Every Heart Sings (Serenity Island Series)

by Lucas, Mackenzie

  “I look forward to getting to know him,” Tony said.

  “So are you and your mom definitely staying on the island?” Josh braced his hands on the back of the chair. Jordan needed family around. It would be good if Tony and Grace were here permanently for her.

  “I think so. Mom enrolled me in the high school for my senior year. I’m excited. I’m starting to make a few friends.”

  “Yes, you are. And I hope you’ll count me as one of them.”

  “I do. Absolutely.”

  “I’m just a phone call or a Skype chat away. Okay? If you need to talk music, or guy stuff.” Josh shrugged. “Just call me, okay? I can get really busy, but I’m never too busy to talk to you. And Tommy’s going to schedule a series of well-known artists to come in to mentor. So take advantage of that, okay?”

  “I’d love that.”

  Josh extended his fist to Tony.

  Tony bumped it with his own fisted knuckles and grinned at him. “Thanks. You’re a pretty cool guy.”

  “So are you, Tony. Don’t ever forget that, kid.”

  With those words, Josh picked up the guitar he’d come with and his duffle bag and walked out of the café, leaving behind his newfound family and his heart.

  He hoped he’d be back soon to reclaim both.

  The life of a rock star was never certain. Yet it was the life he’d chosen. For now. And it was easier to walk away from Serenity right now than abandon a career built on a lifetime of hopes and dreams.

  Jordan stormed through town, on her way out to the campground. As she passed the Gas ‘n Go—the one gas station in town—she heard someone call out her name.

  She turned to see Sidewinder. He’d been sitting on one of the two benches filled with old men, no doubt gabbing about events last night.

  “Morning, Sidewinder. What can I do for you?” She spoke to give him an idea where she stood.

  He tapped the cane, finding a clear path to her on the sidewalk. “Where you headed in such an all-fire hurry? You’re going the opposite direction from the café.”

  “How’d you know I was hurrying?”

  “Hank said you were pert near running down the sidewalk.”

  “I was not running.” She huffed out a breath. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m heading to the campground. And you know I don’t work at the café anymore.”

  “Planning a campout?”

  “None of your business, Sidewinder.” She almost growled, impatient to end the conversation with the town gossip and find Ben to give the bastard an ear full.

  “So, not camping? Well, I’ll save you the trip. You’re too late. He’s gone.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Ben. High-tailed it out of here sometime during the night. Didn’t wait for today’s ferry. Drove cross the bridge. Once he heard of the kerfluffle over the contract, he decided we’d draw and quarter him, I suppose. And he’d be right.”

  “Damn it. He got away?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Sidewinder grinned, a big, satisfied smile that stretched the creases in his weathered face.

  Which told Jordan that the town had pulled together.

  “Let’s say his departure was eventful. An adventure, even.”

  Jordan laughed. “Okay, but that still doesn’t satisfy my need to eviscerate the man.”

  “You still got industry connections. Use them.”

  “I’m not sure—”

  “If you’re not sure at a time like this, when will you be sure?”

  “I need to gather a bit more information first. Find out all the facts.”

  “Maybe you should have done that first before you accused our poor boy Josh of wrongdoing.” Sidewinder had the self-righteous air of a man who always knew what was best for everyone else in this small insular community.

  “Yeah, well, I let my emotions get the better of me. I wasn’t thinking clearly.” She stood with her hands braced on her hips. Trying to defend herself was pointless.

  “Love will make you stupid.” The old man pursed his mouth and nodded, sagely. “Make you lose your head. Do crazy things.”

  Jordan didn’t respond to his comment about love. She didn’t need that confession out on the street, going the gossip rounds. So she grabbed on to the other surprising statement in his diatribe. “Our poor Josh? Since when did Serenity take ownership of Josh Nicodemus?”

  “Since the moment that poor boy stepped onto this island looking to put roots down, to find a home, a place to belong. You should know that, it’s the same way we adopted you. Like we do.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like you do.”

  It was more likely that they coveted the revenue Josh could generate from the new music café he’d opened. But she wasn’t going to fight that battle right now. Josh had endeared himself to the village. There was a lot to like about the hot headliner jock who had walked into their lives unexpectedly.

  “Well, thanks for saving me the trip, old man. Guess I need to follow-up with Ben through the lawyer.”

  “Good plan.” He turned and waved, as he started to walk away to rejoin the men on the benches in front of the gas station. “Any time I can be of service, you just let me know.”

  So, she wouldn’t get any immediate resolution with Ben, but she could begin to make his professional life hell. She pulled out her phone and found Caitlin’s number. The entertainment lawyer had been a lifesaver to her over the years, she was the daughter of the attorney who’d handled her emancipation from her parents. If there was anything Jordan could do to squeeze Ben to do what was right, Caitlin would know.

