Broken Rock

by K. A. Finn

  ‘Oh my God. They’re all here? Is Tate going to sing?’

  Bria sits down on Tate’s seat and hugs Chloe. ‘Of course he is. He has another band lined up for later, but he mentioned you hadn’t seen him and the band perform properly. He thought you’d like it.’

  ‘Are you kidding me? I can’t believe this is happening. In a good way,’ she adds when Bria glances at her. ‘I’ve always wanted to hear him sing like this. I just didn’t want to ask.’

  Bria waves her comment away. ‘Never be afraid to ask him to play. Sometimes getting him to shut up is the problem.’

  The guests follow her into the far room as the band begins to play. Tate winks at her as he moves closer to the mic and sings.

  26

  Tate flops back in the bed and wipes his hair off his forehead. After taking a few minutes to get himself together he looks over at Chloe. Her arm is draped over her face. ‘You okay?’ She waves her hand at him and he laughs. ‘I’ll take that as a sort of.’

  ‘Happy birthday to me.’ She rolls over and drapes her leg over his. ‘I think that might have worked off the cake.’

  ‘Both slices?’

  She frowns up at him. ‘Hey. It was a very nice cake. I had to grab the second slice before you and your horde demolished the lot.’

  ‘My horde had just played for an hour and that always makes us hungry.’

  ‘You’re always hungry, it had nothing to do with performing.’ She leans on his chest and rubs the side of his face. ‘Did I tell you how amazing that was?’

  ‘The sex or the performance at your party?’

  ‘Both.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’

  ‘I just realised something. I have no idea when your birthday is.’

  ‘Fourth of April.’ She looks away and he knows what she’s thinking. ‘Yeah, my thirty-sixth birthday was a bit of a non-event. Being in rehab kind of took the fun out of it. Takes the pressure off you next year though. A takeaway and a movie would top that any day.’ He brushes hair away from her face and decides to ask the question he needs an answer to but is kind of dreading hearing. He’s also not keen on putting a downer on her birthday.

  ‘Okay, so I need to ask you something. Actually, it’s more that I’ve got a bone to pick with you.’

  ‘You want to know why I didn’t tell you about my birthday?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Chloe pulls the duvet up over her shoulder and looks away from him for a minute. ‘I just... I didn’t want to... there’s a lot on your plate right now and I didn’t want to add to it. And then you... Seriously, it’s not a big deal. I don’t usually do anything crazy for my birthday anyway.’

  Tate props himself up on an elbow and looks down at her. She may have stopped herself from saying it but he knows full well what she was going to say. He got drunk and that overshadowed all thoughts of her birthday.

  Chloe rests her hand on the side of his face and smiles up at him. ‘Hey, I wasn’t having a go at you. I really wasn’t.’

  He squeezes her hand. ‘I know, but let’s get one thing straight, Chloe. I’m your boyfriend. Forget everything else. that part comes first. You hear me? We’re a couple. I want to — scrap that, I need to know stuff like this. It’s my job to know stuff like this. It doesn’t matter what other crazy shit is going on in my life, you come first. It’s my right to spoil you rotten on your birthday.’

  ‘This is all new to me, Tate. I’m still trying to figure out... you, I guess. Your life. Your job. It’s all so different to me.’

  ‘Talk to me about it. I can’t help you understand if you don’t ask.’

  ‘I’d probably be firing questions at you all the time.’

  ‘That’s grand. I’d prefer you to do that than have any worries about things.’ He pats the pillow beside him, and she lies down facing him. Tate pulls the duvet up and drapes his arm over her waist. ‘Fire away. Ask whatever you want.’

  Chloe traces along the tattoo on his chest for a few minutes before she looks up at him again.

  ‘Okay, so the studio. When you’re there for the day can I call you if I need you for something or are you off limits? I have no idea what Ellen does for you and how much control she has over what you’re doing. I’ve heard you talking about touring again but you could be talking about going to the moon for all I know. Are you going for a week? Or a month? Longer? Will you be gone the whole time or be able to come home? I think that’ll do for starters.’

