Daisy and the Front Man (Entangled Crush) (Backstage Pass)

by Purdy, Rebekah L.

  Today was the anniversary of his death.

  Her eyes welled, and she sat down on the grass in front of his headstone.

  “Oh, Grandpa, things are so messed up right now. I don’t even know what to do,” she cried. “If you were here, you’d help me—you wouldn’t let me fall apart like this. I miss you so much—I keep thinking I’ll get used to you being gone and that it’ll get easier, but it doesn’t.”

  She scrubbed her palms across her face to wipe away the tears. The wind tugged at her hair as if someone had gently stroked it. “I wish you could tell me what I need to do.”

  But the dead don’t answer back, something Daisy learned after many trips to her grandpa’s resting place.

  “Wondered if I might see you here today,” a deep voice said.

  Daisy turned her head to see Slim, one of her grandpa’s old bandmates. His cocoa-colored skin was more weathered than the last time she’d seen him. But he still stood tall and thin as a cattail reed.

  “Hey, Slim.” She stood and wiped off the shorts she’d been wearing since yesterday.

  He set a bouquet of flowers in front of the headstone and laid a piece of piano music next to it. Then he turned back to Daisy. “It doesn’t get any easier, does it?” His voice cracked with emotion.

  “No.”

  “Come here, Daisy girl.” He hugged her tight, smelling like fabric softener and sweet pipe tobacco. “Did you come by yourself?”

  “Yeah.” She definitely didn’t need him finding out she’d run away from Nashville. “I wanted to make sure to get out here today to visit him.”

  “Me, too. Say, I bet Rosa would love to see you. Would you like to come over for some lemonade and zucchini bread?”

  “Sure.” She picked up her bag from the ground.

  Slim glanced at it but didn’t say anything, which made her wonder if he knew she wasn’t supposed to be here by herself.

  They drove a short distance and parked in front of a large white house, surrounded by a faded blue picket fence. A small flower garden greeted them as they swung the gate open and went up the walkway.

  “Hey Rosa, look who I met up with,” Slim said, setting his keys on the counter.

  The scent of baked goods filled the air, and Daisy’s stomach growled. A plump black woman hurried forward. Rosa wrapped her arms around Daisy. The woman’s hair was pinned up in a gray bun, and her flowered dress swished at her calves.

  “Daisy Morris, you’re even prettier than you were the last time I saw you. How you been, girl?”

  “Good. I’ve been working at the record shop and will be starting my senior year this fall.”

  “Senior year already? It seems like just yesterday that Gerald was holding you on his lap, playing piano in our music room.”

  She smiled at the memory. “Yeah, Mom’s having a hard time with it.” Which reminded her, she should probably call her today.

  “I can imagine. Now why don’t you have a seat, sweetie, while I get you some lemonade?”

  Slim joined her at the table. “You know, Jive Times Five is getting together for a reunion and tribute concert in the park this week. We could use a good piano player.” He glanced at her. “Would you be interested in filling in for your grandpa?”

  Daisy’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Couldn’t think of anyone else who could play our songs as well as you.”

  “Well, you know I can’t sing, right?”

  “Ah, you don’t need to sing—you’ll just need to play. We’ll do mostly our music, but we thought we’d throw in some modern things, too, to keep the younger audience entertained.”

  “I’d love to,” she said.

  “So are you and your mom back in town? I thought she mentioned you two being gone this summer.” Slim asked.

  “No, I actually took a bus over. I’ve been visiting my dad.” Maybe she should have lied and told him yes, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to not tell him the truth.

  “Hmm… Well, do you have a place to stay or are you going back to your house?”

  Somehow she had a feeling he knew she’d taken off. “No, I kind of forgot my house key when I left earlier, so I can’t get back in.”

  “Then you can stay on with Rosa and me. We still have the guest rooms made up for company. That’ll give us time to practice with the guys over the next day or two.”

