What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 9)

by Kristine Cayne

  Or I’m just stupid.

  “Anyway, that’s all I came by to say. I know you want to sleep a little.” Melody stood and started to turn away.

  Blaine jumped up and reached out to her. “Thank you, Melody. You and I need to make some time soon to do something. I’d love to get to know you. Sure, we started off on the wrong foot, but you make my brother happy. That makes me happy.” They hugged.

  “Thank you. I always kinda worried how we’d get along if you came back,” Melody admitted.

  Blaine laughed. “I promise I’m not always bitchy. Thanks for coming to talk to me.”

  “Hope you sleep well.” Melody left the room.

  Grabbing a change of clothes, Blaine headed for the bathroom and took a quick shower. When she climbed into her bed and closed her eyes, she wished she had Randy there to hold her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I’m not one for violence and I shouldn’t say this considering, but I want to kill that guy for what he did to my sister!” Jameson paced the garage hours later, the anger surging through his veins. How did he not know how bad off Blaine’s situation was?

  Well he knew one thing for sure. He and his sister both knew how to hide their pain well. Too well.

  “Here I was thinking the worst, but in the wrong way. I thought-” Damn! He shook his head, trying to calm down a little. He thought so many things. He thought Blaine didn’t want to come back. He thought the pressures of Hollywood got to her. He should have known his sister was better than that. The past few years and all of it’s chaos made him jump to the worst conclusions when he should have just straight up asked her.

  “You know you’re not a bad brother, right?” Melody asked softly, jumping up from her chair to hug him. “Blaine is like you. She wanted to keep it in and deal with it her own way. She didn’t want you to know.”

  “I know. I already thought of that, but it doesn’t help.” Jameson sighed, kissing the top of Melody’s head.

  “I get it. I know where she’s coming from. It’s not easy.”

  “It’s gonna be hard to leave next week,” he muttered.

  Melody pulled away and touched his cheek. “Stay here with her then. I’d love for you to be with me when I testify, but your sister needs you more.”

  God, he loved Melody. She took on so much even early on with all his family drama. They hadn’t even had a chance to have the place to themselves very long, but Melody accepted things and did all she could to help his family. This wasn’t the best way to start a relationship, but they made it work.

  “I don’t want you to have to do that by yourself. I know you’ve been afraid. I can’t just-”

  Melody didn’t let him finish. She gently put a finger to his lips and looked him in the eye. “You’re a good man, Jameson. You want everything to be right for everyone. I won’t be by myself, Chris will be there too.”

  “There’s been enough hurt lately,” he replied, thinking back on the last few years. When his phone rang, Jameson’s heart sank. And here it began. He was relieved to see it was only Avery. “Hey, Baby Stetson.”

  “Please tell me Blaine’s okay. She’s not answering her phone. Neither is Randy. I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

  “Blaine’s resting, which is why she’s not answering her phone. Randy just might not be ready to talk to anyone. They’ve both had a long night. It’s bad. What this guy put her through … Blaine is beating herself up real bad right now.”

  “I knew something was up, but she kept brushing it off.” Avery sounded worried. Jameson heard Emily cooing in the background. “She said something about everyone else being happy and that she didn’t want to drag us down.”

  “I know. You know all those times I was so mad at her for not coming back? I feel like an ass right now.”

  “You’re not, Jameson. you didn’t know. She didn’t want you or any of us to know. Y’all let me know what I can do, any time, okay?”

  “Thank you. We appreciate it.” After he hung up, Jameson looked for Melody, but she’d disappeared. He left the garage and found her in the living room next to his sister. “You’re awake! I thought you would’ve slept longer.”

  Blaine looked terrible.

  “It’s hard to sleep when I keep waking up thinking I’m going to hear Randy’s been officially arrested,” she muttered.

  Jameson met Melody’s stare. She was as bewildered as he felt. He rushed over and sat next to his sister.

