Rumor Has It (Friendship, Texas Book 2)

by Magan Vernon

  “I’m going to take your silence as a goodbye. See you around, Eddie,” Mary said before she grabbed her other box and left out the front door, leaving me alone in the big house.

  “What the hell am I doing?” I muttered, finally gathering my words. “Well, besides talking to myself …”

  I raked my fingers through my hair. I could do the call with Stan and the producers via Skype. I needed to get back to Brooke and to Friendship. I couldn’t keep messing things up with everyone in my life because someday, they would walk out on me forever just like Mary did.

  Grabbing my phone out of my back pocket, I unlocked it to call my pilot when a call came through from Stan.

  “Hey, Stan …” I answered, ready to give him an explanation on why I wouldn’t be able to meet him.

  “Get to the studio. Now. I’m sending a car.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “He should be outside right now. Big news. Huge news. This is going to be your big comeback, Eddie, my boy,” Stan said with a cheery laugh.

  “What are you even talking about?” I looked out the front window to see a black SUV pull up.

  “Just get in the car and I’ll explain when you get here.”

  I hung up the phone and stared back and forth between it and the car. I could just tell the driver to take me to the airport. I probably should have. Instead, I did what I did best, and I did what I was told, getting in and taking the ride to the studio.

  “So … it’ll be Thanksgiving when we wrap up for the season in New York, and I was thinking maybe you could fly up there and then we could go see my parents in Scranton,” Mary said, her voice slightly squeaking.

  I didn’t even look up from my computer screen. I was refreshing my email to see if Stan had emailed the latest Billboard music chart and if “Broken Hearted” was number one.

  “Uh huh, yeah, babe.”

  Mary sat down on my desk, putting one of her black heels on my thigh. “Eddie, are you even listening to me?”

  “Definitely,” I replied, hitting refresh and finally seeing an email from Stan. I opened it, scrolling through the attached list. I expected to see my name at number one with “Congratulations” in the subject line, but of course, some pop star who did a remake duet with a rapper had beaten me out of the top spot and I had fallen to number two. Why in the hell did I think a pop crossover was a good idea?

  “Dammit,” I grumbled.

  “Eddie!” Mary whirled my chair around and stared at me with her eyes wide and her lips pouted.

  “Babe, I was just waiting for that email from Stan, but now you have my full attention.” I softened my eyes and gave her a dimpled smile that usually made her melt. Instead of smiling back, she sighed.

  “Never mind, Ed. I need to finish packing.”

  Packing? What was she packing for? Oh, right. New York.

  “Need any help?” I asked, putting my arms around her waist as she bent over the bed.

  “Yeah. That would be great. Could you grab some of my heels from the closet? The red Gucci ones for sure and maybe the black Louboutins?” She perked up.

  “Right away.” I mock saluted and headed toward our walk-in closet.

  Before I could even get to her shoe rack, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pam’s number crossed the screen, and I swiped to answer it. “Hey, Pam, what’s up?”

  “So I’m thinking Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade performance, then I’ve arranged for you to hang out with some of those guys from that hot musical everyone’s talking about. I’ll leak some info to the paparazzi, maybe have you do some videos of you guys singing together, have it go viral, and then you should knock down that pompous prick rapper from the number-one spot in no time!”

  “That sounds like a great plan,” I replied, thinking I had something to do in New York and for Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t remember.

  I chatted with Pam for few more minutes then turned around to see Mary in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. “Get my shoes?”

  I turned and grabbed the first two pairs of heels I could find. “Yep. Sorry, just had a quick call with Pam. She had some great ideas.”

  “I know. I heard the entire convo. So you’ll be in New York?” Mary asked, cutting me off.

  “Yeah. It’s going to be great. Parade, then hanging with some guys and doing music. I might even have some time to swing by the set. Isn’t that great?” I smiled, walking forward and wrapping my arms around her waist.

  She opened her mouth then sighed as if she thought better. “Yeah. That sounds awesome for you, Ed.”

  Was I always an asshole?

  I didn’t think I was, but the Eddie Justice of the last ten years wasn’t the same Eddie Jahid in Friendship, that was for sure.

  The studio was right off music row, and I remember the first time I drove down that street that I’d now passed one hundred times. My eyes lit up, thinking I was in the place that so many other music stars had stepped in before me. Now, instead of feeling like I was where I belonged, it was like I was taking the long walk on the green mile.

  The driver dropped me off, and I made my way inside, barely flashing my credentials at security before taking the elevator up to the top floor.

  I’d been in this office so many times; it started to feel like home—more of a home than the very empty place with my name on the title.

  I remembered so many nights during my first few years in music. I’d be in the studio all night trying to lay down a good track while the interns constantly fueled the producers and me with coffee.

  I didn’t even knock on the large oak doors. I just threw them open, looking at the big table surrounded by different men in suits. Instead of glancing over them and staring out the window, as I usually did, my eyes were drawn to the elephant in the room, literally. Jeremy Lafayette was a newer guy on the country scene, and not only did his breakout song hit number one on the country music charts, but now he was sitting at the head of the table in a bright yellow shirt with a big elephant on it.