  Was this her grandpa’s way of trying to make things right? A sign that she was supposed to be here, with Jive Times Five? She wasn’t sure, but she felt a calm wash over her. She was back in Michigan, back home, where she belonged.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Okay, so let me get this straight. What you’re telling me is, you stood Daisy up last year,” Carly said.

  “Kind of.”

  “There is no kind of about it. Either you stood her up or you didn’t.”

  “Look, I knew I was supposed to have a date with a girl who won a contest. LJ showed us a picture of her. But right before the date, he pulled me aside and said she’d canceled because she had a boyfriend, and now I had to go to the VMAs to present an award with the rest of the band. He said we’d send her a signed headshot. I had no idea that maybe LJ had lied. Everything is a fucking mess.”

  “Um—language!” Carly said. “Okay, back to Daisy. So after you stood her up or whatever, she then broke your heart to get you back, and it’s now all over social media?”

  “Yes.” Trevin didn’t need the reminder. His eyes burned from lack of sleep the night before. If he could just get Daisy out of his head…

  “But I’ve seen some pictures of you two together, and you both looked happy. Like, genuinely happy for real. And that isn’t something easily faked, especially if you don’t know when the photos are going to be snapped. So what happened in between all this stuff?”

  Trevin told her about Daisy’s dad catching them on the bus and how he didn’t even see her the next day.

  “Okay, stop right there. You made out with her then you didn’t talk to her afterward? Trevin, seriously? Are you that big of a douchebag?”

  “Um, aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

  “You just told me you were supposed to hang out with her the next day and never showed, and you didn’t call to tell her something came up. No wonder she freaked out on you. You stood her up for a second time after practically having sex with her.”

  Trevin’s face burned. “That wasn’t my fault. We had to go to the recording studio. We were supposed to be back on time—but LJ forced us to go to some fashion show. By the time I got back, it was too late to bug her, and when I went to her room the next morning, she wasn’t there. Fuck. I am an asshole. I should’ve tried harder. I should’ve asked one of the bodyguards for a phone or something.” When had he become the world’s biggest douchebag? Why hadn’t he done more to get ahold of her? This sucked. He hated feeling like this. Feeling miserable for hurting her. Miserable for being the one person who’d let her down, after promising he wouldn’t. And he’d done it twice. Maybe not on purpose, but it’d still been his fault.

  “Yep.” She took out her cell.

  “What are you doing?” Trevin glanced at her.

  “Pulling up the video.”

  “Look, I’ve already watched it once.”

  “Trust me, okay?” Carly said. Once she got the video downloaded, she scooted closer to Trevin and hit play.

  He cringed as he watched Daisy’s face crumple on her porch after he unintentionally stood her up. The pain and anguish he’d put her through. It made his heart hurt. He never would’ve intentionally done this.

  “I hate seeing her like this. Can you shut it off?”

  “Don’t you understand? After you ditched her for homecoming and again for the fifties night, on top of her catching wind of the bet, she had every right to want to get back at you. In her eyes, you deserved it.”

  “I know.”

  “But just because she lashed out at you doesn’t mean she di
dn’t have feelings for you. A girl doesn’t get that upset if she doesn’t care.”

  He leaned against the recliner, his sister perched on the couch across from him. Miles sat at the table eating room service pancakes. “So what do I do?”

  “Well, do you like her?” Carly asked.

  “Yes, a lot,” Trevin whispered. “Maybe more than a lot…” Was it true? Did his feelings go beyond like? Was that why thinking she’d betrayed him hurt so much? Damn, he was dense. Why hadn’t he noticed before? He hoped he wasn’t too late.

  “Then pull your head out of your ass and get her back before it’s too late.”

  “Your sister’s kind of bossy, mate,” Miles said from the table.

  Trevin snorted but hopped to his feet. He had to go find Daisy. They needed to talk—the sooner the better. “You didn’t have to live in the same house with her growing up.”

