Into the Deep 02 Out of the Shallows (29 page)

He gave me an apologetic half smile. “Sorry. I needed some air.”

My gaze sharpened, processing the hint of melancholy in the back of my friend’s eyes. “You okay?”

He nodded, swallowing a pull of his beer.

Taking a stab in the dark, I said, “You thinking about your dad?”

Beck’s eyebrows drew together. “He’s been on my mind a little lately. Did Lowe tell you we have a small label interested in us?”

“Yeah.”

“Did I ever tell you my dad was in a band?”

“You told me he was a musician, but I thought he wrote jingles and stuff.”

He shot me an unhappy smile. “Yeah, but that’s not how he started out.” He exhaled, turning so his back was flat to the wall. He stared up at the sky like I had only moments before. “Dad was in a rock band in his early twenties. For a while it was the most important thing in his life—until he met my mom. But then the band got signed to a small label in San Francisco and they started touring.” He stopped talking, his eyes meeting mine, something heavy and grim in their depths. “He loved my mom but the tour killed her love for him. This was a guy who moved us to Chicago when the band was on break because Mom got a teaching opportunity he didn’t want her to pass up. And he loved San Francisco. It was like losing an arm to leave that place. He loved her, though, simple as that. But then the band starting touring again and Mom couldn’t take it.” I suddenly realized that look in Beck’s eyes was desperation. “They argued whenever he was home. She accused him of cheating but my dad was adamant up until the end that he never screwed around on her. She didn’t believe him, and she hated the rock-star lifestyle. So she left him.” His voice cracked. “She left him and even when he left the band for her, she wouldn’t take him back. He stayed in Chicago to be close to us, started working for advertisers and stuff like that. And he turned to alcohol.”

I didn’t know what to say, it was so heartbreaking. “Beck…”

His eyes burned into me suddenly. “I don’t want that to happen with Claudia. My music means a lot to me, but I don’t want to lose her because of it.”

I was stunned. Shocked even. I had no idea Beck had these thoughts running through his head. “It won’t. Claudia loves you.”

“Yeah, and my mom loved my dad. But all the girls… I’ve not been a saint, so Claud will have that in the back of her mind all the time. And you see what it’s like.” He gestured toward the bar. “If by some miracle The Stolen actually got signed, touring would change everything. I’d have crazy girls trying to get into my pants all the time, and I have a smart girlfriend who knows exactly what goes on in these tours. How much of that do you think Claudia could take? I would never cheat on her,
ever
, but it would drive me crazy thinking of just one guy who wanted her and kept coming on to her, never mind hundreds. You’re not telling me she wouldn’t feel that way too eventually.” He leaned in to me, his voice low with emotion. “Somehow the most miraculous person I ever met in my life has spent most of her life feeling unloved and neglected. She deserves to feel like no girl in the world could ever come close to her. I want her to feel that way every fucking day, and I can’t do that if I’m on tour.”

“Beck, what are you saying?” I gasped. “Are you thinking about quitting the band?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I applied to grad school at the same time as Jake and I got in. He’s the only one who knows.”

I pushed off the wall to face him. “Beck, you have to talk to Claudia before you make a decision. She knows how much The Stolen means to you and if she thought for one second you were thinking about throwing your dream away because of her, she’d—”

“Have a shit fit,” he interrupted dryly. “I know.”

“You have to give her a chance to prove that she can do this for you. Look at her in there.” I pointed to the bar. “She handles those girls fine. Somehow, out of all the craziness and all your conquests and dragging your feet about the two of you, she’s actually pretty secure about you. Beck, she knows that you love her. Give her a chance. She might surprise you.” I grinned. “She’s been surprising me since the day we met.”

Beck gave me a small smile but that darkness in his eyes hadn’t dissipated. “We could try it, and it could all work out. But there’s a fifty percent chance that it won’t, and she means too much to me to risk losing her.”

“Beck, we’re not talking about a small thing here—we’re talking about you giving up your career,” I reminded him, feeling more than a little overwhelmed for him.

He raised his eyebrows. “Right,” he agreed. “It’s called sacrifice or compromise or whatever you want to name it. It boils down to one thing—what we’re willing to give up for the people we love. I thought you of all people would understand, Charley. You gave up the academy for your parents. And I get it, I do.
They
are what matters. What’s the point in the memories I’ll have of touring if at the end of my life, Claudia isn’t by my side? What’s the point if the person I love the most never made enough memories with me to make me feel okay about my life coming to an end? My dad had no one in the end. I don’t want that to be my story too. You understand that, right?

“You’ve put the academy on the back burner because you know that you being a cop could potentially make your parents’ lives worse. And you love them so if they’re not happy, you’re not happy. Other people can say whatever the fuck they want. They can say there has to be a line, that you have to chase your dreams, other people be damned.” He slumped against the wall. “But I get it.”

“You do?” I whispered.

“Yeah. The people we love are one of our dreams too. Sometimes you just can’t chase them all. So you’ve got to choose.” He shot me a sad smile. “A guitar won’t keep me warm at night, so something’s got to give.”

I slumped against the wall too. I was confused for Beck, worried for him, but at the same time, I got him and he got me. I suddenly didn’t feel so bad about putting a halt to the whole police academy thing. “They never told us it would be like this,” I grumbled.

“What?”

“Adulthood.”

Beck sighed. “Nope. They certainly did not.”

“Do you still believe that something awful will happen to your sister if you were to resume a relationship with Jake?” Dr. Bremner asked.