  “Hey, J.D., what can I do for you?”

  “Guess you heard about what happened last night.”

  “Yep. Spoke with Josh.”

  This surprised Jordan. “Really? When?”

  “Last night and again this morning.”

  “Trying to cover his ass?” A note of bitterness edged her words. She couldn’t help it. The whole situation made her mad. She’d been suckered in. And she hated being a dupe.

  “No, he has nothing to cover. What? You think he was involved?”

  “Well, his name was on the contract.”

  “No, J.D., Ben’s done this before with other artists. We’ve got him cold.” Paper rustled on the other end of the phone. “He embezzled from Josh, too. To the tune of five million dollars. Josh fired Ben this morning, but not before getting a signed agreement from Ben that he’d pay Grace and Tony recompense by the end of the week.”

  “Wow. That fast?” Jordan had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d been wrong. And, yes, she’d already begun to suspect that she’d regret her harsh accusations of the night before. But, damn. It sure didn’t feel good, knowing that she’d judged so colossally wrong.

  “Yep, he’s a man on a mission and this is serious business. Josh hired a new business manager—someone I recommended—who started immediately and he hired someone to oversee the café who will start next week. I think you know him, Tommy Robbins.”

  “Tommy? Big guns. Interesting. He’ll do good things for the café. Get the right artists in here and promote the venue to young performers. Is he managing long distance? Who’s he getting to take over the day-to-day operations?”

  “No. Tommy is going to do it all. He’s got big plans for the café and the mentor program. He plans to produce a series of live performance recordings from The Down Dog Café. Even mentioned possibly helping you promote some big project you got going on with a local theater.”

  Jordan was shell-shocked. He knew about the cannery? “Well, that project is still quite a ways off. I need lots of money to renovate the property before it even becomes a proper theater. Right now it’s an old fishing cannery.”

  “
Oh, that reminds me. A large donation was wired to your Hope for the Arts Foundation, line itemed for the Serenity Community Theater Project.”

  Jordan pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. She couldn’t have heard right. “What? I don’t think I heard you right. No one knows about—”

  “Yep. It’s a multi-million dollar donation. I think you now have money to renovate your community theater.”

  Jordan sat down hard on the sidewalk. Her legs wouldn’t hold her. Oh, hells no. Josh was not going to do this.

  She didn’t want his money.

  He could not buy her love. No way. No how.

  She already loved the crazy bastard, anyway.

  Unless the money meant he was washing his hands of her, giving up. Panic seized Jordan. “Give it back. I won’t accept handouts from Josh.”

  “It didn’t come from Josh.”

  “Then where did it come from? No one else knows about my idea to renovate the cannery.”

  “Well, the contribution was anonymous. But I have my guesses. It’s exactly five million dollars.”

  “Ben,” she whispered.

  “I can’t say for sure without digging. But I think so.”

  “This has Josh written all over it.” Jordan jumped to her feet again and paced back and forth, tugging her hand back through her hair.

  “Maybe. But now you have your money. Do some good with it, J.D.”

  Jordan sucked in a huge breath.

  This could really happen. She could open a theater here in Serenity. Contribute in a big way to the economy of the village. Help generate an income for the village.

  Shit. She needed to talk to Josh. Get to the café. Apologize. Damn it, but she was so bad at admitting she was wrong. And she’d been wrong on such a huge level here.

  “Gotta run, J.D.” Caitlin’s voice sounded distant for a moment, then she came back online. “Oh, almost forgot, Tommy will move in to the apartment above the café next week. Just thought you should know.”

  “That’s impossible. Josh is still living there.”

  “I thought you knew . . .” Caitlin hesitated.

  “Knew what?”

  “J.D., he’s gone. He called me from the ferry half an hour ago. He’s headed back to Los Angeles.”

  Chapter 19

  Building Community Theaters and Bridges

  Six months later, the Serenity Community Theater opened with a benefit concert for the PIC-U Wings program. Jordan stood backstage, helping with the final touches, before she’d go onstage to welcome everyone and introduce the first act.

  Renovations of the theater had finished ahead of schedule and she couldn’t be happier with the way it’d turned out. The architect had kept the industrial look of the interior and the historical details, only he’d fused that with lots of open beams and glass to create a really pleasing aesthetic.

  Famous glassblower and artist, Dale Chihuly had donated brightly colored glass flowers each the size of a Volkswagen Beetle that hung in curtains off the balconies in front of the wall of glass windows overlooking the inlet. Sun glittered through the windows, hitting the colored glass, causing a stained glass window effect. The sight of it all brought her a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And a touch of joy.