  Right then, Beau busted in the door, eyes frantic. “Is Daisy here?”

  “No, I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon,” Trevin said.

  “She’s not in our suite. Her phone is on the bed, and most of her clothes are on the floor. But her backpack is missing and so is her purse.”

  Trevin hopped up and tugged on his tennis shoes. “Don’t panic, I’ll run to the coffee shop and record store to see if maybe she went down there this morning.”

  “I don’t think she did. Her pillows were on her bed under the blankets, to make it look like she was there. Shit, I’m damn father of the year. I yell at my daughter, I never see her, and now I’ve lost her.”

  “Beau, just calm down. I’ll call you if I find her.” Trevin hurried toward the door, Carly on his heels.

  “Wait, have DeMarcus take you in the Suburban; it’ll be easier for you to get around without a mob of girls chasing you.”

  “I’ll help you look,” Carly said.

  Trevin had a pit in the bottom of his stomach. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.

  Their first stop was the coffee shop. He hurried out of the vehicle, DeMarcus close behind. When he got inside, Trevin pulled out his phone. “Has this girl been in here today?”

  The barista stared at him with wide starstruck eyes, but managed to finally speak. “No, she hasn’t been in.”

  Several girls sitting in the café pointed in his direction.

  “Thanks.” He frowned, hurrying back to the car.

  “Don’t worry just yet, we’ve still got the record store.” Carly wrapped a hand around his arm and gave it a squeeze.

  They drove across the way and parked in front of the store. Again, his bodyguard rushed him inside, standing at the entrance to keep an eye out for rowdy fans. A bell above the door rang as they made their way inside. A wrinkled woman looked up from the counter. “May I help you?”

  “I hope so, ma’am. I wondered if you’ve seen this girl today?”

  The woman took his phone from him and smiled. “Not today, but she was in here yesterday. She bought a Jive Times Five record—”

  “Do you know what time?” Trevin asked.

  “It was before noon. Is everything okay?”

  “She hasn’t been seen since last night.”

  The woman gasped. “Oh, she was such a nice girl. I’ll ask around to find out if anyone else has seen her. I know a few other store owners on the street.”

  “Thank you.” Trevin’s hands trembled. What if someone picked her up or kidnapped her? Or what if she’d gotten lost or hurt? Panic raced through him. By the time he and Carly came out of the shop, there was already a small crowd gathered around, asking for autographs. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry today. I’ll try to catch up with everyone tomorrow.”

  They finally pushed their way into the SUV and headed down the block. When they got back to the hotel, Trevin found Beau waiting with Miles in their room. “She wasn’t there. But the lady at the record store said she saw her yesterday. She bought one of her grandpa’s records.”

  As Trevin sat there, he realized today was the anniversary of her grandfather’s death. He rubbed his temples. This video and her hearing about the bet couldn’t have surfaced at a worse time. And she was alone, facing everything by herself. Her grandpa’s death. Their breakup.

  He wanted to be with her. No. He needed to be with her.

  “We have to find her. What if something happens? I’ll never forgive myself,” Beau said.

  “Look, we can go out again, maybe fanning across the city.” Trevin ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.

  “No, you have a concert; you need to be boarding the bus in the next hour. I’ll stay behind and talk to hotel security, see if they can pull some of their recordings from their cameras between last night and this morning.”

  “If you want, I can put some stuff out on my social media sites and have our fans help locate her. If we get her picture out there, maybe someone will have a lead for us,” Trevin said.

  “I tried the police department already, and they told me she hasn’t been missing for more than twenty-four hours so they can’t do anything. And if she left voluntarily they’re even less likely to get involved. Shit.”

  A wave of helplessness rolled over Trevin. This was a nightmare. Beau left the room again, and Trevin collapsed on the couch. “Why the hell am I so worried about her? She broke my heart.”

  “Well, if you want my opinion,” Carly said, “you’re in love with her.”

