Bound by Song (Cauld Ane Series)

by Tracey Jane Jackson

  “Hi Grace,” Charlotte whispered. “I thought we were Skippering later.”

  “We are. Do you have a minute now?” Grace backed out of her parking spot.

  “Um, yeah, hold on.”

  Grace heard the rustling of fabric and then a click.

  “Okay, I’ve got about five minutes,” Charlotte said. “What’s up? You sound out of sorts.”

  “You’ll never guess what just happened.”

  “Trey freaked out again and wants you back.”

  “Sort of, but there’s more.”

  “What happened?”

  Grace filled her in on the altercation with Trey and Max.

  “Shut up. Maximilian MacMillan is there? Fallen Crown’s Maximilian MacMillan? At church?”

  “Yep, so’s his brother.”

  “Oh, my…Niall’s there too?” she rasped. Charlotte had always had a massive crush on the drummer, even though she wasn’t the biggest fan of the band. She’d found a bootleg of a couple of Niall’s original songs outside of the band, and had been hooked ever since.

  “Yes,” Grace said.

  “Okay. Which one’s cuter? It’s the drummer, huh? He’s cuter.” She sighed. “He is such an amazing drummer, and his harmony vocals are to die for. Yum.”

  “Chuck!” Grace snapped, trying not to giggle.

  “Sorry. But you have to tell me, or I won’t be able to go on.”

  Grace did giggle then, loving how her friend’s dramatic nature could always joke her out of a funk. “Max is cuter.”

  “Nuh-uh, you’re wrong.” Outside of her crush on Niall, Charlotte had a penchant for drummers, no matter which genre of music they played.

  “But seriously, I’m freaking out here,” Grace complained.

  “Charlotte!” someone called in the background.

  “Crap,” Charlotte said. “Sorry, I have to go. I’m a freakin’ princess today, and I have to relieve Britney.”

  “You are? Really? Which one?” Grace asked.

  “Oh, my favorite,” Charlotte retorted sarcastically.

  “Ariel?”

  “Stupid, vapid girl who sells her soul to a witch in order to get a guy,” Charlotte complained…again. “Who would be dumb enough to do that?”

  “Who indeed?” Grace didn’t want to admit she might be dumb enough…if the guy was Max.

  “I’m sorry, Gracie, I have to run, but I promise I’ll call you at eight,” Charlotte said. “We can hash it out properly and ad nauseam then.”

  “Okay, ’bye.” Grace hung up, only to have her phone ring. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Kris. Did Trey really get into it with your new boyfriend?”

  “News travels fast,” Grace grumbled. “Yes. I mean, no, Max is not my boyfriend, but yeah, Trey kind of lost it.”

  “What happened?” Kris asked.

  Grace filled her in.

  “Oh, honey. I’m sorry,” Kristen said.

  “I just can’t figure this guy out.”

  “Max or Trey?”

  “Max. Trey’s blatantly unimaginative,” Grace said. “Max is under my skin, Kris. I like him. I don’t want to. I tried to stop it, but I am a total, complete, and utter failure.”

  Kristen laughed. “In general, or…?”

  “Oh, ha ha,” Grace retorted. “I don’t understand why he’s insistent on getting to know me. He planned his whole tour schedule around meeting me.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “Kind of stalkerish, don’t you think?” Kristen asked.

  Grace nodded. “On paper, definitely, but the weird thing is that he’s not creepy. Not in the least. I feel totally comfortable with him, and for some weird reason I know he’d protect me with his life. It’s so freakin’ confusing.”

  “What are you going to do?” Kristen asked.

  “I don’t know. I have that dumb interview tomorrow, so I need to focus on that.” Grace pulled onto the freeway. “I’m hoping Max will just move on and it’ll be done. It’s hard enough to deal with Trey’s drama. I don’t want to add a narcissistic lead singer to the mix.”

  “Even if he’s like, the sexiest man on earth?”

  Grace groaned. “Especially, if he’s like, the sexiest man on earth.”

  “I wish I had your problems.”

  “You do have my problem! I mean, you have the drop-dead gorgeous man, but the difference is that you get to be happily married and living with said dream man, while I’m stuck being single and dealing with a couple of idiots. I’ll trade you any day.”

  “Speaking of dream men, he just walked in. We haven’t spent any time together this weekend, so I should probably go.”

  “Okay. Have a great night,” Grace said.

  “Oh, I plan to. ’Bye!”

  Grace hung up and tried to focus on her drive home. Her thoughts kept roaming to Max and the effect he had on her. So much so, she missed her exit.

  “Shoot,” she snapped, and took the next off-ramp, flipping a u-turn and heading back the way she came. She needed to get her head out of the clouds. “Baseball. I’ll think about baseball. Touchdowns…no, that’s not right. Dang it!”

