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Chapter One
“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes,” Billy Lawler said, sounding, for once, completely sincere.
Zach Harper glanced back at him. Billy stood at the wheel of the yacht they were sailing back to Lansing Island, gray hair spiking from the salt spray. He wore an old CloudFest T-shirt and a manic grin.
Billy adjusted course and pointed past Zach. “Home sweet home.”
Zach rolled his eyes and turned back to study the view that lay ahead of the boat. Cloud Bay. A small town on a small island. But it nestled around a very pretty harbor and yes, with the boats that were bobbing around in the sunshine, backed by the town and the hills beyond, it looked like it had been staged for the perfect tourist snap. Cozy. Welcoming. Pity that the reception waiting for him once he set foot back on Lansing might not be quite so friendly.
“Home sweet freakin’ home,” Eli Lawler, seated beside him on the bench below the wheel, muttered.
Zach nodded in agreement. “How long since you’ve been back?”
Eli pushed his sunglasses up his nose. “Couple of years, maybe? I think we had Thanksgiving at Danny’s. When was that?”
“Dude, that was nearly six years ago.”
“Nah.” Eli frowned and shifted his right foot—currently encased in some sort of complicated-looking medical boot—a little. “Can’t be.”
“Not a date I’m likely to forget,” Zach said.
Eli cursed. “Sorry. I forgot.”
That had been the first Thanksgiving after Zach’s dad, Grey Harper—rock god, legend, less-than-perfect father—had died. Danny Ryan, who’d been the guitarist in Blacklight, the band Grey and Billy and Shane King and he had formed over thirty years ago, had insisted on holding Thanksgiving at his place on the island.
He’d probably been thinking that it would be easier on the three Harpers—Zach and his half sisters Faith and Mina—to spend the holiday somewhere less familiar than their own house. But the truth was that Danny’s house was just as haunted with memories of Grey as their own had been. Danny had done his best and all the other Blacklight families had showed up but it had been a subdued holiday. After that, Faith’s mom, Lou had insisted that the four of them get off the island for Christmas. They’d gone to Tuscany, somewhere they’d never gone with Grey. It had been a little easier that way, but still not great.
Grey Harper, hard as he had been to live with at times, left a big hole behind him. He’d also cast a long shadow, musically. One that Zach had been trying to fight his way out from under for nearly ten years now.
Leaving Lansing Island behind had been a first step. He’d spent less and less time here as the years passed.
But now he was back. About to confront some of the things he’d left behind.
Which included Faith and Mina.
“You think they’ll be rolling out the red carpet for you?” Eli asked, staring at the rapidly approaching island.
“Mina might. Think Faith is more likely to set the dogs on me.” Not that he knew whether or not Faith had dogs right now. Grey had collected stray animals, but surely they’d all passed away by now. Mina would have told him if Faith had bought a dog. Of course, Stewie, Mina’s big yellow lab could probably do some damage if he decided he didn’t like someone. Not that Stewie ever did. Zach folded his arms, trying to ignore the growing desire to ask Billy to turn the yacht around and take him back to the mainland. Not an option. So he was just going to have to man up and face his sisters.
“You still haven’t patched things up with her?” Eli said. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“You’ve been a little busy recovering from nearly killing yourself coming off that damn bike of yours,” Zach pointed out. “Didn’t seem like the time to share.”
“I don’t know,” Eli said easily. “Watching you fuck things up is always kind of entertaining.”
“Right back at ya,” Zach said.
The boat hit a wake trail left by a smaller craft and bounced. Eli winced and sucked in a breath, lifting his injured foot off the deck.
“How are you holding up?” Zach asked.
“Kind of wishing we’d opted for that chopper,” Eli said.
Billy hadn’t wanted to take the ferry—the island’s sole form of connection with the California coast—claiming he didn’t want to deal with fans. He and Eli had been heading for the island when Zach had announced he was heading home to Lansing. Billy had talked Eli into spending a couple of months on the island to complete his rehab. They’d offered Zach a ride.
Eli had vetoed the helicopter idea.
Zach wasn’t sure if it was because of his injuries or because his best friend had never really liked helicopters since the first time Grey had taken them on a sightseeing flight over Hawaii and the pilot had decided to play a little game of “impress the rock star client” with some acrobatic moves. Grey had loved it. Zach had thought it was pretty cool too. Eli, on the other hand, had lost his lunch all over the chopper’s cabin.