  After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Melody stood. “I’d better get ready for work.” She leaned over to give Jameson a quick kiss, then hurried away.

  “I have that way about me, don’t I? I make everything awkward.” Blaine leaned back and closed her eyes.

  “Blaine…” He felt bad for her. “I don’t know what to say to most of this. I do have one question. Earlier, you said you let everyone down. Why do you feel that way?” That one, he couldn’t figure out.

  “Didn’t I?” she asked, looking over at him. Her question was serious.

  Jameson fumbled for the right words. His sister always showed such confidence. She’d been the kind of person someone wouldn’t want to get in an argument with. Blaine had moments where she blurted out exactly how she felt, no matter how bad it sounded. She wasn’t ever a snobby person but at times she did have that kind of attitude. He couldn’t recall a time where his sister ever seemed so unsure and worried about what other people thought.

  “No,” he finally said, knowing she needed an answer.

  “I know you all think I’m some selfish person for staying away so long,” Blaine accused.

  Jameson sighed. Yeah, she had it right there, but no one knew what she’d been dealing with either. “Honestly? Yeah, we all thought you were selfish. How could we not when we had no idea about your life? You didn’t tell us you were married. You didn’t tell us Frederic was emotionally abusing you. I’d say physically, even thought he only pushed you that one time. I’d ask you why you would hide it, but you’re a Grant. Look what I did the past few years. We have this thing about keeping our private pain in and letting it out the wrong way. I can only speak for myself, but you didn’t let me down, Blaine. Not because you married and went through that. I was pretty pissed you didn’t come home, but I never knew! I wish you’d told me! You left Harmony’s Echo with big dreams and we all kinda figured that’s what you wanted to do- get out of town and not look back.”

  “It wasn’t about not looking back.” Blaine rubbed her temples, her eyes closed. “It wasn’t easy watching friends and family find their passion. You fell in love with music. Avery had a love for music. I felt left out as a teenager, because I didn’t know what I wanted. High school was all about picking colleges, deciding a career and by sophomore year I still had no idea what I wanted. I tried everything! I hid how I felt behind a wall so no one would know how unconfident I really was. Is that silly? Maybe. I left Harmony’s Echo to give myself a chance at making myself happy, and maybe making the people I love proud in the process. I look back now and realize how young and naïve I was.”

  Jameson stared at his sister, taking in all her words. He never would have guessed.

  “I was envious of you and Avery for many reasons. Because you had a strong friendship that I didn’t seem to be able to fit into, and because you had such a pure love for something and it wasn’t forced.”

  “Envious of me? Seriously?” He couldn’t fathom that idea at all.

  “Yes, seriously!” She sounded so upset. Obviously this was hard for her all the way around, to admit things she probably never wanted to.

  Jameson hugged her. “I love you, Blaine. I’m glad you’re home, but I hate the reasons why. I don’t want you to ever think you need to run and find something to make us proud. This whole thing, we’ll get through it.”

  This family still had a long way to go in letting each other help and getting past the things they’d been dealing with, but Jameson knew they would.

  “I knew that girl was trouble. I k
new it!” Randy’s mom was on the warpath, shaking her spatula. She always baked in a frenzy when all hell broke loose. He’d say this one definitely classified as all hell breaking loose. He just wished she’d stop blaming Blaine.

  Trying to control his frustrations, Randy clenched his fists at his side. “Blaine didn’t do anything! Why is she being thrown under the bus as trouble just because her ex decides to show up and someone tried to kill him?”

  “Because you’re the one in the crossfire!” Mom shouted, facing away from him. She stirred something in quick, angry movements. “Did you think of your family? Your sisters and their families?”

  Really? She had to throw that out? Every time! It never failed. It all came down to him not showing a good example, no matter what it was. He pursed his lips and thought long and hard about what to say next. He didn’t want to disrespect anyone, but Mom was laying the blame on the wrong person, and there wasn’t going to be any good way about convincing her.

