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

by Kristine Cayne

  “Why would I?” Randy tried to hold back his irritation.

  “Because this is your job, son.” His father’s voice raised. People were staring. “Maybe we should continue this conversation in my office where it’s more private. I think we have a lot to discuss.”

  Feeling like a kid at school in trouble by going to the principal’s office, Randy followed his father. He could tell everyone’s eyes were on them, wondering what the private conversation would consist of.

  “Close the door and sit down.” Dad moved around the desk and lowered himself in the big black chair, running a hand through his graying hair.

  Randy sat across from him, wondering where this was going to go.

  “This whole thing with Blaine and her drama doesn’t look good on you, nor does it look good on the family and this town.” Dad folded his hands together and leaned forward.

  Randy practically exploded. “You know, it’s not easy to be the oldest and the only male child in this family. My sisters could do all the wrong they want and get away with it. I’m not doing anything wrong other than being in the wrong place when something went down, and it all comes down on me. It’s really frustrating.”

  “You’re the example setter.”

  “No I’m not! I’m just a guy who wants to live his dream a little with his family’s support. You don’t give one thought to my music dream. You look down on it. I get it. You work for the newspaper, so you see front and center the stories that come around. It doesn’t give you the right to judge all the time. You and Mom are always the hardest on me. Who I date, what I do. No matter, it’s never good enough or right for you. You want me to settle down? I’m in love with someone you look down on because she was involved with a man who lied to and mistreated her. What did Blaine ever do to you?”

  “You know son, this conversation was supposed to be about you doing your job and getting the story from Blaine.” Dad narrowed his eyes, his cheeks turning red with anger.

  “Really? Then why did you throw in my involvement with her didn’t look good on this family or the town? How is that a conversation about my job?” Randy fired back, trying to be as respectable as possible. This was still his father after all, no matter how frustrated he made him. “If you want a story so bad, why didn’t you ask her yourself? We already know you have no problem approaching Blaine about it.” The tension hung in the air. Randy drew in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry for yelling, Dad. I just feel like you and Mom judge every single thing I do. As much as I want your support, I can’t do everything to make you happy.”

  “What is it that makes you happy?” his father asked with a slight interest.

  “Music. And Blaine.”

  “How is music going to help you with a future?”

  Randy sighed, feeling like this would go over and over again around the same thing without actually making an impact. “Did you know I was really shy in my pre-teen and teen years? I found it hard to fit in at school. I was quiet and unsure of myself. I know as a boy I wasn’t supposed to feel that way, but I did. When you and Mom wanted me to go with Marsha for piano lessons, I fell in love with music. That was my way of releasing how I felt. When I joined Baby Stetson, I grew as a person. I didn’t have that shyness as much any more. So what does music do for my future? It helped me grow and I think it will continue to do that.” Did he really just see a flicker of understanding in his father’s eyes? Did he finally break through? “If it weren’t for Baby Stetson and the music we play, I don’t know what I’d do or where I’d be.”

  “I always thought you outgrew your shyness, or that working for the newspaper helped with it considering you had to talk to people.” Dad sounded shocked.

  He shook his head. “No, it was music. I feel a strong connection to the world through music. I don’t know how else to explain it. I hid behind my dream long enough. It wasn’t until Avery finally admitted a career in music was what she wanted that I realized it’s what I want too. If you don’t want to understand it or even support it, I’d love for you and Mom to at least accept that it’s what I want.”

  Dad continued to stare at him, drumming his fingers on the oak of the desk before he spoke again. “You’re not happy here in Harmony’s Echo or working for the paper?”

  “It’s not that I’m not happy with this life. I just want more. I want to pursue something I found a connection with. Music is it for me, Dad. Come to our concert Wednesday. A producer is supposed to be there. Come see what I mean. You’d be surprised. There’s no drama, just a deep love of music between the audience and the band.”

  His father looked like he was about to protest. His mouth opened and snapped shut several times. “Okay. I’ll go. But in return, I really would like it if you’d talk to Blaine. It’s not just about getting a story, it’s about finding the truth. She was born and raised here. We just want to get her side of things.”

  This again? Randy suppressed a sigh. “I’ll talk to her, but I can’t guarantee anything.” No way was he going to push her toward it, either.

  Ten minutes later, he walked out of the office feeling slightly better. He noticed Marsha slink past him and head into the office. He took in the slight satisfaction of expressing himself about his music and that his father actually agreed to go see them play on Wednesday.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Blaine spent the morning checking with the doctor to do a follow up about her back injury. She finished the appointment with a notice of referral and drove past the hospital. The same hospital Frederic was at. She slowed down and merged into the right lane, the one that led into the hospital’s parking lot.

  “It’s about time I face him,” she muttered, making an attempt to convince herself. She needed to clear her head and speak her mind to the man she’d allowed far too long to cloud her thoughts. Once she talked to him and walked out of there, hopefully she’d never have to speak to or see him again, unless she had anything more to do in terms of pressing charges. She no longer wanted to let Frederic drag her down. She wanted to dust him off her shoulder and leave him in the past. The only way to do it was to face him.

