Page 23 of Love Song, Take Two

Instead she focused on simpler stuff. “So what’s it like being a former rockstar? And what do you do with all your time?”

He watched her for a long moment and then blinked. “I uh…I live off my hard earned money, run Hank’s store and now I apparently teach unruly teenagers to play instruments.”

“Why did you retire?”

“It’s a long sabbatical,” he corrected and then smirked when he added, “Have you been keeping tabs on me, Mick?”

Even though he knew what her official name was, Micah was glad that he still called her Mick. She snorted and took a sip of her wine. “When your favorite band decides that they’re taking a break after almost fifteen years of making music, you want to know what happened.”

“Favorite band, really?”

“Did you think that I followed you guys on tour for shits and giggles?”

“I thought it was because you wanted to get railed by a rockstar.”

She smiled against the rim of her wine glass. “I did get railed by a rockstar. But also because I was a fan.”

“I walked into that.” He shook his head, but smiled as he settled back in his chair. “All jokes aside, Brandy wanted to start a family and being on the road didn’t make sense for that. Jack was finally clean and touring was a lot of temptation. And Soren wanted to travel without having a strict schedule.”

“And you?”

He shrugged and dragged a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. “I could have continued making music, but it didn’t make sense to do it without the band.”

“So you retired and moved to Sirena Beach, of all the places in the world. Why not go home?”

“My family and I have nothing to do with each other,” he started, eyes dropping to the food. “Uncle Hank has always been family, so when he called, I showed up.”

“Uncle Hank?”

“Dad’s brother, they never got along.”

In her minimal research about him, she had never uncovered anything about his past or his family life. She didn’t know if he’d been married and had kids since they last saw each other. And given that he wasn’t sharing much with her right then, she was extra curious.

“What?” he asked, eyebrows dipping.

“What?” she echoed.

“You had this weird look on your face.”

“That’s my face, Fletch.”

“Mick.”

She blew out a breath that fluttered her lips. “If we’re going to be friends, we should be a little more open and honest with each other, no?”

“Does that include telling me about the sperm donor for that rebellious teenager?”

“Really?” When he nodded, she sighed dramatically. “I met him a year after I was railed by a rockstar. He was punk rock, charming and selectively funny. The sex was eh.” She made a see-saw action with her hand and continued, “But he did knock me up and then thought that the right thing to do was to marry me. Apparently his Catholic guilt insisted that he make an honest woman out of me or whatever bullshit he spewed. So we got married, I had Em and then we lived in not so perfect harmony for a few years until I filed for divorce and kicked him out.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted someone who wanted to be with me and vice versa. I didn’t want to be in this sham of a marriage for my kid. Besides, Geoffrey didn’t really bond with Emery or care about her enough, so when I filed for divorce, he didn’t fight me for custody.”

Fletcher’s mouth turned down. “He’s missing out on an incredible kid.”

“His loss. A few years after the divorce, Emery and I had a fight and she ran to find him, thinking he would help her. He stared at her in confusion and called me to come get ‘your kid’.” Micah had been so angry that day, she almost wrung Geoffrey’s neck when Emery ran into her arms, crying. It was one thing to not want the kid, but to say it in front of her? “So there you have it. My biggest mistake gave me the greatest gift and I’d do it all over again if it meant I got to raise Emery.”

“You’re amazing.”

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