Page 47 of Rock Bottom

Because I’d been planning to see her again.

I’d liked her and had been intrigued enough to want to get to know her. There was no way to know if it would have led to anything, but the physical attraction I felt for her was still there. She’d gone out of her way to look drab and plain, and the irony was that it made her that much more attractive to me. The glasses, the ponytail, even the faded jeans. It all added up to the sweet but currently furious ray of sunshine who’d rocked my world just over a year ago.

And somehow, I had to make this right.

“She’s not handling things well,” Aunt Meg said as she came down the stairs.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” I muttered. “I don’t know what to do. I had no idea she’d gotten fired, or that she hadn’t graduated…”

“It’s been a hard year,” she said, sitting across from me in what looked like a well-used recliner. “She could have gone to summer school, but not only was she out of money, she lost her job and was so sick during her pregnancy.”

“What do I do?” I asked quietly. “How can I fix this?”

“I don’t know that you can,” she admitted. “But you owe her an interview. And interviews with all your famous friends. And then you can pay for her to retake that last class, after she’s gotten her e-zine up and running.”

“Done.” Fuck, that was the easiest fix ever. “What else?”

“She probably won’t want to do an interview with you,” she continued. “But someone else in your band. I was thinking about Carter. Would he be willing to talk about his addiction issues?”

I hesitated. “I can’t speak to whether or not he’ll talk about that particular subject, but I’ll make sure she can talk to anyone in the band she wants. Carter’s still in recovery, though, so that’s not something we can mess with if he’s not willing.”

“Of course not. That much I understand.” She seemed thoughtful.

“Presley said something about needing a new roof?”

“Oh. Yes. But that’s not your responsibility. If you can pay off the hospital bill, that would certainly ease our burden.”

“Absolutely.” I paused. “Does she have student loans?”

“She’s deferred payment for now, but yes, she does. About thirty-five thousand dollars.”

“Can you send me the info? I’ll have my accountant just pay it. I don’t want her to worry.”

“Thank you, Zeke. I’m very grateful. And Presley is too. But you hurt her. In so many ways. There were a lot of dark days during her pregnancy.”

“I want to make it up to her,” I said.

“Then I hope you’re a patient man.”

I hoped so too.

18

Presley

Zeke stayed in town for five days, coming over first thing in the morning and not leaving until late. I had to work the second day he was in town, and he hung out at the house with Aunt Meg and Jeremy. While I was grateful that she had support, it left me feeling completely out of sorts. I hated everything about our current situation because part of me just wanted to stay mad, brood, continue to hate him. I was also a little jealous of how quickly he was bonding with Jeremy. The moment he walked in the door, Jeremy wanted to be picked up.

He seemed to enjoy the sound of his daddy’s deep voice and tugged at his hair non-stop. No matter what they were doing, whether it was watching baseball on TV or if Zeke was giving him a bottle, Jeremy was relaxed and happy. As if Zeke had always been here. It wasn’t like I’d been the one waking up with him at all hours of the night or anything.

It was ridiculous to feel this way, and the intellectual part of me understood that. Emotionally, however, I was a mess. I’d convinced myself what kind of person Zeke was, but the man who’d been with us the last few days was nothing like the Zeke I’d created in my mind. This Zeke was kind, thoughtful, and helpful. Much like the man I’d slept with. He bought enough groceries, diapers, and formula to feed half the babies in Minneapolis. He’d already gotten a roofer to come and give him an estimate, so the work was scheduled to start in two weeks.

And that was when he dropped a bombshell on us.

“I’d like you to come to L.A. while they’re doing the roof,” he said on his last night in town. He’d taken Aunt Meg and me out to a fancy steakhouse for dinner, having paid one of our neighbors to watch Jeremy. I’d never left him with anyone but Aunt Meg before, so I kept checking my phone and texting Denise to make sure everything was okay. I was admittedly distracted, so I was only half paying attention when he made the offer.

“What?” I looked at him in confusion.

“The house is going to be loud and messy,” he said. “What better time is there for you to get away and come meet my family? I know they’ll be eager to meet all of you, so the timing is perfect.”

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