by Mj Fields
���What does that mean move on?���
���Your mother���s still young. He wants her to live life. He says there are no guarantees of tomorrow and he wanted her to be happy.���
I didn���t know exactly what he meant by this and I was a bit confused���but only for a moment.
���He wants her to love again.���
���If that���s what she wants then yes Harper, that���s exactly what he means.���
I walked to the sink and looked out the window towards the swing set Dad, Uncle Alex, Uncle Jake and Ryan had built when I was five. I had many fond memories of playing in the fort that sat on stilts. Memories of playing princess with Ava and Riley while Dad fought the imaginary dragons with Ryan and Logan.
���You want the same for her right Harper?���
���Of course I do Grandpa.��� Just not yet.
The room fell silent for a moment. Thank fully the sound of trampling footsteps and giggles filled the room as Lexi and London barreled into the room.
���Morning Grandpa John!��� Lexi squealed.
���Morning? It���s almost afternoon.��� Grandpa picked her up and hugged her.
���Is not,��� she laughed as he tickled her chin.
���Is so.���
���It���s only eight thirty,��� she giggled.
Grandpa laughed, ���Days almost done. Don���t you have school?���
���It���s Saturday.��� London laughed.
���Well shouldn���t you have a job London? No sense in wasting the days away.���
Maddox smiled as he watched there interactions.
Emma and Brody walked in with his hand resting on her shoulder.
���Good morning John.���
���Morning Brody. Good morning Emma.���
���Where���s your Mom?��� Emma asked.
���She went for a run.��� I looked around and then at Maddox. ���When did she leave?���
He looked at the clock ���Over an hour ago.���
I felt my heart race and Grandpa set Lexi down and walked over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. ���Tomas is with her.���
I looked up as Tomas walked in the door. ���Mom with you?���
���No she wanted to be alone.���
���Why? Where is she?���
I walked over to the door and grabbed my boots.
Tomas smiled. ���You���re in your pajamas Harper Ann. She���s at the farm. She has her phone and more importantly she said if I didn���t leave she was going to fire me.���
Grandpa and Brody laughed. Tomas didn���t.
���She���s fine. Your aunt and uncle are there. She said she���d call me when she was ready.���
I played it off that it didn���t bother me and that I wasn���t worried. I even helped Emma make breakfast as Brody and Grandpa talked about the ground breaking next week. Grandpa mentioned that it hadn���t taken too long. Brody agreed and mentioned that money talks.
I looked over at Lexington who looked at them like they were crazy and then whispered something in Maddox ear. He laughed out loud immediately covered his mouth obviously embarrassed.
She then pointed her finger at him giving him sort of warning and he pretended to shutter in fear. He whispered, ���It���s a figure of speech.���
And she rolled her eyes and whispered back, ���I know that.���
I took the moment everyone was occupied to sneak into the office.
I picked up the phone and dialed the farm.
���Uncle Alex?��� I whispered.
���Harper its Lucas, is everything alright?���
���Yeah, is Alex around?���
���Nope. Haven���t seen him yet. I just stopped by to see if he had any of that flea and tick ointment for our dog.���
���So no one is there?��� I was shocked.
���Harper tell me what���s going on.���
���Mom went for a run. Told Tomas if he didn���t come back here he was fired. I���m just worried.���
���I���m sure she���s fine.���
���I know it just������ I stopped trying to figure out how to shut the hell up. I had already ran my mouth to Grandpa and didn���t want to do it again.
���She upset Harper?���
���Yeah.��� God I felt awful. ���Well she was last night.���
���Okay you relax and I promise I���ll call you back in fifteen minutes. I���m pretty sure I know where she is.���
���How do you know?��� Again I stopped feeling like a complete idiot.
���Well, let���s just say I pissed your Mom off a lot many many years ago. Two places she would go then. She hasn���t changed much so if she���s not at camp she���s down by ������
���The falls.���
���Yeah. So give me fifteen minutes okay kid?���
���Thanks Lucas.���
���No problem. She���s fine Harper okay?���
���Yeah okay.���
���I���ll call you back at this number?���
���Yep it���s my cell. Lucas���don���t tell her I called.���
He laughed, ���Can���t promise anything. She may find it odd if I show up down there. I���ll look for your uncle if you want I can send him down.���
���If he���s not there?���
���I���ll go.���
���Okay.���
I turned around and Maddox was standing in the doorway leaning against the wall.
