To Bring You Back

by Emily Conrad

  The exodus began, as if they could leave the gated property without dealing with the team. The woman who’d been sitting on Matt’s lap gave him one last look as she gathered her clutch and scampered out of sight.

  As if to exit with the others, Olivia climbed to her feet, but she possessed all the grace of a kid trying out a pair of stilts. Had she sampled anything in addition to alcohol? She’d had options.

  Adeline crossed to her, detaining her as the last of the others left. Olivia seemed to listen to whatever quiet counsel Adeline gave until the girl’s eyes caught on something behind Gannon. Her chin shifted back with shocked dismay, as if she were witnessing a car wreck.

  Gannon heard a deep sniff as he turned. Matt, seated on the floor next to the coffee table, swept the back of his wrist across his nose.

  “Do you have no shame?” Gannon asked.

  Matt tipped back against the couch, laughing.

  A violent urge rocked Gannon. He could pull Matt to his feet, punch some sense into him. But Olivia had already experienced enough darkness tonight.

  “If you’re bent on ruining yourself, fine, but look what your actions are doing.” He pointed to Olivia.

  “You can’t blame me for that.”

  Olivia shrank in on herself, shoulders hunched forward, collarbones thin and fragile, like bones that belonged on a bird and not a girl.

  Gannon met Adeline’s eyes. “Let me take care of this, then I’ll get her a ride home.”

  Adeline ushered the girl from the room.

  As they left, Gannon texted Tim. 911. Rec room now.

  When he estimated Olivia and Adeline would be out of earshot, he turned back. “In what world did you think this would fly?”

  Matt climbed to his feet, a mocking smile on his face. “I didn’t bring the girl. She was at the bar, so who’s really to blame here?”

  Gannon took a breath to answer but exhaled without a word of it.

  They’d been doing this dance for years. The first time he’d found Matt throwing a party, lines of cocaine on the coffee table, Gannon had also cleared the room. Then, as now, fire burned in Matt’s eyes.

  But that time, like so many others, Gannon had let the offense slide.

  No longer.

  “You’re out.”

  “Out?” Matt scoffed. “Over this? That girl was drinking all on her own, and she lied about her age.”

  “You think her cop dad’s going to see it that way? I can’t be responsible for this anymore.”

  “You can’t fire me.” Matt stepped closer, his hand drawing into a fist. “You need me.”

  If Matt would just throw the first punch, Gannon would be justified in returning one.

  He crossed his arms to keep from doing something he’d regret. “Where’s Harper?”

  Matt snorted with laughter. “Security wouldn’t let her in with us. Sent her away in her rental, just her and all her luggage.”

  They’d done as Gannon had asked. Except if she’d been drinking, someone was supposed to drive her. Would the team have overlooked that part of his instructions?

  Had he been right to kick her out that way to begin with?

  “Lover boy looks so sad,” Matt crowed.

  Gannon splayed his hand, then clenched it in front of his forehead before he could reach out to strangle him. The rec room door clattered open, and Tim stepped through in sweatpants and a T-shirt. “What’s going on?”

  Gannon stepped away from Matt before his temper could get the better of him. No sense earning himself an assault charge. “Matt decided to throw a party with a minor.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “I was nowhere near her, and I had no way to know.”

  “Her name is Olivia Cullen. She’s with Adeline now. Get her a safe ride home.”

  “Sure. We can do that.” Tim’s line of sight bounced from Matt to Gannon, as if he knew there was more.

  “He’s out.”

  “You need me.” Desperation fluttered in Matt’s voice, but Gannon didn’t pivot to see it on his face.

  “Will you go to rehab?”

  “You can’t bring in just anyone to replace me. Besides, without me, who’re you going to blame for everything that goes wrong? You’re going to have to take the blame yourself, and your ego can’t take that.”

  That would be a hard no on the rehab.

  Gannon’s chest burned with retorts. He kept his focus on Tim. “I don’t want to see him again.”

