“You’re a lot more relaxed now than when I first met you.”
“We can be more relaxed later, you and I,” he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows at her. Kate laughed and he kissed her softly. “I have empty sheet music that isn’t going to write itself. Am going to get on it,” he said, hugging her once more then walking out of the room.
* * *
The memorial service went off without a problem the next morning. Nick, Kate, the rest of the band, all the security, Mickey, and even the road crew were in the room to watch it. Nick was surprised at everyone being there, especially the road guys because Nick didn’t have much interaction with them. Usually they had things set up when Nick and the band went to do the sound check and were long gone to the next venue before the band even got out of bed in the morning.
Trevor had done an awesome job setting this up. It was held in the chapel at the College of St Mary, on the campus of Oxford. From what could be seen from the camera, it looked like there were over a hundred people in the church for the service.
Nick was quiet before it started, taking in everything that was being broadcast back to them in Minneapolis. There were lilies positioned along the aisle with the pews and at the altar in front of the church was a framed picture of their mother, taken about twenty years ago. Nick could make out Trevor, his wife Shelley, and their four children in the front pew. The rest of the people gathered were a mix of faculty and students, as Trevor had been teaching there over thirty years. He was a big favorite with his students – his English classes were normally full and he had a low dropout rate. Trevor had been appreciative Kate corrected the obituary and had called the newspaper back to add the location and time of the added service.
The vicar gave a moving service. There was not a dry eye in the room with Nick when he had finished extolling the virtues Tessa Marshall had. He talked about her love for her family and had given highlights from her life. As the camera panned through the attendees, Nick suddenly sat straight up, the anger starting to form on his face. Nick got up and went over to the jacket he had hanging up by the front door and pulled his cell phone out of the pocket. He typed something quickly and then came back to sit down next to Kate.
“Nick?” she whispered.
Nick nodded to the screen. “Phillip is in the back row. Bastard,” he whispered back.
As the service ended, the camera showed people leaving and the broadcast faded. Everyone in the room with Nick came over to give their condolences, grip his shoulder, and just show unity with him. Nick continued to sit there, waiting for Trevor to text him back while Kate helped to clear everyone out, including herself, leaving him with his thoughts. The message Trevor sent back simply said “I will handle it” and that was all. Nick didn’t have to wait long as the phone call came within twenty minutes of Trevor’s last text.
“Marshall,” Nick said, answering his cell phone.
“I understand things a lot better now, little brother,” Trevor launched without any other greeting.
“What happened?” Nick asked. “You get into it with him?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Trevor answered. “I’ll give you the unabridged version when I get there Sunday. Shelley finalized everything and I should be in Milwaukee by two in the afternoon.”
“I’ll send Kate to pick you up. I try to stay out of airports as much as possible.”
“I can imagine. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kate and Sam were at the baggage claim at Milwaukee’s Mitchell airport, waiting for Trevor’s flight to arrive. Kate was getting used to either Sam or Mike always being around. Before marrying Nick, security didn’t get clingy until you went to the venue where the show was being held or if you went into town to do something; then they would be close. But with Nick, one of the two men were always nearby, even during downtime at the hotel. After marrying Nick, the extra protection spread to Kate. Nick tried to explain she might be a target for love-struck fans who saw her as a threat. Kate tried to argue things were no different than when she was just his keyboard player, but she lost that fight before it started. If she had a preference, she would choose Sam over Mike, only because she knew him better; Sam always had Brock on her side of the stage, so she was more than covered.
The flight showed on time, so they were casually sitting on a bench waiting. Sam was telling her about his four-year-old daughter learning to play the piano. Kate said that was when she started learning to play and figured out really young it was what she wanted to do when she ‘grew up.’ Working for Nick wasn’t what she had in mind when she was four – she regretted the time lost, not being able to play the classical pieces, but some of Nick’s music was equally as complicated. Things had definitely worked out much differently then she’d imagined as a child.
People started coming down the escalator to the baggage claim and Kate easily recognized Trevor. He looked so much like Nick that it almost was him, although Trevor was not as tall and had a full head of graying hair. She saw him smile and accepted the hug once he got to her. Kate reintroduced Sam to him – she knew he would remember him from when their father passed, but it was habit. Trevor only had one bag and it came off the luggage claim conveyor as one of the first bags. Trevor declined when Sam offered to take it and they walked to the limousine that had been waiting for them.
“Limo service, even,” Trevor commented as they got into the car.
“Get used to it,” Kate said smiling. “It’s either the bus or a limo with Nick. Depends on whether we’re going from the hotel to the venue or the next town.”
“This is going to be so strange for me.”
“It’s something you have to love. The work is too demanding otherwise.”
“So you don’t get a break being married to Nick?”
Kate started laughing. “Not that I’ve noticed,” she told him. “You doing all right? I know it’s been chaos the last few days.”
“It’s getting better,” Trevor admitted. “The excitement of hopping on a plane and coming here is still there.”
“Your bridging the past has done wonders for Nick. It’s been thinning the wall he keeps around himself all the time.”
“So he’s not a bastard all the time?” Trevor asked, teasing her, remembering their phone conversation.
