by Traci Hall
Riley turned bright red as a man in a uniform came out.
“Figuratively speaking,” she amended.
The officer chuckled and held the door open for them.
“It was your dream to be a rock star,” she said, pulling him to the side so they were eye to eye.
“Someday.”
“My mom always said someday about going back to Germany. She almost died when she had that stroke. That’s why my parents took off over the holiday. Someday doesn’t always come.”
He lost the panicked look on his face. “Let me think about it, okay?”
“Sure.” He was holding up pretty well, actually. “Come on, boyfriend. Let’s see if they have my stuff.”
They signed in at the desk and then another officer came and brought them into a room where items were tagged and spread out over long rectangular tables.
“This is everything they stole?” she asked, horrified. Stacks of unopened gifts took up two whole tables.
Riley put his hand in hers. “I’m glad they caught the bastards. Look at those presents. Those kids had a shit Christmas because of them.”
“Yeah. The judge will be taking that into account,” the officer said.
“I think that broken TV is ours.” She pointed to a wide screen listing off to the side on the floor.
The man read a sheet of paper. “Okay. Take your time. Look at everything. If you recognize something, write down the number here.” He handed her a separate sheet. “Come out when you’re done.”
“Thank you.” The rows and rows of items reminded her of a swap shop and made her sick to her stomach.
When the officer left, she looked to Riley. “I forgot how angry this made me.”
“I understand. I guess we sort of buried it.”
“In sex. I’m not complaining.” They walked down the length of the first table. Silverware, frames, jewels. “What is it that makes something worthwhile? Worth stealing?”
“It’s personal.” Riley scratched his jaw, his other hand still holding Teagan’s.
She stopped, nodded and gestured to everything around the room. “Yes. This all belonged to somebody, and these guys just randomly pick and choose what has value. I wonder if my backpack will be here?”
“That would be great. I mean, for three hundred bucks it should come with a chef.”
“It has compartments for everything that you might need while traveling Europe by rail. It’s what I want to do. Don’t you want to travel?”
“I like my job.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I like traveling,” he said. “It’s something I’ll do later. When I retire.”
“Retire? You’re not even thirty! And you have summers off. What were you planning on doing with them?”
His chin rose defiantly. “I taught summer school.”
“But you don’t have to do that, right?” She released his hand, sensing his anger. “Never mind. Let’s not argue.”
“Why not, honey?” he stressed.
“Because we aren’t really dating. We will be friends for another nine days, and then we are going our separate ways.”
Chapter Nineteen
Teagan rushed forward when she saw the golden tapestry jewelry box that had sat on her mother’s armoire forever.
“There,” she said.
Riley followed, quiet. She didn’t smooth things over, knowing that yes, the truth was harsh, but it was the truth. Neither of them should forget it.
About two feet high and square, Teagan stopped before the box and carefully wrote the number down on the sheet.
“Want me to do that?” Riley asked.
“You have better handwriting,” she said. “Thanks. We need to list everything in the box. I was thinking I should call my parents, but I don’t know if Dad told Mom yet about the robbery. I don’t want to make her worry. Dad said she wore the good jewelry to impress the cousins.”
“You can call with positive news, though,” Riley pointed out. “You have the box back.”
She picked the gold tapestry square up, opening the lid to reveal a tray of jewelry. “These are the rings I was telling you about,” she said with a relieved smile.
“Nice. Totally goth.”
“Don’t tell my viewers.” She sifted through the pearls and gold chains. A ribbon poked a frayed edge from the bottom and she tugged at it, hoping the box wasn’t ruined. To her surprise, the ribbon kept pulling and released a compartment underneath the jewelry box.
“I never knew this was there,” she told Riley, her pulse speeding. “Trust me, I snooped every chance I got.”
Riley chuckled. “What is that? A book?”
Teagan’s heart skipped as she opened the slim hardbound pages and recognized the writing. “A diary.”
“Your mom’s?” Riley sounded appalled.
“Even better!” She turned to him and grinned. “My grandma’s! The one I’m most like. Amelia. The terror of the family, according to my mother. And look, this is her passport. See all of the places she’s been?”
Riley splayed his palm across her lower back. “It’s genetic.”
“Skipped my mom.” Greta Becker had zero sense of adventure.
“Are you going to read it?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait.” Teagan slipped the small book in her short’s pocket. “Just in case they won’t let me take the jewelry box home. What do you think the scandal of Cologne confessed to her diary?”
Riley rubbed her shoulders. “This is the most excited I’ve seen you about family since we met.”
“True. Because I’m really like somebody.” She turned around and dug her phone from her purse. “I should call Dad.” He’d be able to help with the jewelry. Until then, she had to go on memory. His phone just rang and rang. “Odd.”
What could they be doing? Hopefully driving the countryside and looking at cows. Relaxing. Not fighting with the cousins, not worrying over the business. Or the robbery.
She and Riley finished going up and down the aisles but her backpack was not part of the recovered stash. Teagan was okay with getting another one.