  Tim lifted his hands. “Calm down. We can work this out. Awestruck can’t crumble right now. Keep it together.”

  “This isn’t crumbling. This is standing up to an offense that’s gone on too long. Call whoever you have to call, do whatever you have to do, but he’s out.”

  Matt sputtered. “You can’t—”

  “John and I have already discussed it. You’re done.” He had to get out of here before he lost it. He moved toward the door.

  “Gannon.”

  The serious note in Tim’s voice made him turn.

  The manager swallowed visibly. “A minute before I heard from you, Harper’s people called. You had her sent away?”

  He nodded once.

  “Her assistant and that Karina lady, the shrink or whatever, are flying here as fast as they can. She posted a quote from one of her movies. The last thing one of her characters said before committing suicide. They think it’s a threat.”

  Dread poured into his veins. He’d thought he had healed after Fitz. Thought he’d gotten right with God and could move forward. But if they lost Harper the same way, he wouldn’t get past it. Adeline wouldn’t, either.

  The post could be another game, another bid for attention.

  But he’d missed so many signs with Fitz, and he couldn’t afford to do that again.

  Everything was already falling apart. The band. Adeline. He couldn’t allow any other disasters.

  The clothes Harper had bought for Adeline still hung in the little room off the main living area. Adeline sorted through them while Olivia huddled in the doorway, arms folded over herself.

  “You don’t have to call my dad, do you?” Tears smeared her black eyeliner.

  Adeline found a slouchy cardigan that would cover Olivia from neck to midthigh and slipped it from the hanger. Gannon had said he’d find a ride for the teen, so Adeline didn’t plan to call Joe. Better to break the news after he had her back safe and sound. “Were you really in a bar?”

  “Well.” Olivia clamped her mouth shut and exhaled through her nose. “It’s not like, you know, we … It was a special occasion. Not everybody gets to live here with them. How else was I supposed to meet him?”

  “Matt? I thought you liked Gannon.”

  Olivia shifted. “He’s into you, and John hardly leaves the property, so Matt seemed like the best bet.”

  Adeline held out the sweater. “Was he worth meeting at that cost? That guy who was with you was trouble.”

  He should’ve been suspicious of her age, regardless of where they’d met. Even if he’d believed her to be at least eighteen, Olivia had tried to push him off, yet he’d persisted.

  “The drinking, the drugs?”

  “I didn’t do any drugs.” Olivia pulled on the sweater, and the scent of cigarette smoke wafted off her before she folded the cardigan shut over her cropped tank.

  “What if Gannon and I hadn’t come in when we did?”

  Olivia shrugged. “I was just hanging out.”

  “You were drinking, and you were in danger.” Adeline’s stomach churned. Given even just a few more minutes, the guy may have managed to separate Olivia from the group. And then what?

  Lord, is that why I wasn’t supposed to kiss Gannon?

  If only.

  The peace she didn’t feel about Gannon was over something else.

  “I was cool for once.” Olivia’s mouth trembled, and her nostrils flared. In her big, sad eyes, Adeline recognized the girl who’d squealed over meeting the cat her family had adopted earlier in the summer. The wide-eyed
innocence was so incongruent with the outfit under that sweater, with bars and partying and Matt.

  “I’ve always thought you were cool. You don’t need any of this.” Adeline guided her to a chair at the desk. She rubbed the girl’s shoulder, thin and angular even under the sweater, until the door swung open.

  Gannon stood in the doorway long enough to motion Adeline to join him in the great room.

  As she did, she pulled the door shut behind her, closing Olivia in the office.

  “Tim’s getting her a ride home, but I’d like someone she knows and trusts with her until she’s dropped off.”

  Adeline nodded, accepting the assignment.

  “Harper’s out somewhere. I’m worried she’s in danger, so I’m going to help them look.”

  “Danger?”

  His mouth settled in a grim line, but he didn’t elaborate.

  “Okay.” She pressed her hands into her pockets. She’d rather go with Gannon—to be close to him, to see that nothing happened between him and Harper. But Adeline had insisted on being friends, leaving him free to pursue the actress in whatever sense he wanted to.