I shook my head firmly. “No. I think you were right to begin with. I think that the anxiety I was feeling over the breakdown of my relationship with Andie and my parents’ disapproval amplified that fear that if I broke my grief-stricken pact, Andie would pay for it. It’s taken me a while but the stifling weight is gone.”

“But you still have moments where it affects you?”

“When I think about my future and whether Jake is a part of that future, I won’t lie. The thought flits across my mind, but I squash it with rationality. It’s like a little mantra. I give myself a talking-to.”

Dr. Bremner nodded. “That’s excellent progress.” She shut her notepad. “So what about Jake? Do you think you’re ready to face him and make a decision about your relationship?”

My uncertainty took hold as it always did when thinking about that. “Jake told me that he thought we needed a chance to start over without our past clinging to us. I’m still not sure that’s true. We failed to trust one another in times when we really needed each other most. I’m not sure what that says about us as a couple.”

“So you don’t agree with Jake that circumstances interfered? You don’t think he’s right when he said that if your parents and Andie hadn’t been so disapproving of your relationship, he would’ve been by your side through your sister’s accident and through all the issues you’ve been dealing with these last few months?”

“I think he would’ve wanted to be.”

“The question is would you have wanted him to be?”

“Well, yeah, he was my boyfriend.”

Dr. Bremner smiled softly. “Then wouldn’t that make Jake right?”

“Okay, now you’re just confusing me.”

I’d been thinking about Jake constantly, now that everything else seemed to be falling into place. It was time to work out the best thing to do. My conversations with Dr. Bremner would probably be moving along a lot faster if my true feelings weren’t so inhibited by the memory of both Jake and my actions since we’d met at Alex’s party all those years ago.

I had to decide whether I could forgive the folly of our youth and bet all my money on the wisdom of our experiences in the hopes that third time around, we’d do it right.

But all my hedging was brought to a halt by Jake’s last email.

Charley,

I can’t write you anymore. One way or another, we have to move on. I thought these emails were the best way to keep you in my life, but they started to feel empty weeks ago.

I just want us both to be happy, and we’re not going to find that in these emails.

I miss you. I miss you so much, it kills me.

But I can’t go on that way forever. There will never be a day that passes that I won’t miss you, but I know that I have to get back to the days where the pain is dulled enough I can live with it.

I told you to find yourself and when you were done to come find me.

Well, you found yourself and I’m guessing I’m no longer a part of that equation, and that’s okay. All right, it’s not okay, but I understand.

I guess I’ll see you at Claudia and Beck’s wedding in a few years. By then I think we might be able to share a smile, maybe even a drink, without it hurting like fuck.

Don’t write back.

Just be happy.

Jake

There was no way to get that email out of my head. I had the words memorized.

They broke my heart.

“What’s with the sad face?” Beck said as he walked in, Claudia on his heels. I looked up from the kitchen counter where I’d been standing, staring off as I replayed Jake’s email over and over in my mind.

Seeing Beck was a constant reminder of his best friend.

“Uh, this?” I pointed to my face as I threw him a fake grin. “You’ve got your emoticons upside down, mister.”

Beck smirked at Claudia. “Do you think we could make money off her smart-assery? Put her in a sideshow?”

Claudia frowned at me in concern. “Are you still killing yourself over Jake’s email?”

Beck’s face immediately closed down at the mention of his best friend. Although we were friends, and our talk outside The Brewhouse had definitely strengthened that friendship, it didn’t mean Beck was any happier with me regarding Jake. However, it was something he didn’t push me on, just like I didn’t push him to talk to Claudia about his future with the band. He was still musing over what he would do.

Still, I didn’t want Beck to think I was a total bitch, and I didn’t want Jake to, either. I got the impression from his email that he might be starting to hate me for real. It occurred to me—if I was honest with Beck, then perhaps that honesty might find its way back to Jake.

“Yes,” I said. “It was just so final.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Beck said tightly.

Claudia punched the top of his arm. “No, it’s not,” she argued.

“It is for Jake.” Beck refused to be cowed. He shot me a look. “I’m sorry, Charley, but he’s been waiting around for you for a whole fucking year now. He needs to let go and you need to let him go.”

“She loves him, you jackass.”

“Babe,” Beck tried to placate her, “I think
you
need to let go of this particular hope.”

“I do love him,” I cut off whatever scathing reply Claudia was about to shoot back. “But I finally feel like I can breathe for the first time in a year and I’m scared that everything will get crazy again if Jake and I got back together.”

That shut them both up.

Beck’s gaze softened and he leaned across the counter. “It’s always going to be a little crazy. You can’t control this shit.” He shot Claudia a sardonic look and said, “Believe me.”

She rolled her eyes at him before turning back to me. “Charley… you’re going to lose him for real if you don’t make a move. And what happens if you bump into each other at U of C next fall? What if you have to endure watching him with another Melissa? Can you handle that?”

“Wait.” Beck shot up from the counter in surprise. “You’re going to Chicago for law?”

I nodded, feeling a little sheepish that I hadn’t told Jake or the guys.

“And you knew?” Beck asked Claudia. “This will kill Jake. You can’t go to the same school unless you’re together. It’ll majorly fuck with his head.” He slumped down onto a nearby stool looking suddenly exhausted. “Okay, we have to fix this.”

“How?” I said, feeling a little frantic.

Beck studied me a moment. “Do you really love him?”

“Yes.”

“Are you willing to lose him?”

I bit my lip, knowing that despite the fear inside me, there really was only one answer to that question. “No.”

Beck grinned. “You got any money?”

“For what?”

“As we speak, Jake is on a plane to Europe for spring break with Luke and a couple of Luke’s friends. Luke thought he needed to get away for a bit.”