  “Hey, you finally made it! Thought you were gonna stand me up!” Jeremy said, getting up from the table and racing around all of the suits to give me a firm handshake.

  I’d never met the guy before and always thought I hated him from his media presence, but something about the long-haired Californian guy made me smile.

  “Eddie Justice. Glad to meet ya, Jeremy.”

  Jeremy went back to his spot at one head of the table, and I took the empty seat at the other end.

  “Now that introductions have been done, let’s get down to business,” Randy, one of the producers, said, steepling his fingers together.

  Usually, when we had these meetings with producers and my agent, they wanted to talk about a new record. I figured that maybe they were bringing in the young blood to give my career a jolt and maybe some sort of Brooks & Dunn aspect. I didn’t know how I felt about all of that, but I’d trusted Stan with everything in my career so far, so I was at least willing to listen to what he and the producers presented.

  “As you know, Spring Break is coming up then summer vacation. Everyone will be flocking to the beaches of California, Texas, then round Alabama, and Florida,” Randy said.

  “Yeah, Cali,” Jeremy said, raising his fist.

  Randy nodded before continuing. “The execs came up with an idea to do a Beach Tour. We’d take two artists, put them in an old Airstream, and they’d travel to different beaches, doing small shows at the local beaches and bigger shows in Malibu or Key West. With the success of your show in Austin, Eddie, we thought you’d be a perfect fit, and with Jeremy’s California roots and new single, we thought you two would work well together for this new tour concept.”

  Randy looked back and forth between all the men at the table, then to Jeremy and me.

  Jeremy was all smiles and so was his agent. “All right, man, sounds awesome.”

  It was February now; Spring Break would be March then go through a break in April maybe and start up for the summer. I coul
d probably go back to Friendship during the time off, or maybe I could even convince Brooke to go with me. She worked on the computer anyway, so it would be perfect.

  All the thoughts of approaching Brooke with traveling and having her help me write some new songs while we traveled the coast together filled my brain. That was until Stan knocked me out of my daydream.

  “Okay, so we have it set up for you two to announce this on one of the big morning shows tomorrow. The plane’s all ready to go tonight. We’ll touch down by dinner and be ready to go in the AM.”

  This was it. Things were falling into place. I’d get my comeback and get my girl back.

  Things were finally looking up.

  The only time I’d been out of Texas was for choir competitions in high school. We rarely took family vacations, and the only time I got to see the bright lights of music row was on TV.

  Randy, the music producer I’d be working with, rambled on about the different sights and the things we’d be doing that day, but all I could concentrate on was the view of the looming building.

  What if I wasn’t good enough for all of this? What if I choked the first time I tried to record?

  “Nervous, Eddie?” Mom asked, squeezing my hand.

  “Of course, he’s not! He’s excited to be country music’s next superstar!” Stan, my new agent, said. Mom literally found him doing an Internet search so he could help negotiate my contract. I didn’t know much about agents or really anything with the music business; I was just happy to finally get out of Friendship and really make something of myself when all of the kids at school mocked me.

  All except for my best friend, Brooke.

  I shouldn’t have been a dumbass when I said goodbye last night. I wanted to tell her so badly that I’d had the biggest crush on her for years. I didn’t want to mess up our friendship, but now that I was leaving, I should have just given it up and kissed her. Figured out if her lips tasted like the raspberry ChapStick she always wore. But it would have just made it harder to leave. Harder to give up my dreams. I just hoped if I failed, she’d still be there for me.

  I stared at the giant building as the car dropped us off at the front door. Mom insisted that I wear the only suit I owned, and I was pretty sure I already sweated through my pin-stripe shirt and even onto the bolero tie.

  This was it; this was my big break and my first day of recording.

  “Well, Eddie, you ready to show the world that golden voice of yours?” Stan asked, opening the glass door for Mom and me.

  Forcing a smile, I looked over at Stan. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  ***

  “Take twenty-two,” the bored-sounding guy called from behind the glass wall.

  I’d practiced the songs over and over the night before, but my nerves were getting the best of me, and everything came out flat.

  Stan was shaking his head and talking to the guys behind the mixers while my mom gave me a small smile. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could guess it was probably that they thought they were making a big mistake.

  I reached into my pocket for my lucky pick, and then I remembered I gave it to Brooke. Instead of feeling the cool plastic against my fingers, I grabbed a crumpled piece of paper. Pulling it out, I stared at my chicken scratch. Sometime in the middle of the night, an idea came to me, and I wrote it down on one of the hotel notepads. Even though I was half-asleep while writing it, it wasn’t half bad when I looked at it in the daylight. That was when I got an idea.

  “Hey, y’all, can I try something new?” I asked, yelling at the guys behind the glass.

  They all stared at me then one of the guys pressed a button on the mixer. “Whatcha got, Eddie?”