  Gannon set off for the garage, and she returned to Olivia.

  When Tim came, he wore jeans and a button-down that made Adeline wish she’d changed out of her sweats while she’d had the chance. “Let’s see your IDs. Real and fake.”

  Olivia rifled through her clutch and extended a card toward him. “I only have this one.”

  The woman in the picture was obviously not her. How had she gotten into a bar with that?

  Without taking the card, Tim snapped a picture. “Let’s go.”

  He led them to the drive where an SUV waited. Two members of the security team hopped out and opened the back doors. Adeline and Olivia sat in the middle row, Tim in the back.

  Olivia gave her address, and they were off. Other than the teen’s crying, no one made a sound the entire way into town. The SUV pulled to the curb by the Cullens’ modest Cape Cod. Everyone piled out of the vehicle.

  At the sound of more car doors, Adeline leaned to see who else was out at this hour. Photographers. Of course.

  Tim appeared at Adeline’s side. “We’re here to bring her home, but we’re not commenting on or apologizing for anything. Understand?”

  His tone left no room for argument, as if he’d sue her if the Cullens pressed charges using anything she said.

  Olivia bumped into her other arm and hiccuped. “My dad’s going to kill me.”

  She wanted to correct her that the one he’d want to kill was Matt or the man who’d bothered her, but because of Tim, she refrained. “He’ll be glad you’re home safe.” With her arm around the teen’s shoulders, they climbed the concrete steps. Adeline pressed the doorbell.

  As they waited, she peeked over her shoulder. The security detail had succeeded in discouraging the photographers. The two extra vehicles pulled away.

  The door let out a short creak. Joe Cullen stood in the opening, rumpled in plaid flannel pajama pants and an old T-shirt. “What’s this?”

  Olivia covered her mouth and sobbed, shaking under Adeline’s arm. Tim stood at the bottom of the stairs, silently observing. It would be ages before Olivia could speak.

  Adeline couldn’t stand silent that long. “Olivia was at a bar with a fake ID, drinking. She ended up at the cabin, so we’re bringing her home.”

  “What cabin?”

  Cabin. Right. No local would call it that. “Havenridge. Where the band is staying.”

  Lines bracketed Joe’s mouth, and concern wrinkled his forehead. “Olivia?”

  The girl inhaled a vortex of air. “I got invited to a party. That’s all. Nothing happened.” She coughed twice and lay a hand over her stomach. “I’m going to be sick.”

  Joe focused on Tim for a moment. When his line of sight moved on to the street, where the security detail stood, his expression hardened. He moved his mouth, but before he spoke, Olivia turned, gripped the railing, and vomited into the bushes along the front of the house.

  She spat, groaned, and put a hand back on her stomach.

  Joe glanced at Adeline. “You’ve done enough.” He took Olivia by the arm and brought her inside, closing the door behind them.

  Olivia was in for quite a discussion, if nothing else. Did Joe see Adeline as part of the problem?

  Sadness more than anything swirled as she turned from the door to find Tim still stationed on the walk, watching her.

  “What? Did I say too much for you?”

  Tim wordlessly followed the walk to the SUV. He took the spot that had been Olivia’s on the way there, and Adeline returned to her own seat. As the vehicle pulled away from the curb, she watched the dark neighborhood pass.

  Tim took a breath, and she looked over.

  “I have a daughter.” He frowned and sighed, not making eye contact. “It’s good that didn’t go any further.”

  She nodded. Understatement of the year.

  The whole thing left Adeline’s stomach twisting, uneasy.

  This was Lakeshore, Wisconsin, her serene, small-town home. It was supposed to be safe, but a seventeen-year-old had gotten into a bar and a party where someone was only too ready to take advantage. In only a few moments, Adeline had witnessed more drug use than she’d seen in a lifetime. And equally sheltered Olivia had been in the thick of it.

