AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sits on my car with a frown on his face, as if he’s thinking about the idea and not dismissing it like he was a few minutes ago.
The whole thing makes sense. I got my mojo back on because I was away from the lights. Away from the studio telling me that I shouldn’t put on a few more pounds. Away from them all, and it felt good. I don’t want to go back down that miserable road again. Not now. Not ever.
“This is why you came here today?”
I nod.
“It means less for now but more money later on. You understand that, right? You’ll hold on to the rights, and we can cut a deal that way. But, the publicity is where an artist makes their money. The sponsors and products. You’ll be signing that away.”
I try to look disappointed, but I’m not good at acting. Everything will work out fine. Getting the money is great. Sure, it’ll be tied up a lot longer, but I’ll be living on the ranch with Noah.
“I think that the studio’s going to love it.” I’m trying to sell it to him.
“You weren’t exactly in the spotlight that long. Thinking about it now, this arrangement makes more sense.”
Thank you, God.
“Okay, let’s tell them rather than ask them about the agreement. Okay?”
I kiss him on the cheek. “If you can do this for me, John, then I’ll love you for life.”
“I’ll love you for life if you keep writing those fucking songs.”
We go into the boardroom, and everyone’s apprehensive about the change. There’s a moment of silence as John makes his announcement, and then Tracey does the craziest thing.
“Yes, yes!” she shouts out. “I won’t have to do that face again.”
Everyone including me is shocked by her outburst, then I shout out, “There’s nothing wrong with my face—just your fucking makeup.”
I was done trying to worry about her feelings when she didn’t give a fuck about mine.
“Ted, John, are we done here?”
They look at each other and say, “I suppose so…”
“Good, I’ve got to go back to the ranch.”
John asks, “Tonight?”
“Send me the paperwork, and I’ll keep the songs rolling for you. But that’s it.”
There’s a commotion in the room. Everyone’s trying to stop Tracey from ripping me apart. I don’t care. I’ll send a message to Mom and Terence when I’m done. Right now, I need to get back to the ranch. I promised Noah that I would, and I wasn’t about to go back on my word. I’m kind of worried about him. Richard was with him, and he was acting like a big kid. I just hope that he doesn’t do something stupid, like give Candy back her kid.
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
I’ve been drunk for days now, like a spoiled little kid that’s been told to go on a diet and not eat everything in sight. I've taken the whole damn candy store and more. I open the door wondering who's come to tell me that I need to get my act together.
The boys.
Not again.
I told them to let me wallow in my pain. I just need a little more time, and then I’ll be back to my usual partying self. Now, I’m just in self-destructive mode, and it suits me. My brother does it every fucking day of his life. No one bothers him about it. They leave him alone. I tried once until he talked about Grandpa and started guilt tripping me. What the fuck is wrong with the men in our family? They're all greedy fucks!
“What?” I bark as I open the door. I never expected it to be Kylie.
“Noah, what happened?” I walk back into the house.
“If you’ve come to gloat then please don’t tell me. I’m not in the mood.”
“But, why? Because I left? I told you that I was coming back. Why didn’t you listen? It's a long drive, so I had to break it up, and then I was going to come back directly, but I had to sort out my place and put it on the market.”
She’s following me. I hate it when people do that. I'm leaving the room to get away, not to be followed.
“The same woman that told me that I should stay away then tells me that, even though I’ve been doing that for the last three years, she never wanted that. Why should I believe you when you said that you were coming back? Remember, I don’t understand women?”
It was a cheap shot, shooting her words back at her, but she brought it on herself.
“You’ve been looking after Richard in this state?”
She rushes past me and then heads up the stairs to the one place I don’t need her to see. No, I don’t want to, but when you haven’t eaten properly in a few days and drank way over the line, the body’s fucking slow.
It’s pathetic as it trips up a couple of times as I head up the stairs.
“Noah!”
She screams as she sees the mess that I made.
“What is wrong with you?”
I get down on my knees, seeing the damage that I made to his room—his diapers ripped, clothes everywhere, a bottle smashed at the side of the crib.
“Did you do this to Richard when he was in here?”
I’m crazy, but I’m not fucking insane.
“No, I did that when Candy came to take him. You left. He's gone. It felt like a kick in the butt—one that I didn’t need a constant reminder of.”
“Shit, you’re more like Jason than you realize.”
Not the words that I want to hear. My brother has had a few tantrums in his life. He did it at the fucking reception when Grandpa died. He went and ruined the room when we started talking about the inheritance and that fact that Grandpa left everything to him. I accused him of trying to manipulate Grandpa on his deathbed, and that's why he got all the money. Grandma got a reasonable amount, but not as much as Jason.
“I came back. I told you that I would.” She’s holding onto me while I’m on the floor away from the cracked glass and trying to keep it all together.
“I felt as if for the first time I had lost everyone that I had cared about. It was just too much to handle.”
She smiles. “You need to trust someone else apart from yourself once in a while.”
I nod. “I trust the boys.”
Thinking that, I didn’t feel alone all the time. They had my back, and I had theirs, but then they had their lives too. I knew that they’d give it a day or two. They would tell me that I’ve done enough sulking and it was time to get back in the saddle.
“Martin’s kicked Gia out,” I sob as I try to get up. Shit, I’ve treated my body like a temple for years, but a few days off, completely letting it go, and it’s given up. As Kylie tries to steady me, she says, “Good. Now, let’s go and get Richard.”
I shake my head. “He’s better off with his mom.”
She blurts out, “The one who left him for weeks with you?”
I pull away from her. “Thanks.”
“You need to be in that little boy’s life, whether you like it or not. And besides, I’m here to help you both when you can’t see the way.”
“Always?”
“Forever. You can’t keep me away, even if you tried.”
That’s music to my ears. She puts me in the shower, and I need to clean up not only the house but my life too. I love them both, and I shouldn’t have given up without a fight. I wouldn’t have back in the day, but something weakened me. It was the first time that I saw part of my brother in me, and I wasn’t going to let it back in. I wasn’t going to lose Richard and Kylie ever again, and as she started to sing to me, I knew that it wasn't an option.
Epilogue
Kylie
It’s the annual family barbecue that Noah started once I moved in officially. Candy’s invited this year, since I told Noah that it'd been two years since the whole ordeal and he needed to get over it. We all needed to move on, for Richard’s sake.
“Mom.” I smile as she comes to kiss me on the cheek. She looks tired. Her hair’s down and lifeless. I keep telling her to come and stay with us, but she keeps dismissing it.
“You really should come and stay here.
It would give you a chance to help me with the kids.”