“Let’s go. Get the mattress home.” She tugged on his arm. “And we still have to see Janey. Sign the papers.” She wasn’t letting Riley off the hook.
“About that…”
“Don’t argue! This is a terrific opportunity.”
“Not one I wanted.” He pushed his glasses up, the list in his hand.
“Please…you are so talented. I’ve heard you. There’s no backing away from that. You wanted to be a rock star.”
“I was in high school. Most wanna-be rock stars end up working as bartenders. Or worse, fry-cooks.”
Riley’s mom had done a great job squashing his dreams. Teagan believed they were necessary to a full life. “But what if?”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know.” Then he smiled. “Only if you come with me.”
“I’ll be there.” In the audience, watching the other women drool over the new guy. She’d get him to wear all black and...
“On stage.”
Teagan tossed her head. His being shy just didn’t make sense to her, but she’d help. “If you need me to stand next to you, I will.” Until he didn’t need her there anymore.
“And sing.”
“Hum. I can hum. This is your show. You can do this, okay?”
*****
Riley could do the show alone, he just didn’t want to. He hadn’t prepared or thought about a playlist. He and Teagan had sounded great on his back patio, which was a whole different scene than a stage. The last thing he wanted was to sit in front of a crowd of people and bomb. Then what?
Teagan stared at him, using those big green eyes to persuade and beguile. It might be chicken shit, but she could sing and cover for him in case he screwed up.
“This was your idea,” he said.
“I said okay.” She led the way out of the room of stolen items, stopping at the check-in desk. “Can we take any of this h
ome?”
“Not yet,” the woman said. “Give me the paper marking which items are yours and we’ll call when we’re ready to release them.”
“Thank you.” Teagan handed her the list. Riley guessed she’d been right to pilfer the diary. Who knew when she’d get answers if she didn’t? That was so Teagan, to act instead of wait. Was it a good thing, or a bad thing? Or just her thing?
He opened the door for her and they went outside. Nerves made his stomach jump as they went in the next building. Janey stuck her red glasses on top of her blonde hair, her whole body easing with relief. “Here you go. Sign at the bottom.”
“Four days,” Riley muttered, the panic inching up his neck. “Four days isn’t long. What if I see somebody I know?”
“Then you shake their hand,” Teagan said. “They’ll be so blown away by your amazing self they won’t know what hit them.”
“I don’t know...”
Teagan handed the paperwork back to Janey. “Thanks a lot.” She had them outside and in the parking lot before he totally freaked out and gave away his inexperience.
“You don’t have to know everything.” Teagan tossed her keys from one hand to the next. “In fact, the best adventures happen when you don’t really know what’s happening.”
“Adventures or mistakes.”
Teagan got behind the wheel and gave him a sad expression, as if she felt sorry for him. What the hell? He had a job and an apartment and a telescope. He had goals.
“We can plan out your playlist. That will make you feel better.”
He nodded, his fingers itching as he imagined the guitar in his hands. “We’ll have to practice. A lot.”
“Sure! Sounds fun. I think I can dig up a tambourine somewhere. Really spruce our act up.”
“Are you teasing me?”
“Yeah.” She blew him a kiss and they drove in silence until she parked in front of her parent’s house. “You are even cuter when you’re pouting.”
He pressed his thumb in the groove between his brows. “Whatever. Listen, let’s just get the mattress inside. I have a lot of thinking to do.” How could he get out of the arrangement without looking like a fool?
“Thinking? Practicing. Planning.” Teagan nodded with each step. “I can help.”
“You’ve done enough.” His tone was harsher than he wanted, which added to his misery. He got out of the van and went to the back. “Want to unlock the front door first?”
Teagan met him there and grabbed his arm. “Yes, I tossed you to the wolves. But I’m going to be there with you. I’d love to film it actually.” She gave him a questioning, hopeful look.
His belly rose up his throat. “Definitely no.”
“Fine.” She went to open the front door, while he waited for her to come back. Within seconds, she returned. “Did I miss the part in our friendship where you’re shy? Because I watched you on stage with those kids shaking your ass.”
“That’s different. I’m their teacher.” Riley didn’t put himself in situations that had the potential to bomb. Yes, he could play, he could sing. He wasn’t shy. The problem was that he’d be breaking a cardinal McSorely rule. “My mother always said that musicians are a dime a dozen.”
Teagan opened the side door of the van and climbed inside to push the mattress while he held the other end. “Ready?”
Riley nodded. “I’m sure she just didn’t want me to turn out like my dad.”
“Yeah?” Teagan shoved and Riley stepped back, balancing the weight of the mattress between them. “How does that make you feel?”
“Do you charge for couch time?”
“Hey!” She jumped down from the van, holding the mattress end, her hair coming loose. “I’m the sarcastic one. Just trying to help.”
He took a minute to answer truthfully. “I resented it, her attitude, growing up. Once I realized she was right, I made sure to get my teaching certificate.”
“But your degree is actually in music?”
“Yes. Theory and composition. It’s tough.”
“Your dream couldn’t have been teaching ten year olds.”
