Things Lost In The Fire (26 page)

He sat back down, his mind spinning with this new revelation. Undoubtedly, things were about to get a whole lot more interesting, and fast.

WITH TESS working late, Sadie was once again keeping herself company. She had no desire to leave the house, anyway. The incident at the coffee shop had been enough to frighten her away from going out in public for awhile, even if only one person had bothered to notice her. And though he’d been easy on the eyes, there was just something weird about Drew she couldn’t put her finger on.

She stood in front of the kitchen sink and stared at the palm of her hand, debating if she should just wash away his number and forget she’d ever met him. Then again, he
did
seem like a nice person and he’d been genuinely interested in her music. And, though it was hard to acknowledge it, he’d seemed genuinely interested in her, as well.

Her whole life she’d been the awkward wallflower too shy to dance and too nervous to talk to guys. She’d dated a couple times, but nothing ever really stuck because she was too afraid to expose herself that way to someone else. Too nervous to trust. It came with the territory, she knew. Coming from the spotlight meant you never took obscurity for granted. In fact, it was such a welcome contrast to the anxiety of public life.

But that was all in the past now. She was out, and even running back to Tahoe wouldn’t change that. Now that she’d had a taste of what it felt like to perform for a crowd that loved her music, she knew she couldn’t stop. The urgent desire to feel that thrill again keep her moving forward, no matter how much anxiety she felt in public. And incidents like what happened with Drew were bound to happen again, so she might as well get used to it.

She flipped on the faucet, her hand pausing only an inch from the rush of water. Her gaze hovered over the phone number as she chewed on her tongue.

God, like I’d ever have the guts to call him anyway
. She doused her hands in the water, scrubbing off the ink he’d put there. In the end she knew it would never become anything. She’d never been allowed to make friends the way most people did. There was no place for that in her life, not if she wanted to be a star.

Besides, there was Brody to think of.

She let out a frustrated sigh, hating herself for even thinking it. Scrubbing harder to get every last trace of Drew’s number from her hand, she tried desperately to convince herself she wasn’t doing it for Brody. There was no future there, how could there be? She’d alluded herself to having feelings for him, and that was it. There was no evidence he felt the same and she sure as hell wasn’t going to pursue him only to have him laugh in her face. He’d only ever treated her as a friend, and that was all she would ever be to him.

Tess had been suspiciously vague over what kind of conversation they’d had while she slept the night before. All she’d said was that he admitted he was in it for the story about Walker, which wasn’t a surprise, he’d told her as much before. But what if she wanted something more than that?

She shut off the water and dried her hands, pouting at the thought. In the end, she supposed she wanted the impossible. The music career without the celebrity status, the parents without all the drama and scandal, and the man without the complication of his job choice making him her untrustworthy enemy. Was it so much to ask?

Her cell phone rang on the countertop beside her. When she saw it was Tommy, her spirits lifted.

“Hey, you.”

“
How’re you holding up, Sadie-bug?
”

“Fine, I guess,” she sighed, resting her hip against the counter. A quick glance at the clock showed it was already nine o’clock, meaning it was midnight for Tommy. “You’re up late.”

“
Yeah, I am…listen, I have a favor to ask of you.
”

“Of course. What is it?”

“
I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but we’ve got a show in L.A. tomorrow night at The Forum. We’re actually leaving in an hour so we can be there first thing in the morning.
”

Sadie perked up. “That’s great! I can’t wait to see you.”

Tommy chuckled. “
Likewise, sweetie. Anyway, the band got to talking and we thought it would be fun if you got up and performed ‘Dying In The City’ with us, singing Val’s parts. Just the one song. We were thinking of making it a big surprise for the fans. They’ll love it.
”

Her mouth went dry. “Sing? Tomorrow?”

“
Yeah. We’ll come pick you up for rehearsal in the afternoon, so you don’t need to worry about driving or anything.
”

“Have you told my dad about this? Surely he thinks it’s a bad idea. I mean, I haven’t even spoken to him since my secret got out. I can only imagine how irritated he is with me—”

“
Actually, it was his idea.
”

Surprise washed over her. “Seriously?”

“
Seriously. It’ll be so great having you up there and the crowd’s gonna go wild for you. Plus, you know the song by heart. I’ve been watching you sing it since practically before you could talk.
”

A sad smile came over her face. “It’s one of my favorites. I remember watching Mom and Dad sing it together before the divorce and thinking how lucky I was to have such beautiful, talented people for parents.” Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes wet with sudden tears. She covered her mouth with her hand to fight it back, despising the emotions the memory gave her.

