Page 129 of Worst Nanny Ever
“Fine,” Rob says. “But you won’t be doing it in a sailor suit.”
“We need this,” Bixby objects hotly. “I need this, Travis. I think I’m about to get laid off at work.”
More guilt gnaws at me.
Rob gives me a hard stare and shakes his head, silently telling me not to cave. He wants to protect me, obviously, but he doesn’t know everything about my situation or what my plans are for the band.
It’s time he did.
“I need to talk to Rob for a minute,” I say.
Bixby snorts. “Oooh ho, Mom and Dad need to have a talk.”
“Grow the fuck up,” I say, then storm out the door.
Not my usual move, but I don’t like the bad vibes filling up the room.
Rob shuts the door behind us, then walks several paces down the corridor to the large picture window. I join him, and we stand there for a moment, gazing down at the scenic parking lot. We’ve always joked that it adds to the curb appeal.
“I’m going to quit the band,” I say.
Rob sighs. “I knew you were going to say that, but why does that make any sense? If you quit, then we wouldn’t be able to do the stupid Ships Junior publicity anyway.”
“It’s not that. Bixby made a good point.” I sweep my hair out of my face. “I don’t want to miss Ollie’s childhood. I don’t want to hand him over to other people to take care of him. If we go on the road, I’d need to leave him. I’m not going to do that…and if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I want it anyway. After what happened last week…”
I trail off, not sure where I’m going with that, just sure thatit sucked.
He whistles, shaking his head slightly. “Do you really want to quit, or are you worried you can’t handle the attention?”
I rub the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to endlessly be on tour either,” he says, turning me toward him. “There are plenty of bands that do just fine without it.” He pauses. “I’m going to marry Sophie, Travis.”
“You proposed?”
“Not yet,” he says with a smile. “So maybe don’t tell her before I get around to it. But I’m going to. I want to have a family too.”
I try to process this, to consider what the future might look like for us. But there’s a sound of approaching footsteps—running footsteps—and then Hannah turns the corner, her hair a mess around her face.
My heart stops. She looks devastated, and there’s no sign of my son.
“Where’s Ollie?” I ask, fear filling up every molecule of my body. Did Lilah grab him? Is he lost? Was he hurt? The possibilities spiral through my mind my whole existence on pause until I know the answer.
“He’s okay,” she says, lifting a hand, panting slightly. “He’s okay! I’m sorry. I left him with Dottie. I didn’t want to scare you, but I have to talk to you alone.” She shifts her attention to Rob. “Actually, this concerns you too.”
“What’s going on?” I ask, crossing the remaining distance to her, my heart racing now.
She glances at the closed door bearing our sign—The Missing Beat, with a musical note replacing each I. “Are Drake and Bixby in there?”
I nod, reaching for her hand, needing the reassurance of it under mine. “What’s going on? Did Lilah come by?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head so hard her curls spin out. “No, not that. Eugene’s son is some kind of geniuscomputer expert, remember? And he figured out who MaritimeLaw69 is…” She captures her bottom lip in her teeth, and I already know it’s bad. If it weren’t, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell us.”
“Just say it,” Rob says quietly.
“He’s not one hundred percent sure, but the person who set up the email address linked to that MaritimeLaw69 account used the name of someone we know.” She glances at the door again and whispers, “Chance Bixby.”
Rob swears loudly.
