“I’m absolutely not telling you that now.”
“Mari. Come on, you have to see I’m not the right fit. I don’t get why you’re pushing this so much.”
My determination surprised us both, but once I decided something, I wasn’t easily dissuaded. Cath needed a tutor, and Janice thought this would help Leo. This was how I helped my community and gave back.
“I completely disagree about you being a loser. You have talent. You have passion. I’ve seen you play.” His eyebrows moved up in surprise. “But none of that matters. More than anything, Cath needs someone to believe in her.Someone who gets what it’s really going to take. She’s so close to something, but she’s holding back in her playing, and I’m not there enough to help her get to it. She needs somebody who understands what it’s really about.”
“What what’s about?” he asked.
I gave him an incredulous look. “The art. The music. That fire that burns deep and needs the constant source of fuel to grow into something huge.”
His eyes moved over my face. His chest still heaved from his outburst, but his eyes gentled. He got it. He could pretend to be scared, but he knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Don’t get me wrong, her parents are incredibly supportive, but they aren’t artists. They’ve never had that burning desire to be great. That drive that pushes you to practice and practice until you’re literally bleeding.” My palms tingled, and I could summon that feeling of wanting something so bad it was all I could think about. My heart raced in my chest. “Music is everything to her. And once upon a time, it was everything to you.”
“And look where it got me,” he mumbled.
Now, I scoffed loudly. “Do you mean your years of successful touring with one of the biggest rock bands from Tennessee? Or the house that your talent was able to purchase for your mom? Is that what you mean? Because that’s what I mean.” He looked up, brow creased. “Get your head out of your ass, Cooper, and step up for this kid. She’s already going to be at a disadvantage going into college. Especially if—whenshe gets into Berklee. So many of these kids come from a world of private tutors and music conservatories. She has raw talent, but she needs the passion and the drive. Like you once had.
“Be the person who she talks to about all this stuff. That part of your life may be over, but it’s just beginning for her. And you have the opportunity to be that person who takes her to the next level. Help give this kid her shot.”
If my words hadn’t sunk in now, if this hadn’t motivated him after he shared this burden, then there was no helping him.
“I’ll see you Monday at three fifteen. Check in with the front office first, then meet us in the band room.” I tugged my purse up higher on my shoulder. I had done everything I could. “Slash choir room slash sometimes dance and yoga studio.”
I walked away with my head held high. Then I turned around and passed him again. “My car is actually in the other lot.” I lifted my chin. I’d almost made it out of there with my excellent and powerful speech hanging in the air when he finally spoke.
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” he said.
I froze and turned. Had I actually gone too far this time?
His mouth quirked. “I was serious about the NDA.”
I nodded and left him standing out there. My body shook with nerves all the way home until I turned on my street. Only then did I let myself smile. It hadn’t been a yes.
But it hadn’t been a no, either.
CHAPTER 10
LEO
Most of the following Monday was spent staring at the clock. Even the garden was off-limits to my anxious pacing. I was too twitchy and wound up and didn’t want to bring that bad energy around my plants.
By three o’clock, my pit sweat made it seem like I’d been practicing for hours and not sitting still, paralyzed by decision fatigue.
The memory of Mari’s impassioned defense of music finally had me move off my bed. She understood the power of passion and worked so hard for her students that I would have to be a monster not to help, now that the truth was out.
I put everything on the proverbial table—the reason for my exit from The Burnouts—yet she was still convinced I was the person to help Cath get into the school of her dreams. I wiped my palms on my jeans and stood.Just go. Meet Cath and come back to the safety of the house.
Downstairs, Janice was shrugging into a light coat and reaching for the keys.
Worry spread through me, tingling the tips of my fingers.
“Where are you going?” I asked, my Adam’s apple tight in my throat.
Janice pressed a hand to her chest. “For crying out loud, you startled me.” She looked me up and down. “Where are you going?”
I glanced at my phone. I needed to leave now. “I’m supposed to go to the school to meet Cath. I didn’t know you needed the car.”