  Tate blows out a long breath. ‘Wow. Okay. Studio first. If I’m recording, my phone will be on silent but I check it regularly. I’ll give you Dillon, Gregg, and Luke’s numbers and the one for the main studio reception. If you need to get a hold of me urgently when I’m there ring the reception first. They’ll pass a message on. Never be afraid to ring me whenever you want. If I can’t answer I’ll have it turned off or on silent.’

  ‘That’s good to hear. I was afraid I’d ring you mid interview or whatever and get you in trouble.’

  ‘No risk of that. I promise. Ellen’s job is looking after everything, bar the music side of things. I write everything. Music and the lyrics. Ellen makes sure our music gets in front of the right people at the right time. She arranges our publicity, any interviews we do, appearances, signings, tour dates. You name it, Ellen and her team look after it.’

  ‘Do you have a say at all?’

  ‘Ideally I should give her free rein and go with it, but that interferes with my control freak side. We bump heads a lot, but she doesn’t take any shit from me. Under normal circumstances, if she tells me or the guys she wants us to do something or go somewhere, we’ll do it.’

  ‘And touring?’

  She looks as thrilled about the thought of touring as he is. He needs to get back to live performances again but leaving her is the part he’s not so keen about. ‘I should have talked to you about this before now. Nothing’s set in stone yet so I didn’t think to bring it up. No excuse though. Okay, well the plan is to head off at the beginning of September until Christmas. It’s the second leg of the tour we had to cancel when I went to rehab.’

  ‘So will you be away for all of that?’

  ‘Well, what I hope to do, if you’re up for it, would be to go for maybe a month or so then fly you over for a weekend to meet me wherever I am. I still haven’t got the finalised schedule yet. Then I’d try to get back or if I couldn’t maybe you could meet me again. I’d be back in time for Christmas. I know it’s bad timing with you starting work, but I’ll be here for your first day. As soon as everything is finalised you’ll get a copy of where I’m going to be. I’ll be on the other end of the phone and I’ll talk to you every single day I’m gone.’

  ‘Okay. I’m sorry if I sound silly.’

  ‘Hey. Stop. I should have told you what’s going to happen. I guess I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about it.’

  ‘Why?’

  He lies down beside her and brushes his fingers through her hair. ‘Because I don’t want to think about leaving you for a week let alone a few months, that’s why. It’s not great timing, but if I’m going to salvage my career I need to go. And just for the record - all the fame stuff, it’s nothing for you to worry about.’ He moves closer to her and makes sure she’s looking him in the eyes. ‘I mean that, Chloe. I know how I’d feel if guys were giving you attention. I’d be... well I’ll just leave it at not happy. It doesn’t matter how many photos are taken or how many people recognise me. I only see you. I only want you.’

  The smile she gives him tells him he’s said the right thing. Better late than never. He should have cleared all that up ages ago. He keeps forgetting she’s new to his life and his job.

  ‘Sorry, I really should have brought it up sooner. I just didn’t know how to.’

  ‘Don’t be afraid to give me a nudge when I need it. I’m not used to sharing my life with someone. It’s a learning curve for both of us.’

  ‘Thanks, Tate.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For what you
said. You know, about the fame part. I’m not a jealous person. Really. I’ve just never had to share my boyfriend with... well, a lot of people. It’ll take some getting used to.’

  ‘You’re not sharing me with anyone. They get the lead singer of Broken Chords. You get me.’

  ‘All to myself?’

  ‘Too right. Damn it!’ He rolls out of bed and pulls on his boxers.

  ‘What’s wrong.’

  ‘I forgot to give you your present. Stay put.’ He grabs the box from the garage and places it on the bed beside her. ‘Happy birthday.’

  She tears off the wrapping and stares at box with a picture of a Lego Millennium Falcon from Star Wars on the outside. She suddenly jumps off the bed and throws her arms around him. ‘This is absolutely the best present I got. I can’t believe you got this!’

