A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (17 page)

“
Thanks,
”
Luke said.

“
Yeah,
”
Trent said.
“
Thanks for caring.
”

“
Oh,
shit,
”
Mack said.
“
Are we really all going to thank
Frank?
”

Everyone laughed again.

Frank gave a thumbs up and left the
room.

Jake tossed the MP3 player to Luke
and then chased after Frank. They were outside when Frank stopped walking and
turned around.

“
Pregnant,
”
Frank said.
“
Is that what this plane thing is
for?
”

“
No,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s for a friend. But the thing with Chloe
…
I
’
ve
got nothing, okay? But the plane
…
can you help me?
”

“
Sure,
”
Frank said.
“
You guys have access to a
private jet. You know that.
”

“
Okay.
Just trust me, Frank. Don
’
t
turn on me.
”

“
I
’
m not,
”
Frank said.
“
Just
do the right thing.
”

Frank
’
s
cell rang.

He walked away and Jake took a
breath. He had two things on his mind.

The first was Mel.

The second was finding an opening
act.

Jake turned and opened the door. He
heard music already blasting. He smiled.

This was going to be fun.

*

Mel couldn
’
t settle down. She got home from work and rushed
right to the shower. She stripped herself naked, tossing her clothes into the
hamper in the small bathroom, and then she stood and looked at herself in the
bathroom mirror. She couldn
’
t
really see anything other than the reflection of her face and her shoulders.
Her hair fell just below her shoulders. She touched her own face, her own lips.

If nothing else came from her
encounter with Jake of Fallen Tuesday, she would always have a crazy story to
tell.

Mel took a hot shower, rinsing away
the morning, the work, but not the flooding memory of Jake.

When she left the shower, Mel
walked through the loft apartment with the towel around her. She heard her cell
beep and ran to it. She smiled, her mind instantly thinking - and hoping - it
was Jake. A day ago, the concern would have been Jon.

But it wasn
’
t Jake or Jon.

It was Alex.

Where are you? Answer your door!

“
Answer
my door?
”
Mel whispered.

She ran to the front door of the
apartment and looked through the peephole. Alex stood there holding her cell in
her hand.

Mel quickly opened the door and
said,
“
Hey. Sorry.
”

“
Whoa,
”
Alex said.
“
Wet hair. Towel. Is there a guy
in your shower?
”

Mel blushed and shook her head.

I wish
…

“
There
’
s no guy here,
”
Mel said.
“
Come in. What
’
s up?
”

Mel closed the door and locked it
after Alex entered. She waved to have Alex follow her.

“
I
’
m out and about right now,
”
Alex said.
“
I had a wicked cool show last
night. I only played a small set but the other band was really good. I guess I
kind of opened for them.
”

“
That
’
s good,
”
Mel said. She grabbed some clothes to wear and
went into the bathroom.
“
When
’
s your next show?
”

“
Not
sure yet,
”
Alex said.
“
But there
’
s a show I want to see tonight. You should come.
”

Mel dressed and looked at herself
in the mirror again. She thought about telling Alex about her morning but she wasn
’
t sure if anyone else would even
believe her.

Mel walked out of the bathroom and
Alex stood with her hands on her hips.
“
You
coming tonight then?
”

“
Wait,
what?
”

“
I
’
m going to a show tonight,
”
Alex said.
“
I have nobody to go with. Come
with me. Are you working?
”

Mel thought for a second.
“
No. I have the night off.
”

“
There
you go.
”

“
Relax,
”
Mel said.
“
I haven
’
t had a night off in a while.
”

“
What?
What does that mean?
”

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
Mel said.
“
I
’
m
making an excuse.
”

“
No
excuses,
”
Alex said.

“
Well,
can I tell you about my morning?
”

“
What
about?
”

“
I
met a rockstar this morning. In the hotel.
”

Alex
’
s
eyes widened.

Mel told Alex the entire story,
minus the kissing part. Mel wanted to keep that for herself.

“
That
’
s a good morning,
”
Alex said.
“
Better than mine. I drove home
and crashed at about four in the morning. I woke up, ate, and came here to
bother you.
”

“
Because
you need me,
”
Mel said.

“
Exactly.
Come with me tonight. Please? I
’
m
telling you, you
’
ll have
fun.
”

“
Where
’
s this at?
”

“
A
little place,
”
Alex said.
“
It
’
s
not a big show or anything. We can have a couple drinks and relax. Nothing
crazy.
”

Mel felt cornered. She ran her
hands through her hair and pulled it back.
“
You
’
re not going to let up, are you?
”

“
Nope.
Come on. We
’
ll have some
fun.
”

“
I
’
m sure we will,
”
Mel said.

