by Emma Lea
“For fuck’s sake,” Mabel said. “Does that damn pie have crack in it or something?” She looked between them and Nate couldn’t stop the spread of his grin.
“Something like that,” he said, not relinquishing his hold on the pie.
“Come on Nate,” Stevie said, pouting, “you owe me.”
He knew she didn’t mean it the way it came out, or maybe she did. The fun teasing seemed to shrivel up and die after the words came out of her mouth and he saw regret in her eyes as soon as she finished speaking.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Mabel growled. “Here. I bought two pieces of the fucking pie. No need to come to blows over it.”
The tension eased somewhat as Stevie sat down and pulled Mabel’s pie over. The trailer crowded with the Court siblings and Nate felt a little hemmed in. This was not how he imagined seeing Stevie again. He’d wanted to approach her without an audience and speak to her privately, explain to her why he did what he did. He could see that wasn’t going to happen now. He shoved a forkful of pie in his mouth and momentarily blissed out, forgetting the undercurrent of hostility for just a little while. Peachy’s apple pie was seriously that good.
“Fucking hell,” Mabel mumbled beside him. “Get a room.”
“What?” he asked, turning to her but seeing the smirks on the faces of those gathered around.
“It’s a damn pie,” she said. “I seriously don’t think it’s worthy of your orgasm face.”
Stevie snorted and the others laughed.
“How would you know what my orgasm face looks like?” he asked and Mabel just shook her head. Wade gave him an evil eye and Stevie blushed. What the hell had he done wrong now?
Chapter Five
10 Years ago
Stevie sat across from Nate in Peachy’s Diner. His parents hadn't come to their talent show performance and she could tell he was bummed about it. Her parents had been there and had cheered loud enough for both of them, but she didn't think it was the same thing for him. It made her angry that his mom and dad seemed to just dismiss Nate and his music. It didn't seem fair.
“I think we should enter the Apple Orchard Festival,” Stevie said before stealing a bite of his apple pie.
Nate shook his head slowly. “I don't think so,” he said.
“Why not? We’re good. We won! Didn't you get a rush from it?”
He smiled, but didn't look at her. He had seemed hyped up since they'd come off the stage, not able to sit still, his leg bouncing crazily under the table.
“I did,” he said and then sighed. “I just… I don't think I can keep doing this. I mean, I’m leaving for college in a few months and I really have to pick my grades up if I'm going to get into the accounting course I want to do.”
“That's bullshit,” Stevie said. “You don't want to do accounting, that's just what your parents want you to do. You will hate every second of it.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, probably but what else am I going to do? Music isn't a viable career choice.”
“Why not? We were so good today, didn't you hear the applause? If we really dig in and practice over the next few months until the Apple Orchard Festival and then blow them away there. You never know who might be in the audience and there’ll be other bands there, band managers and maybe even record labels. It's our big chance. We blow them away there and we could be the next overnight success.”
“I don't think it quite works like that,” he said and Stevie wanted to take hold of him and shake him.
“Where’s the over-confident asshole Nate who thinks he’s god’s gift to the world?”
He shrugged and shoved a bite of pie in his mouth so that he didn't have to answer.
“Is this about your mom not being there today?”
He shrugged again and dropped his eyes to the table.
“She’s the mayor, Nate. Maybe something came up at the last minute and she couldn't get away.”
“Maybe,” he replied but neither of them believed it.
Apple Tree Creek was a small town and if something had happened that waylaid the mayor then the whole town would know about it.
“My brother has a game today. She didn't want to miss it.”
All three of Nate’s older brothers were at college and played football. It was a big deal in his family. His father had been the quarterback in his glory days and he expected his boys to follow in his footsteps. That Nate had turned his back on football in favor of music was a bone of contention in the family. Stevie didn't understand it. Her family wasn't like that and had never expected anything more from her than to always apply herself to whatever it was that she was engaged in. Her own parents had supported her music ambitions and never missed any of her recitals. Since she had been playing with Nate, they had commented on what they heard of their practices and she couldn't help but be excited about pursuing it seriously with Nate when they were finished with high school.
“Look,” she said. “I'll help you study to get into your accounting course if you will enter the Apple Orchard Festival with me. At least give us a chance and if it doesn't work out, you can go off to college without wondering ‘what if.’”
He sighed and looked up at her. She could see the war that waged inside him and then she saw the moment he made the decision.
“Okay,” he said and she couldn't stop the squeal that came out of her mouth. He laughed and shook his head. “But you have to keep up your side of the bargain and help me study. If I don't pull my grades up I'm going to be in deep shit.”
“Fine,” she said stealing the last bit of pie.
Nate reached across the table to try and get it back and the got into a wrestling match over the apple pie. Stevie laughed so hard tears were streaming down her face and the poor piece of pie was destroyed in the process. Nate had slid around the booth so that his arms were around her holding her hand and fork away from her mouth. She really didn't care about the pie any more, not now that Nate was touching her. Her crush was ridiculous and she hardly ever let it get the better of her, but having him so close was too much Nate to ignore.
