Page 55 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

Her face fell, and before he could stop himself, he reached out to squeeze her hand. “It will be okay.”

She sighed and pulled her hand from his. “I’ll call them, and give you the address.”

TRAVIS WENT AND checked out of the motel, tossed his duffel bag in the back, and drove to Charlie’s friend Evan’s house. He shook hands with his parents as Charlie bounced around like a rubber ball, clearly excited to see him. They climbed up into the truck, and Charlie hadn’t stopped talking the whole way to Gemma’s house.

“Did you get into a fight?” Charlie asked, studying the left side of his face, where Wayne had gotten in a lucky shot. The kid didn’t even give him a chance to answer before he added, “I got into a fight yesterday. Teddy Hook kept picking on a couple of kids at camp, and when I told him to leave them alone, he punched me. So I hit him back, and that’s why Mom had to come get me.”

Travis had noticed his son’s shiner but had been too wrapped up in other things to mention it. Not a sign of excellent parenting skills. Shit, how was he going to be a dad to a nine-year-old kid when he’d never even known his own father?

“How come you got in trouble for fighting back?” Travis asked.

“’Cause the counselor said I should have just gotten an adult. No tolerance for violence, she said.”

Travis thought that was a stupid reason for sending a kid home from summer camp, especially when he was just trying to do the right thing, but kept his mouth shut. He’d had experienced very few truly good role models and had no right to criticize the camp director.

Still, a little glimmer of pride spread through his chest as he considered Charlie. Eric was right that Gemma had raised him well. It took a special person of any age to stand up for others.

They pulled up outside Gemma’s house, and Charlie hopped out of the truck. When Travis went to grab his duffel bag out of the back, he turned to find his son staring at him with wide eyes.

“Are you staying here?”

Travis wanted to kick his own ass. He had assumed Gemma had told him. “Yeah. Is that okay with you? I’m just going to bunk in the guest room while I’m here, so you and I can get to know each other.”

“Awesome!” Charlie whooped and raced inside. When Travis finally caught up to him, Charlie asked, “Wanna see my room?”

“Sure, buddy, lead the way,” Travis said, dropping his bag in the doorway and following Charlie up the stairs and past the first door.

“That’s Mom’s room. She has her own bathroom with this huge claw-foot tub she spends hours in. I don’t know how anyone could take a bath for that long; it weirds me out when my fingers get pruney,” Charlie said, opening up the next door and pointing inside. “And this is my bathroom. Mom let me decorate it with Avengers stuff.”

Travis looked around at the shower curtain and toothbrush holder with a smile. “Awesome. I love Iron Man myself.”

Charlie made a face. “Really? I like Thor. He’s a god.”

“But Iron Man is rich,” Travis said, smiling.

Charlie shook his head as he walked away and opened the door to his room. “But he doesn’t have any real powers.”

Travis’s heart stopped as he took in Charlie’s room. For the most part, posters of comics and superheroes covered the walls, but on the same wall his bed was pushed against were posters of Travis. His first album cover. Performing live at one of his concerts. Facing Charlie, he asked, “So, you’ve known about me for a long time, huh?”

“Yeah, Mom told me about you when I was five. Even made me a scrapbook.” Charlie ran to his nightstand and opened a drawer, pulling out a leather-bound book.

Travis sat down on the bed, and Charlie hopped up next to him, handing him the book.

Travis opened it to find his Rock Canyon High School ID card and his football picture on the first page. I wonder how she got that.

“The next couple of pages are of you performing, and then there are some photos of you and Uncle Mike at the river. My favorite pages are toward the end, though.” Charlie reached over him and flipped the pages until he reached the one he wanted. “There. These are of you and Mom.”

Sure enough, there were pictures of Gemma and him hugging in the quad at school, making weird faces for the camera. The next page held their prom pictures and a couple of snapshots from that night. There were pictures from Stephanie and Jared Brown’s wedding that summer, and their photo-booth pictures from the fair. After that, though, it was just clippings from magazines following his career. Travis was touched, tears pricking his eyes as he turned the last few pages.

How could she take so much time making sure his son knew everything about him without giving Charlie the chance to really know him?

Closing the scrapbook with a slap, he tried to smile through the pain. “So, why don’t you show me where I’m sleeping?”

Charlie jumped up readily. “Sure, follow me. It used to be Mom’s room when she was a kid.”

Travis let Charlie lead him back downstairs, even though he knew the way well. He’d spent the better part of two years in that room. Around the base of the stairs and through the kitchen, Gemma’s old room was at the end of a narrow hallway. Opening the door, Charlie stepped back and spread his arms with the flourish of an entertainer.

“Here it is,” Charlie said.

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