“No, but dreams change and grow. Like we do.” He cringed. “Listen, I like my job. If I wanted, I could teach just music at the high school or college level. I wanted something that would keep me in South Florida, by the beach.”
Teagan, mattress end in hand, walked backward into the house, a strand of auburn hair over her eye.
He followed. “I don’t feel like I settled,” he said though she hadn’t said anything. “This is a learning opportunity, and the kids aren’t bad.” Damn it, the more he talked the more he sounded as if he was justifying his decision.
Hardly a position of power.
“Okay.” Teagan shifted the mattress as they went through the living room and over the couch. “Watch your elbows. This hall is narrow. Tuuurn. Here.”
Together, they maneuvered the new mattress on the box spring in her parent’s room.
Riley bit the inside of his cheek to keep from talking. Explaining.
“I have sheets cleaned and ready to go.” Teagan cocked out a hip as she surveyed the bed. “I had to buy new. It’s like everything my parents owned wore out and they’ve been too stressed or busy or in denial to replace them.”
“They’ll love it.”
Teagan put her hand on his forearm, her touch warm. “I hope so. Don’t be mad at me, okay?” She dimpled at him. “About New Year’s Eve? Or anything else I might have done today.”
He remembered her words in the police station. Why argue, when they weren’t going anywhere? Yeah, that hurt.
“Sure.”
She led the way out of the room, down the hall toward the kitchen. “Want a beer? I picked up some local craft brews.”
“What are we doing, Teagan?” Riley didn’t want to play games. He wanted Teagan, but knew it wasn’t going to happen the way he needed it to.
She paused in the middle of opening the refrigerator. “I thought we might have a drink, maybe initiate my little twin bed.”
“Can’t.” He couldn’t believe the word as soon as it came from his mouth.
Her brow hiked as she leaned against the open door, two bottles in her hand. “Can’t what?”
“I can’t sleep with you.”
She uncapped one of the bottles. “I wasn’t planning on much sleep.”
“I’m serious.” He was an idiot. “It will be better for both of us if we have clear boundaries.”
She closed the fridge and gave him the second beer. “Okay. Should we not see each other at all?”
His heart wrenched at the thought. “That’s not what I’m saying. Besides, I want to help you paint the bakery. I’m a whiz with a brush. And we need to practice for New Year’s.” He’d be glad about the gig now just because it gave him another chance to be with Teagan.
“So no kissing?” She moistened her lower lip before taking a drink of her beer.
He looked away. “No kissing.”
“Holding hands?”
“Nope.” He took a deep swallow.
“That’s pretty strict.”
“It will be better in the long run. As you said, you’re not sticking around. This way we can at least be friends.”
“What’s the matter with friends with benefits?” She spread her arms out to her sides.
“It won’t work.”
She sighed and brushed by him toward the dining room, where she took a seat. “You can sit, I won’t bite. Friends, huh? Do you know how to play rummy?”
What? The card game? “Yeah. But we have work to do first.”
“Fine.” Teagan tapped the table with her long red nails. “We have just over a week until my parents come back.”
“Right. And a performance to get ready for.” The beer in his belly soured. “In four damn days.”
She reached for the stack of junk mail in the center of the table and flipped over an envelope. “Will you grab a pen?”
“What for?” He found one i
n the drawer next to the stove. “Here.”
“You need a plan. What are people going to want to hear?”
He couldn’t think. “Classics.”
“Like Tony Bennet or the Stones?”
“Good question.” He sat, his knee shaking. Holy shit. He was going to play in public. Get paid. As a musician.
His mother would disown him.
Chapter Twenty
New Year’s Eve
“How do I look?” Teagan twirled around on a gold heel.
Riley swallowed hard. “Uh, sparkly?” She was stunning. Gorgeous. “You look nice.”
She shook her finger at him. Her nails were the same color gold as her shoes, and her flashy dress hit her thigh, black and fringy.
“Nice. You look like a rock star,” she said, her lashes long and curled.
“I look exactly the same.” He hadn’t done anything different, besides add extra deodorant.
“It’s the gold Converse. Black jeans, and black button up,” she leaned in and flicked his skinny tie. “Screams teen idol.”
“This is an older crowd.”
“They used to be teenagers. They’ll drool. Trust me.”
“Now to make sure I don’t mess it up.”
Teagan’s hair was styled in an upward bouffant and sprayed stiff. “Don’t start. Did you tell your mother?”
“No. Did you tell yours?”
“No.”
He knew why he’d avoided his mom. “Why not?”
“Every time we’ve talked she asks me about the black Irishman.”
He grinned.
“It’s not funny. If I told her what we were doing tonight? She’d have us married before the ball dropped. I’ve been avoiding her calls for two days. Dad’s too.”
Riley tapped his toe. Married? Somehow the idea wasn’t as repulsive as it used to be. “With the right person,” he said. It might be pretty cool.
“What?” She leaned into the mirror by the front door and checked her lipstick, obviously not hearing him.
“Nothing. You ready?”