She looked up at him, her face bright with a smile and his eyes dropped to her mouth. The moment became something different, something more serious and the pie was forgotten as Nate looked down at her. She swallowed and licked her bottom lip, her mouth suddenly dry. Nate watched her and he lowered his head slowly, so slowly Stevie wondered if it was actually happening or whether she was just imagining it.
“Nate! There you are baby. I've been looking everywhere for you.”
Nate sat back casually and a sexy smile tilted his lips as he looked up at Candace. Stevie sighed. Yeah. His girlfriend. There was no way Stevie could compete with the head cheerleader with her waif-like figure and perfect hair and makeup.
Stevie scooted away from Nate and stood from the booth.
“See you tomorrow,” she mumbled as she began to walk away.
Nate reached out and caught her hand, stopping her in her tracks. She looked down at him and something she thought looked like regret crossed his face.
“I'll pick you up tomorrow,” he said, “and we'll talk more about the festival.”
“Sure,” she replied and then made her escape.
Present day
Stevie didn't know what the hell she was doing in Nate’s trailer. She shouldn't have come. She was still angry at him, she still felt betrayed by his abandonment of the band on that last night. She was still pissed off that he hadn't bothered to pick up a fucking phone and call her to tell her why. But when Nadine had suggested they drop in on him when their tour bus had arrived at the festival, she couldn't say no.
The others had forgiven him for not being there that night. Mabel had given them some bullshit story about him having to be in a meeting he couldn't get out of. Stevie knew that he'd met with Rocksteady to dissolve his contract with them and then met with Derek, but couldn't all of that have waited until the next day? Why had it been so imperative that he do it that night when he was supposed to be perf
orming with the band? Maybe she could have understood if he had explained it to her in person, but it had been radio silence until Wade had streamed his concert for them to watch.
She sank her teeth into the pie and moaned causing a round of gasps followed by laughter. They had just made fun of Nate for his reaction to Peachy’s apple pie and now she was pulling the same stunt.
“That must be some fucking good pie,” Wade said.
“For god’s sake, it's just pie,” Mabel mumbled tersely.
“Damn good pie,” Nate said around a mouthful.
“All pie aside,” Jace said, all business. “What's the deal with this video clip?”
“We have a meeting with the producer and Derek tomorrow,” Mabel said.
“Marci should have a run sheet for you,” Wade said. “It should only take a couple of days to shoot and it shouldn't interfere with your performances.”
“Are you guys playing the festival?” Nate asked, looking up from his now empty pie plate.
Stevie shook her head. “Lily is,” she said, “we’re just along for the ride.”
“You should join up with Nate’s set and do the song,” Mabel said, a spark lighting her eyes. “It would be amazing publicity for both your band and Nate, not to mention the song.”
Stevie looked at Nate. His eyes were wide and he looked like she just suggested he run through the Main Street wearing nothing but a cowboy hat and a grin.
“We don't want to hijack Nate’s—”
“Yes,” Nate said, looking at Stevie first and then the rest of the band. “Let's do it. Why don't you guys do the whole set with me. You guys know the songs I'm doing.”
“This is your home town, isn't it?” Jace asked.
Stevie and Nate both nodded.
“You should do one of your old songs,” Vanessa said, jumping up. “How cool would that be?”
Stevie and Nate shared a look.
“We could do ‘One Summer Night,’” Stevie said quietly.
His eyes widened and she opened her mouth to retract her comment when his mouth tilted in a crooked smile and his eyes softened.
“Yeah,” he said, “we’ll do that one and… ‘Him.’”
Stevie barely contained her gasp. ‘Him’ was a song she’d originally written as ‘Her.’ It was about being in love with a guy that was in love with someone else. She had changed the words before showing him and made it out to be from a guy’s perspective - being in love with a girl who was in love with someone else. She had been afraid that if she’d showed him the original he would have seen right through her and known how she felt about him. Whenever he'd sung it she had pretended that he was singing it about her and that he felt about her the way she felt about him.
“Okay,” she said, “if you’re sure?”
He smiled wide and nodded. “Yeah I'm sure. I want you guys to be there. And how great will it be to sing two of the same songs we sang at our first Apple Orchard Festival?”
Oh yeah. That's why he'd chosen that song. It had nothing to do with how he felt about her now, it was just about reliving the past.
Jace stood up and stretched. “So we’ll see you guys tomorrow and we’ll find some rehearsal time in between shooting the video?”
“Perfect,” Mabel said, standing too.
Stevie stood and felt awkward all of a sudden. There was so much she wanted to say to Nate, so many questions she wanted to ask, but it was neither the time nor the place. Nate looked like he wanted to say something too, but she moved towards the door of the trailer before he could open his mouth. They would talk, just not here and just not now.
“Will your mother be at the festival?” Wade asked and Stevie stopped to hear Nate’s answer.
“I doubt it,” he said with a sigh. “Will Senator Giles be there?” he asked, looking right at her.
