Page 3 of Melody

Kyle couldn’t remember getting into his brother’s bed—or anything else, for that matter. He couldn’t even remember Liam actually shooting up. He only knew he must have. Although the needle and the tourniquet were nowhere near Liam’s body, Kyle knew his brother wouldn’t have just died for no good reason.

Think, goddammit.

Where the fuck was his phone? He could call Adrian or Pedro—they’d know what to do. Even as he was standing up, he thought it might be in the living room. He’d been sitting on the couch before they’d retired to Liam’s bedroom—and, sure enough, on the end table sat his phoneandvape.

As he picked them up, though, he realized he couldn’t call his bandmates. They might be as distraught as he was—and he needed someone with a clear head.

He couldn’t call Hayley. She’d done nothing but harp and preach over the last few months.

Oh, fuck. What the hell would this do to his mom?

He couldn’t call her. No fucking way. Not yet.

Sucking on the vape until his lungs were full, he let it all out as he realized there was only one number to call.

911.

If there was even a sliver of chance that Liam could be saved, they would be the ones who could do it.

But, even as he pressed the numbers, he knew it was futile.

Already he was wondering how the fuck he could go on without his brother and doubting he could.

CHAPTER 2

One year later

Scarlett Mortenson adjusted in the hard wooden chair, hoping to keep her rear end from falling asleep. There was something about the chair’s height that seemed off and, as she sat there longer, she thought maybe it was lower to the ground than most.

It could have just been that she was nervous.

As she looked around the tiny office, she wondered for the millionth time if she was doing the right thing. While her eyes took in every detail of the cramped space, from the books and binders on a shelf above boxes holding rolls of receipt tape and order pads to the clock on the wall that looked like it hadn’t been dusted in years, her mind recycled the same thoughts she’d been pondering over the last two weeks.

Yes, this was the right thing. Not thebestthing, but it was a step in the right direction.

She tried to focus on the sounds of rock music coming from outside the room, but it was muffled, and the underlying smell of old alcohol kept distracting her—but not in a good way. It just kept reminding her that she was jittery.

The manager, a forty-something guy with thinning dark hair and a formerly athletic body, stepped back in the office. “Sorry about that,” he said, closing the door and walking around to his desk again. Scarlett was able to relax a little, no longer feeling the need to watch the open doorway.

“That’s okay.”

“I guess that’s something I should tell you up front,” he said, moving the computer keyboard to the side of the desk. “I tend to be a hands-on manager overall. I know that drives a lot of people crazy, because they’d prefer the boss wasn’t around. Is that a problem?”

Scarlett shook her head. “Not at all.” And she meant it. Although she was a little wary of men these days, it was comforting to know that, in a bar like Tequilaville where it seemed like half of Silver City showed up on the weekends, there would be someone who had her back.

Of course, that was an assumption. Her interpretation ofhands onmight have been far different from his.

But the vibes she got from him weren’t creepy—and, ever since leaving Pueblo, she’d listened to her instincts. After all, they’d saved her so far.

“So…” he said, glancing down at her application again, a quaint paper one that seemed like it was from the dark ages, “you don’t have much experience working in a bar.”

“Oh, I do. I was at Sheldon’s for a year and a half.”

“As a server.”

“Well, yeah, but it wasn’t just a restaurant. It was a bar and grill, and sometimes I had to step in behind the bar to help out.”

If this guy called Sheldon’s, he’d find out quickly how false her statement was—but it was a chance she had to take. She’d helped behind the bar exactly one time—and it was just to fill two beer mugs. So it was a lie, but not completely.

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