Page 66 of Rock Strong

“I knew something wasn’t right. I should have known.” I smiled, taking the bag from her. When I opened it, the lovely rich scent of almond oil hit me. Inside was an almond bear claw, and sharing one before going inside to hear the Philharmonic play was our tradition. There were no performances scheduled for today, but we’d be entering the building just the same. “Thank you.”

Planting ourselves on the edge of the fountain’s circular stone border, we tore pieces off the pastry and nibbled at them. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Ma asked.

“Very,” I said. Mmm. Best pastry ever.

Ma stared into the fountain with a sad smile, remembering. “You know, Abby…beautiful days in Manhattan will always be, whether it’s raining, snowing, breezy, cloudy, or whatever.”

I smirked, tilting my head like a dog who’s just heard a high-pitched whistle. “What are you getting at, Ma?” My Mom-O-Meter knew when she was about to jump atop her soapbox. Frankly, I was a bit frightened.

Her frail, thin shoulders shrugged. “All I mean is that New York City will be here for you when you get back.”

“Back from what?”

She faced me, giving me an easy nod. “From the tour.”

“I’m not on the tour anymore.”

“Abby, you need to go back.”

“What? Why do I need to go back?” I snapped at her. “There’s no way. I’m here for good. Going in the first place was a mistake. Correction, getting involved with Liam was a mistake.” I scoffed. “There are plenty of things I liked about him, Ma, but there’s one thing I don’t.” I put down the piece of bear claw I was about to eat before she started all this, suddenly not hungry. I don’t know why I was bordering on anger right now, but I was. “And that one thing has the potential to destroy me.”

My mother listened, but I could tell she was not going to agree. I hated when she wasn’t on my side. “Abby,” she said softly, “getting in a car has the potential to hurt you. Walking onto a train has the potential to hurt you. Stepping outside into the world has the potential to hurt you.” The wrinkles around her eyes said I needed to listen, but I didn’t like where she was going with her typical mom life analogies. “The potential to get hurt is everywhere, all the time. Does that mean you shouldn’t go outside?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not the same thing.”

“It is the same thing. You took a risk by taking that job, okay. And you took a risk by letting that boy into your heart, fine. But then, the moment something didn’t go well, you ran away.”

I turned, giving her my shoulder. “It’s not that it didn’t go well. He ruined it.”

“He apologized, didn’t he?”

Oh, yes. Via a hundred texts, via a song, via a heart-rending fuck against a mirror, but she didn’t need to know that. “Are you saying I can’t come home to you when I need you, Mother?”

“Of course you can. What I’m saying is, you need to try again.” She took my hands, knocking a piece of bear claw to the ground, an invitation to surrounding pigeons to come and partake. “Hurt is everywhere, Abby, but you can’t stay in your safe room your whole life. Getting that job with Rosemary was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How many people would give anything for the chance to tour with Point Blank?”

“Point Break.”

“Whatever.” She flapped her hand around. “The point is, not all fruit is rotten. Not all animals bite.”

“How is that a point?”

“Abby!” A rush of breath escaped her lips. She thought quietly for a while, while I considered all she was saying. I wasn’t deliberately trying to challenge her, but she didn’t know the whole story. She faced me again, her eyes aglow with wisdom. I could tell that if I didn’t listen to her now, she would never speak again on the subject.

Tempting.

“Not everyone is like your father,” she said, pausing to let that sink in. “I know you’re afraid. I know you don’t want anything to stop you from becoming Principal Cello the way life stopped me…but I’m happy, Abby. Life had new plans for me, and those plans were all about you. You were a new route that opened for me, and I was happy for that challenge. Do you understand that?”

Great, now my eyes began leaking, and my mom squeezed my hands to drive her point home. I nodded.

“Samuel is a good man,” she said.

I couldn’t believe it. This was about Samuel? They were ganging up on me again? Ugh, I couldn’t take this. I was about to give her back her bear claw and walk away when she shook my hands again.

“But Liam will keep you passionate for life.”

I turned wide eyes on her. “What did you say?”

“Liam, my darling… He was here several days ago, yes?”

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