Tommy grew quiet. “
If it’s too tough for you kid, we’ll all understand. You’ve been through so much lately…
”

“No,” she cut in, shaking her head even though he couldn’t see it. “I’ll do it.”

“
Great. Get some sleep and don’t freak out. I know how you like to panic.
”

She laughed, a stray tear falling down her cheek. She wiped it away and grinned, wishing she didn’t have to wait a handful of hours to see him. “I love you, Tommy.”

“
Love you too, kid. Have a good night.
”

She hung up and pressed the phone to her lips, closing her eyes on a long sigh. Waves of emotion rolled over her, ranging from excitement to dread to outright panic. Focusing on the positives, she let her head fall back and her heart rate come down. Once it settled, she knew what she had to do.

Bringing up Brody’s number on her phone, she hit call and held it to her ear. He picked up on the third ring, sounding surprised to hear from her.

“
Hey, McRae. What’s up?
”

“Hi.” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, nerves fluttering wildly in her stomach. “I’m going to leave a ticket for tomorrow’s Albatross show at the ticket counter for you. Show up and bring your camera—there’s going to be a big surprise during the show. If you want a good story you’ll want to be there.”

When he said nothing, she frowned. “Brody?”

“
A good story, huh?
”

“Yeah. I’m going to sing ‘Dying In The City’ with my dad.”

“
Good for you. I’ll show up to watch you make music history, but I’m not bringing my camera.
”

“Why not?”

“
Because believe it or not I’m not just after a story when it comes to you.
”

She pursed her lips, wishing she could believe him. “Yes, you are. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

She hung up before he could respond, part of her wishing she’d been nicer to him. The other part of her was proud she’d gotten the last word in. She’d set up the test, and now it was his turn to prove himself.

Once he did that, she could decide what step to take next.

S
HE AWOKE after a restless night’s sleep at half past five, her entire body humming with nerves. Unable to soothe herself back to sleep, she got up to make coffee and practice her father’s song. Spending quality time with the piano and caffeine put her in better spirits, though those little flutters in her belly remained. Part of her wanted nothing more than for it to be over, while the rest of her eagerly anticipated the rush of being onstage and doing something she’d never imagined she could do—sing with her father.

She worried about disappointing him. It was only natural to feel that way, she supposed, but Ben McRae was notorious for not accepting anything less than perfection. If she failed him by slipping up on the lyrics or tripping onstage or God knows what else, he may never forgive her. Then again, they barely spoke as it was. So what difference would it really make?

She sighed and reminded herself that this wasn’t about him. This was about cementing a place for herself in the industry as Sadie McRae, and part of that was opening up to the idea of performing with her parents.

Just this once, anyway.

She rested her face in her hands, her eyes aching from staring at the print out of lyrics she’d gotten online. She knew them all, of course. But it was always prudent to practice.

A sudden knocking on the front door had her eyes shooting to the clock. It was already after one o’clock, which could only mean one thing. She jumped to her feet and raced out of the room, a wide smile on her face. As she swung open the front door she faced two of her favorite people in the entire world.

With an excited laugh she threw herself into Tommy’s arms. He caught her and joined her laughter, his tall, slender frame shaking with it.

“Hey, kid.” He kissed her forehead, then stepped back to get a better look at her. “Christ, if I didn’t know better I’d swear you were Val.”

Sadie’s smile faltered, but she knew he didn’t mean to insult her. She took in his carefree waves of graying chestnut hair, weathered, laughter-lined face and sparkling blue eyes and couldn’t believe how much she’d missed him.

She turned to face her younger step-brother, tears misting her eyes. “I didn’t know you were coming, too.”

Isaac grinned and wrapped her in a tight hug. “I’m on break from Med school and Dad couldn’t keep me away.”

Her gaze lifted to his, the worst of her worries fading. “Not like you ever listen to him, anyway.”

“Doesn’t stop him from trying,” Isaac joked, earning a knowing smile from her.

He rose to a lanky six feet tall, with dark curls of hair and wide, poetic hazel eyes. She’d known him since they’d been kids and her father married his mother. Though there had always been thousands of miles between them, Isaac was there for her in ways her own parents never knew how to be.

“Come in.” Sadie backed into the house and invited them in, her hands twisting together in front of her. “I just need to grab my stuff and then I’m ready to go.”

“You nervous?” Isaac asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around. “Not that you should be, you’ll do great.”

Sadie managed a weak laugh. “We’ll see about that. Just so you know, I invited someone who’s going to be sitting in the front row. I’m telling you now so you don’t freak out later.”

Tommy turned to her with a questioning look. “Who?”

“Brody Odell.”

Isaac’s mouth fell open. “You’re joking, right? Isn’t that the paparazzi guy that Dad hates?”