  ‘You said you liked Lego kits and it’s the biggest one you can get. Should keep you busy for a bit.’

  ‘Do you think? I might tackle it when you go away, or was that the idea?’

  ‘Might have been.’ He tucks back into bed beside her and wraps his arms around her. ‘I’ve got to go to the studio in the morning for the day. I might not be able to see you tomorrow.’

  ‘Seriously, it’s fine. I really should get some prep work done.’ She gets out of bed and searches in her bag.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Looking for something to sleep in.’

  ‘Ah come on, that’s not fair.’

  She pulls on a t-shirt and some underwear. ‘You need to sleep. No arguments,’ she adds quickly when he opens his mouth to do just that. ‘You look tired. When was the last time you slept? And I mean all night?’

  She’s got him there. It’s been a few days at least and it is getting to him. ‘Fine. Get your ass back in the bed. I promise I’ll behave.’ He pulls her to his chest and runs his hand over her hair as he stares at the ceiling.

  As soon as he hears her breathing slow, he slides his arm out from under her and quietly closes the bedroom door behind himself. He wanders downstairs and pulls open the fridge, sighing to himself when he sees what’s on offer. With little enthusiasm, he grabs a bottle of juice and turns off the kitchen light.

  He stops at the door to the gym when something catches his attention. He looks over his shoulder to the kitchen window. He could have sworn he saw his car lights flash in the reflection in the picture on the wall.

  Tate leaves his drink on the bookcase and makes his way back over to the kitchen window, leaving the light off this time. He peers into the darkness outside but can’t see anything out of place. Just to be on the safe side he takes his keys from the drawer and presses the button to lock the truck. The lights turn on for a few seconds before shutting down again.

  He throws the keys back in the drawer and goes back to the gym. Nice to know he can add seeing things to his list of issues. He steps onto the treadmill and turns it on. What he wouldn’t give for a few miles of empty beach in front of him right now. He’d love to saddle up Jove and take him out for a few hours.

  Maybe it’s time to find himself somewhere a little more permanent. Blackrock is great and all, but it’s a little claustrophobic. He needs space. He can certainly afford a house with some land on the coast. Enough room for Jove and maybe an art studio for Chloe too.

  He shakes his head and turns up the speed. He’s been with her two months and is already thinking about living with her. A month is a record for him. Not once had he ever considered staying with someone for a few months. Living with someone is a whole new thing for him and something he didn’t think he’d ever want. Not until meeting her.

  It’s not the right time to even go there with her though. He needs to put some more sober months behind him first. Hell, a week staying sober would be a great start. Prove to her he can be the man she deserves – not just a recovering addict one fuck up away from throwing it all away again.

  ∞

  He keeps to the shadows behind the truck for another few minutes just to be safe. He peers around the truck but can’t see any life inside the house.

  That was too close.

  It’s three in the morning. The bastard should have been in bed, not wandering around the house. With Tate out of sight, he pushes the button on the remote and the truck lights flash again. He holds his position and his breath, but Tate doesn’t come back to the window.

  Moving painfully slow, he gets to his feet and opens passenger door. The interior of the cab lights up and he quickly looks at the house again. Still nothing.

  He pulls the package from his pocket and stuffs it into the bottom of the glove box, covering it with the papers and other bits and pieces. He closes the truck door as quietly as he can then locks it again.

  The temptation to leave an impressive dent in the door or to scratch the pristine paintwork is difficult to ignore but being reckless and emotional at this stage would undo all his hard work. Besides, if he damaged the truck Tate would know someone had been here.

  So instead, he turns away and keys in the code to the gate, making sure to close them again after him. He pulls off his gloves and smiles to himself as he walks back to his car.

  He’s so looking forward to making a phone call in the morning.

  27

  Chloe stretches her legs out on the sand and takes a long breath. Life is pretty great at the moment. She woke up this morning with Tate beside her and she honestly can’t think of a better way to start the day. After saying good morning to her in his own special way, he’d treated her to breakfast in bed before dropping her home.