  As Blaine walked through the automatic double doors and headed for the help desk, she almost chickened out. Would they even let her see him, anyway?

  I have to try.

  She asked the man behind the desk for Frederic’s room number. Her stomach twisted into knots as she waited to see what they’d say. With a few keystrokes on the keyboard, the man stared at Blaine again, then picked up the phone. Security, maybe?

  Behind her, a baby wailed. The TV in the background was some sort of talk show where people were yelling at each other. Doctors names were being called over the intercom.

  “Miss?”

  She focused her attention back to the man behind the desk.

  “He’s room 120. I just need you to sign in.”

  Blaine nodded, surprised they let her. But with Isabelle caught and admitted that she’d hit him, maybe they were more lenient on who came in to see Frederic. If she’d tried this a week before, that probably wouldn’t be the case. She signed her name, grabbed the visitor’s pass and headed off to the elevator. She made it down the hall to Frederic’s room. She wanted to stop and turn back, but instead, moved forward. In her mind, she thought about what she wanted to say to the man she once wanted to be like in the dance world until she realized just how screwed up he was.

  Blaine hesitated at the door. Her hand on the doorknob, she almost twisted to open and then stopped again.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Frederic? Behind her?

  She turned and stared into the confused eyes of the man she worked side by side with for years. Attached to him was an IV stand.

  She straightened, ignoring the way her heart sped up, the way her legs wanted to collapse underneath her. “I needed to talk to you.” He looked…different. That was the best way to explain it. His head full of black hair had been shaved and he had a wrap around it. Probably from them having to do wha
tever they did because of where he’d been hit. How bad was it? What kind of things did they have to do?

  He gestured at the door, stumbling forward. “Go in. I have to walk every day.”

  She shouldn’t be here, she thought as Frederic followed her in his room. Why did she do this? Wouldn’t she have been better off pressing charges and leaving things at that?

  “What do you want to say?” He made his way the bed and lowered to sit, watching her with those dark eyes that at once time she found gorgeous.

  “I-” The words died in her throat. Blood thundered in her ears. “I don’t understand you. I had a whole speech lined up with what I wanted to say. I’m so angry, Frederic. We were never a perfect match, but you’re a sick man! I was so stupid to let myself be run down by your words. You have a way of running someone’s dreams into the ground. You are critical and harsh. You toy with women’s emotions until there’s nothing left. But most of all, I’m mad at myself for allowing it so long. I wanted nothing more than to be your equal. I wanted to be as talented as you were. You might be an amazing dancer, but you’re a fucked up man. You married me while married to someone else? And those videos! Why? Why did you take moments that were supposed to be private and sell them?” Rage and pain exploded in her head and she needed to get out there. Now. “I’m glad you made it through almost being killed, only because I want to see you pay for your crimes. You’re sick. I’m done with you, and I’m done letting my life revolve around your lies and everything else. I’ll see you when I sue your ass, you slimy jerk. You’ll never bring anyone down again.” She was practically screaming and had to leave the room. “Oh, and call of your followers. You can’t bring my name down any more. Just leave me alone!” With one last grunt, she pivoted and left the room satisfied. She walked out of that hospital feeling better than she had in a long time.

  Later that morning while putting laundry away, Blaine heard from the police that Frederic admitted everything about the tapes. He also told the police he had Blaine followed for years, and that’s how he knew where she was. Was that the person who recorded her and Randy that night? She didn’t know, but it made sense. She felt like someone had been tailing her for a while. She’d always chalked it up to being paranoid. She wasn’t going to back down from pressing charges either. Being exposed like that was a terrible thing and sometimes she wished there was a way to dig into Frederic’s past and expose his deepest secrets. He probably wouldn’t care, but it didn’t matter anyway because she wouldn’t stoop that low.

  She had a few hours before work. Blaine waited with her mom and Chet at the house because Jameson and Melody were on their way home. She couldn’t wait to see them.

  “I hear a car in the driveway!” Blaine jumped up, excited. She ran to the kitchen to peek out the window. Sure enough, Chris’s car pulled up. Jameson and Melody climbed out of the car. Chris waved at them and drove off.

  “Hey! We’re back!” Jameson called as the door opened.

  “Welcome back!” Blaine wrapped her arms around her brother.

  “How are you?” he asked softly as he hugged her tight.

  “Good. I have so much to tell you.”

  “I’ve got a few things of my own,” he said with a smile, pulling back. “Mom! Chet! Hey.”

  Melody came in after Jameson. Blaine reached out to hug her too. “See, told you we’d have you back.”

  “I’m so damn glad that’s over and done with,” Melody admitted. “I kinda knew everyone was right, but I still had that fear.” When she stepped back, Blaine noticed something on her left hand. The overhead light made it stand out.

  “Jameson Ray Grant.” Blaine stared at her brother, a smile spreading. “What did you go and do?”

  “What?” Mom asked from behind her. Blaine moved so she could say hi to Jameson and Melody.

  Jameson slid an arm around Melody’s shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. He kissed her cheek. “Show them,” he said quietly.

  “Show us what?” Mom’s voice filled with impatience.

  Melody squealed and held up her hand. “He proposed!”

