“He is,” she said. “He’s had some legal trouble with a fan, and he hired me to help him with restraining orders and stuff.”
Phoenix looked at her while the windshield wipers went back and forth on the window in front of them. “That’s actually a great setup, Mia. Did you think of that, or did he?”
“I did.” She turned her head to glare at her brother. “And it’s your fault, so stop looking at me like that.”
Phoenix smiled, though Mia didn’t know how that was possible. She didn’t think she’d ever be smiling again. At least it didn’t feel like it right now.
“So you like this guy,” Phoenix said.
“I mean, he’s keeping me in a job.”
“Oh, come on, Mia. It’s me you’re talking to.”
And Karly, Mia thought, a fresh wave of emotion hitting her, coaxing more tears out of her eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “I really like him.”
“He seems to like you too.”
“I think he does.”
“You sound surprised by that.” Phoenix looked at her as he navigated the right turn that would take them to the hospital.
“I kinda am,” Mia said, giving voice to something she’d never told anyone. “I mean, he’s a rockstar. Literally. A huge songwriter—did you know he’s sold over fifty songs to other artists? His songs. His music. His lyrics. They just sing them.”
“I didn’t know that,” Phoenix said.
“Yeah.” Mia nodded into the night, wondering if Declan could sneak into her house so he’d be there whenever she got home. So she could curl into his side and cry when she had to finally be alone.
Phoenix pulled into the hospital parking lot, and this late at night, there weren’t a lot of cars. They dashed through the rain together, and then she let him take the lead as he’d been here before and knew where everyone was waiting.
He took her down the hall and past a couple of waiting areas before turning left. The emergency room sat on this end of the hospital, but he veered into a waiting room long before they got there.
“Mia’s here,” he announced as if she were the Queen of England.
Karly shot to her feet and approached, crying anew. Mia did too, and she clutched her sister close to her, wishing, praying, desperate for something she could do to help her. The baby bump between them felt so hard, and so unyielding, and Mia could only imagine how heavy it was for Karly.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into her sister’s ear. “I wasn’t here, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Karly stepped back and wiped her face. “You’re here now.” She hooked her arm through Mia’s and they joined the rest of the family. She got hugged by everyone, even her father, who miraculously didn’t ask her where she’d been.
“We’re waiting to see the body,” Karly said, and Mia was stunned at how matter-of-factly she could talk about her husband like that. “They said it would just be a few more minutes.”
Mia nodded, her tears refusing to dry up. No one else seemed to be crying, and she hoped they’d just gotten all their emotions out because they’d known for a longer time than she had.
“Mrs. Lydell. We’re ready for you.” A nurse stood there in lavender scrubs, a look of pure compassion on her face. The family stood as a whole, Mia included. “We can only take back a few people,” she said.
“Mom,” Karly said. “Dad.” The three of them moved forward, and Mia watched them go, so grateful her parents were good people. Strong. United. They’d raised their family together, with love. Not everything had been perfect, as Phoenix had spent most of his teen years grounded. Their dad had even nailed his door shut at one time, only to have Phoenix pop it right off the hinges and go to the football game like he wanted to.
But they were a family, and Mia loved them all.
Liam clutched Serenity’s hand, his face grayer than normal, and she couldn’t believe their family had been hit by another tragedy. His wife had died from breast cancer years before, which was quite different from a boating accident. But still just as traumatic.
Mia reached over and touched his other hand. Their eyes met, and she saw the panic in his. “You guys should get back to Kimmie. Where is she?”
“Grams took her,” Liam said.
Serenity looked like she’d been crying, but Liam just looked like he’d developed chameleon blood and wanted to blend into concrete. Jon and Cassie sat with their heads bent together, whispering. And Phoenix sat beside Allegra, both of them silent.
“Where’s Sami?” she asked.
“She and Andy were here a while ago,” Liam said. “I think they went to get food.”
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Sami rounded the corner with her boyfriend, Andy, and they carried bags and bags of food with them. They started passing it around, but Mia didn’t want to eat. She’d had too many chips and guac at the club, and her stomach writhed like she’d swallowed snakes.
She passed the bag on to Phoenix, who took out a hamburger wrapped in shiny paper. He hadn’t finished it before Karly and their parents returned, all of them crying.
More hugging happened, and Mia’s mother said, “We’re going home. There’s nothing else here for us to do tonight.” She never moved far from Karly, except to migrate over to Mia and ask, “Can you stay with her at Grams’s place tonight?”
“Of course,” Mia said. She hated the guest beds at her grandmother’s house, but she did know how to take care of someone. How to bring them meals and make sure they were loved. And frankly, Mia needed that right now too.
She didn’t have a car there, so she took the keys from Karly and got behind the wheel while Karly buckled her seatbelt in the passenger seat. They didn’t speak much on the way to the lane where they all lived, and Mia helped Karly up the steps as if she couldn’t navigate them on her own.
Grams opened the door before they could knock, and she ushered them both inside with the promise of lemon tea. Mia took hers and Karly’s and headed down the hall to the guest bedroom with the big king bed.
“I don’t want the tea,” Karly said, folding down the comforter on the left side of the bed.