  “All I did was spend an evening with someone I love,” he finally said. “Yes, I love her. I’ve loved Blaine for years. I yelled at her ex to stop calling and I might have said it in a way that doesn’t look good, but I didn’t do anything to that man. He was already hurt in that water when I found him. I don’t know what he was doing there that night, but Blaine and I did nothing wrong.”

  “What about your music career? An attempted murder isn’t going to look good for a country musician.”

  Something in Randy snapped. He clenched his jaw. “I thought you don’t care about my music career.” Pain exploded in his head and he just wanted to bolt.

  “I think it’s silly! Where is music going to get you in life? You should settle down and enjoy a family. Keep a steady job. Carry on the family name.”

  “What, like my sisters? Do you know how many times Marsha comes over complaining about the kids or her husband and how it’s so hard? Half the time she doesn’t know if she wants to be married and be a mom. Is it because I’m the oldest and the only son? If anyone else wanted music as a career, would you feel just as strongly against it?”

  What a mouthful.

  His mother harrumphed, pivoted and left him alone in the kitchen. The ticking of the clock was the only sound until he heard a door slam so loud it shook the photos on the wall.

  He’d been sitting here most of the day, trying to say the same thing over and over again. Phones were ringing off the hook. Dad had to storm off to the newspaper and deal with the questions and everything there. According to Mom, Marsha pulled the kids out of school since they were getting pestered about their Uncle Randy being a bad dude.

  Well, damn.

  “Thanks a lot, Randy,” Marsha snapped. He gasped. She stood in the doorway, arms folded over her chest and her lips turned down in a pout. Oops, so she’d heard his little tirade. Part of him felt bad, but the other part didn’t care.

  “Tell me why is it when any of you are in trouble, you get the easy way out? Your big brother is supposed to make it all better. When I need help, everyone turns on me. Where’s the fair in that?” he snapped back at her. Frustration coursed through his body and he felt every muscle tense up.

  “This is so much bigger than anything we’ve ever done!” Marsha replied, stalking into the room. She threw herself on a dining room chair. If looks could kill, he’d be dead on the floor.

  “I didn’t do anything!” Randy raised his voice.

  “You should see the news. This guy she was involved with-”

  “Is a complete asshole and he wrecked her life.” Randy cut his sister off.

  Marsha shook her head. “You don’t want to see anything negative when it comes to Blaine, do you? People change, Randy. She got into some bad stuff with the guy. Like … porn stuff.” She lowered her voice.

  “Excuse me?” What the hell was she talking about?

  Marsha rolled her eyes, jumped up from the chair and ran into the living room. She came back a few minutes later with a stack of magazines in her hand. “I’ve been collecting these as I see them. I see Blaine’s name pop up every so often. All associated with her ex.”

  “Doesn’t mean a thing!” Randy fired back. “If you feel so strongly about her, why would you let Madison take lessons from her?”

  “Because I never saw the last one until now!” Marsha shouted. “This one is new.”

  His sister stalked out of the room again.

  He’d had enough. He picked up the magazines and thought about tossing them, but he wondered what they said and why Marsha was so insistent that Blaine was up to no good. He slipped out of the house and went to sit in the truck. He needed to go home, clean up and sleep his frustration off a bit.

  He stared at the articles and seethed. That bastard had recorded tapes of himself with Blaine sexually. Blaine might be a little daring, but no way would she consent to this! He wanted to go to that hospital and finish the job.

  Frederic was a monster.

  He pulled out his phone and sent Blaine a text.

  Come over when you get a chance. I miss you, and I have some things to show you. You’re not going to like it. Hope you got some rest.

  He had to force his fingers to hit send instead of typing an I love you at the end.

  Randy woke up dazed and a little confused to the sound of the doorbell. It was dark out. He’d fallen asleep on the couch and didn’t even remember passing out. He was going to ignore the doorbell thinking it was a reporter or something, then remembered he sent Blaine a text earlier. He jumped up and ran to the door, yanking it open.

