Chase the Road (A Brothers of Rock - GONE BY AUTUMN - Novel) (15 page)

“
Easy,
”
Blake said.

He signed a paper placemat and gave
it to Drew. He then stood and held two straws like they were drumsticks and
took a picture with the kid.

That opened the floodgates.

Before Blake knew what was
happening, there was a small line formed right in the middle of the diner. So
Blake ordered another coffee and stood there, signing autographs, taking
pictures, talking Gone by Autumn with the locals. Someone asked why he was there,
and the second he mentioned Ted in the hospital, the conversation opened even
more. It seemed then everyone cared more about sharing stories of Maya
’
s grandfather than about Gone by
Autumn.

Which was actually very nice.

Maya just sat there and listened.

How Ted helped people cut down
rotted trees before they fell and caused damage. How he changed flat tires,
changed brakes, looked at anyone
’
s
vehicle that needed him. How he chopped up firewood and drove it around to
everyone, making sure nobody would go without wood. He put a plow on his truck
and did his best to make paths in and out of town when it snowed.

He gardened and gave away the food
he didn
’
t use.

He got up on the roofs of many
cabins and houses, helping with any repairs needed.

He fought alongside the locals to
keep bigger businesses from ruining what they had preserved.

It was completely touching to hear
so many people talking about that bullish Ted.

By the time the place started to
clear out, Blake looked at Maya and saw her wiping the corner of her eyes.

A handful more people were
lingering, all just talking to Blake like they were old friends. The best part
was an old man who shook a wrinkled and crooked finger at Blake, wanting to
know why the music was so damn loud.

“
It
’
s rock n
’
roll,
”
Blake said.

“
That
aint
’
rock n
’
roll,
”
the old man said.
“
It
’
s noise!
”

“
You
listen to us?
”

“
Yeah,
”
the old man said.
“
Pick up on the radio. Real
catchy stuff there. Just so damn loud.
”

“
We
have acoustic stuff.
”

“
No,
no, no. You have to play it calm and clean. The notes work themselves.
”

“
You
play guitar, sir?
”
Blake
asked.

“
Learned
back in the war. Never did anything with it though. Did pick up ladies back in
my day with it.
”

“
Always
a good reason to play guitar,
”
Blake said.

“
Seems
to be working for you,
”
the
old man said and thumbed at Maya.

Blake looked and saw Maya had her
cell to her ear.

“
Excuse
me,
”
Blake said and patted
the old man on the shoulder.

Blake made it no more than two
steps before Maya looked right at him. Her eyes were wide, already filled with
tears. Blake knew the news before Maya mouthed it to him.

He
’
s gone.

(15)

Blake sat down and let out a long
sigh. He closed the laptop in front of him. Nothing else needed to be said
about the band, the tour, and what had been going on. The usual cockroach
leeches that considered themselves reporters wrote up bullshit stories of how
the band had imploded on tour. A few wrote that Blake punched Asher in the
face, which was true, but that was before the tour and had nothing to do with
the band.

A few articles were written that
Blake had a secret drug habit and was finally getting help. One person had the
nerve to find a picture of a fan holding up a sign that read
WE LOVE YOU
BLAKE!
and used that as the header for the online article.

The truth was that Ted had passed
away. The band got back together and took care of all the arrangements, as
promised to Maya, so she could grieve the loss of her grandfather. They had
extra security to keep the paparazzi away from the church and cemetery, allowing
the final services for Ted to be quiet and peaceful. And damn if most of the
people from the diner hadn
’
t
shown up. Paying their respects to Ted, to Maya, and even to Blake. Although
Blake knew he didn
’
t
deserve an ounce of respect for Ted
’
s
passing. He would miss the man though. In his silent last goodbye, he vowed to
take care of Maya for the rest of his life.

I
’
ll never hurt her. I
’
ll never let her go. If
she ever leaves, I
’
ll
chase her to the end of the world a million times just to tell her that I love
her.

After the services, there was a
small gathering with food and some long distance members of Maya
’
s family. They were more
interested in the fact that the rumors of Maya being with rockstars was
actually true.

