Page 95 of Hope & Harmony

“Ready to go?” Tommy waved and we moved toward the exit, where the bus was waiting and we appeared to be the last two to arrive.

Ross and I followed him outside and up the steps.

“How are you feeling?” I asked Kingston as I sat down.

“He has laryngitis,” Devyn replied, holding up a hand to stop him when he opened his mouth. “He called his doctor back in LA, who told him not to talk at all until the show. I’ve had him drinking tea with lemon and honey all afternoon, and this other concoction the doctor suggested. He hasn’t spoken a word since this morning and he’s hoping his voice will last long enough to get through most of the show.”

Kingston typed something on his phone and showed it to Devyn, who read it aloud. “You all need to plan for extended solos so I can sing less, and I’ve switched up the set to songs where I either sing less or are easier on my voice. And I’m not doing soundcheck either.”

Everyone nodded.

“I can sing ‘Not Going Away’,” Z said. He’d written the power ballad for his wife, so he sometimes sang it live anyway.

“And I’m down to sing ‘Shiny Pieces’,” Tommy added. “It’s from the first album—no one will notice if I screw up the lyrics.”

“I beg to differ,” I said, laughing. “It’s one of my favorites.”

They all grinned at me, and I sat back, listening to them discussing the set and their plans to compensate for Kingston’s limited singing ability. It reminded me of other days, when Tommy and Harley had first gotten together, and we’d spent almost every night of the week listening to them rehearse or play live around Hollywood.

We’d all known they were going to be big, but we’d never imaginedhowbig. Or how fast it would happen.

I’d loved being able to watch it happen, even though it had slowly destroyed my sister.

“You look melancholy all of a sudden,” Ross said quietly as we walked down the long hallway toward the underground backstage area of the arena.

“I was just thinking about the early days, when we used to hang out and party on the bus during their first tour. Before things took off.”

“I wasn’t around yet,” he replied thoughtfully. “I came on for their second album and tour. And they were already big by then.”

“It was a crazy time. I was in college, but Harley and Tommy were together, so I spent almost every free night watching and listening. There were so many good times. It was enchanting. I had to stop coming around as much after they got divorced, and I’ve missed the magic that surrounds them. As someone on the outside looking in, I can’t imagine what it’s like to see something you wrote suddenly become a household name. Like writing some random words and then seeing millions of people sing them.”

“It’s pretty magical,” he agreed, looking away.

The faraway look in his eyes made me long to touch him.

Comfort him.

Say or do something to make that pain go away.

But he didn’t want that comfort, at least not from me, and I’d already pushed it enough.

If I wanted to be his friend, and I really did, I had to keep my mouth shut and mind my own business.

That was all there was to it.

CHAPTER 7

ROSS

Onyx Knight was typically a well-oiled machine. Everyone, from the band to the crew to support staff, knew their jobs and did them well. Unless there was a technical problem or something broke unexpectedly, we were prepared for almost anything. I had to keep an eye on things from start to finish, but once they hit the stage, all I had to do was watch. Their techs knew how to handle broken strings or if the sound went out or anything else that might go wrong. The sound and light guys had this down to a science, and most arenas had capable, efficient staff to make sure things went smoothly.

However, no one could do anything about Kingston’s voice.

All we could do was hold our collective breath and pray for the best.

He definitely wasn’t himself tonight.

His energy was fine, but he was singing much lower registers and his voice had already cracked a few times.

---