I jumped and covered my mouth and he stood up and walked towards me holding his hand out. ���Breakfast is ready.���
���I wasn���t doing anything.���
���I know Sweetness, you never are.���
I pulled my hand back. ���What���s that supposed to mean?���
He smirked and shook his head. ���Nothing. Let���s go eat.���
���No what does that mean?��� I demanded quietly.
���It doesn���t mean you���re nosy.���
���Excuse me?���
He laughed. ���Sweetness you are a very curious girl that���s all. Remember when I caught you sneaking around when we met. You had overheard things about me?���
���It���s not the same.���
He grabbed me by the hips. ���Use to piss me off you know.���
I tried to pull away and he held a little firmer. ���Maddox������
���Until I realized you did it because you care. I wouldn���t change it Harper, I really wouldn���t.���
I relaxed and rested my forehead to his chest.
���With my possessiveness and your������
���Be nice Maddox.���
���Need to help and care for people when they���re struggling.��� I looked up and smiled and he kissed my nose. ���Our children are so fucked.���
We both laughed and he bowed his head and kissed me and then rubbed his nose up the side of my face inhaling deeply. ���We���re gonna have a lot of babies if you keep turning me on every five damn seconds. Even in those blasted pajamas.���
I nuzzled into his neck and rapped my arms around his waist.
���After breakfast we need to get to work. I want you to
draft a letter to your professor and see if there���s an alternative project you can do to complete your program. Maybe a paper on our pending travels.���
���I couldn���t ask that Maddox.���
���When I was talking to your mother this morning, you finishing school now was her biggest concern. Ask for her not for you, but do it today so we can get plans rolling.��� I looked up at him and he gave me a look. ���Not a request.���
���Oh no then what is it?���
���An order. From your future husband.���
���You better reel it in buddy.���
He smiled and kissed me. ���Please.���
���Okay.���
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rolling
Maddox
Tessa returned and looked completely exhausted. I watched as Harper tried her best to cheer her up. They sat in the office and each worked on their computers. I assumed Harper was drafting an email to her professor and walked over to her.
���I���m going to see if Dad wants to go over a few things I���ve written.��� I gave her a quick kiss. ���I���m going to make lunch when it���s time so no worries from you two lovely ladies.���
Harper looked at me and giggled and then looked at her mother who smirked and looked back at her computer.
���Am I missing something?���
���No rockstar go make me some music.��� She smacked my ass and Tessa laughed.
I felt my face turning red and quickly walked out the door. As I was shutting it behind me I heard Harper whisper, ���That���s his stage smile. The one that says I���m the shit ladies without a word.���
���Confident.��� Tessa whispered back.
���For good reason.���
With that I felt grinned to myself and walked away.
I walked into the kitchen smiling as my parents were sitting at the bar looking at blue prints.
���That was quick.��� I stood over Mom and looked at them. ���Wow that���s impressive.���
���Your father ordered them online. We are going to scale it down a bit.��� She looked up at Dad eyebrows raised.
I looked at him as his eyebrow arched. ���We need all those rooms love.���
���For what?���
He smirked and she gasped and then looked up at me as her face turned red.
���Excuse me for a moment.���
Dad was blatantly staring at her ass when she left the room. He slowly turned towards me and smiled. ���What���s up Maddox?���
���You sure you can focus?���
���She is very lovely.���
���Jesus Dad.���
���Please Maddox you feel the same about Harper.���
���I don���t openly eye fu������
���Like hell you don���t.��� He laughed loudly.
I didn���t argue. I���m sure it was apparent that I couldn���t stand being away from her. Of course it was. Fuck who am I kidding and who the hell was I? ���Fine but she���s Mom okay?���
He nodded and took a sip of his tea.
