Do I want to go back on stage?
Probably, but I also want to have something to do after every concert. The problem is that I won’t be able to do anything until I fulfill my duties in Luna Harbor.
“You’re quiet,” Fisher says.
I sigh. “Do you understand that in less than thirty days, we’ll be packing our shit and leaving Baker’s Creek?”
“Isn’t that what we always do?” he asks. “We set up, play, leave, and we go home. I love doing that.”
I nod. “That’s the goal. We’ll do whatever my grandfather needs, and then we’ll go home.”
He smirks. “Unless we have a mission. Maybe we shouldn’t quit The Organization. You miss the action.”
And he nailed it. I do. “No. I miss having something to do besides music, not necessarily having an undercover gig. Helping the Aldridges is okay, but I—”
“You’re looking for an excuse to avoid Luna Harbor,” I hear a voice as we enter the barn. It’s Beacon himself brushing Poppy, the beautiful mare.
“What are you doing here?”
He grins, shrugging one shoulder. “It seemed like a good idea to help you help me.”
I shake my head. He can’t stay in just one place. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m not ready to run yet, but I can walk without the crutches.”
“Sit down,” I order. “Fish and I will get these animals squared up. In the meantime, tell me the real reason you’re waiting for us.”
“Do I need a reason? I just wanted to hang out with you.”
I give him a look that says don’t bullshit me.
“Grace,” he says.
“Did she dump your ass?”
“No. She’s been getting a lot of offers to play around the world, but she doesn’t want to go.”
Grace Bradley, his fiancée, is a music prodigy and one of the best cellists—if not the best—in the world.
“You can’t travel, so I’m guessing she doesn’t want to leave you behind?” It’s as much a statement as it is a question. Knowing Grace, she wants to stay with him until he’s one-hundred-percent okay, not only physically but also emotionally.
“Exactly,” he answers, moving toward the chicken coop. He flinches a couple of times. So much for feeling well.
Fisher glares at him. “You’re not breaking up with her so she can go, are you?”
He did that when she was sixteen. We watched him love her from afar for twelve years before professing his love for her. I could see him breaking up with her so she could do what she loves the most, play music.
“No, of course I’m not breaking up with her. She’d break my legs,” he jokes, and we laugh. “I just need you guys to help me convince her that I’ll be fine without her.”
He takes a seat on the bench next to the chicken coop. He rests his arms on his legs and his head on his palms.
Shaking his head, he says, “I get it. If she had been in my place, I’d have trouble leaving her behind, but she can’t stop living. I wish I could go, but I need to continue my physical therapy.”
I study him. “You’re still dragging your ass to Luna Harbor, aren’t you?”
He bobs his head twice. “Yep. As soon as Lang finds a house for us. Hayes is searching for someone to take over my therapy in Luna Harbor. If he can’t find anyone, we’re hiring new people and taking them with us. Did you know they only have one doctor there?”
Fisher stops feeding the chickens. “Is he or she hot?”
“The same rule we have here applies in Luna Harbor,” I warn him. “We’re not sleeping around.”
“You two are annoying. When you’re in my hometown, I don’t limit you,” he says with a serious face.
“That’s because you were born and raised in Seattle,” I say, shaking my head as I change the water for the horses.
“My brothers don’t want me to leave, but they understand you need some help. They owe you after everything you guys have done for us.”
“You’re our brother. They don’t owe us shit.” I turn to him and say, “You, on the other hand, owe me a lot.”
He grins. “Obviously, fucker. And I thought they were the only ones who needed to learn the concept of family.”
Fisher laughs. “If there’s a class, sign me up. Maybe Lang will find it for us. That asshole finds everything.”
He’s not wrong. Lang believes everything’s for sale, and he always finds a solution to a problem. If Fisher wants a family class, Lang will find it or find a person to teach it.
“Has Lang found a house?” Beacon asks.
“He won’t find a house in Luna Harbor.” I look at Beacon. “We could move into my grandfather’s place. He’s using my place in Seattle.”
“It’s a two-bedroom home,” Beacon says. “There are six of us. Well, five if I convince Grace to go on tour.”
“Seven,” I correct him. “Myka is going to live with us. I don’t know where Lang will find a six-bedroom home in Luna Harbor.”
Fisher wiggles his eyebrows. “The twin is joining us. I can share a bedroom with her.”
I point at him. “My sister is off-limits.”
“I was trying to give you options. If we do that, we’ll just need five rooms.”
Beacon laughs and then flinches.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“It’s okay,” he says, looking at his watch. “I guess I need to head to the gym.”
“Why don’t you walk with him, and I’ll take care of the animals,” Fish offers.
I nod.
As we make our way to the building where the Aldridges set up the gym, Beacon says, “Are you sure you’re okay with going back to Luna Harbor?”
“No.”
“What is it? Your dad or your ex?”
“My father won’t be there, and I’m sure I can avoid Nydia until we can go home.”
“Then what is it?”
What is it? Everything. Fine, being close to Nydia is going to make things difficult. Can I avoid her? I’ll try my best. But it’s not just that.
“Do you feel like you’re missing something?” I ask Beacon.
He gives me a sideways glare. “You think?! I can’t fucking move the way I used to. I pretend in front of my brothers and Grace, but it’s so fucking hard. So yes, I’m missing a lot.”
“Plus, you can’t play the way you used to.”
He nods. “We can’t play. We can’t go on missions, not that I want to do it again. I can’t put you or myself in danger.”
We both bob our heads. Then he says, “We’re restless.”
That’s the one thing that Beacon and I share. We’re overactive. We have to be doing something all the time. We like to be on the go. The only way he’s stayed in Baker’s Creek for almost eighteen months is because he didn’t really stay here. He left the town without getting caught.
“And Luna Harbor won’t change that,” I add, voicing my thoughts and his. “We need a purpose.”
“My plan was to fly around the world with G, be her plus-one. Hayes and my team of doctors had to go and say fuck no. There’s not much for me here. Sure, I’m building a house next to my studio beside Carter’s tree. But I can’t play the way I used to. And you’re leaving for Luna Harbor. What am I supposed to do?”