“He was my grandson’s best friend. At least when they were boys. They grew apart in junior high. Didn’t even talk to each other in high school. Our Timothy still cared, though. He still cried when he heard the news after Jeff shot himself. Thought maybe he could have been a better friend to Jeff. And then maybe Jeff wouldn’t have . . .” The lady broke off, pulled a tissue out of her pocket, and dabbed at her eyes. She noticed that Toni’s eyes were also leaky, and she reached into her purse to offer a second tissue to the bleeding heart beside her. Feeling foolish but no less empathetic, Toni dabbed at her eyes with the proffered tissue.
Logan reached out and squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “My condolences. I know how hard this is.”
“How could you possibly know how hard this is, rock star?” she sneered.
“When Vic killed herself, I thought the pain of her loss would kill me too.”
Vic?
Logan glanced at Dare, who was talking to the kid with the shiny new backstage pass.
The woman covered Logan’s hand and squeezed. “I’m sorry about your . . .”
“Friend,” Logan said. “She was our lead guitarist’s high school sweetheart. They dated into their twenties, so we all knew her well. Everyone thought Dare would marry her someday. When she lost the baby . . . The doctors said her hormones were off balance and that’s why . . .” Logan swallowed and closed his eyes.
How had Toni missed that in her research? She wrapped both arms around Logan and hugged him as hard as she could. Dare Mills was next on her list.
“If it makes you feel better to have someone to blame, I completely understand,” Logan said to the woman. “I can’t hold that against you if it makes your grief easier to bear.”
“That boy,” she said, nodding at the young Exodus End fan she’d accompanied, “he reminds me a lot of Jeff. I guess that’s why I followed him in here.” She smiled as she watched the kid chatter excitedly with his guitar hero. “He looks happy to be here. I’m glad I could give him that.”
“Well, since you’re here, you might as well have a beer. I promise we won’t sacrifice any goats in honor of Satan tonight.”
She laughed. “It’s not nice to poke fun at a helpless old lady.”
“Helpless? I don’t see a helpless old lady. Though you must be terrified to be in the same room with Max, and who can blame you.”
Toni chuckled and finally released her hug. Logan wrapped an arm around her to keep her from moving away.
“Which one is Max?” the woman asked.
“That tall one over there in the leather pants.”
The woman craned her neck and gasped when she caught sight of Max in a crowd of female admirers. “The tall one with the short hair?”
“Yeah, he’s our lead singer. He comes up with most of our evil lyrics.”
“Now that one is easy on the eyes,” she purred.
Toni bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh.
“Go introduce yourself,” Logan suggested. “He’ll get a kick out of it.”
“I think I will,” she said, stopping to grab a beer out of the nearest cooler as she wandered off in Max’s direction.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get rid of her,” Logan said before stealing a kiss. Someone lifted their cellphone to take a picture. Logan spun toward the camera and pulled Toni behind him. She understood why he wouldn’t want anyone to have photographic evidence of him kissing her, but it still made her chest ache and her ire rise. She pulled out of Logan’s grasp and marched toward Dare. She still owed him a hug. She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to lose an unborn child and have the baby’s mother commit suicide over the tragedy. No wonder he tried to keep strangers at a distance.
Eleven
Logan spun around, wondering why Toni had suddenly stomped off in the opposite direction. Had she wanted her picture all over the Internet with speculation about why he’d been kissing her in public? Kissing her in front of everyone hadn’t been his brightest move, but he couldn’t help it. He liked to kiss her. And he didn’t mind who knew it. Yet he knew how brutal people could be to the significant others of famous people, so he wanted to protect her from the bullshit. Hadn’t she recognized that? Where in the hell had she gone? He scanned the room for a mane of thick brown hair.