  Since sports were not her forte, she forced herself to sing one of the songs from the weekend set-list and managed to arrive home without any further detours. Now, if she could just eliminate Max from her mind forever, she’d be happy.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MAX WAITED FOR Grace’s ex to leave before climbing into his car and taking off. He let out a series of curses before calling Connall. He hated to do it. Hated that he was admitting defeat, but… desperate times and all that.

  “Hey, Max. How did it go with Grace?” Connall asked when he answered.

  “It was shite.”

  “Uh-oh, what happened?”

  Max filled him in on the altercation with Trey, and Grace’s reaction to Max’s defense.

  “Wow,” Connall said. “You’re not kidding.”

  “The bastard put his hands on her. I don’t know what the hell she expects from me.”

  “I think this might be a job for Pepper,” Connall said. “She’s standing here with her hand out for some reason. Why don’t I hand you off to her?”

  “Fine.”

  “What happened to patience?” Pepper asked. Her ability to read her mate’s thoughts meant she didn’t need to be filled in on Max’s failure. “And before you answer that, I get that you weren’t happy about this guy touching her, but honestly, she’s not going to appreciate you going all Neanderthal on her. Cauld Ane men need to calm the hell down and let us mere women fight our own fights.”

  Max frowned. “It’s not like I planned it, Pepper.”

  “I know, but I’d venture a guess that what you did do scared the crap out of her. If you would have controlled your anger, you’d be having coffee with her right now, not trying to figure out how to fix the mess you made.”

  Max hated that she was right. “All right, Mummy, I’ve been adequately scolded. Now, what the hell do I do going forward?”

  “Get her siblings and or the best friend involved,” Pepper said.

  “What do mean?”

  “You get her brother and sister behind you, and she’ll be more inclined to listen. They’re the real fans of the band, anyway, right?”

  “Aye,” Max admitted, irritated again that Grace didn’t fall at his feet.

  “Okay, then. Talk to her sister. Sisters know the best way to irritate or impress each other, so I’d start there. Unless you know her best friend. Does she have one? If she has a “Samantha” in her life, she’d be the one to talk to.”

  “She did seem to be clinging to a woman’s arm when I saw her at the church, but I didn’t get the chance to meet her…or learn her name.”

  “Well, then you’re stuck with her sister,” Pepper said. “But you have to do this, Max. No making Niall be your messenger.”

  He bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You know exactl
y what that means,” Pepper pointed out.

  “Damn it,” he grumbled.

  “Yeah, I’ve figured you out a little more than you think, mister. You may believe Niall is the nicer one, but you’re Grace’s mate. Only you will know what to say in the moment to make it right.”

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  “Oh, I’m never wrong, and I should probably verbally slap you for even thinking that.” Pepper laughed. “But I won’t, because I still love you.”

  He couldn’t stop a smile, even if she’d nailed his plan to use Niall as a buffer. “Fine. I’ll figure it out.”

  “I know you will. ’Cause if you don’t…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. She’ll run.” Max shuddered. The thought of Grace not being in his life was not something he could face.

  “Okay, our time is done. I’ll bill you for the session,” Pepper joked.

  “Thanks, lass. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

  “Do you want to talk to Con again?”

  “No,” Max said. “He’s useless.”

  Pepper giggled. “Not at everything.”

  Max rolled his eyes. “I’m hanging up now.”

  “’Bye.”

  Max hung up and called his brother. He might not be able to use Niall as his own personal Cyrano, but there couldn’t be anything wrong with him helping.

  * * *

  The next afternoon, Grace arrived home from her interview to find the driveway packed. Great. Everyone was home. She’d hoped to escape the barrage of questions, but it would appear that wasn’t going to happen. She guided her car to the closest spot on the street and parked.

  Grabbing her purse and jacket, she made her way to the door. Maybe if she sneaked inside, no one would realize she was home. The rain was falling in sheets again and the temperature had dropped at least another hundred degrees, if the goose bumps all over her body were any indication. Even though she loved the rain, all she wanted to do right now was pour a big glass of wine and take a really hot bath. Her interview had sucked. She knew she’d bombed it, and she didn’t feel like having her family fawn over her right now.

  Grace also couldn’t seem to get Max off her mind. She and Charlotte had sat up talking until well past midnight, and then she hadn’t slept well, which was probably why she’d blown her interview. She was irritable and in an all around “the world is out to get me” mood. She wanted to throw herself a pity party, table for one. She made a mad dash for the front door and pushed it open.

  “Grace? Is that you?” Maggie called.

  “No!” Grace called back.

  Maggie giggled and came into view from the kitchen. “How was the interview?”

