightly.
“Not a chance, lady.”
“So tonight, we’re gonna play you a song that Wren and I wrote together, and yet somehow separately at the same time.”
I smiled, knowing just how true that statement actually was.
“And now, Los Angeles,” Hawk growled, his voice dipping low, the way it did when he was gearing up to sing, “for the first time ever, live from The Hollywood Bowl, this is Haunted.”
More cheers. More screaming. More of everything.
I was learning very quickly that life with Hawk was always more.
And I knew I would never get enough.
The End