“
You
partied with a rockstar this morning,
”
Alex teased.
“
You can
handle a small show tonight.
”

“
I
’
ll go. Fine.
”
Mel smiled and blushed.
“
I also got invited to a Fallen
Tuesday concert tomorrow night.
”

“
What?
”

“
Jake
told me to come tomorrow. They
’
re
doing a radio show and then a concert.
”

“
I
know. Those tickets are hard to get. It
’
s
only for a couple hundred people.
”

“
I
guess I
’
m one of them, if I
want.
”

“
If
you want?
”
Alex asked.
“
Are you serious? You have to go.
He invited you. Damn, Mel, you
’
re
lucky.
”

Mel smiled. Yeah, she was lucky.
Considering the mess of other things surrounding her life right now, she could
use a little relief. She deserved to enjoy a show with Alex tonight. And a
Fallen Tuesday concert tomorrow. Then it would have to be back to reality and making
a decision on what to do with Jon and the quest to find her father.

For now, today was all about the
unexpected.

(15)

The band listened to about thirty
songs in total. They jotted down band names and their favorite songs that Frank
had given them. Out of all the bands, there were only a couple that weren
’
t very good. The rest made it
kind of hard to decide which one would be offered the opening act gig on the
tour.

Picking a band was almost
guaranteeing them stardom. Fallen Tuesday was huge, and any band that opened
for them would be playing in front of all their fans. To get that shot would be
life changing, so they needed to find a band that was truly ready for it all. Jake
knew what the feeling was like. To play show after show, meeting fan after fan,
being told how good they were, yet still be waiting for a break to come. And it
was Fallen Tuesday
’
s chance
now to give a band that break they were looking for.

But finally after a few hours of
listening and debating, they settled on a band.

“
Okay,
”
Luke said.
“
We
’
re
cool with Gone by Autumn?
”

Everyone nodded.

The second Jake heard the band
name, he was in. He liked it and their music was rock n
’
roll with some gritty guitar riffs and some catchy
bluesy solos. The lead singer's voice was raspy, but he could hit some serious
notes. It caught Luke
’
s
attention right away. Some of the other bands were able to play and sing, but
this guy, whoever it was, captured everything Fallen Tuesday was.

Their sound was real,  and they had
a mix of a couple slow songs that were well written with deep lyrics. Their set
list would thrill the audience of Fallen Tuesday fans.

Luke called Frank and when the
called ended, Luke had a big smile on his face.

“
What
’
s up?
”
Jake asked.

“
Looks
like we have plans tonight,
”
he said.

“
We
do?
”
Mack asked.

“
Gone
by Autumn is playing a show about twenty minutes away.
”

“
No
way,
”
Jake said.

“
Seriously,
”
Luke said.
“
Frank is already making a couple
phone calls for us. We
’
re
going to go and meet the band before the show. Hang out and see what they
’
re like. Then we
’
ll watch the show and make the
final decision.
”

“
Sweet,
”
Trent said.

“
Looks
like things are falling into place,
”
Gray said.
“
That
’
s good. We need it.
”

“
Let
’
s meet up here around five,
”
Luke said.
“
Is that good?
”

Everyone nodded.

Jake nodded. He only had a couple
hours to get back to his apartment and face Chloe. He needed to sort all this
out with her. It felt wrong that he had put Chloe on the spot for being a liar
when he was the father of her baby.

“
Hey,
”
Trent said as he walked to
Jake.
“
Can we talk for a
second?
”

“
Sure,
”
Jake said.

Trent pointed to the door.

Jake didn
’
t like that very much.

What needed to be said that couldn
’
t be said in front of the band?

Outside, Trent pushed the door shut
and ran a hand through his hair.

“
Man,
I
’
ve got something to tell
you.
”

“
Okay.
”

“
Chloe
came by Mack
’
s this morning
looking for you.
”

“
Doesn
’
t surprise me,
”
Jake said.
“
I kind of stormed out and never
came back. I can
’
t believe
I put her on the spot like that. I called her a liar, man. She took the test
and it was positive.
”

Trent shook his head.
“
Not anymore.
”

“
What?
”

“
She
’
s not
…
she
’
s
not pregnant anymore.
”

“
What
do you mean
not pregnant anymore
?
”

Trent put a hand out.
“
Just listen to me, Jake. She
came to Mack
’
s looking for
you. She had just left the doctors. She asked to use the bathroom. When she put
her bag down, it was open. I reached for my coffee mug and I spotted something.
”

“
You
snooped in her stuff?
”

“
I
…”
Trent sighed.
“
I didn
’
t try moving anything, but there were papers right
on top. I
’
m not a doctor,
but it seemed very clear to me
…
she lost the baby, man. Again.
”

“
Again,
”
Jake said a little growl.