  “Don’t ask.”

  “Bummer.” Maggie shrugged. “But, you have to change. You’re going out.”

  Grace hung her coat in the closet. “Um, no.”

  “Um, yes.”

  “Mags, please. I’ve had the crappiest day ever and I just want to take a bath and veg in front of the boob tube.”

  “No you don’t.”

  “Yes I do.”

  “No. You. Don’t.” Maggie grasped her arms. “Trust me. You want to change into something ridiculously hot and come out with me.”

  Grace frowned. “Why?”

  “Because it will cheer you up.”

  “I thought you were sick.”

  “I’m better,” Maggie countered. “Will you just go get into that blue dress that you spent entirely too much money on and get your butt down here?”

  “It’s way too cold to wear that dress!”

  “Trust me. You’ll be plenty warm,” Maggie assured her.

  “Why? What did you do?”

  Maggie shrugged again. “You’ll see.”

  Grace dropped her purse on the floor and advanced on her sister. “Please don’t tell me Trey’s convinced you to trick me into getting into a ridiculously expensive dress so we can bowl or something as inane as that.”

  “No. Trey has nothing to do with any of this.”

  “Then who does?”

  “Grace!” she snapped. “Will you just go change?”

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

  Maggie crossed her arms. “Why do you always have to ruin everything? Can’t I just want to do something nice for my sister without the third degree?”

  Grace felt like a jerk. “Maggie, I’m not really in the mood for anything fun. Can we do it another night?”

  “No. It’s all planned.”

  Grace let out a frustrated squeak. “What’s all planned?”

  Maggie pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head.

  “Seriously?” Grace said with a sigh. “Nothing?”

  Maggie shook her head again.

  “Max.” Grace wagged her finger at her sister. “Max is up to something, isn’t he?”

  Maggie shrugged.

  “Fine. But if I hate it and I want to come home, we come home. Capish? I’ll drive.”

  Maggie grinned and Grace headed upstairs to change. She refreshed her makeup, pulled her hair away from her face with a clip, and pulled on the dress that had cost her almost a week’s wages. Dark blue, it matched her eyes and complemented her fair skin. The sleeveless dress criss-crossed into a pleated V-neck, but wasn’t so deep that Grace’s ample breasts showed too much cleavage. The back of the dress was longer, falling to her calves, while the front stopped just above her knee.

  She’d bought it originally for Kristen’s wedding. Kristen’s only requirement for her bridesmaids’ dresses was the color, so Grace had chosen the one that made her feel the best, and had so many compliments, she’d felt like the prettiest girl in the room next to the bride. She hadn’t had another chance to wear it, and she had to admit, she felt beautiful as she put on her matching twenty-dollar shoes.

  She made her way downstairs where Maggie still stood by the front door. “You look hot, sissy.”

  “Thanks,” Grace said, a little impatiently. “Now what?”

  Maggie opened the door. “Now you’re gonna go with this nice man and you’re gonna be super polite.”

  Grace leaned forward to see who Maggie was looking at. A large, smiling man with a chauffer’s cap and an umbrella waited on the porch. “Ma’am.”

  Grace narrowed her eyes at her sister. “I thought you and I were going out.”

  Maggie grinned. “I’m sick, remember?”

  “Margaret Marie—” Grace cocked her head. “What is Max planning?”

  Maggie “locked” her lips and dumped the key.

  “For the love.” Grace rolled her eyes and shrugged into her coat. “This better not be a waste of time, or you are so gonna owe me.”

  Maggie giggled again and waved her hand toward the open door. Grace stepped outside and the driver held the umbrella over her and ushered her to the Towncar. He opened the car door and waited for Grace to slide inside. She buckled her seatbelt as he made his way to the driver’s seat.

  “I’m your driver for tonight, ma’am,” he said in a thick Scottish accent. “Me name’s Bruce and should you need me, you just have to ask.”

  She met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “What if I want to come home?”

  He turned to face her. “I’ll bring you home.”

  Grace raised an eyebrow. “Even if it’s five minutes after we arrive at wherever you’re taking me?”

  “Aye. I’m at your beck and call, lass. No one else’s.”

  “Oh.” She bit her lip. “Thank you.”

  Bruce started the car and they headed off toward Portland. Grace couldn’t imagine what Max might have in store for her, but her heart beat just a little faster. Once they crossed over the Morrison Bridge and headed north up Fourth, she had an inkling where they were headed. Sure enough, Bruce took a left on Pine and drove straight into the underground parking.

  Grace’s absolute favorite restaurant in the world was located atop this high-rise building, but it was one reserved for special occasions due to the price. S
he wished she’d worn a looser-fitting dress now, knowing her tendency to overeat when she was here.