In honest Asher fashion, he drank
one too many and made an announcement that Gone by Autumn was more of a family
to Maya than everyone there. Maya cried and agreed. That started the end of the
dinner, which was a good thing, because it had lasted two hours too long.

Now they were all back at the loft,
trying to unwind.

Blake sat in a chair, feeling
completely drained. He feared that he
’
d
always look back on the years he missed with Maya and hate himself for it. Then
again, it just meant he
’
d
have to work even harder at making the years they had together count so much
that they
’
d forget about
the years they lost.

In the back of Blake
’
s mind, he thought about that
damn ring again. Maya should have been wearing the ring for a long time now.

“
Hey,
man,
”
Ryan said and patted
Blake on the back.
“
You look
lost.
”

“
I
know where I am,
”
Blake
said.

Ryan sat across from Blake. He
grabbed a bottle of whiskey and opened it.
“
How
was your time at the cabin?
”

“
Exactly
what I wanted it to be.
”

“
That
’
s good.
”

“
Thanks
for taking the guys and leaving,
”
Blake said.

“
I
got you, man. I knew what was going down. You two
…
you two deserve each other. Watching that shit for years
…”

“
I
hope it works.
”

“
No,
Blake, don
’
t hope. There
’
s no hoping. You love her? Then
love her forever.
”

Blake grinned.
“
You going to date that bottle or
pass it to me?
”

Asher pulled up a chair and had a
guitar in his hands.
“
We
’
re not wasting this one.
”

“
Wasting
what?
”
Blake asked.

“
This,
”
Asher said and made a fist.
“
This moment. This empty feeling
in us all. These emotions, man. This is where music comes from.
”

Blake looked at Ryan. Ryan smirked.
“
He
’
s right, man.
”

“
I
’
ll get my notebook,
”
Ryan said.

“
Fuck
yes,
”
Asher yelled.

Ten minutes later, the five of them
had guitars, whiskey, and the loft to themselves to write a song. And damn,
they wrote a song. A deep, haunting, powerful song, led off by a beautiful
picking pattern by Asher, matched an octave higher by Tanner, followed by Gabe
and Blake filling in the gaps with a chord strumming pattern that made the song
whole. Ryan strummed a few chords but left himself lost in the sound.

Something suddenly came over Blake
and he started to offer his own version of whatever the hell was going through
his mind and heart.

How can this empty room feel so
full?

How can this heart and whiskey
push and pull?

How can we take this road, ride
it all night?

How can we finish this all
without a fight?

Maybe not a lyrical genius like
Ryan, but it was enough that Blake ran with it for a good minute before
stopping. Ryan hurried to write it all down and began to do his thing with the
words. Then the five of them started to offer one liners, beautiful and poetic
pieces of lyrics that finally made up what was to be the final version of the
song.

All done in just a couple hours.

When they stopped playing, they all
sat there in silence.

The bottle of whiskey was gone, all
of them feeling really good.

That
’
s
when Sam came into the loft, Maya with him.

Blake took one look at her and
wished he had that damn ring right now. He
’
d
get on one knee
…
he
’
d say it front of everyone in
this room
…

“
Sam!
”
Asher yelled.
“
We have a new one.
”

“
You
wrote a song?
”
Sam asked.

“
We
did,
”
Ryan said.
“
Want to hear it?
”

“
Yes,
”
Maya shouted.
“
Please, yes.
”

Blake smiled.
“
Okay, sweetheart. This one is
for you.
”

Blake counted off, tapping his
guitar pick to the body of the guitar for a four count. Now taking this thing
very serious, the song actually sounded better. Tighter, louder in the parts it
needed to be louder, the solo played by Asher even more haunting than before.

Ryan
’
s
voice was crisp and when the rest of the band sang, it gave a natural reverb
effect that made the chorus even more addicting.

One thing was for damn sure - Gone
by Autumn could still write a good song.

When they finished, Maya wiped
tears from her eyes, and Sam had his hands to his waist, face looking shocked.

“
You
just wrote that?
”
Sam
asked.