“You get a couple hours free,” she answered, with a smile.
The limo pulled up in front of the hotel and one of the bellmen opened the door to let them out. Sam got out first and put a hand out to help Kate, then Trevor. Kate linked her arm with Trevor’s to help ease his nervousness – the Pfister Hotel was very opulent. It had wood trim all through the lobby and was beautiful to just look at how the furnishings were arranged. There were twenty-three floors and Nick had the entire eighteenth reserved. Once on their floor, Kyle came over, handing Trevor a room key, took his bag for him, and Kate led him over to the large suite the band was using as a general room. Kate opened the door to the room, holding it as Trevor followed her inside.
* * *
Nick stood up and walked over, the two brothers embracing like the world was coming to an end. Kate moved to the couch along the wall to give them space; it seemed like forever before they broke apart. There were two chairs facing the couch and the two men sat down. Kate had a big smile on her face – it was more than obvious this was going to be a good reunion.
“This is really nice, little brother,” Trevor said. “No cheap motels for you anymore.”
“Not in a long time,” Nick answered laughing. In the early days of Nick’s career, there were a lot of not-so-nice motels.
“The part he’s not telling you is the entire floor is reserved,” Kate inserted. “The whole concept of that still blows my mind.”
Nick shrugged. “It’s easier if security doesn’t have a bunch of unrelated people on the floor.”
“It’s still nice,” Trevor confirmed. “How many more nights are you here?”
&
nbsp; “Tonight - we’re headed for Chicago in the morning. That’s only about two hours which means we’ll be leaving late in the morning.” Nick paused for a moment. “So, what happened with Phillip?”
Trevor rolled his eyes. “I never could understand why he was so hard on you. I originally thought it was because Mum doted on you so much, being the youngest and born after we were in our teens. Thought maybe there was some jealousy or something.”
“Wasn’t Mum,” Nick said. “He wanted to be like Dad. His approval was everything.”
“And it wasn’t until our confrontation outside the chapel that I finally understood what it was that drove him,” Trevor said, pausing for effect. “Defiance.”
“Defiance?”
“You would never conform. Dad was always on you about something.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Nick told him, grinning. “You and Phillip were both long gone when Dad and I had our yelling matches. He would’ve kicked me out of the house had I not gone on my own when I turned sixteen.”
“And my mending fences with you, Phillip viewed as an act of defiance because I was standing up for what he thought was wrong. At the service, I pulled him over to an alcove, out of the way. There were over a hundred people there for the service, most of them my colleagues and students; I didn’t want a yelling match with all of those folks around.”
“Somehow I don’t think you managed to avoid that,” Nick answered, his tone slightly sarcastic.
“We didn’t,” he confirmed. “I won’t give you the play-by-play. Let’s just leave it that he said he had no family, now that his mother was gone, and was very vocal about it. I stared him down for about two minutes and walked away without a word.”
“That surprises me, Trev. You were always together against me.”
“But I accepted your defiance against Dad. He’d made it clear he wanted all his sons to finish school and be ‘respectable.’ There was to be no deviance from that.”
“I hated school,” Nick admitted. “I did okay, but I didn’t get the straight A’s that you both got. Mostly because I didn’t care - I knew I wasn’t going to college. Music was all I was interested in.”
“Dad cared, though. And that’s what has been behind Phillip’s anger all these years.”
“I wasn’t lying to you guys when I said Dad and I had worked this out,” Nick said evenly. “He admitted I was dedicated to what I did and that was admirable. Even though I didn’t turn out to be a banker... or worse.”
“Phillip can’t argue your success. He just prefers to hide behind a wall that isn’t there,” Trevor said. “Oh, and I got a text from Shelley before I boarded the plane; seems Catherine packed up and left him.”
“She should’ve done it forty years ago. He’s been a bastard to her since day one. No clue how, or why, she put up with it for so long.”
“You do strange things for love,” Trevor said.
“I won’t argue,” Nick said, holding his hand out to Kate, and pulling her onto his lap. “Sometimes love does strange things for you.” Kate smiled as Nick hugged her against him.
“Well, I do have something exciting to tell you,” Trevor said, smiling as he watched Nick. “The English chair at UCLA is retiring in May. The university offered me the job and I accepted last week.”
“So you’re moving to Los Angeles? That’s fabulous.”
“I was hoping you’d be pleased. I see it as a new leaf in the book of life. I want to be where I have family and it seems California is it.”
“It will be nice having you close; I’ve been a long time without family. You and Kate are all I care about.” Kate whispered something to Nick and he released her, watching her walk out of the room.
“I was hesitant at first. Moving to a new country, new customs and such. I have tenure where I am and it’s a big jump,” Trevor confided.
“I can understand those feelings. But I fell in love with this country as soon as I set foot on it,” Nick declared. “I had to keep a green card here for five years; after that, I was working toward US citizenship because I wasn’t going back to England if I didn’t have to.”
“Shelley and Missy are excited. The other kids don’t want to leave college to come right now, but I figure they will during breaks. At least Jonathan and Alicia will. David has his own apartment.”
