Blessed Tragedy(25)

That didn't change the fact that he had four kids who, while adults, needed him in their lives. Making him see we relied on him was going to be the key to getting him help.

Mike met Matt in the driveway to let him know what was going on. I couldn't hear their words, but through the sheers covering the bay window in the living room, I could see it wasn't a pleasant conversation. I wanted to go outside and ask Matt why he was making such a big deal about talking to Dad. Even with my absence, it was hard for me to understand why he wouldn't want to encourage Dad to live a healthy life.

By the time dinner ended, my brothers had gotten over their tiff with one another and we were able to sit down and talk to Dad. At first, he tried to give us the same excuses that the guys had given me; that it was stress related, that he just needed time. It was Mike who convinced him to go to the doctor by telling Dad it was the only way we'd let up on him and that, if nothing else, he could prove us all wrong. Before Mike left, he let me know if I had to go back before everything was sorted out, he would keep me informed.

He also invited me to visit him at school the next day for lunch. I debated turning him down since that would mean putting myself in a position where I had to deal with people yet again, and more than that, I would quite possibly run into Garrett. The selfish me would have refused. The new and improved me who was trying to make things right couldn't turn down a chance to bond with my brother.



Lunch was far more pleasant than I expected it to be. Okay, so it was good once I got past the fear that kept me from freely walking through the door to the teachers' lounge. For four years of my life, that was a door you hoped you never had to open, the entire time wondering what was on the other side. It was the one place in the school where students weren't generally allowed, and even though I was no longer a student, my brain seemed to remember that fact.

The faculty sitting around the long conference table tried to avoid making it look obvious they were looking in our direction when we sat in the club chairs in the corner of the room. When it was obvious they were curious, Mike confirmed to them that; yes, I was Maddie Neumann; yes, I was a former student; yes, I did now go by a different name; and yes, I was a kick ass singer in a band. That made me laugh and effectively broke the ice.

One of the younger teachers, someone I didn't know, invited us to sit at the table with them. Principal Reeves came in and asked if I would be willing to speak at the end of year assembly. I didn't tell her that, unless attitudes had changed, no one paid attention during the assembly and it was a waste of time. If I was truly this new and better person, I needed to embrace what was thrown at me, even when that was telling a bunch of teens they too can make something of themselves if they put their minds to it. It wasn't until much later that I got upset by that concept since almost no one had understood my motivations only a few years earlier. Then again, maybe someone like me is what the kids need so they don't make the same mistakes in life I did.

We almost got through lunch without any issues when Garrett walked through the door carrying a jumbled stack of sheet music. I stood to leave, unwilling to deal with the aftermath of our awkward evening, kissed Mike on the cheek and took a deep breath before placing myself into the sea of raging teen hormones outside.

I rolled my eyes when I heard my name as I rushed down through the hallway. Of course, the only viable escape options from the teachers' lounge were to go past Garrett's office, through the crowded gym or through the equally crowded lunchroom. I wished I'd gone a different way when I felt his hand on my arm as he began pulling me into the desolate band room.

“So, I was right,” he said flatly. “We're just going to avoid one another again?”

“No, Garrett. But when I'm drunk isn't the time to talk and neither is sitting in the teachers' lounge. Look, I'm not still pissed at you. When I said we needed to move on, I didn't mean we need to ignore each other, just that we can't live in the past.”

“Okay, so can we get together and talk over dinner then?” I should have said no. No matter what I told myself, I was slowly sliding into the land of “what-ifs” and that wasn't a good place for me to be.

I should have said no, but that's not what came out of my mouth. “I'd love to. Call me at my dad's house when you get done and we'll figure it out.” Not only did I not tell him no, I stood on my tip toes and kissed his cheek before leaving.



Wednesday morning, my dad drove me to the airport and I was once again leaving town. The good news is, this time I was leaving with a little bit of peace in my heart. I was getting to know my brothers and realizing they weren't all bad. My dad had an appointment for the following week, he said so he could tell us to butt out of his life but I could see he wasn't fooling himself either. And Garrett and I were back to being friends. It wasn't the perfect friendship and I didn't know if we'd ever get back to the easy place we'd once been in, but we were talking. That was a start.





Chapter Thirteen



When I decided I was going to surprise Colton by telling him I'd be home hours after my flight actually landed, I expected to walk into a quiet house. I'd purposely scheduled my flight for early in the morning knowing the guys preferred to maintain a night owl schedule, no matter where we were.

Not in a million years did I expect to walk into the monstrosity of a house Colton's dad owned to find all three of the guys plus Jared, one of our guitar techs, sitting around the baby grand at nine in the morning. I wasn't even aware any of them knew what nine in the morning looked like. Even more intriguing was that Jared was sitting on the bench, his fingers flying across the keys faster and more effortlessly than just about anyone I'd ever watched play. Obviously, the kid had been hiding something from us. Something good.

The magic Jared was creating in the living room was powerful enough to make me forget to be upset I wouldn't be able to slide into the king size bed upstairs to show Colton how much I'd missed him.

I closed the door as quietly as possible; not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on. Leaning against the banister, I listened as, layer by layer, the song grew from a classical piano solo into a classically inspired rock jam.

“Pretty good, isn't it?” I'd been so entranced by the music that I hadn't noticed Colton walk in the door behind me. His warm breath against my neck sent shivers down my spine.

Not answering his question, I spun around throwing my arms around his shoulders. Colton drew me close against his body, his index finger grazing my cheek before settling under my chin, drawing my face to meet his. When our lips met, my lips parted, my tongue begging him to allow me into his mouth.

The way my body reacted, it was hard to believe it had only been a week since we'd seen one another. As his tongue delved deeper, I moaned softly. This man was an expert with his mouth and I wanted to feel it on other parts of my body. Immediately. For the rest of the day and night.

“Upstairs,” I whispered, my need to feel Colton on top and inside of me trumping my mind nagging me to at least go and say hello to the rest of the band. They could wait.

“No time, my little cloud,” he laughed, breaking the kiss. When he reached for my hand to pull me through the hall, I playfully jumped on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist. I felt bad when he winced but didn't think anything of it.

“Come on, they weren't even expecting me for twelve more hours,” I whispered in his ear. No one would know I was home if we played our cards right. At worst, they'd think Colton had bailed on them, opting to go back to sleep.

“Nope, you're just going to have to be patient.” He turned his head to place a kiss on my cheek. “I know that's hard for you but it'll be a good test.”

I was unceremoniously dropped onto the couch, crashing into Jon's back. Until that moment, they'd been so lost in their work we could have been screwing on the floor in front of them and they wouldn't have known. Even if they had known, I'm not sure I would have cared with as wound up as I was.

“You made it back,” Jon observed, wrapping one arm around me in a brotherly hug. “Welcome back, be ready to work.”

“Gee, nothing like easing back into it,” I joked. I knew I was in for it, having missed a week of our break. Colton had told me they had some great new material I needed to look at to make sure it was going to work for me. This was going to be the first album they'd asked for my input and I didn't want to screw that up.

“Hey Jared, that sounded pretty badass. When'd you learn to do that?” As I asked the question, I looked around wondering how many more people I wasn't expecting to see were hidden in the many rooms of the house.

“When I was about seven, thanks.” He didn't look up from the sheet music he was using to scribble some notes.

“Surprised the shit out of us too, but we're thinking we might pull him out on stage to give you a break mid-set.” It was definitely something no one would expect to see but I wondered if the audience would be as enamored as we were.