���I need to work. I have to get shit in order and hope that Tessa agrees to schedule.���
���Have you written anything or do you want to just use my stuff?���
���Yeah I write all the time. I���m just not sure it���s���appropriate.���
���Emma���s going up to Syracuse to see what dresses she can find for her and the girls for the wedding. Maybe Tessa and Harper would like to go.���
���They don���t need anything fancy. It���s just going to be a small intimate family only ceremony and then we���ll go to dinner or something.���
���Small? Maddox think about that. If only close family attends you���ll have at least fifty people there. Add to that the fact that it���ll be here. Everyone in this town feels they know Harper���s family. In reality they do.���
I must have looked openly confused for a moment and Dad laughed. ���Let���s go over the tour schedule. You do what you can no pressure, you have a lot going on.���
Dad walked into the living room and grabbed a notebook, pen and his phone.
���I wanna pull my weight around here and take care of my family. I won���t leach off anyone.���
���I never thought you were. Look I know how much money you made when selling your house Maddox, I���m more than sure you���re financially secure.���
���I can���t sit around all day. What would Harper think?���
���I���m sure Harper doesn���t feel that I���m a slug Maddox. I work smart, not hard. The payoff is I enjoy my life now on my schedule. You can do the same.���
���So that���s it? I write when I want and play a dozen concerts a year for the rest of my life?���
���You forgot that you���ll be able to be with the woman you love and your children. No greater reward in life.���
I just looked at him with what I assume was a blank expression.
���Nothing better Maddox. I promise.��� He pulled out his phone. ���Two weeks from today you���ll get married. The week before that we have a gig at The Times Union Center in Albany. It���s a Friday night thing. I plan on going up Thursday night. Friday during the day, the crew sets the stage. We can do a run through in a couple hours. Then go relax until we do a two hour gig. We head back to the hotel after. Sleep the night and then head home Saturday morning. The next gig isn���t until a month later. During that break we write our asses off. Practice in the studio we are building at the new house and in April we have four shows. June three������
���What about May?���
���You were getting married in May so I didn���t schedule anything. Things will be different with our band than it was with Burning Souls. We���re established and work very well together. Our crew has been with us for years. Not one of us has to work anymore but we love what we do so we continue.���
���Okay can you message me the dates so I can discuss this with Harper and Tessa?���
���Discuss what?��� Harper walked in and sat next to me. Tessa sat next to her.
���Tour scheduling not clashing with hand over dates.���
The four of us sat at the dining room table and somehow made the schedule mesh very well. Tessa had a five week plan but somehow Harper had convinced her to slow it down and not put so much pressure on herself. I assumed Tessa did it so that it wouldn���t tire Harper out but either way it worked. By Memorial Day weekend all international communities would be handed over to those who would take care of them. There were five US neighborhoods that Collin and Tessa had oversaw funding, development and medical for the residents. They were much different than the international communities. The decision between Harper and Tessa was to continue the work with them after discussing with Matthew and CJ.
Harper received an email back from her professor allowing her to finish the program remotely and asked that she pick one location and explain how funding is raised to begin such a venture and what it takes to keep it going. She would have to bust her ass to get it done and I assumed her mother would be helping with the task of doing so.
Harper and Tessa did decide to accompany my mom and sisters on the dress finding adventure. I wasn���t pleased but Tomas and Clive were going as well. Harper started to object and I exerted my authority as her soon to be husband and put her pretty little ass in check. The demand naturally ended with a ���please��� whic
h made her smile and feel that she had some sort of say in it. This is fine with me but manners are important. What I hope she doesn���t understand is that agreeing or not it didn���t matter one bit to me, it would have happened.
Dad and I worked on a song I had written while in London. He set up his computer to record it. Just so we could see how it would play out.
He counted to three and began strumming away and I sang Same Black Cloud.
Pain inside. I was a broken man.
I saw this girl. I could never have.
Smile fades. The clouds roll in.
Night fears claim. Wrecked again.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you.
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Out the window. The rain it falls.
Dark looms but I still stand tall.
In front of you. I take control.
Back stage whispers.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you.
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Nothing matters. But this fucking song.
I share with you. You take it all.
You scream my name. Consumed my friends.
I strum this bitch and you come again.
Thunder rolls in not loud. Darkness clear to me. Life���s not always what you see.
High on you you���re high on me. There���s only all of you here with me.
Thunder rumbling high. Music soars up to the sky.
No stars to see. Nothings clear to me except the songs filling in the misery.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you.
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
Same dark cloud hanging over me is hanging over you.
No bright days ahead. The stadium calls.
After listening to it once we knew it was a go.