Page 85 of Rock On

Lies are what’s between us

They’re part of every day

I can’t keep telling half truths

And expecting you to stay.

I didn’t want to cry, but I was on the verge, so I whirled and ran back into the bathroom to turn off the water.

It wasn’t the first song he’d written about me but this one was much more poignant and meaningful.

“Tempo in Reno” was an older hit that he’d written early on, with him on the floor of our Reno hotel room, his back against the bed. I’d been sprawled across it, leaning over his shoulder as he held a guitar in his lap and a note pad on the floor beside him, scribbling lyrics. In fact, I’d written two lines of that song, though I’d never officially gotten credit. It was the only time I’d ever seen him write solo.

Ironically, in the divorce, one of the things he’d given me had been all future royalties to that song. Neither of our attorneys had understood why that song in particular, since it wasn’t one of the big hits, but it still made a significant amount of money from album sales and such.

But I had.

“Harley.” His voice washed over me like a physical touch, my skin breaking out in goose bumps. “Babe?”

“When did you write that?” I whispered, my back to him.

“A couple of nights after the cemetery.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Why did you write about lies and half-truths, when you didn’t know anything yet?”

“I don’t know. The words just came to me. You know my writing process is pretty organic that way.”

I turned to him, searching his handsome face. “Did you know that you didn’t know the truth?”

He shook his head and shrugged almost helplessly. “Baby, I wish I could answer that. All I know is, it poured out of me like it came straight from my soul.”

“What’s it called?”

“I’m not sure yet. Liars and Lovers? Something like that. King tends to come up with better titles. And he’ll pretty it up too, when I bring it to the band.”

“It doesn’t need prettying up. That’s your next hit.”

THIRTY-THREE

Tommy

Saying goodbye to Harmony Place was hard.

I’d made friends here, learned a lot about myself and my marriage, and finally started coming to terms with both Carter’s life and death.

Not to mention, I had my girl back.

It was a little scary to leave and head back to the real world, but the band was starting rehearsals in two days, we had another meeting scheduled for tomorrow, and I had to go back to the orthopedic surgeon at the end of the week so he could gauge the progress on the knee.

There was a lot going on that required my attention, but the biggest thing on my mind was Harley.

She had things going on too.

River was a priority, of course, but she was also going to be at the band meeting, she was planning to start interviewing full-time nannies right away because Wynter had apparently quit her job at the hospital. I hadn’t pressed for details, but it seemed like Harley was worried about her.

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