Page 28 of Shattered Chords

“It’s fine. We got it.” She snatched the keys from my palm.

Cal Valdez was Trent’s friend. I knew his mother. He was also on myharmless boyslist.

The guy with the beer who was hanging out in the back, however, wasn’t. At least, not yet.

“Do you know that kid in a red T-shirt?” I asked Jules as soon as Ally and Cal exited the dressing room.

“Oh,” she spun to see who I was talking about. “That’s Braden. He’s Trent’s friend.”

“Trent is a popular guy,” I croaked.

Jules stared at me with confusion.

“What?” I flung up my hands, “I’ve never seen him before.”

“Sweets.” Harper rested his palm on my shoulder. “You’re going to meet a lot of people you’ve never seen before when Bug starts playing regular gigs.”

Harper never used “if.” He was more certain of Ally’s talent and future than I was of what color panties I wore today or on any given day.

The dressing room was too hot and too crowded and Jules’ anxiety had begun to give me more jitters.

“Who’s this Jesse Catchum?” I asked Harper on our way back to the floor.

“Remember that song ‘Sugar Sky’?'' He started humming a familiar tune as we sashayed through the venue, looking for our table that Eva had apparently arranged for us.

I sifted through my memories. “Oh my gosh! That’s so old. Ally was what, five, when it came out?”

“Four.” He motioned at one of the reserved signs. “That’s us.”

“What was the name of the band?”

“Monochrome Summer. Jesse’s the singer.”

“No wonder Jules is so high-strung.” I stifled a laugh, stopping at a spot near the table to check my view of the stage.

“Too bad they didn’t release anything decent after ‘Sugar Sky.’ But dude’s got a pretty big social media following. So don’t write him off. He’s hooked up.”

Panic crawled up my back. What if Ally’s music career took off while she was still in high school?

“Are you okay?” Harper dipped his head to meet my gaze, and when a strand of his hair fell over his forehead, he blew it out of his eye.

“I’m just nervous,” I confessed. “My kid is playing a show tonight.”

“Relax.”

“I can’t.” My shoulders slumped. “She’s growing up too fast. Next thing I know, she’ll be married,” I said in a whiny voice.

“Give her space. Let her do this her way, sweets.” Harper smiled softly.

“I’m horrible, right?” The AC was finally working full blast in the dining room and I could feel the cool air blowing from above.

“You're definitely a helicopter parent.” Harper shrugged. “But you’re a good one.”

“You think?”

“I’m positive. My mother threatened to send me to a psychiatric clinic when I tried to tell her I was gay.” He checked his phone. “We’ve got thirty minutes before the first band goes on. What do you want to drink?”

“I’m driving.”

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