Page 112 of Tortured Tones

Charlotte slid out of my arms and rushed over to him. “Poppy.” She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

“You did this?” Ava’s eyes glassed over with tears.

“Yeah...well, with the help of April. I asked her to get Paul here; she made it happen.” I nudged my arm against Ava’s elbow. “I like making people happy.”

“And what makes you happy?”

“That.” I waved at Paul, Hannah, and Charlotte hugging and kissing each other. Music was in my soul, and I lived to drum, but making people smile was up there. Fuck. With all the tour and stress, I’d forgotten to focus on the simple things. I had to do that more often.

Leaving Riley to keep an eye on Hannah and Charlotte while Paul finished his tea, Ava and I headed up to my room.

As we headed along the hallway to my suite, my cell phone pinged. I grabbed it out of my jacket. An email from Harper lit the screen.

My hands shook as I swiped the screen to read the message.

Hey Cole, I accept your job offer.

I’m taking twelve months leave.

If being your nanny doesn’t work out, I can come back to Nepal.

I’m looking forward to more travel.

I can’t wait to meet Charlotte and see everyone.

Merry Christmas, love Harps

“Arrrrgh!” I screamed. I grabbed Ava, kissed her sweet lips, then picked her up and swung her ’round. “Yes.”

“Cole, put me down.” She slapped my shoulder.

I placed her on her feet, my heart still stampeding. “Harper’s coming.” Excitement elevated my voice as it echoed through the hallway. “She’s going to be Charlotte’s nanny. This is the fucking best Christmas present.”

“That’s awesome.” Ava cleared her throat, straightened her jacket, then smoothed her hand over her pulled-back hair. A hint of redness colored her cheeks. I loved it when she blushed. I loved stealing a kiss.

“This is brilliant. One less thing to worry about.” I stared at my cell phone and re-read the message, just to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake. Nope. Harper was coming. Yes!

“Good.” Ava squeezed my arm. “Now you need to get some rest and can relax even more.”

“Yeah. That would be good.”

It would.

Finally something had gone right.

But the knot in my stomach didn’t ease. That worried me. From my experience, that usually meant something was about to go wrong.

Chapter 26

AVA

Ahead of schedule, just after nine a.m., our tour buses pulled up on the street, one hundred yards from the hotel in Atlanta. Four coaches with The Flintlocks logo plastered over the sides were far from inconspicuous. The other five buses with the road crew had gone straight to the venue to set up the stage for tonight’s show. The sea of fans waiting to see the guys wasn’t too overwhelming, but they were scattered along the street, not blocked by barricades or guarded by hotel security.

Wells had called ahead. Nothing made him more irritated than places not being ready for our arrival. He was a meticulous planner. I’d learned from the best. He was on the phone to the hotel’s team, ranting orders within seconds.

I savored the few calm moments on the bus before we disembarked.

Atlanta was my last stop before I’d fly home to see Josh for the New Year’s weekend. I couldn’t wait. But I’d had a rough night on the bus and had barely slept.

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