Out of the Shadow

by J. L. Paul

“Awesome,” he grinned, flashing bright, white teeth. “But if you can’t make it or you chicken out, give me a call.”

  “Okay,” she said as she hopped out of the car and ran to her room.

  ***

  “Lisa, shh,” Ally warned, glancing surreptitiously over her shoulder. She grabbed Lisa’s hand and ran along the tree line to the parking lot where Jamie’s car sat, idling with no headlights on. “There he is.”

  The jumped in the car and buckled their seatbelts as Jamie maneuvered the car out of the lot and onto the road. Ally’s heart didn’t stop thumping until they reached the highway and the complex was out of view.

  “I honestly thought you’d turn coward on me, Allyson Jane,” Jamie mused, glancing quickly at her. “I’m impressed.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. “Just because you, RJ, and Cole used to sneak off campus when we were in school doesn’t make you an expert.”

  He laughed and shot Lisa an amused look in the rearview mirror. “Did Ally tell you we used to attend boarding school together?”

  “No,” Lisa said. “That’s cool.”

  “It was sort of boring,” Ally said.

  Jamie’s laughter shook his body as he pounded on the steering wheel. Ally huffed at him and rolled her eyes. “Cuz, just because you played the good girl part and obeyed the rules – most of the time – didn’t mean that we did.”

  “I kept you guys out of trouble, you know,” she said.

  “Yes, you did,” he said in a patronizing tone.

  “Just shut up and keep your eyes on the road,” she said.

  “Where are we going, anyway?” Lisa asked in a jittery tone.

  Ally winced, hating this part of new friendships. She didn’t make new friends very often as her world pretty much revolved around her family and the friends she already had, but when she did, she always dreaded explaining who she was, who her family was, and who her best friends were.

  “We’re going to see my boyfriend, Cole,” she said slowly.

  “Where is he?” Lisa asked.

  “Um,” Ally said, turning her eyes on Jamie hopefully. She took a deep breath. “He’s at his job.”

  “Where does he work?” she asked.

  “Let me, Ally,” Jamie said as he exited the highway, following the directions of the irritating voice on the GPS. “Okay, here we go.”

  Lisa leaned forward, resting her arms on the back of Ally’s seat. “What is the big deal? I mean, is he like … on the run or something?”

  Ally and Jamie exchanged an amused glance and burst into laughter. Ally reached over her shoulder and patted Lisa’s hand. “No, not exactly.”

  “Have you heard of the band Out of Control?” Jamie asked.

  “Yeah, I think so,” Lisa said. “They’re new, right? I saw a video on VMTV.”

  “Yes,” Jamie said. “And you know that a couple of them have fathers who were in Tight Control.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Lisa said. “I remember hearing that, too. I went to see Tight Control a few years ago. They’re pretty awesome live. Well, they used to be before they retired. What’s this got to do with Ally’s boyfriend?”

  “Do you know who Mark Winston is?” Jamie asked. Ally rolled her eyes and stared out the window, hating how slow Jamie was explaining things but grateful that he was handling it.

  “I don’t know,” Lisa said. “Um, the name sounds familiar. Should I know it?”

  “How about Jay Jones, Nate Crawford, Richie Shaw?” Ally added.

  “Duh!” Lisa said, falling back in the seat. “Yeah, they’re Tight Control but I still don’t see where you’re going with this.”

  “I’m Jamie Winston,” Jamie announced. “She’s Ally Jones.”

  Lisa gasped, loudly, and Ally and Jamie exchanged another glance. Ally grinned as she twisted to gauge Lisa’s reaction. Lisa bolted straight up, her mouth hanging wide open as she pointed at Ally. “Really? You guys are related to the guys from Tight Control?”

  Ally nodded. “Jay is my dad. Mark is his dad.”

  Lisa continued to gape as she shook her finger first at Ally then at Jamie. “How come you didn’t tell anyone?”

  “You don’t what it’s like,” Ally said, her voice dropping. “It can be a nightmare. I’m sort of trusting you not to say anything to the other girls.”

  “Well…well…” Lisa stammered. “Okay, I won’t, but you know, I think some people will notice your dad if he’s sitting in the stands watching the games.”

  “Probably,” Ally grimaced. “But I’ll deal with it then.”

  “Wow, how cool,” Lisa said, her eyes still as big as dinner plates. “That is just so cool.”

  “Yeah,” Jamie concurred. “And you know that Cole Crawford is Nate Crawford’s son. And RJ and Ren Shaw are Richie Shaw’s boys.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Lisa said. “Sure.”