  I licked my lips then closed my eyes, feeling the words in my head before they spilled from my mouth. The words came without me even having to think about them. All I could picture was Brooke standing in front of me with her eyes shining in the moonlight and reflecting off the pond. I sang about the girl next door, the girl I’d always wanted and could never have. I sang with everything in my heart and put it out there for the guys behind the glass. If they hated it, I would give it up and try to do the song that wasn’t calling to me. But I at least had to give this one a go.

  When I was done, I opened my eyes to stare at the open-mouthed people behind the glass.

  “Did you just come up with that?” the producer asked.

  “Yes, sir. Well, last night,” I replied; my knees were shaking so badly, I put my hands on top of them.

  The producer released the intercom and the group whispered amongst themselves.

  I held my breath, waiting for what seemed like forever before I finally saw them smiling and turning back toward the glass.

  “Eddie, I think you just found your first single.”

  I sat in my New York rental, staring at the half-empty rocks glass. A few months ago, I was drinking my sorrows over another girl, but this was a different feeling.

  I thought I loved Mary. Hell, I asked her to marry me, after all. But maybe, as shitty as it was to think, it was a convenience thing. She was what I thought I needed in my life; the successful actress with a rocking body.

  Even as I thought back on the last two years with Mary, I never smiled with her like I did with Brooke. She didn’t make me laugh. She didn’t know the real Eddie. And now, I knew I’d fucked up with both girls.

  I picked up my phone again, and of course, Brooke’s number went straight to voicemail. Instead of leaving another apology, the words escaped my lips before I could even think. The song I wrote for her all those years ago came just as easily as it did then. My love for the girl next door was as true then as it was today. And now, somehow, I had to fix it. Maybe a few months on tour together would be what I needed to get back the girl next door.

  Chapter 20

  I’d been on the national morning show dozens of times to promote various things or to perform. But this was the first time I ever had to field questions about my personal life. It was easy when I was single or when Mary and I were together. But this was the first public interview I’d done since her cheating sex tape, and I knew everyone would be focusing on that instead of the new tour. Stan and Pam said the sex tape was off-limits, but I knew the bubbly morning show hosts would somehow get around that and was probably why Pam was standing backstage as I got my hair done and a woman with blue hair applied some powder on my face.

  “May I have a few moments with my client?” Pam gave the blue-haired woman a tight-lipped smile.

  “Of course,” the woman replied. Dusting one more line of powder on my forehead, she set the brush and case on the vanity in front of me and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

  Whirling around to face Pam, I noticed her usually calm demeanor was fleeting. Her Botoxed forehead was now showing crinkles of worry.

  “Am I doing that bad, Pam?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Pam’s eyes shifted toward the ground, chewing her bottom lip before she finally looked at me again. “Well, it’s no secret that the whole world knows about Mary, and you disappearing for a few months probably didn’t make people’s questions go away.”

  I smiled, shaking my head. “Yeah, I could have guessed that one. I’ll just give them the dimpled smile, maybe flirt with one of the women talking to me, and it should be all good.”

  Pam frowned. “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple. If that does work, then the next question will be about your current love life and the best response to that, I think, would be ‘I’m single.’”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Well, what is going on with you and the author from Friendship? Are you two dating and ready to go public with that?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “We never exactly labeled anything. I figured when you’re almost thirty you don’t need to do the elaborate ‘asking out’ thing like in high school.”

  I also left out the fact that we hadn’t talked in a few days, and the last time we did ta
lk, there was an argument.

  Pam sighed. “I know you have feelings for her, and you’ve grown up with her, but if this is something you’re unsure about, then there’s no need to break a million girls’ hearts on a morning show. They may never have a chance with you, but knowing their country crush is on the market may just make their day.”

  As much as it sucked to admit it, Pam was probably right. “All right. Let’s hope that’s the most complicated question we get today.”

  Pamela grinned. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  ***

  Jeremy and I performed back to back, and the crowd went crazy with girls screaming our names and dancing in front of the small indoor stage overlooking Times Square.

  After I had finished my set, they went to commercial. I got a few more brushes of powder and then Jeremy and I sat down with a smiling brunette.

  After the commercial break, she stared at the camera with her big, white smile. “And today on the show, we have Jeremy Lafayette and Eddie Justice, who have just announced their Southern Spring Break Tour! Jeremy, Eddie, can we expect more collaborations between the two of you?”

  Jeremy laughed. “Well, never say never. We’ll be spending a few months together in an Airstream, so anything is possible with that much togetherness.”

  “Speaking of togetherness, Jeremy, you’ve been public about your ‘Left Swipe Chronicles’ as you’ve called them on social media. Will there be any of that on the road?” the woman asked.

  Jeremy smiled. “Well, I can never say never.”

  The crowd clapped, and some girls hollered things they would definitely need to bleep out.

  “And what about you, Eddie? Now that you’re single, will you be joining Jeremy in the ‘Left Swipe Chronicles’?” she turned and asked.

  “Well, I guess like Jeremy said never say never.” That ensued another round of cheers from the crowd.

  I might not have outright said I was single or done anything to Brooke, but the feeling of doing something wrong hit deep in my gut.