  Blaine stood there with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, her eyes still red and bloodshot. The sound of a loud engine pulling out of the driveway startled him. Oh, that’s right. She must have not picked up her car. Jameson’s truck pulled away.

  “Please tell me you got a little rest,” he said softly, pulling her in his arms and closing the door, surrounding them in darkness. It felt good to hold her again. “I’ve been worried about you all day.”

  “Worried about me? You’re the one who almost got arrested!” Blaine protested. “I’ve been worried about you all day! I was afraid they’d come and officially charge you. They thought I hired you to try and kill him.”

  Randy swore. He let go of her for a minute to turn on the light. “Come here.” He led her to the couch. He wished he didn’t have to pull out those magazines. Even though they were the trashy ones, she still needed to know if she didn’t already about the filth being spread about her for years.

  Once sitting, she leaned against him.

  “Honey, this keeps looking worse for us. The other night when I stayed with you after bowling, I … Well, I answered your phone when Frederic called. I pretty much warned him if he came down here, I’d make sure he paid for it.”

  Blaine gasped, scrambling away from. “What? Shit, Randy! That’s not good!”

  “I know. How the hell was I to know he would show up?”

  “He always had this terrible jealousy streak, even though I did nothing wrong. But he had no problem flirting relentlessly in front of my face. He did that constantly the last few months, just to show me who was boss. That was about the time I’d had enough of his badgering. I worked my ass off even after I wasn’t supposed to because of my back. Oh my God, this isn’t looking good at all. Who the hell was that woman?”

  “This isn’t the worst of it. Brace yourself.” Randy grimaced before handing her the magazines. He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.

  “How did I not know any of this? How did he-? I’m going to be sick!” Blaine’s face paled and she jumped up, tossed the magazines on the floor and ran to the bathroom. The door slammed and he heard her muttering.

  She still hadn’t come out ten minutes later. Randy reluctantly knocked on the door. “Blaine?” He rested his knuckles against the wood, wishing there wasn’t a gap between them. The door whooshed open and he stumbled back.

  “It can’t be true. I have to-”

  “It’s there, hon
ey. I didn’t watch, but the videos are on that site. I heard your voice.”

  “Damn him! I hate him!” Blaine shrieked. “How do I get that off there? How do I-? Where did you get those stupid magazines? Have you been saving them, knowing all of this about me, things I should have somehow figured out?”

  Randy grabbed her hands, pulling her shaken body toward him. “Damn it, no! Marsha gave them to me. She’s trying to convince me you were into some bad stuff, and that all of this was your doing. I wanted to know what was so bad that she saved all of those magazines, and I wish like hell I never did. I’d never do that to you, Blaine. I wouldn’t keep anything like that from you if I’d known.” He cradled her to him as she sobbed against his chest. Angry, gut wrenching sobs that he didn’t know how to fix.

  “All these-” Hiccup. “-years, and no one told me. Did they really all think I would go for that? He taped those videos without my knowledge! And then talked about it in an interview in that dirty ass magazine, making it out that I was into this stuff? How do I not know?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He rocked her in his arms.

  “I should have run the first time he approached me,” she mumbled through her tears. “I’d met a few teens at the coffee shop I was working at. I’d overheard them talking about dancing, and we struck up a conversation. I used to take them to a little studio I knew about from a neighbor. I guess I caught Frederic’s attention. He started talking to me and bringing me things. I knew who he was instantly. I thought he was an amazing dancer and choreographer. When he pursued me to work with him, I thought it was a dream. Turns out it’s the worst nightmare I’ve ever had. How much more am I going to find out? What do I do?”

  Randy let her go, dashed into the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. He stuck it under the faucet and turned it on, letting warm water soak it. He turned off the water and dabbed Blaine’s face. “Take what you know to the police.”