holds me back. “Stay here, son. Someone will be in soon to talk to you.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask. “Everyone was yelling and crying. Is this about my brother? Have you seen him? Did he get sick?”
“I don’t know anything.” He opens the refrigerator. “Do you like turkey? I can make you a sandwich.”
I don’t feel like eating, but I nod. I watch the door Sylvia went through, knowing something must have happened to Luke. Something bad.
Chapter Thirty
Ella
That’s it. They’re finished. They’ve given their last performance. Sung their final song. I sit in the audience at the naval station, already in mourning that it’s over.
It’s over for me, but not for Reckless Alibi. Their lives will soon change forever. Their songs are streaming all over social media. Online fan groups are forming. Radio stations across the country are playing their tunes.
The usual autograph and picture session after the gig is short. Women in the military don’t fawn and grope them like the regular fans. Bruce packs up quickly, and we all pile into the van. Jeremy gives him the name of a bar. “Drinks are on me tonight,” he says.
Bria is surprised. “You’re coming with us, Jeremy?”
“It’s our last night. We should celebrate.”
Bria sits next to me in the van. “I’m going to miss this.”
“I’m sure you’ll be going on more tours,” I say.
“I’m not talking about the tour. I’m talking about you. It’s been fun having another woman around. Sometimes it’s hard being the only girl in all this testosterone.”
“I’ll miss it, too. You’ve become a real friend, Bria.”
“That’s not going to end tomorrow. We all live in the city. We can still hang out.” She glances at Liam. “And since I’ll be living in the same apartment he is, I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other.”
Like everyone else, Bria assumes Liam and I are a thing.
“You’re all still going to live together?” I glance at her engagement ring. “Even now?”
“We signed a year’s lease. We move in next week.”
“I’m sure you can get out of it.”
“It’s okay. I love these guys. I think it will be fun.” Garrett farts loudly, and Bria wrinkles her nose. “For a while anyway.”
“If you ever need to get away, you can always come over to my place.”
“Girls’ night,” she says. “I’d like that.”
“Me too.”
We pull up to the bar, and the van empties. Even Bruce and Tom join us. Shortly after we’re seated, a few bottles of expensive champagne are brought to the table.
Brad’s eyes widen, and he turns to Jeremy. “I’m glad you’re buying.”
“You won’t blink an eye at things like this soon.” He passes a glass to each of us. “A toast to a successful tour. I just heard from Ronni. Record sales are up three hundred and fifty percent in the past six weeks.” Boisterous cheers issue from everyone at the table. Before we can drink, Jeremy stops us. “There’s more.” He gives us a brilliant grin. “Reckless Alibi has broken into the top one hundred.”
Stunned faces and gaping jaws ensue.
“What song?” Liam asks.
“‘On That Stage’ is number ninety-two,” he says, raising his glass.
Bria and Crew look at each other and scream. Everyone else joins in.
“Things are about to be a lot different for you when we get home,” Jeremy says. “Get ready. You’re about to live the life of rock stars.”
~ ~ ~
It’s the dead of night, but neither of us is sleeping. He’s still, but I’ve learned to tell by his breathing when he’s awake. I turn toward him and see his eyes in the bright moonlight.
“Can’t sleep either, huh?” he asks.
“No. Are you sad because the tour is over?”
“A little, but that’s not why I can’t sleep.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He hesitates. He always hesitates when I ask him about such things. “Today is Luke’s birthday. He would have been twenty-seven.” After a long pause, he goes on to say, “I wonder a lot what he would have been like as an adult.”
“He’d probably still be your annoying big brother.”
He laughs sadly. “He was never annoying. I think he was the only one who looked out for me.”
“You were lucky to have him.”
“I was.” His voice cracks.
“He would have been proud of you.”
He turns onto his back. “He shot himself. That’s how he died.”
I’m confused. I thought he told me it was his dad’s fault that Luke died. Maybe it was his gun or something. I get out of bed and crawl into Liam’s. I put my head on