Page 108 of Secondhand Smoke
Barrett cursed under his breath as Ricky called from down the hallway, forcing him to pull away from Nell—something he hadn’t planned to do all night.
“What?” He couldn’t help the annoyance in his voice.
He realized quickly that Ricky wasn’t alone. Dennis, Toni, Paulie, and a tall man stood next to him. Barrett raised a brow at the man. He was clearly out of place—clean cut, business casual. Barrett had never imagined someone like him hanging around this place.
His bandmates, however, didn’t look like they agreed. Their faces were alight, grinning as big as Barrett had ever seen. Tonimouthed,Holy shit, and Paulie rocked back and forth on his feet.
Okay. Now, Barrett was confused.
The man scanned him head to toe before holding out his hand. “Scott Barrett. I’ve been waiting to meet you all night.”
Barrett looked at the man’s hand for a moment before taking it. “And you are?”
“Rodney Heimer with Stagnate Records. Based out of LA.”
Barrett froze mid-handshake.
Luckily, Rodney seemed to expect it and graciously let go. “I’ve been in town on some business and overheard about some little metal band with lines out the door.” Rodney’s eyes jumped to the stage door to make his point. “How long you boys been playing again?”
Luckily, Ricky answered because Barrett’s tongue was lead. He still hadn’t comprehended past the words “Stagnate Records” and “LA”.
“They’ve been playing here four months.”
“Four months, and you’ve got this place packed with people who come not to drink but to see you. You understand how rare it is to see something like that?”
“No,” Barrett answered truthfully. Because he didn’t. They’d played in Gemsburg for years to half-assed applause, drunken hecklers, and the Christian resistance. If anything, it felt like it’d taken forever.
Rodney chuckled and nodded. “Let me put it simply to you, boys.” He turned to address them all. They stared at him like he was a god. “I want to hear more. Then I want to share it with some colleagues. And then, what I really want to do is share it with more people in bigger venues in bigger cities. How’s that sound?”
Perfect.
So. Fucking. Perfect.
Barrett couldn’t feel his legs, or his arms, or his brain. He was completely numb with the possibility.
“Is that even a question?” Toni answered, the rest too blank with excitement to form any response. “Give us the fucking word, Mr. Heimer. We’re in.”
Rodney smiled and pulled out four cards, handing one to each of them. “Get me a demo by the end of the year. Anything you’ve got. Doesn’t need to be perfect. Doesn’t even need to be original—we’ve got people for that. Send to this address. Now, I can’t make any solid promises except for one thing: everyone I’ve ever worked with is someone you’ve heard of. Keep that in mind.” He winked and pushed past them, waving as he headed toward the stage door to exit. “Give me a call.”
The door slammed behind him, and they were all still frozen in place. Toni stared at the card, Paulie stared at nothing, Dennis looked like he was going to pass out, and Barrett stared at where Rodney had just been standing.
About ten seconds later, they were screaming.
It was a shuffle of hugs and curses, and blurry exhilaration and disbelief.
Was it the universe aligning or pure good fucking luck?
Perfect. This night was perfect.
The best day of his life, and it was all because of their good luck charm.
He turned around to wrap his arms around Nell, and spin her and kiss her like no one existed but them.
But when he did, she was gone, nowhere to be seen. And Barrett realized he didn’t even know when she’d disappeared.
42 - Nell
Nell didn’t know what she’d expected.