  A hiss of air left his lips. Was it possible after such a short time? But when he closed his eyes all he saw was her—that perfect smile that lit up her face, the way her nose crinkled when she thought the guys were being gross… He could read every look she gave him. He loved the way her hand fit in his, the way he could be himself around her. And she opened up to him, letting him witness a part of her that he doubted many people got to see.

  Carly was right. He couldn’t imagine being away from her, and that scared the hell out of him. Daisy Morris had stolen his heart—and now she was gone, missing. He had to find her. He had to get her back.

  …

  Slim, Foxy, Merle, and Lawrence surrounded the piano as Daisy played. Her head bobbed back and forth as she got into the jazzy sounding doo-wop song. Slim’s bass voice filled out the bottom notes as Merle hit the upper register. It was strange sitting in her grandpa’s place, with his band. Once upon a time he played in this very seat. For the first time in a long time, Daisy felt closer to her grandfather—almost like she could reach out and touch him.

  Foxy shuffled his feet back and forth as he did one of the dance moves. He was larger than Slim, his dark skin the color of brewed coffee, his hair gray. Lawrence’s knotted white hand held tight to his cane as he rocked back and forth. Both he and Merle had shrunk some over the years and now were only a few inches taller than Daisy.

  She let the rich sound of their voices surround her like molasses. Thick and sweet. She loved it.

  “All right, let’s take a quick lunch break, and we’ll rehearse some more after that,” Slim said.

  “You guys sound even better than I remember,” Daisy said.

  “That’s because we have a great piano player.” Merle messed up her hair. “You definitely got your grandpa’s genes.”

  Right then the phone rang. Rosa got up to get it. “Hello. Hi Sue, yes, Daisy is here. She got in a little while ago. Yes. Of course you can talk to her.”

  How had her mom found her? “Hello?”

  “Daisy, thank God you’re okay. Your dad called me in Italy to tell me what happened and that you’d left. Honey, why didn’t you call me? You can’t be running all over the country by yourself.”

  “Sorry, I—I just had to get away. Everything’s so screwed up right now.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” her mom’s soothing voice asked.

  So Daisy broke down and told her everything. From trying to get back at Trevin to the whole video fiasco. She told her about him learning one of her grandpa’s songs to play for her and about all the fun things she’d d
one with him.

  “Oh sweetie, I’m sorry this happened. But listen to me, after talking to your dad, I don’t think Trevin knew about homecoming. Your dad said that their manager LJ told him you’d canceled.”

  “What? Are you sure?” If what her mom said was true, it’d change everything. It made sense, after all; it’d explain why he had no recollection of her whatsoever. And the letter she’d received with the headshot hadn’t even been signed by hand.

  “That’s what your dad said. So maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet. Look, Daisy, you’ve always had trust issue with guys. And that’s partially my fault.”

  “Mom, no, it’s not.”

  “It is. I know a lot of your fear of commitment comes from your dad not being around and Grandpa dying. The thing is, your dad stayed away because of me. W-when your dad was overseas, I had an affair with one of the doctors I worked with.” Her voice cracked, and even though she was half a world away, Daisy could tell she was crying. “I—I don’t know why I did it. But with your dad gone so much I got lonely, and I needed someone. It wasn’t easy raising you by myself, and I was so alone. Your dad came home early from his deployment and caught me. I—I’d hurt him so badly that he didn’t want to come around.”

  Daisy’s throat constricted. “Mom? How could you have done this? Not just to Dad, but to me? I—I spent almost my whole life believing Dad didn’t want me. And here it’d been you all along.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. But I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want you to hate me for cheating on your dad. He loves you very much, but I didn’t make things easy for him to come around. And I was scared that if you learned the truth, you might not want to be with me any longer. So sometimes when he called or sent you stuff, I didn’t tell you.”

  Daisy squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t understand how you could keep this from me? H-how you could lie to me for all this time.” She squeezed the phone so tight that her hands shook.