Page 84 of One More Chance

“We’re going to be fine,” she assured him, kissing him one more time. Taking a step back, she smiled at him as he closed the door and Mick hated driving away from her.

“Work,” he told himself. “Get all the work done and don’t give yourself any time to think.”

Pulling his phone out, he texted Lynn that he was on his way to the airport and to email him anything that needed his immediate attention and he’d deal with it on the plane.

After that, he scrolled through all the emails and messages he’d been ignoring for the last several days and stopped on the one from Riley. He knew from the day he arrived that the drive to the airport was less than thirty minutes and figured he might as well watch these now while it was quiet.

Clicking the link, Mick relaxed in his seat and then felt his jaw slightly drop at the first few notes the kid played. The sound was clean and a spot-on cover of one of Jett’s earlier songs. But what really piqued his attention was how much this kid genuinely looked like Jett—the hair, the build, the way he played. If they were to make a movie about the crazy career of rock God, Jett Henley, this kid could play him and people would swear they were seeing an exact replica of him from twenty years ago.

“That is uncanny,” he murmured. And for the rest of the ride, he continued to watch as many clips as he could.

At the airport, there was a ton of traffic and he was relieved he’d been able to charter a flight instead of dealing with the commercial ones. It would have been less expensive, but...he had to admit it being a bit of a travel diva. After all the years of riding tour busses or having crappy seats in coach on flights, he preferred to upgrade whenever possible. And considering it was impossible to get a direct flight from Raleigh to L.A., he considered this money well spent.

He checked in, had some coffee, and within an hour, he was on board and preparing for takeoff. He had his laptop set up on the table in front of him and was looking over his schedule for the coming weeks. After making a few notations, he forwarded the links Riley sent him to his assistant and told her to find out as much information about this kid that she could. He might not have been looking to sign anyone new, but all that went out the window as soon as he heard him play.

“It might not be a bad thing to discover the next Jett Henley...”

And that was the kind of thinking that put him back in the right frame of mind. There was no way he could function if the only thing on his mind was how much he wished he and Sienna were together, so starting right now, Mick Tyler—one of the biggest music managers in the business—was back.

There were deals to make, contracts to sign, and he already knew the reward that was going to be waiting for him in fourteen short days.

Putting his phone down, Mick rubbed his hands together and grinned down at his laptop. “Okay, let’s do this!”

****

For the next three days, Sienna worked until she could barely see straight. Not that she was so interested in the research, but she desperately needed the distraction. After being gone for so long, this felt comfortable, and after losing Eleanor, she desperately needed comfort.

And sadly, this was more of what she needed than having Mick with her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate him flying here to be with her—because she did and had no idea how she would have gotten through it without him—but...she also needed her space.

Mick was not great at giving her space.

After spending so much of her life taking care of herself, it was more than a little overwhelming to have someone wanting to take care of everything for you. In time, she knew she’d get used to it, but right now, she was beyond grateful to have the time alone.

It was Friday night and she was walking through the door when her phone rang. She was almost positive it was going to be Mick, but smiled when she saw her brother’s name on the screen.

“Jason! This is a wonderful surprise,” Sienna said as she put her satchel down on her sofa and sat herself down.

“Hey! I held off calling for a week because I figured you needed to recover from your whirlwind trip! How are you?”

“Oh, uh...good. I’m good.”

He sighed. “Okay, how about telling me how you’re really doing? Is everything okay with you and Mick?”

“Things are great with us,” she began and then told him all about the loss of her friend.

“Damn, I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “I know the two of you were close, but I’m glad you got to be with her before she passed.”

Eyes closed, she willed herself not to cry. “It was truly an emotional experience. I’m back at work and getting back to my normal routine, but...I’m sad.”

“What’s Mick doing while you’re at work?” he asked with amusement. “I’m sure Durham isn’t nearly as exciting as L.A.”

“Actually, he went home a few days ago.”

“Really? Why?”

She shrugged. “Because I have a job and so does he. We weren’t supposed to see one another right now anyway. I’ll be off after Thanksgiving through the new year, so...”

---