Page 198 of Movers and Shakers

“It’s okay. I’m about to get even.”

“Get even?” I asked.

“Yep. Because now you’refullybanned from Movers and Shakers.”

“What did I do now?”

“You became a rock star overnight.” She rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. “This is what you were meant to do. We all know it. You’re amazing onstage, but for some reason, you keep acting like you have to be at the bar every night.”

“Because I started the bar. I need to finish it.”

“You’re still the owner. But we can run it.”

“And wewantto,” Liam added.

“Running it is different than me leaving it with you, even if I did it for a few weeks.”

“Yeah, but knowing you, you’ll give us a raise and it's not like you'll be dead. We can call you with problems. Hell, if we can’t handle it, we can talk about you coming back. But I don’t see that happening. You can live your dream. Just trust us enough to let us help you. Permanently.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I looked to Lila as if she would give me answers.

“Barry,” she began, “I would never ask you to leave the bar, but I would alsolovefor you to join this tour. Working with you is when this feels right.”

“And the tour doesn’t last forever, right?” Liam asked. “He can still visit. If Audrey lifts the ban, of course.”

“I’m only lifting the ban if he says yes to joining.”

“Why are you two so okay with this?” I asked. “You’ve done more for me than you ever should have.”

“Because we saw your smile onstage. You’ve never looked that happy.”

“Yeah,” Liam added. “And all we want is for you to be happy.”

“Wow, good answer,” I said quietly.

“We admittedly practiced this.”

“Yeah,” Liam replied. “We were kind of going to do this when you came back.”

“Kick me out?”

“Offer to take over so you could do this full time. We saw it.”

I wasn’t used to being noticed. It was a consequence of being alone, I supposed. Who could ever notice anything when you chose to be by yourself?

But slowly, I’d broken down those walls, and I’d done it for the right people.

“Thank you, guys,” I said, voice cracking. “Seriously. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Emotions are running high, huh?” Audrey asked.

“Shut up.”

“I’m not judging. But I almost feel bad for what I have to do next.”

“You’ve already kicked me out of my own bar. What else could you do?”

“Invite the rest of your family in. I’d wait, but I met Ruth and she seems like she’ll kick down the door after too long. Sheseems like a badass. We told them to give us ten minutes alone with you before they came storming in.”

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