“Grace is… well, she’s phenomenal,” Sam said. “Everyone adores her.”
“Don’t get too comfortable,” I teased. “She still has a job waiting for her here, and she’s going back to school in the fall.”
“I know, I know. I would never encourage her to step away from her goals, no matter how much I love having her around.” He cleared his throat. “But that’s actually not why I called. I’m having a bit of an issue. It’s not related to anyone else. It’s me.”
“Oh?” Sam wasn’t one to complain or stress over much. He wasn’t a needy client, so I knew whatever was going on had to be pretty serious for him to tell me. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve been feeling unwell. Truth be told, I wasn’t feeling great before we began the tour, but I just thought I was a little run down,” he began, and I noticed a hoarseness in his voice. “But it’s gotten worse now that I’m performing each night. I feel like I’ve got this lump in my throat, and my voice doesn’t sound quite right. Tonight was the worst it’s been so far. I felt like I couldn’t control my pitch.”
“Sounds like we need to get you to a doctor,” I said, opening my laptop and searching through my contacts. “What part of England are you guys in tomorrow?”
“Bristol,” Sam answered. “I’ve got a bit of press tomorrow morning, but I have some free time in the afternoon.”
“I’m going to talk to Grace and have her cancel your upcoming press. You need to rest your voice while we figure out what’s going on. Do you need me to cancel any shows?”
“No,” he insisted. “I’m sure I’m just run down. Maybe I’m fighting off an infection or something.”
“Okay, but if that changes—”
“I couldn’t possibly cancel shows and let down my fans.”
“Listen, Sam, I know your fans are important to you. But this is your health we’re talking about, and that’s got to take precedent here.” I found the contacts I was searching for and opened up a new message window. “I’m going to send emails to a couple of my contacts over there and find someone who can get to you first thing in the morning. There’s a great doctor that came and saw Luca after he hurt his shoulder while we were on tour in the UK. I’m going to reach out to him and see if he knows a specialist that could make a house call for you.”
“Thanks, Cash.” Sam’s voice cracked. “I appreciate you.”
“I need you to promise me something,” I said. “If at any point it’s too much, I want you to tell Grace immediately. I’m going to give her all the info she needs to handle canceling any of the shows on your roster, should she need to. We’ve got to keep you healthy, alright? We can reschedule a tour. We can have a hundred tours, but there’s only one Sam Corbyn.”
“Promise,” he agreed. “I’ll tell her straight away if I don’t think I can continue my duties.”
“I should get off here and shoot a text to Grace. In fact, if you just got back to the hotel, I may be able to call and fill her in now.”
“Um, actually, Grace is with me.” Sam coughed. “We ordered a bite to eat and we’re going to hang out for a few minutes.”
I wasn’t sure whether to grin or give him a lecture. “Is that so?”
“A couple of the guys on the crew are joining us,” he added quickly.
“Right,” I said. “Well, then, do you mind putting Grace on?”
“Sure thing,” he replied, and I heard the sound of muffled voices for a moment before Grace’s voice came over the phone.
“Hey, Cash!” I could practically hear Grace’s smile. “So, Sam caught you up to speed?”
“He did,” I said. “I’m copying you on a couple of emails, and I’m going to send you some info on what to do if we need to cancel any tour dates in a hurry. I know this is a little different than what you’re used to doing. Are you still feeling comfortable with everything? Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine,Dad,” she teased, and my heart lurched. “I’m doing great. Really. It’s a lot of work, but it’s what I signed up for.”
I chuckled. “Alright, but if you need anything—”
“Call you right away.” She finished my sentence for me. “I know. I promise I will, but I’ve got it handled. Like Olivia Pope.”
“I don’t know who that is, but I’m assuming this Pope lady has her ducks in a row.”
“Olivia Pope,”Grace emphasized every syllable. “FromScandal.”
“Still don’t know.”
“Ugh. You know, for someone who works with celebrities you sure don’t know who many celebrities are.” She feigned disgust. “Anyway, how are things there?”
