“Good thing she thought of it.” The equivalent of a wide smile wraps itself around Olivia’s words.
I lower Nova to the sand. “I have so much to do before I can go,” I tell Olivia. “Like check if I can even get a flight to LA. If not, I’ll need to drive there.” If that’s the case, I’ll have to leave ASAP if I hope to make it in time. David is arranging for me to meet up with Mason late afternoon.
Nova lifts her arms up to me. “Up.”
I hoist her into the air again. She giggles some more.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Olivia says to her daughter. “Uncle Troy has to go do something very important. We’ll have to hang out with him another day.” She gathers up Nova’s beach toys, putting them in the net bag.
“I promise you as soon as I come back from LA,” I tell Nova, “we’ll fill this beach with sandcastles.”
Olivia laughs. “Be careful what you promise her. She’ll have you doing exactly that.”
“Hey, it will be worth it if I can get Mason to join the band for the festival.” Shit, how difficult is this going to be? If it were easy, the band would ask him themselves.
We return to the truck, excitement and worry wrestling in my gut. I drop Olivia and Nova off at their house and drive home. Then I spend the next hour trying to arrange a flight to LA, but everything is either booked or arrives too late for me to meet with Mason.
The only chance I have is to drive to LA, which will take thirteen hours, depending on traffic. I pack an overnight bag and call Lance.
“I need you to keep an eye on things while I’m gone for the next day or two,” I tell him after getting him up to speed. “But call me if you have any issues. I don’t expect you will since we’re framing the house.”
“Don’t worry, Boss. I have it under control. You think you can convince the old drummer to reunite with the band for the one show?”
“Hell if I know. Would help if I knew why he left the band in the first place.”
“He had an issue with alcohol and had a gambling addiction. I don’t know the full details, but it was enough for him to pull out of the band. Touring wasn’t healthy for him.”
Well, shit.My excitement deflates like a leaky balloon. No wonder the rest of the band hasn’t bothered to ask him about the festival. They already know the probable answer. “Thanks,” I tell Lance. “That’s good to know.” Damn, will this put an addict back on the path of something dangerous to him? It’s something Mason, the band, and I will need to discuss if he agrees to help out. I can’t let him play with the band if it could end up harming him and his family.
I end the call with Lance. “C’mon, Butterscotch. I have to leave for a few days, but I need to talk to Jess. You wanna stay with her while I’m away?”
I grab a quick bite and gather his supplies. The sky is still light as I pull up to Jess’s house. I’ll have a few hours of driving time before night falls, and then I’ll have to stay in a motel somewhere to rest up for the next leg of the journey.
Jess’s street is quiet, the opposite to what it was a few days ago. The protesters have clearly moved on with their lives. Thank God for that. One less thing to worry about.
I park in her driveway and kill the engine. I grab Butterscotch’s supplies from the back seat, and he follows me to the front door. I ring the doorbell.
The door opens a moment later. Jess is standing on the other side, her face pale, eyes red. Her hair is in a messy ponytail, revealing dark roots she hasn’t bleached since news of her identity was leaked. She’s wearing a navy hoodie and black yoga pants.
She steps onto the front stoop, swings the door partially closed behind her.
My phone rings. I send it to voicemail.
“What’s wrong?” If my arms weren’t so full, I’d pull Jess into them and kiss away her pain.
Her gaze drops to the dog supplies in my arms. “What’s that for?”
“I have to go to LA for a few days. I was hoping Butterscotch could stay with you while I’m gone.”
Butterscotch plonks his ass down next to me.
“LA?” Jess’s tone drips with curiosity…and something else. The something else has my heart stammering. “Why LA?”
“To see if I can convince Mason to reunite with Pushing Limits for the festival.” I have to leave soon, so I don’t have time to go into the nitty-gritty about everything their manager and Lance told me. “I couldn’t get a flight, so I have to drive there.”
She nods but doesn’t crack so much as a smile. Bailey whimpers as if reading Jess’s mood.
“What’s wrong?” I repeat, searching her expression for a clue as to what’s going on. She hasn’t even let us in yet, which isn’t like her. Usually that’s the first thing she does when I show up.