“I think it’s great,” Nick said, glancing up at the clock on the wall. “We have about an hour before dinner and I need to take a shower and change for the show. You can hang out here or go to your room – either is fine.”
“I need to call Shelley and let her know I arrived in one piece. Where do I meet you for dinner?”
“Back here,” Nick told him. “Kate left to get ready because it takes her longer. I don’t even try to go in to the city to eat; it simply isn’t worth the hassle when I get recognized.”
“You know, I never really thought about it that way,” Trevor said, walking with him out of the room. “All the success, money, fame, and you’re a prisoner to your hotel room.”
“That about sums it up,” Nick answered smiling. “It’s not quite so bad when I’m not on tour. Kate and I manage to go quite a few places - Los Angeles is a big place. But I still limit where I go there as well.”
“Thanks for having me, Nick,” Trevor said, stopping at his room. “This is going to be a great week.”
“I think so too,” Nick agreed, gripping his arm, then walking into the room next to his.
* * *
Nick, Trevor, and Kate got in a limousine to go to the arena. Sam, Brock, and Kyle also rode in the same car. Sam rarely wasn’t at Nick’s side for a performance and Brock seemed to have adopted Kate as his personal charge, which was fine with Nick. Kyle was there because he was assigned to Trevor. Nick explained to his brother how his shows worked and how security was vital to the process. He explained Kyle’s job and what Trevor could expect. As much as they looked alike, Nick didn’t want any fans to mistake them or have Trevor get into a situation he wasn’t expecting. Trevor, however, didn’t seem pleased with Nick’s arrangements.
“I don’t need a babysitter, little brother,” Trevor commented when Nick finished.
“You’re looking at this the wrong way,” Nick said. “I love my fans but they can mob you in a second and the outcome is never certain if you’ll get out with your skin. The resemblance between us is too great not to have security on you the whole time.”
“It seriously gets that bad?”
“It can, yes. Doesn’t happen much these days but only because I have excellent security. And you’re not going to like this, Trev, but you have no choice.”
Trevor shook his head disapprovingly. “Sounds high-handed.”
“I’ve been doing this for over twenty-five years. A good show is one which goes off without anyone getting hurt and nothing breaking. I can’t always help the equipment but I can keep my people safe. Tonight, you’ve become one of them. It’ll work out for you in the end anyway, because once we get to the arena, my focus will be on the show and this leaves you with someone to show you how things work.”
“It still smacks of babysitting,” Trevor grumbled.
“Call it whatever you want, big brother,” Nick answered with a smile, as the car pulled into the arena parking lot. “Bottom line, it’s my way. No discussion. Ask anyone in this entourage and they’ll all tell you the same thing. I should have warned you before you flew all the way out here, but it’s how things have to go.”
The driver took the car through the underground driveway which allowed entertainers to go inside without any interference from the public. The car pulled up to a single door and the second limousine, with the rest of the band, was right behind them. Security got out of both cars and took over, making sure everyone got out and through the door which led to the dressing rooms. Because they normally got ready at the hotel, Nick didn’t have to maintain a separate one for Kate at any of the venues. As soon as everyone was inside, Nick, Sam, and Mickey left the ro
om as Trevor sat down beside Kate.
“Okay, I concede,” he told her. “The first word on my mind was bastard.”
Kate started to laugh. “You didn’t believe me, did you?”
“I thought you were exaggerating a bit,” he told her.
“He was being nice,” Kate offered. “If my advice is good for anything, Trevor, do what he says. It is not worth the argument... you’re going to lose anyway.”
“I’d never thought of him this way. He’s always been distant around me, but I always attributed it to the fact we didn’t get along, even when he was a kid.”
“Your brother is one-hundred-percent a perfectionist. He knows how he wants things and it is how it will go. Any deviance from this and you start praying his anger won’t be directed at you; there’s nothing worse than Nick being upset with you. I’m not any more immune than anyone else in this band, just because we’re married. Personal and professional are two different things here and the last thing any of us want is to ignite Nick’s temper.”
“Are his fans really as big a problem as he makes them sound?”
“They can be. But Nick has learned a lot in this business over the years. That’s why uses the security he does and why things go his way. Just stay close to Kyle tonight and everything will be fine. Kyle will find you a good place to watch the show and you won’t have to deal with Nick.”
“I’ll do that,” Trevor confirmed. “I’m learning so much about my brother I absolutely never knew.”
“He has his quirks,” Kate answered, smiling. “And, for the most part, things work just fine for us. We don’t disagree often, mostly because we don’t have the ‘normal’ things married couples argue about. Money is definitely not an issue; I have no clue what he’s even worth. Between recording and touring, we don’t have much idle time where anything else could be a problem.”
“Well, after the whole debacle with Phillip, I took the job in the States to put some distance between us. I’m hoping to better this one with Nick.”
“My parents live in Westwood,” Kate told him. “They live in a fairly nice neighborhood about fifteen minutes from the university. If you want, I can have them check if there are any houses in their neighborhood. This will give you some familiar faces because I can guarantee they’ll be happy to meet you. They love Nick.”
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