  “RJ and Cole are our best friends,” Jamie continued. “The four of us grew up together.”

  “This is just getting cooler and cooler,” Lisa said.

  “Cole is my boyfriend,” Ally blurted. “He’s playing in some little club on the outskirts of town tonight. He was at the game briefly today and I didn’t get a chance to see him so Jamie’s taking us to the club for a little bit.”

  “Cole Crawford is your boyfriend?” Lisa asked. “Wow.”

  “Lisa, please stop saying wow,” Ally requested. “Please.”

  “Sorry,” Lisa said. “It’s just a lot to take in, you know.”

  Ally twisted again to offer Lisa a sympathetic smile. “I do know and I’m sorry to throw it all on you. I would have told you earlier but, well, it’s the sort of thing that I like to keep on the down low. I try to just be Ally Jones, not Jay Jones’s daughter.”

  “We’re almost there,” Jamie announced, sending Ally’s heart into outer space.

  The atmosphere inside Jamie’s little rental car became charged even though none of them spoke much. Jamie found a parking spot and opened the glove compartment. He rifled around it, as a thought occurred to Ally, freezing her hammering heart.

  “Hey, Jamie,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Are any of the parents coming to this show?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Dad went with Uncle Jay and Nate to the studio to hear this new band that Rhys Redden discovered. They’re all going to the show tomorrow, though, when RJ’s folks get to town.”

  Ally’s heart breathed a sigh of relief as Jamie produced three plastic passes suspended on nylon chains. He handed them out and instructed the girls to wear them as they got out of the car and rushed to the club.

  The large man standing at the door checked their passes and pointed to a section in front of the stage. They pushed through the crowd as Out of Control rocked the place, sending the occupants into an excited frenzy.

  Ally clutched Jamie’s arm while they walked, her eyes feasting on Cole hammering away at his drums. Jamie took Lisa’s hand, keeping her close, until they reached the roped off section in front of the stage, earning reproachful looks from the patrons who’d been trying to convince the usher to let them closer.

  “This is really cool!” Lisa yelled in Ally’s ear.

  Ally just nodded as she watched her friends, waiting to catch Cole’s eye. Finally, Ren noticed her and grinned broadly, filling her heart with affection. Just how much she’d missed them all hit her hard with that one little smile from Ren.

  When they finished their set, Jamie herded them to a door, flashed his pass to the usher standing guard, and urged the girls down a dimly lit hall. They turned a corner, stepped through another door, and found themselves face to face with the sweaty band members of Out of Control.

  “Ally! Great game today,” Parker exclaimed as he bent to hug her. His brown eyes sparkled when he edged back to look at her. “We missed you, kid.”

  “I missed you guys, too,” Ally said, smile not leaving her face. She hooked her arm around Ren, who’d been lurking behind Parker, and yanked him forwar
d to hug him and kiss his cheek. “You look great!”

  “Thanks,” Ren said with a slight blush.

  “Get the hell out of the way, little brother,” RJ said as he playfully shoved Ren aside and lifted Ally off her feet. He pressed a hard kiss to her temple then held her close. “I missed you, girl!”

  He put her back on her feet, grinning like mad. Her heart overflowed as she hugged him again. “I missed you, too, RJ. Life sure is boring without you around.”

  “All right, enough of this sappiness,” Cole said, hiding a smirk. He snatched Ally’s hand and yanked her into his chest, his muddy brown eyes darting all over her face. “Hey, princess.”

  “Hi,” she said before he pressed his lips against hers. She snaked her arms around his neck as her pulse fired through her veins. His shirt was damp with perspiration but she hardly noticed nor cared. She’d been waiting for this moment for a long time.

  “Jeez, they’ll be that way for awhile,” RJ groaned good-naturedly. “And you are?”

  Ally was vaguely aware of introductions going on behind her as her focus was only on Cole. When he broke the kiss to smile at her, her heart jumped and flipped.

  “I missed you, princess,” he said with a slow smile.

  “Don’t call me that,” she said as she fingered the damp tendrils curling at the collar of his t-shirt. “Getting a little long, huh?”

  He shrugged and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe. Come on back to the dressing room.”

  Parker led the way to the tiny dressing room and opened the door. The room was cluttered with battered furniture and an old dressing table. A dingy off-white refrigerator stood in the corner and Ren immediately opened it up, tossing bottles of water to whoever requested one.

  Cole plopped into a wide recliner and pulled Ally down beside him. She nestled into his side, not able to take her eyes off of him as the conversation roared to life around her. RJ was regaling Lisa with stories of their youth as Ren and Parker explained the last couple of venues they’d played to Jamie.