  Mom jumped up and down. “I’m getting a daughter-in-law! Oh, this is wonderful! Welcome to the family, Melody!” There were a bunch of hugs and squeals exchanged.

  “So much good news today, finally!” Blaine grinned, loving everyone’s excitement.

  Randy sneaked up behind Blaine as she was putting a stack of papers away. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I think a beautiful woman like you needs an escort out of this office.” His dad had left for the evening. He never saw Blaine come in earlier, so that way Randy had a chance to really talk to her without his father breathing down his neck.

  Blaine shrieked, almost dropping the papers in her hand. She set them down and whirled around to face him. “Oh? Do you have someone in mind?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  “You know everyone’s watching.”

  Randy shrugged. “Yeah, they are. They’re all jealous that I snagged the best girl in this room. I think they’re wondering how a geek like me managed it.” He slid an arm around her to pull her close.

  Blaine giggled. “I promise I’ll never tell them exactly how you won me over.”

  “And just how did I win you over?”

  “Can’t tell you.” She winked.

  Oh, she wanted to play that way, huh? “Why not?”

  “I think we’ve had enough of the secret spilling.”

  “You don’t play very fair. Are you done for the night? Want to get out of here?”

  Blaine gestured to the papers. “Let me put those away like I originally came over here to do, then I’ll be ready. Jameson, Melody and Chris are home. Jameson wanted to know if everyone wanted to come over tonight.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it, especially if you’re going to be there.” He looked forward to it.

  “Hey, would you grab my purse for me? By the time you get back I should be ready. If you want, I’ll buy dinner tonight before heading to the house.” Blaine focused on the papers she spoke of.

  “Sure. Be right back.” Randy went back to his desk, where Blaine’s purse was stored in the locked cabinet. She’d asked him earlier to keep it there for her. He noticed his computer still on with a few things minimized. In a rush, he closed them out and shut down. He probably had a few research pages up he’d forgotten about, but they were probably already saved in his bookmarks. He’d figure it out in the morning. All he wanted to do was get out of here and go spend time with Blaine. The monitor went black and he hit the off button. Picking up Blaine’s purse, he hurried back to find her.

  Her eyes lit up when she looked his way. “Wow, you holding my purse. I like this stage already,” she joked. “Wonder if I could get you to hold it at the mall for me.”

  “Ha ha. I don’t know about that,” Randy shot back. “I do have to draw the line somewhere.” He held the purse out to her. Their hands connected when she reached for it. Blaine slung it over her shoulder, then took his hand.

  “Let’s get out of here.” She kissed his cheek. Hand in hand, they left the building and went to the parking lot. As they stood by her car, neither wanted to let the other go.

  “I think we’re going to have to do something about this vehicle situation.” Randy backed Blaine up against her car as he leaned in for a kiss.

  “What? You want to do that here? In the parking lot?” Blaine’s eyes went wide. “Randy Hughes, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  He laughed, realizing what she meant. “Very funny. Although it’s not a bad idea to try in the future. However, I don’t think it’s kosher to do it in the parking lot of the town newspaper. You never know. I might get daring enough one day.” Randy nuzzled her neck.

  “Hmm. Maybe when your parents like me and the town stops talking about me so much. We’ve got time,” Blaine whispered against his cheek. “Anyway, what were you talking about with the car situation?”

  “Well, unless we want to come back here for one of ou
r vehicles later, we have to drive separately. I don’t know if I can be away from you that long.”

  She socked his arm gently. “Cute, Randy. I almost think you like me or something.”

  “More than like you, and you know it.” He loved her so much. As he was about to kiss her again, the vibration of his phone startled him. With a grunt, he tried to ignore it.

  “Not gonna answer?” Blaine held him close.

  “No way.” He studied her face. “Probably just one of my sisters wanting something.”

  “Come on, let’s get dinner and head over to the house.” Blaine kissed him, then ducked under his arm to climb in her car. “I work in the morning, so if you want to crash at the house tonight, we’ll carpool. We can stop at your house to pick something up if you want to.”

  “I’m not missing a night with you.” Randy walked around the car to the passenger side. He pulled his phone out to check the call. Marsha. She left a voicemail. Randy shut off his phone so he didn’t have to answer to anyone tonight. He’d had enough of his family’s questions and requests. Tonight he was going to enjoy time with Blaine and the band.

  Hours later after dinner, Blaine pulled up the gravel driveway. Avery’s truck was already in the lot. Randy grabbed his stuff from the back, as the realization hit him how they were starting to have stuff at each others’ places. They were driving in one car to be together. Was it too early to see if Blaine wanted to move in with him? Probably, but the idea appealed to him. She’d already stated a few weeks ago that she needed her own place so Jameson and Melody could have time to be a new couple without family in the way. Randy had a feeling Mrs. Grant would move in with Chet soon as well. Stealing a kiss, he grasped Blaine’s hand as they walked into the house.

  “There you two are!” Avery greeted them. “Have you eaten? I brought some leftovers from the inn.”

  “We just got back from dinner,” Blaine replied.

  Randy caught Jameson eying his bag. His friend winked.

  “I have a song I want to play for you tonight, Blaine.” Avery’s eyes twinkled.