Page 25 of Timeless: Encore

“There you are.” Carter raps on the door, strolls in and takes a seat across from me. “Fiona sent me down here to bring you up for dinner.”

I grab my phone and see it’s nearly five-thirty. “Shit. I got sucked in.”

“Sounded great.” He nods at me. His long, black hair flecked with gray looks tidier than normal. Trimmed. He’s trying to impress someone.

Likely Lianne, my mom.

Ever since this past Christmas when she spent the holidays with us, I’ve felt a little weird around my dad. I’m burying my head in the sand a bit because it’s clear there’s something going on with my parents. Fiona thinks so and believes it’s been going on for a while. I’m not so sure. When I brought it up to Carter, he brushed me off.

I don’t dare ask my mom. I have no idea why she’d ever consider taking Carter back after all that went down. That being said, as far as I know, she’s never had a long-term boyfriend. So …

“Thanks. Are you coming with me tonight? Maybe you can play too?” I set my Gibson in its case. Throw in a pack of strings. All’s that left to do is change and I’m ready.

Carter follows me up the stairs. “Nah. The TikTok generation doesn’t want to see an old guy like me. Before you know it LTZ will be classic rock. What will that make Limelight?”

“Zaney!” My mom stands in the foyer. Smothers me as much as possible considering she’s half my size. “I’ve missed you so much. You never text. You never call.”

“I miss you too, Mom.” I hug her back, looking over her head at Fiona, who rolls her eyes. Mia helps her set out the food on the island that tends to be our go-to surface for sexy times.

If my parents only knew.

Uh,no. Maybe not.

We take our plates of roast lamb, baby new potatoes, and green beans to the conservatory.

“Holy fuck, Fee,” Carter says through a mouthful. “This is amazing.”

Lianne touches his arm. “How are the renovations going? I heard there were some delays.”

“We should be close to done with construction by October, November. We get back from New York at the end of the month and I’m going to hire achef du cuisineand pastry chef to work up recipes here in this kitchen. As soon as we can, we’ll move the test kitchen over to Gus.“ Fiona’s smile is radiant. I know she’s chomping at the bit to get moving.

Carter leans back and pats his belly. “I’ll need to have a seat with my name engraved on it.”

“The food’s going to be much fancier than this, Carter.” Fee slugs Carter in the arm.

“Ow. You’re strong, Fee. Don’t hurt an old man.” Carter rubs his arm and then caresses Fiona’s cheek. “Seriously, your dad would be so proud of you. I know it.”

My dad and Fee’s dad were best friends for their whole lives. As sweet as Carter’s sentiment is, his comment hits me in a soft, tender place. After my mom and I moved to Denver, Fiona spent more time with my dad than I did. He’d miss my birthday yet be there for hers. I mean, he was a full-blown addict at the time, but still …

“Babe, dinner’s awesome but we’ve got to get to the venue.” I stand and throw my napkin on my plate.

Fee nods. “Go change, I’ll set the plates in the sink. Olga can load the dishwasher.”

“Are you two coming with?” I glance between my mom and dad.

The look that passes between them makes my stomach hurt. It’s how I look at Fee. No fucking question.

Shit.

“I’d like to see you play.” Lianne rests her chin on her hand but doesn’t pull her moony eyes from Carter.

I clap my hands to stop my eyes from bleeding. “Awesome. Okay, I’ll text Tex.”

“Text Tex?” Carter laughs.

“Yeah, Tex McLain. He’s Fractured’s me.” I glance up from my phone as I send a message to the band’s guitarist.

An hour later, we’re pulling into the VIP parking at AWA. Zeke gets our passes sorted. We jump on a golf cart and are whisked to the backstage area. Seattle’s new venue, Climate Pledge Arena, doesn’t open until later this year, so most big shows have been diverted up here for the time being.

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