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She tilted her head. “And you still want to do this?”
“I have to.”
“I don’t think Collin’s going to see it that way.”
“He has a home, a family, a future. He can see the world however he wants to.” I gestured around us. “I have this, a backpack that holds my few belongings, and a minimum-wage job. I don’t have options.”
“Addy, maybe—”
“I need to clock in for work.” I interrupted because I didn’t have time to entertain maybes. “And Rach needs to get out of here to be ready for sound check before the others arrive.”
Miranda lifted her chin to a stubborn height. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Not today.” Knowing how persistent she could be, I said, “My shift goes to two thirty in the morning. After everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours and no sleep, my brain is mush.”
“Tomorrow then,” she said. “I’ll come here.”
“No, I’ll meet you.”
I didn’t want anyone in the band to follow her to our hiding place. Plus, this was Martin’s domain, and I wanted to learn all I could about him without him possibly overhearing.
“Where?” she asked.
I gave that some thought. There was a deserted playground by the garage where Barry worked, so I gave her the address.
Thinking of my other best friend, I knew he was going to give me as hard a time as Miranda had for the choice I’d made. But I couldn’t focus on their displeasure.
A lot of unpalatable things had to be done when your world imploded.
Teresa McCarthy, Martin’s manager, was nice. A single mom, she worked hard.
On my first day, I shadowed her for hours. She trained me hard and had loads of practical experience she was willing to share. Grateful, I soaked up everything like a sponge. I almost forgot who I was working for and what a nosedive my life had taken until the early evening when I felt the dynamic inside the partially filled club shift.
I lifted my gaze, and it stalled on his.
Collin had arrived, and he was mad, his storm-cloud gray eyes blazing at me. The heat of them seared me, even across the length of the room, so much so that I barely noticed Andy at his side. I’d never seen Collin so angry, not even after he saw my mom slap me.
“You okay, honey?” Teresa asked.
“No.” I shook my head.
I wasn’t okay, and I realized in that moment that I hadn’t been for a while. I’d just been in denial, pretending the warning signs weren’t there. But they were there with my mother being the way she was, and with my very talented boyfriend. Collin’s band was destined to get picked up by a label. I was the one destined to be left behind.
Staring blankly at Teresa as I processed all that, I watched her lips move, not registering what she said.
“Whoa.” Teresa touched my hand, and I realized belatedly that the drink I’d been pouring had overflowed.
“Shit!” Righting the vodka bottle, I grabbed a bar towel.
“It’s okay.” She tugged the towel from my grip, mopped up my mess, and tossed the towel aside.
“I’m sorry.”
Her eyes warm, she said softly, “No worries.” She covered my hand with hers. “I don’t know why he wants you to learn how to mix drinks when you’re not even old enough to serve them.”
“Martin wants me to learn everything.” The list of typed instructions for my training he’d given her was two pages long.
“He’s very thorough.” She seemed almost afraid to speak his name for fear it would conjure him. “That your boyfriend?”