He was angry now. There was no
again
.
Last time this happened, Chloe had slept with both Jake and Trent on different
occasions. Nobody knew who the father would have been if the pregnancy had
stuck. This time it was clear that Jake was the father.

“
I
don
’
t believe it,
”
Jake said.

“
I
’
m sorry, man. Maybe it was wrong
of all of us yesterday to gang up on you about her. I regret that. But I know
what I saw, okay?
”

“
Yeah.
I stormed into my apartment thinking I had a way to get rid of Chloe and I
looked like an ass. Then I left and made things worse. I woke up this morning,
Trent, with a woman in my bed.
”

“
Shit
…”

“
Nothing
had happened though. I must have passed out. This whole thing has me torn up
…”

Not to mention the other woman I
met. And flirted with. Bought breakfast for. Talked to for a while. Oh, and
then kissed. And in that one kiss I felt more passion than a hundred times
kissing Chloe. What the hell does that mean? And in case I forget to tell you,
I
’
m going to offer
her a private jet to Washington so she can look for her father
…

“
I
’
m sorry, Jake. I really am. I
just don
’
t trust Chloe.
”

“
You
were wrong yesterday,
”
Jake
said.

“
I
’
m not wrong now, man. I saw the
paperwork. Go home and ask about it then. Ask her about the doctors and see
what she says.
”

“
I
…
I have to go,
”
Jake said.

“
I
’
m here for you,
”
Trent said.
“
We all are.
”

“
As
long as it involves Chloe leaving,
”
Jake said.

He walked away from Trent without
saying goodbye. By the time he got to his car, he was really pissed off. Here
he thought he would find a way to take care of things but now there was
something else to think about.

Jake sat behind the wheel and
looked at Trent. They had always had a rocky past. But they were brothers.
Brothers in the band. Brothers in music. If Trent wasn't head over heels in
love with Emily, Jake might question his intentions. But Jake trusted what
Trent had to say, he just feared what it would mean.

Why couldn
’
t it be as simple and fun like it was with Mel?

*

Trent walked back into the practice
stage and the moment the door clunked shut, everyone looked at him. All
eyebrows were raised and Trent let out a sigh and shook his head.

“
What
was that about?
”
Luke
asked.

“
I
saw something,
”
Trent said.
“
And I think we
’
re losing Jake again.
”

“
Why?
”
Mack asked.

“
I
got up early this morning,
”
Trent said.
“
I was having a
cup of coffee and Chloe showed up.
”

“
What?
”
Gray yelled.

“
To
my house?
”
Mack asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Trent said.
“
She was looking for Jake. To
make a long story short, Chloe needed to use the bathroom and I saw paperwork
in her bag. She lost the baby.
”

“
I
knew it,
”
Mack said.
“
That goddamn liar
…”

“
She
took a test yesterday and it was positive,
”
Trent said.
“
But then
something happened and she went to her doctor and it was gone.
”

“
Again,
”
Luke said.

“
That
’
s what I said and Jake got
pissed off. I think we screwed up by encouraging him to storm home to Chloe
yesterday.
”

“
Shit,
”
Mack said.

“
He
’
s going to see her right now,
”
Trent said.
“
I don
’
t know what
’
s
going to happen. It
’
s just
weird, even for Jake. He disappeared last night. Drank himself stupid and slept
in a hotel.
”

“
At
least he didn
’
t take a
woman with him,
”
Luke said.
“
Or did he?
”

Trent closed his eyes.
“
I don
’
t know. Talk to him. I can
’
t be in the middle of it. I thought I was trying to
help him. I think we all were trying to help him.
”

“
I
can
’
t believe this keeps
happening,
”
Mack said.
“
Every time we get some good
news, something happens. It
’
s
stupid. It really pisses me off.
”

“
That
’
s life,
”
Gray said.
“
We
just keep moving forward. That
’
s
all we can do here. Jake will figure it out. We
’
re
getting ready for this tour. Right?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Mack said.

“
And
hopefully tonight we get to meet our opening act,
”
Luke said.

“
That
sounds good to me,
”
Trent
said.
“
Let
’
s put the tunes back on.
”

“
Better
yet,
”
Mack said with a
smile,
“
let
’
s learn one of their songs. I
have an idea.
”

Trent caught on and nodded.

Yeah, tonight was going to be
awesome.