“Me either,” Mia said, setting the mugs on the dresser beside the door. She closed the door and faced her sister. “Karly, I don’t even know what to say.”
Their eyes met, and Karly’s eyes welled with tears. There was nothing to say. Mia turned and opened the top drawer of the dresser to pull out pj’s. She handed a set to Karly, who disappeared into the bathroom.
Mia had changed and read through the text string Declan had sent while she’d been at the hospital, and her sister still didn’t come out. She glanced at the door, trying to put herself in Karly’s place. Would she want someone in her face every second?
Definitely not.
Declan had asked how things were going, if the family was okay, what he could do for Karly. Out of all her siblings, Karly had met Declan the most, and Mia relied on her sister’s opinion when it came to her boyfriends.
I honestly don’t know, Mia typed out. And she didn’t. She didn’t know what tomorrow would look like. Didn’t know what Karly needed now, or what she’d need in the future. She knew life didn’t seem to care about fair, and she knew her neck ached. She knew Karly would be having a baby girl by herself in a little under two months.
I’ll bring dinner tomorrow night, he said. I’ll just send it out to your place so no one knows it’s from me.
Mia started tapping out that he didn’t need to do that when the bathroom door opened. “Hey,” she said, standing up. Karly looked fresh from crying, and she embraced Mia. “Come on, sis. Let’s go to bed.”
She helped Karly by holding the covers and tucking her in. After a quick trip to the bathroom and an even quicker text back to Declan—okay. Thanks—she joined her sister in the bed and held her while she cried.
When Karly finally quieted, Mia lay in the dark and prayed that she would be okay. That the family would be okay. And that Mia could help in any way possible.
/> Her thoughts then turned to the wonderful evening she’d had in Chicago—which honestly felt like eons ago—and the man who’d taken her there.
She rolled over and picked up her phone again to see Declan had sent a heart emoji. A smile touched her lips, and she went ahead and sent a couple back to him, along with the words Going to sleep. Talk later.
Then she deleted the entire text string just in case her dad came over while she and Karly were still asleep, and finally—finally—Mia rested.
Chapter Ten
Declan delivered food to Mia’s or Karly’s for a solid week. He never touched a to-go container or saw Mia in person, but he was satisfied with his role.
She didn’t go to the law office that week, and she’d asked him to find her after the funeral. She hadn’t invited him to the funeral, but Declan sat in the back of the chapel anyway, smashed way over in the corner, his hair slicked back and the best suit he owned a little too snug along his shoulders. He’d made all of his friends come so he wouldn’t stand out in the crowd, and so far, his plan was working.
Besides, the Addler’s were upstanding members of the Forbidden Lake community, with a huge resort and cherry orchard that everyone loved. Businesses and banks had closed, and there was overflow seating in three rooms in the church where the funeral was being held.
Declan would easily be able to sneak away, text Mia, and find a moment to see her.
The talks were touching, and the church choir sang beautiful renditions of peaceful hymns. Declan couldn’t help enjoying the service, though a profound sadness seemed to have enveloped the entire community.
But funerals had a special sense of hope to them as well, and that was what Declan chose to focus on. They brought people together. Reminded one another that they weren’t alone. And embodied what it meant to be a family.
Dozens of rows up, the Addler family stood and sang a song from their spots in the pews, and Declan watched Mia’s beautiful face as she sang. He’d never pegged her for a singer, but he swore he could hear her clear soprano as it rang out through the chapel.
He wanted to clap when she finished, but no one else did. The casket was taken out the double doors at the front of the chapel by Mia’s brothers, a couple of cousins, her father, and all of Derrick Lydell’s brothers and his father.
The family followed, and the rest of the congregation stood until they’d all left the building. It was as if the earth itself hadn’t been breathing until that moment, and Declan turned to Jed. “Let’s head out,” he said.
“We’re not going to the cemetery, right?” he asked. Maverick waited for an answer to that too, and Declan shook his head.
“No, let’s ride.” By the time they made it outside to their motorcycles, some people were already in their cars.
“Beach?” Jed asked, strapping his helmet on.
“Yeah,” Declan said, letting Maverick take the lead on maneuvering them out of the parking area and the near traffic jam that had ensued. Declan loved riding a motorcycle, and he owned three of them.
He wasn’t in the club like Maverick, who owned a huge mechanic shop and retail storefront on the south side of Forbidden Lake. But he’d been invited to several BACA events after he’d come out against drunk driving and then women, children, and spousal abuse.
The causes were dear to his heart, and he didn’t need a motorcycle ride or a jacket to prove it. He put plenty of money into the things he cared about, whether that was BACA, his music, or Mia.
Mia.
She seemed to stain his every thought, and he couldn’t believe he’d left town for even a day. He couldn’t even remember what he’d done in all that time, only that he’d thought of her constantly.
The beach didn’t have many visitors, only a couple of people who’d brought their dogs and a Frisbee. The pup was obviously still learning, as he only got the disc about half the time.
Maverick and Jed said nothing, for which Declan was grateful. He didn’t want to explain anything about Mia. He didn’t want to talk at all.
He texted her a couple of times to let her know he was around whenever she needed an escape, but he didn’t hear back from her before night started to fall.