  “Gannon fired him.” Tim worked on his phone as if he hadn’t spoken, but she was sure of what she’d heard.

  “He did?”

  “Matt has been escorted off the premises.”

  Adeline rested her head and returned her gaze to the window. The world may have lost some of its innocence, but at least Gannon had taken a stand.

  28

  On returning to the cabin, Adeline looked out at the patio and walked by Gannon’s room, searching for him, but he hadn’t returned from his hunt for Harper. Were they out talking somewhere? Was Gannon in danger of falling for the actress after all?

  She typed him a text on the way up to her bedroom, asking how the search was going. She had no right to jealousy. She’d rejected him. She sent the message anyway, and he replied a minute later.

  She’s not at the bars and her rental’s not parked at either of the local hotels. I’m combing the streets.

  How can I help? she typed back.

  Security’s looking, and we notified the police. Her own people are watching social media and calling hotels farther out. Not much else to do.

  Social media was one idea, but gossip sites could post instantaneously, couldn’t they? With the paparazzi presence in town, it wouldn’t be impossible. Adeline settled on her bed with her laptop and took a stab at a search.

  The first result soured her stomach.

  It’s Complicated: The Status of Gannon Vaughn’s Love Life. Gannon Vaughn’s new love interest is rumored to be Adeline Green, but things aren’t as straightforward as they seem.

  She hadn’t enjoyed the condescending tone or the unflattering photographs in the first article she’d read about herself, and whatever this one contained would unsettle her even more. She scrolled to other results. What she didn’t read couldn’t hurt her, and she was supposed to be looking for information on Harper, not some off-the-wall commentary on her own relationship with Gannon.

  Her attention floated back to the headline, though. Even she didn’t quite know why she and Gannon were so complicated, why she hadn’t let him kiss her. Why she resented this search for Harper even as she tried to pitch in.

  Pursing her lips, she clicked the link.

  Friends.

  Thanks to the silence in the car, the word echoed in Gannon’s mind. He flipped on the radio to drown it out.

  Didn’t work.

  “You’re looking for Harper. She’s the concern here.” Stating his mission aloud helped.

  Some.

  This hunt was technically to save Harper, but it was also to spare his friend Adeline another brush with suicide.

  However she labeled their r
elationship, that was vital. For everyone’s sake.

  He turned into yet another park along the lake and let the car coast the perimeter of the lot. Small trees reached over an empty bench, and sand extended to the black water. Maybe Harper had checked herself into a hotel like he’d intended and was sleeping peacefully.

  Somewhere else, Matt was either doing the same or looking for a high. Tim had reserved a room for him in a nearby city and had sent him off with a man from the security detail who would’ve left him at the hotel by now. He was on his own from here on out. Being fired would be a wake-up call to get clean, the space to fully succumb to his addiction, or another chapter in a slow decline.

  God, You’re his only true hope. Save him. He can’t see what he’s doing to himself. Same for Harper. Please show us where she is.

  No one lingered in this park.

  He pulled back onto the road to check the other public waterfronts.

  Tim didn’t need to worry that firing Matt would hamper Awestruck’s future. The move would add complications, but they had enough connections to arrange temporary help until they found a match to add another member back into Awestruck.

  He had names in mind, solid musicians who’d proved themselves with their roles in other bands. He just had to stop fantasizing about playing a show with Adeline again.

  Friends.

  He’d thought a kiss would stop the friend talk once and for all, but she hadn’t been interested. The only card he had left to play was the notebook of songs. At this point, the lyrics wouldn’t surprise or impress her. She’d tell him to go ahead and use them if he wanted.

  He could pour his heart out for the whole world because Adeline Green didn’t care if he had anything left just for her.

  A wooden sign announced another park. Gannon steered in. Trees obscured the two streetlights in the lot, but some of the light that poked through landed on a sedan parked at the far end of the lot. Harper’s rental.

  He pulled up and found it empty. The waterfront was out of sight at the bottom of a brush-covered slope. Pulse quickening, he parked, climbed from the car, and pocketed his keys.