  Cole toyed with her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear as he leaned closer. “Take a walk with me, Al, will you?”

  “Sure,” she said, getting to her feet.

  Cole stopped near the dressing table and dug through a bag, shoving something in his pocket. He clapped Jamie on the shoulder and smiled. “We’ll be back in a few.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Jamie said, rolling his eyes. He glanced at his watch and shot Ally a look. “Not too long, cuz. We need to get back real soon.”

  “I know,” she said, ignoring the niggle of anxiety in her stomach. She laced her fingers through Cole’s and followed him to an empty dressing room down the hall.

  This room was void of furniture but for one dusty sofa shoved against a wall. Cole sat and tugged Ally down next to him. He kissed her softly and smiled as he pulled away.

  “I’ve really missed you, Al,” he said.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said. She held his hands in hers, eyes still on his face, afraid that if she looked away, he’d disappear again.

  “Al,” he said as he sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve been doing some thinking…”

  “Cole,” she said, her eyes wide and sparkling with fear. “What kind of thinking?”

  He chuckled and hugged her quickly, pressing kisses into her hair. “Not that kind of thinking – I’m not stupid.” He eased her back and smiled. “I was thinking a lot about us and stuff. I love you, very much, and it gets so hard being away from each other that sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe.”

  “Me, too,” she whispered, squeezing his hands.

  “And I thought a lot about…well…” he sighed and dropped her hands to rake his fingers through his hair. He stood and dug a tiny box out of the front pocket of his jeans. He sat back down and took her left hand. “I wanted to ask you to marry me but I know it’s way too soon. I know you want to get some college under your belt.”

  She nodded, not able to speak, her eyes tearing up and her heart a frantic mess.

  “So, I didn’t buy an engagement ring. I bought you this instead.” He pinched the box open to reveal a thin gold band with two interlocking hearts encrusted with shimmering diamonds and rubies. He plucked it out of the box and slipped it nervously on her finger. “The man at the jewelry store kept talking about promise rings and I really didn’t pay much attention so I’m not sure exactly what they are. I guess that’s what this is, I don’t know. What this one means to me is that I love you more than anything and that one day soon, I’m going to replace this ring with an engagement ring. That’s what I wanted it to say. And stuff.”

  She sniffed as a couple tears leaked from her eyes. She nodded, touched not only by his gift but by the raw honesty of his words and the tinge of red painting his cheeks. She smiled at the beautiful ring then threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

  “Thank you,” she whispered as he gave her a squeeze. “I love it and I love you.”

  “I know, princess,” he said as he rubbed her back.

  “Hey!” Jamie shouted as he pounded on the door. “I’ve got to get the girls back.”

  Sighing, Cole stood, helping Ally to her feet. “Come on before he has a coronary.” He kissed her again, slowly and thoroughly, before opening the door.

  “Let’s go, James,” Ally said, clutching Cole’s hand. Her nervousness was trickling back into her heart and she wondered if anyone had noticed her and Lisa missing.

  Cole and RJ walked them back to Jamie’s car, making plans for the next day. Ally kissed RJ’s cheek before turning to Cole to kiss him goodnight.

  “I’ll call you in the morning,” she whispered. “And maybe we can do breakfast after my workout.”

  “Yes, Al, anything you want,” he said, pecking her lips. “Now get out of here before you get caught.”

  “It was nice to meet you,” Lisa said, the awe still in her voice. She climbed into the back seat as Cole opened the passenger’s side door for Ally.

  Cole shook Jamie’s hand, shot Ally one last wink, and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Get her back safely, man.”

  “Of course,” Jamie said as he hopped into the car, leaving RJ and Cole to watch them drive away.

  Chapter Four

  Cole strolled casually through the silent hotel hallway and knocked softly on Doug’s door, wondering what the early morning meeting was about and how it would affect the time he intended to spend with Ally that day.

  “Hi, Cole,” Lila, Doug’s niece greeted as she opened the door. “Come in. Doug is still on the phone – in the bathroom - but the other boys are here.”

  He nodded and brushed past her, getting a slight whiff of her perfume. It was light and flowery, just likes Ally’s, but a bit more seductive. He hurried past her to take a seat next to RJ.

  “Any idea what this is about?” Cole asked. RJ shook his head.

  “Um, I think Doug is moving your venue tonight,” Lila offered, her full lips curling into a smile. “He didn’t tell me but I heard him on the phone.”

  “Why would he do that?” Parker asked, jumping to his feet. “I thought we were playing in L.A.?”