Page 63 of Where You Are

“Mike?” she turns to him, and finally her voice wavers and one of her tears spills out of her eye. “Is there anything we can do? This bastard has fucked with our family far too much.”

“Yes,” he answers adamantly, already bent over his desk and tapping at his computer with a look of fierce determination on his face. “I have some ideas. This asshole’s going to pay.”

Sarah looks like she wants to jump his bones for a moment but quickly turns to me and resumes her panicked expression.

“Sarah,” I start, shaking my head and looking down to the carpet.

“Hey,” she says sternly, but gently tilts my chin up so that I’m looking her in the eye. “You’re forgiven. You hear me?” I nod weakly. I still feel so ashamed. Even if I didn’t do anything wrong, I feel like I brought Anthony on everybody. As if she can hear my thoughts she continues, “Eli, Anthony, whoever the hell he is, was honing in on the band. He was looking to sign them anyway. You happened to be a coincidence that he saw as a roadblock. This is not your fault.” She hugs me again and then leads me over to the loveseat so that we can try to find some semblance of calm while we listen to Mike’s plan as he works.

“God, just wait until Jack hears this,”

“No!” I cut her off. “They still have five weeks of the tour left. I can’t drop this bomb on Jack before he goes back on the road. He’s dealing with enough with what Anthony did to Mayzie. He’s not going to be able to focus on performing if he finds this out right before they leave. It needs to be after they get back, and I’ll be the one to tell them.” And I don’t want Matt to have to deal with this either. He’ll be terrified to leave Kasey.

Sarah blows out a breath and nods down at her lap.

“I suppose it would be better if he found out when the tour is behind him. Being on the road is stressful enough, plus Mayzie has to make court appearances. And when they’re back, we can sort through it as a family easier.”

“Thank you,” I say, releasing a sigh. I look back up to Mike who’s now tapping away on his phone. He’s in full-on cut-throat lawyer mode now. “And I want to file my complaint anonymously.”

“Yes,” he agrees, nodding but not looking up. “It will be better that way anyway. Your name and the fact you’re Jack’s sister will make the media circus go out of control.”

“I want you to move back in with me,” Sarah pleads, turning to me. “I just got you back after that bastard basically stole you from us for a year.” I nod as she continues. “Plus you’ll have a harder time refraining from telling Jack and Mayzie while you’re under their roof.”

“Okay,” I agree, nodding. I really would relax easier here with her.

“Mike, while we’re on the subject, can we get daily junk punches added to his sentence or something?” Sarah asks. I mentally sign off and let them banter.

I don’t feel like the weight I’ve been carrying around for the last year has been lifted, but I do feel like one of the heaviest of the bricks has been.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Matt

My mind is still reelingwhen I walk back into my house after flying in from New York the next morning. I barely slept in the hotel last night, and not at all on the plane. Obviously Melanie was going to come back at some point, but I don’t think I would’ve been mentally prepared no matter when she did.

I’ve never been more confused by my own thoughts. On one hand, I feel immense relief that she’s back; almost like I can breathe again. It’s as if no matter what happened between us, she’s back where she should be. That same part feels a small sense of excitement, and a desire to see her as soon as possible.

And then there’s the other part of me that’s still bitter as fuck that she up and left out of the fucking blue without a fucking word which I thought I deserved at the very least after everything we fucking had. That part also likes to curse a lot.

I try to push it all out of my mind for now. It’s been a fucking collision course of a tour so far, and both my mental and physical energy are completely depleted. I want nothing more than to throw on sweats and a hoodie, put something mindless on TV and veg out with pizza and beer. Christmas is in three days, and I’m craving a day or two to myself to reset before I have Kasey and Luna over for the holiday.

Once I’ve changed, I throw a frozen pizza in the oven and start to sift through the mail on my dining room table that Kasey collected for me. Once I get to the bottom of the junk, coupons, and bills, I find that I want to punch myself in the face at my disappointment that there’s no postcard.

“Fucking get a grip and get over it,” I scold myself out loud, as I thrust my hands into my hair and tug hard, hoping the slight pain in my scalp will help drive the message home.

When the pizza’s ready, I grab a beer and head to the living room, trying my best to zone out and not think about when and where I’m going to see the woman I begrudgingly still love.

* * *

The holidays are quiet and simple, which is a nice contrast to the tour and a good way to reset. Despite myself, I ended up spoiling Luna with an array of art supplies, even a painting easel. The creativity bug never left her after her time with Melanie, and while it brings back memories I’ve been trying to escape, it was worth it to see Luna light up exactly, just how Mel used to.

There’s still over a week left of our break and my fridge is looking pretty barren, so I hop in my Jeep and head to my usual store. Opting to ride in silence without the radio, my mind wanders as I drive along the route. The thought that Melanie is back here, somewhere nearby, is surreal and haunting me. Having not seen her yet but knowing I will at some point brings back the whole unicorn concept.

I get a little too lost in these thoughts and feelings and definitely don’t expect the dose of déjà vu that runs right out in front of me, making me slam on the brakes and bring the Jeep screeching to a halt.

The woman, clad in black leggings with white stripes down the side and a black hoodie with white accents, startles and loses her footing but rights herself before falling. She looks up and my heart stops beating, and simply floats, unmoving in my chest. Green eyes meet mine, but they aren’t the cheerful apple-green shade I remember. These are darker. Almost haunted. But the freckles on her nose are still there, and the dark, thick hair I remember still holds hints of red and gold, even pulled back in a low ponytail. But one thing is prominently absent from the beautiful being in front of me; the warm light that has always rolled off of her, is gone. All that surrounds her is a grey hue that rivals the bleak winter sky behind her. She’s noticeably thinner and it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

One glance at her tells me that she hasn’t spent this last year living it up in some far-off fantasy land. She looks like she’s just been released from hell, but didn’t want to leave because hell was better than here. Than reality.

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