“
Just
now,
”
Blake said.

Sam took out his cell.
“
We
’
re
going to the studio right now.
”

“
What?
”
Gabe asked.

“
That
’
s got to get recorded right now.
”

“
Then
we can upload it to the site,
”
Maya said.
“
The new song
…”

“
Are
you kidding me?
”
Ryan
asked.

“
No,
”
Sam said and pointed.
“
Hey, Tommy, it
’
s Sam. Yeah, how are you? Listen
…
I need studio time. Like five
minutes ago. No, I
’
m not
fucking with you
…”

“
It
’
s that good,
”
Maya said.

Blake put his guitar down and
walked to Maya. He scooped her up, spun her around, and kissed her. He loved
the taste of her lips and didn
’
t
care who saw him kissing her. They kissed for a minute or so, and Blake
lingered with his forehead resting to Maya
’
s.

“
You
like the song?
”
he
whispered.

“
I
love it, Blake. I really do. It
’
s
going to be another hit.
”

“
Good.
Something tells me I
’
m
going to be buying a bigger place soon. For us.
”

“
Oh?
”

“
What?
You don
’
t want to live with
a rockstar?
”

“
I
don
’
t know. Can I bring my
stuff?
”

Blake raised an eyebrow.
“
Bring your stuff? Of course. Why
wouldn
’
t you bring your
stuff? It would be our place
…”

“
Fuck,
I love you,
”
Maya
whispered.

They kissed again and would have
kept kissing, but Sam cleared his throat and the kiss came to an end.

“
Sorry
to interrupt here, but we have to go.
”

“
You
got the studio?
”

“
Of
course,
”
Sam said.
“
You
’
re Gone by freaking Autumn. You want studio time,
you got it. You can start recording within the hour.
”

“
Then
I guess we better sober up,
”
Blake said.

“
My
advice?
”
Sam said.
“
Bring another bottle of whiskey.
Let this one be real. Very real.
”

“
Everything
I do is real,
”
Blake said
and grinned.

Sam laughed and walked away.

Blake looked at Maya.
“
Coming to the studio?
”

“
No.
I
’
m going to head home.
Take a shower. Relax.
”

“
You
’
re going to shower without me?
”

“
Don
’
t worry,
”
Maya said.
“
I
’
ll be dirty when you get home.
”

Blake let out a growl and shook his
head.
“
Damn, I love you.
”

“
I
love you,
”
Maya said.

They kissed again
…
and didn
’
t stop until everyone in the room cleared their
throats over and over.

*

Maya loved the feeling that washed
over her when she kissed Blake. Not to mention the lingering butterfly feeling
that left her smiling and looking at the clock, wondering when she would be
able to kiss him again.

She got back to her apartment and
walked to the door, feeling alone. But alone was okay right now. She needed to
sit, think, cry a little more, and then wait for Blake.

When Maya opened the door, she
gasped at the sight before her eyes.

“
Hunter?
”
she asked.

“
Maya.
Hey. Christ, I
’
m so sorry I
couldn
’
t get here sooner.
”

“
Wait,
what?
”

Hunter looked weary. He stepped
forward and took one of Maya
’
s
hands and pulled her close. Maya wiggled away and dropped her bags to the
floor.

“
I
took care of my meetings and left as early as I could.
”

“
Hunter
…
you were in London
…”

“
Now
I
’
m here,
”
Hunter said.
“
I
’
m
so sorry about your grandfather.
”

“
How
did you
…”

“
I
have my ways,
”
Hunter said.
“
Just don
’
t worry about it. I wish I could
have had an earlier flight to get back for the services. Everything go to plan?
”

“
To
plan
…
it was
…
sure,
”
Maya said. She shook her head.
“
Hunter, why are you here? We
were
…”

“
We
had a disagreement,
”
Hunter
said.
“
I know I upset you
when I made comments about my apartment. I shouldn
’
t have spoken like I did to you. I know I came
across like an ass.
”

“
Yeah
…”

“
So
I have an idea.
”

“
Oh?
”

“
I
’
ll buy us a place. You and me.
”