  Until she meets her sister for lunch, it’s just her, a sketch pad, and a stretch of beach. At least this time she has permission from the owners to be here. It took longer than it should have to realise that Tate bought the surrounding farmland for his parents which meant in a roundabout way, it’s his beach.

  She pulls her phone out and checks the screen. As soon as she sees Gregg’s name the dread settles like a weight on her shoulders.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Where are you?’ he asks.

  ‘On the beach.’

  ‘Can you walk back up to the road. I need to ask you something?’

  ‘I’ll be there in a few minutes.’ She packs up her things and hurries up the path back towards the road. Gregg’s car pulls up beside her when she steps out from the path. He reaches over and opens the passenger door.

  ‘Hop in.’

  She climbs in and Gregg takes off before she’s fastened her seatbelt. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Tate’s been taken into custody.’

  Chloe turns to look at Gregg, fully expecting him to break out into one of his stupid grins and laugh at her. But he doesn’t.

  ‘I’m being fucking serious, Chloe. They took him from the studio. Apparently, they received a tip-off that Tate was seen in possession of drugs. They found heroin in his truck, Chloe.’

  ‘But they can’t have. That doesn’t make sense. He’s clean.’

  ‘Don’t know what to say to you. You know as much as I do now. Ellen went to the station but they won’t let her talk to him until they’re done questioning him. None of my old mates are talking to me about it. Fair enough I guess. Anyway, we’re all regrouping in Tate’s parents’ place until we know what’s happening. His folks are in Canada for a few weeks visiting their grandkids so we’ll have the place to ourselves.’

  The rest of the drive to Tate’s parents’ house takes place in complete in silence. She heard every word of what Gregg said to her, but the meaning is taking time to sink in.

  When she woke up beside Tate this morning everything had been perfect. She’d had an incredible party last night. She’d watched in proud awe as Tate and the guys performed for her family and friends. He’d dropped her home this morning then left to go to work. It was as close to normal as it could be when you’re with someone like Tate. So where did it all go so very wrong? How, in the space of a few hours, had that happy picture turned to Tate being arreste
d? It made no sense.

  And where had this anonymous tip come from? He may have had a drink recently but surely they would have known if he was taking drugs again? She may miss it but she has no doubts Gregg would see the signs a mile off. After his reaction to Tate drinking again she knows he would have made his feelings clear if he suspected anything else.

  She comes out of her thoughts as Gregg turns off the road and drives down a narrow gravel track. It opens into a vast parking area in front of a stunning farmhouse. This is absolutely a house she can see Tate living in.

  A grey Audi is parked outside and the driver steps out when Gregg stops the car. The woman hugs Gregg then holds out her hand to Chloe.

  ‘I’m Ellen, Tate’s manager. I presume you’re Chloe?’

  Ellen is very different to what she imagined. She must be in her early forties with short brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Her jeans and shirt show off her lean figure. When Chloe shakes her hand she has to hold back a wince. The woman has a powerful grip.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Ellen. Any news?’

  ‘How about we go inside?’

  Gregg unlocks the door and they sit on the couch facing Ellen. ‘Did you call Dillon and Luke?

  ‘Yeah. They’re on the way. Should be here in a bit,’ Gregg says. ‘So, what’s happening?’

  ‘I know as much as you do. There wasn’t a lot I could do for him and he has his lawyer with him. All we can do is wait.’

  ∞

  Tate pulls into one of the empty sheds around the back of his parents’ house and turns off the engine. All he wants to do is have a shower. He feels grimy and so does his truck. Who knows how many people have been crawling around in it for the last few hours—starting with the fucker who put the drugs there in the first place.

  Tate glares over at the glove box. Whoever put the heroin in there wasn’t the most inventive. Leaving the package on the fucking seat would have been just as obvious. At least he knows he wasn’t losing his mind last night. Someone had been messing with his truck outside his own house. Bastard has balls.