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Gabe stepped into the house and followed Owen toward the living room. He stopped short in the doorway when he saw Caitlyn sitting on the sofa.
“Are you staying for dinner?” Lindsey asked him.
Gabe blinked at Owen, pretending Lindsey hadn’t addressed him.
“Yeah, he’s staying. Kelly is on his way too.”
Lindsey lifted her brows. “And Caitlyn. So that makes five of us?”
“Sorry to keep adding to the guest list.”
“It’s no problem. You know I love to serve Sole Regret.”
Owen managed not to laugh at her claim. She’d served them more than once.
Lindsey glanced longingly at Gabe, who still wouldn’t look at her, and then hurried back into the kitchen.
“What is she doing?” Gabe asked, watching her retreating back until she was no longer visible.
“Trying too hard.” Owen sighed. “She wants love and marriage and babies and to make a home.”
“And you want?”
Owen smiled. “Caitlyn.”
“And Lindsey still wants to live here? Even though you’re not interested in her?”
“Yep.”
Gabe shook his head, tugged off his baseball cap, and stuffed it into his back pocket. “If you don’t know how stupid you are, there’s no sense in me trying to explain everything that’s wrong with this situation.”
“It’s just temporary.” And Caitlyn seemed okay with it. Maybe. They hadn’t had an opportunity to talk much with Lindsey turning up every few minutes.
“If you say so.”
Gabe followed Owen into the living room and dropped into the chair next to the sofa. Owen returned to his spot next to Caitlyn.
“How are you holding up?” Caitlyn asked Gabe.
He smiled at her “Me? I’ll be fine,” Gabe said. “But I fear Jacob has completely lost his mind.”
“That’s the same thing Kelly said,” Owen said.
“He’s under a lot of stress,” Caitlyn said. “You all are. Maybe he’ll pull himself together.”
“I don’t think so,” Gabe said. “There’s a For Sale sign on his lawn. It says fully furnished.”
“Fully furnished?” Owen asked. That sounded drastic.
“Yeah, like he’s up and left his life, not just the band. His entire life.”
“He wouldn’t leave Julie,” Owen said. Jacob could be a hardass and self-centered and a complete control freak, but his entire world revolved around that little girl. Jacob would never, ever do anything to jeopardize Julie.
“If he hasn’t left town, then where the hell is he?” Gabe asked.
“Did you try talking to Amanda? Surely, she knows—”
“She refused to talk about him.” Gabe massaged the back of his neck, refusing to meet Owen’s gaze. “She started sobbing the moment I mentioned his name. I think they broke up.”
“What? Why would he break up with her?” Owen had thought things were going well between Jacob and Amanda.
“I think she broke up with him.”
“Poor guy,” Caitlyn whispered, and Owen was glad she was there, but she didn’t really understand the depth of Jacob’s betrayal. Owen hadn’t taken a decent breath for two days.
“I can’t say that I blame her for dumping his ass,” Owen said. “He’s acting all weird. He got off the fucking bus in the middle of nowhere. Who does that?”
Gabe released a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m worried about him. I know I should be pissed, but I’m worried.”
Owen had started that way, but now he was just angry. They’d located Adam, and if Jacob would just pull his head out of his ass, Owen was sure they could straighten things out. But Jacob had his head jammed up there more securely than an industrial-size butt plug.
“Jacob can take care of himself,” Owen said. “If he’s scheduled a news segment, he obviously didn’t get run over on the side of the road. He’s avoiding us.”
“We did sort of turn our backs on him. Not take his side or back him up.”
“Because he was acting crazy,” Owen reminded him.
“I think everything’s been piling up on him for months and he snapped. You don’t think he’d try to end it all, do you?”
Leaving his band, dumping his girlfriend, selling his house—Owen had heard that a person who was suicidal tended to distance himself from everything important in his life.
“Great,” Owen said. “Now I’m worried about him too. Thanks, dude.”
“Maybe the news segment will shed some light on all this,” Caitlyn said. “But if you really think he might be suicidal, you have to get him help, Owen.”
Owen nodded. “You’re right.” He and Gabe exchanged a long look. God, he hoped Jacob wasn’t that far gone.
The front door opened as Kelly let himself inside. “Is Gabe here too? Isn’t that his truck taking up half the street?”
“Hey,” Gabe said.
Kelly barely acknowledged anyone’s presence and flopped down on the sofa next to Owen.
“Turn the channel,” Kelly said, flicking a hand toward the television. “It should be starting.”
“Already?” Owen asked. “I thought you said tonight.”
“At five,” Kellen said.
Surprised it was already that late, Owen switched through the local channels until he found Jacob’s familiar face. He exchanged a look of surprise with Kelly when the camera focused on Jacob and his despised ex-wife. He looked good and even sane, except for the fact that he was holding Tina’s fucking hand.
Owen rubbed his eyes. He must be seeing things. “What the . . .?”
“That settles it,” Gabe said while Owen cranked up the volume to catch what Jacob was saying. “He’s completely lost his shit. We’re having him committed.”
“. . . time I got my priorities straight and focused on what’s really important,” Jacob spoke to the camera in a calm, almost rehearsed cadence. “Not fame, not success, not money, but family. So the rest of Sole Regret’s summer tour is canceled. I’ll personally repay the fans for any nonrefundable tickets.”
“What?” Tina said, the satisfied smile slipping from her model-perfect face.
“What?” Gabe repeated to the television, his voice raised in anger.
“Are you back together with your ex-wife?” a reporter asked. “If I recall correctly, your divorce was rather messy.”
“And final!” Gabe shouted at the TV.
“We’re going to live together as a family,” Jacob said. “I won’t be able to afford two homes once all the lawsuits start being filed, so I’ve moved back in with my wife and daughter.”
“He can barely get the word wife out,” Caitlyn noted.
“Lawsuits?” Tina asked, her head whipping around so she could gawk at Jacob.
“I’m breaking all sorts of contracts to be with you,” Jacob said, feeding her a lovey-dovey look that made Owen want to vomit. “But none of that’s important. My career is over. I’ll be utterly broke, but none of that matters. All that matters is that you get what you want, Tina. You want me, right?”
