Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
I’m glad to be home because life here is fulfilling, but the truth is, if I could have my family with me while on tour, I’d be on tour.
The problem is what comes with it. Harrison could barely lift his arm above his head by the last show. JD spent half the tour on his phone, tracking his daughter Eden’s surfing competition scores from different time zones. Less than full venues, and even smaller than we’re used to. At some point, we have to face the proverbial music. We aren’t young and we don’t appeal to the current age of late-night concertgoers.
Maybe we are the band that plays at noon so we can all eat dinner at four and be in bed by eight.
Josie sets her book down, spine up, on the arm of the couch. She takes her glasses off, folds them, places them on top of the book. She turns her head and looks at me.
“Stop thinking so loud,” she says.
I squeeze her ankle. She lets me hold it. “I can’t help it. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Mira?”
I nod. “We’re old . . .” I avoid looking at her. “I mean, the band. I’ve got gray hair, Harrison has a bum shoulder, and JD is present but he’s not. Maybe a break is something we need.”
Josie runs her fingers through my hair. “First off, we’re not old, we’re just getting older. Second, you’re my silver fox and you’re fucking hot. The only gray I want to see you in is sweatpants. Third, Eden’s at a different stage in her life than Paige. She gets to work with you, and Eden is traveling all over. I know Jenna misses JD when he’s not home, but also, she knows how much JD loves being in the band.”
JD’s the one I feel will leave the band, before the band leaves the rest of us.
We stay like this until Paige comes home. She comes into the living room, sits between us, and tells us about her day.
“I haven’t kept up on my emails,” I say to her and Josie. “Did the school board hire a new principal?”
Josie nods. “Her name’s Teagan Lowery. Single mom, which is one of the reasons I suggested those apartments. She had trouble finding a place. Her son’s sixteen and playing for Nick and Noah right now.”
“Did she find a place?”
“Yeah, a rental out past the water tower,” Josie tells me.
“Tristin’s cool. He hangs out with Mack.” Mack Ashford, the frenemy’s son, who is currently dating my daughter.
I nod, taking everything in and remind Josie to make an offer on the building. The sooner we own it, the sooner we can make changes.
THREE
Paige thunders down the stairs and startles when she sees me leaning against the sink. I’m standing there, holding a mug of coffee, and waiting for her.
“Hey, morning,” she says as she goes to the refrigerator. She’s wearing her cheerleading outfit, which means there’s a game tonight. I hadn’t even looked at the calendar. “You’re up early.”
It’s true, I’m not much of an early riser. Normally, Josie’s up with Paige and following her out the door.
She comes over and kisses me on the cheek. “Morning, I couldn’t sleep. Thanks for sending me the pics I asked for.”
Ouch. I didn’t.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m home now. You can go through my phone.”
“And use your credit card?” She gives me her best Westbury grin.
“Of course.” There’s zero hesitation in my answer. I’ll give her, Noah, the triplets, Josie . . . hell, just about anyone in my life whatever they want.
“How’s Ralph’s?” she asks as she pours a glass of orange juice. “Noah really likes working there.”
“Yeah?” I raise an eyebrow. “Did he tell you that?”
She nods and puts a bagel into the toaster. “He’s having fun. He said there’s no pressure.”
“That’s great, and the place is fine. Perfect, really. I guess I owe that to your brother.”
“Do you think I could work there?”
Her question gives me pause. Paige doesn’t need to work. Noah doesn’t either, but he was a logical choice to ask before I left on tour. I take a sip of my coffee and think. I have every reason to tell her no, to remind her that she’s a teenager and she should be out living her life.
“I need to talk to your mom,” I tell her. This isn’t a decision I can make without Josie, and honestly it might be better for Paige to work at Whimsicality.
Safer, at least.
“Why do you want to work there?”
Paige starts spreading cream cheese on her bagel. She glances at me and then back at her food. “More my scene,” she says. “I know you’re probably thinking I already have a job doing the social media for the bands and while that’s true, it’s a twenty-minute job most days.”
“Aren’t you helping with the triplets?”