What the hell did that mean? How would she know if he was going to be here? Why would he be here?
“I have no idea,” she said.
His mouth pulled down in a frown and he looked away from her. A muscle ticked in his jaw and she wondered what the hell had just happened and what did Carson have to do with it?
“See you tomorrow,” she said as she opened the door and walked out into the hot night.
Stevie couldn’t sleep. She was exhausted, but being in her home town again made her restless. She hadn’t been back for a while. Not because she hadn’t wanted to, just because she had been so busy. Her parents had visited her plenty of times and she always loved seeing them. They were proud of her and her biggest supporters. So they weren’t the reason that she felt odd being back.
The bus was parked in the Nash’s apple orchard near Lily’s buses. There were three buses in all; one for Lily, one for the roadies and then the one for Court’n Jacks. There was also a couple of semi-trailers for all the gear that they hauled with them. Together they made quite a convoy. Stevie still had to pinch herself sometimes. It all seemed a bit like a dream. Here she was finally living out what she had always hoped for and it was every bit as exciting as she had imagined…except for the fights with the Court siblings. She didn’t know if it was the close confines of the bus or the pressure of traveling all the time or the sudden fame they had stepped into, but the Court siblings were definitely fighting more. Mostly Nadine and Jace, with Vanessa getting stuck between them and used as a pawn in their petty squabbles. On stage they were professionals, but off stage it was a different matter.
But that wasn’t the reason she couldn’t sleep either. The real reason she was feeling so antsy was the guy lying in a bed across the orchard from her and he most likely wasn’t alone. It’s not like she had any claim over him. They had set the parameters of their fling and just because it had ended more abruptly than she would have liked didn’t mean that he owed her anything other than an apology and an explanation for his no show that night. As for their mutually beneficial physical relationship, no promises or commitments had been made.
What really pissed her off was that even though she was angry with him, her body still yearned for him. She was royally pissed off with the way he had brushed off her and the band without so much as a ‘thank you and good night.’ It was way too close to what he had done to her five years before and all those messy feelings that had sent her spiraling last time were within arm’s reach. It wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge into that gaping void of darkness that had swallowed her whole. If not for her commitment to the band and to Lily, Stevie knew she would not have survived his abandonment a second time.
So why the fuck did her body want him so much? Why was being this close to him making her blood run hot and her stomach clench in anticipation of his touch? He had broken her heart - not once but twice - and yet the only thing she wanted to do right now was find his trailer and knock on the door and offer herself up to him. She didn’t even want a commitment from him, she just wanted him to make her body sing like he had the last time they were together.
Giving up on even the pretense of sleep, Stevie slipped out of her bunk and pulled on a short robe over her t-shirt and shorts she’d worn to bed. As quietly as she could, she padded down the aisle of the bus and stepped out into the summer night. She took a breath of the heavy air laden with the scent of apples, leant back against the cool metal side of the bus and closed her eyes. There was something about the air here, something comforting like a warm hug.
It wasn’t as if she and Nate had spent a lot of time in the orchard. He tended to avoid anything that was remotely related to his family and she could understand why. He’d been the big disappointment, the only one not to go to college and get a degree in something world-changing. But then his family had never really expected much of him. As far as they were concerned, he never showed any promise and they had resigned themselves to the fact that he would never amount to anything. Being a Grammy nominated rock star hadn’t done anything to change their opinion of him either. She had expected his family to make a big deal about him after he became famous, but the
mayor had been suspiciously quiet on that front. Even when the media had tracked her down for her reaction to the success of her youngest son, she had been pleasant and smiley, but had never once uttered how proud she was of him or how talented he was.
Was it any wonder Nate walked around with such a chip on his shoulder? Was it any wonder he had jumped at the opportunity that Gina offered him? He’d never expected to succeed. No one, not even her, had ever told him that he had the goods to make it in this business. No one except Gina. It was a hard truth to swallow. Stevie had been too busy feeling cheated to see her part in the whole fiasco. She had known Nate was talented, it’s why she had loved their little duo, but had she ever actually told him? She’d been so wrapped up in trying to get them noticed that she had treated him like her back-up band rather than an equal partner. They’d played and sung the songs she wrote and she didn’t even give him a chance to put his mark on them. She wrote the lyrics, the music and the arrangements without consulting him on any of it. He’d turned up night after night and played when she told him, sang when she gave him permission and not once had she told him that she appreciated his input.
To be fair, she’d thought her appreciation had been implied. She thought he’d understood that of course she thought he was talented. But with the family he’d grown up in? Maybe he hadn’t understood it at all. Stevie had been so wrapped up in her own offense and carrying around her own chip on her shoulder that she had failed to see that Nate had needed more from her back then. He’d needed her assurance that he was as much a part of Jacks & Nash as she was. He’d needed to know that he was talented and that he was integral to their success. What had she given him? None of that. She had thrown in his face that he was only where he was because of her, because she had deigned to lower herself enough to let him ride along in her little red wagon. She had made it all about her, never once considering that she was treating him just like his family always did.