He headed back to town with his friends, where they split ways at the stop sign leading into town. He and Jed continued toward his house, and Declan hung his helmet on his handlebars and went inside his guest house.
Stairway would be back to work just after the holidays, so he still had a little over two months to put his thoughts together for a new album. Then they’d record the album, and it would be out by this time next year. Then touring would start again.
Declan was tired just thinking about it.
“Hello, Declan,” a woman said, and for one glorious moment, he thought it was Mia. But he’d never told her where he lived in Forbidden Lake, and her voice was too…sultry anyway.
He flipped on a light, his adrenaline sending his pulse into near palpitations. An unfamiliar woman rose from the couch. She had hair the color of straw, and it had clearly come from a bottle.
Her eyes boasted way too much black makeup that he supposed some men found attractive. Heck, maybe a younger version of himself. Now, he thought she just looked used and cheap.
“Who are you?” he asked when she didn’t make a move to come closer or say anything else.
“I’m your biggest fan,” she purred, slinking toward him now in that skin-tight red dress.
He held his ground though he wanted to run. “You’re on private property. I’m calling the cops.”
“Oh, don’t do that.” She pursed her lips at him in what he thought was supposed to be a sexy kissy face and put one hand flat against his chest. “I can’t believe you don’t remember me. I do look a bit different I suppose.” She turned on her toe, sending her hair out in waves. “Stacy Keyes, at your service.”
That name had been coming up so much lately, and he was starting to wonder if it was a coincidence or not.
“You left Chicago so fast,” she said with a pout. “But my brother works at the airport, and he got your flight manifest, so I knew where you were.”
“Stalker much?” he said, his anger and impatience making an appearance.
She trilled out a laugh. “Your restraining order expired a long time ago, Dec. Lan.” She licked her lips, and everything inside Declan was turned off. Warnings sounded in his head, and he backed up to get her to drop her hand.
He pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1. “State your emergency,” the operator said.
“There’s a woman in my house,” he said.
“I have you at forty-nine Cherry Stone Lane.
“Sure,” Declan said. “She’s refusing to leave. It’s private property.”
“Does she have a weapon?”
Stacy gave him a grin that looked like broken glass. “I’m going.” She practically skipped out of the guest house and down the steps. Declan fell silent watching her, knowing she was about to become the biggest pain in his life.
“She left,” he said into the phone. “I’m going to see if she took anything.”
“Should I send an officer?”
“You know what? Yeah,” he said. “I want to file a report. And a restraining order. I’m going to call my lawyer too.”
“All right, sir,” the operator said. “We have a car en route to you now. Six minutes ETA.”
“Thanks,” he said, hanging up and turning back to the guest house. He felt…violated that Stacy had entered his space, possibly touched his things. He poked around a little bit but didn’t see anything out of place.
Until he went in the bathroom.
There, on the mirror in the tackiest red lipstick possible, she’d scrawled Look for me at your next concert and kissed the glass.
His blood ran cold, and he took a picture of the mirror with his phone. A quick glance through the bedrooms didn’t show anything out of the ordinary, and he spoke with the officers when they arrived. They also took pictures of the mirror and h
e said he’d come down to the station and file an official complaint against her in the morning.
By the time he locked the front door—which he couldn’t remember doing before the funeral that morning—and looked at his phone, he knew he wouldn’t be meeting Mia that day.
He tried not to be frustrated. After all, he’d gone for what felt like a long stretch of time without seeing her before. No, they hadn’t been happy times. Or even semi-enjoyable days. Sure, maybe some people liked the English countryside, but Declan would take a city over a winding road where cows could delay a man for hours any day.
Tapping as quickly as his clumsy fingers would allow, he told Mia what had happened. And she called.
“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t mean you needed to do it right now.”
“She entered your apartment?”
“House,” he said. “But yes.” It was just so nice to hear her voice. She had that same fire he’d fallen in love with the moment he’d met her, despite her circumstances.
“And you got a picture.”
“Yes, I can send it to you.”
“Yes, please,” she said. Something banged on her end of the phone, and it was several seconds before she said, “Okay, I went into the bathroom.”
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“This is exhausting,” she said. “I mean, we went through this when Liam’s wife died, but I’ve forgotten. And I wasn’t at his side twenty-four-seven like I am now.” She sounded one breath away from a panic attack, and Declan wanted to run to her.
“I’ll come get you,” he said. “We can drive until we find a diner that’s open. Get a milkshake.” He knew Mia adored milkshakes, even in the middle of the winter.
Maybe he was coming on too strong with this woman he couldn’t seem to let go of. Who made him weak and strong at the same time.
Mia still hadn’t answered, and Declan expected her to say no. So when she said, “Okay, twenty minutes at the end of the lane,” and hung up, surprise kept him on the edge of his bed for a moment.
But just a moment. Then he flew into action, grabbing his keys and wallet from the dresser and heading for the door. He grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the couch, and this time, he made sure he’d locked the front door behind him before straddling his bike and hoping he didn’t make too much noise out on the remote road that not many people would be on at this time of night.
Risking It All (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 5) Page 6