  Only a touch, because she still couldn’t get over Josh. Or her broken heart. He’d left without a good-bye and who could blame him? It was her fault. All those nasty accusations. She’d sent him a note and flowers apologizing, but she wasn’t sure he’d ever gotten them, because he’d never called or contacted her in response.

  Her heart ached at the thought of him. He’d only been part of her life, what? A little over a month. And still. He’d barged right into her heart and taken over like he belonged there. Forever.

  She pressed her fingers to her chest and rubbed in circles. If only she could remove the pain. Their lives were so different. It never would have worked out between them even if Josh had accepted her apology. She didn’t want a life in L.A. and Josh couldn’t live in Serenity twenty-four-seven and do what he did best—charm fans with his choreographed moves or seduce them to buy his albums with his model-perfect face every time he appeared on Ellen or The Queen Latifah Show.

  Yes, she’d been shameless. Wherever he popped up, she watched him. Usually on YouTube since she was hopeless at getting the timing right of modern-day television shows. So she ended up spending hours searching the internet for Josh’s latest escapade.

  Ben had disappeared, and according to Caitlin, she was monitoring his activities with his cooperation. He wanted to do what was right. He admitted he had a problem and was in counseling. However, it remained to be seen, as far as Jordan was concerned, if Ben could really change and keep his nose clean.

  “There you are, darling.” Helene ran a hand along Jordan’s shoulders to drape her arm around her. She squeezed. “Are you ready?”

  Speaking of change. Things between her and her mother had been ironed out. Helene was spending more time in Serenity and Jordan had found that she’d actually enjoyed the time with her mother.

  “I think so.” Jordan breathed out a deep, shuddering breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “You’ll do great. You’ve always been a natural-born charmer on stage.”

  “Yes, it’s only off-stage we had issues. Both me and the press.”

  Helene waved it off and laughed. “You were young then. Now, you’re more mature. Who’s the first up?”

  “Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.”

  “Nice. Heavy hitters.”

  “Yes, Tommy did his job well.”

  She’d worked with Tommy to make the night perfect.

  He’d scheduled several top-of-the-line acts as well as a few of the young artists from The Down Dog Café mentoring program to perform tonight to raise money for the kids’ cancer hospital. “How’s Tony? This is the biggest crowd he’ll have ever played to—at least two hundred and fifty people out there.”

  Helene smiled. “He’s a chip off both the old Drake and Alexander blocks. He’s in the dressing room warming up by singing to Hannah. Charming the pants—”

  “Mom!” Jordan gasped. “He better not be.”

  Again Helene waved her hand. “It’s merely an expression, dear.”

  “Well don’t use it when you’re talking of a sixteen-year-old boy, okay?”

  Her mother heaved a deep, belabored sigh. “All right. Whatever.”

  “You were too old to use that phrase the moment you hit the big five-oh sound barrier.”

  “Psshaw.” Helene winked at her daughter. “Age is a state of mind, honey, and today I feel like a teenager.” She eyed the handsome boy-band filtering across the backstage area.

  Jordan rolled her eyes in disgust. “You would.”

  “I’ve got to go, sweetie. I’ll be watching from the front row. Lending support.” She kissed both of Jordan’s cheeks.

  “Love you, Mom. Thanks for being here tonight.”

  “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Jordan. Love you too, baby girl.” Helene disappeared around the curtain—hopefully not to flirt with someone half her age, but Jordan couldn’t stop her. Helene had a mind of her own.

  Jordan smoothed the fabric of her red halter dress over her hips. It was a high-society event. People in the industry from Los Angeles to New York were here to contribute tonight.

  Music started from the orchestra pit. Her cue.

  Showtime.

  Three acts into the benefit show, just as Jordan was ready to go back out onto stage to announce the next band after a performance of “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, Tommy shoved an index card into her hands. “Last-minute change of plans. Introduce this act next. Sorry, hon.”

  “Wait. Who?” She tried to drag her fee
t to give her time to read the card in the dim lighting of backstage.

  Tommy planted two hands in the middle of her back and gently pushed her through the curtain at stage right. “No time. Go. You’re on.”

  She walked to the mic. Giving the crowd a moment to let the applause die down, Jordan looked at the intro on the card. The words she read made her heart knock hard in her chest.

  Nicodemus.

  The crowd grew silent. And, still, Jordan didn’t say anything. Her tongue wouldn’t move. She didn’t know what to say. So many words had gone unsaid between them since he’d left the island. So much heartache that she refused to acknowledge. So many hateful things she’d said to him that last night at The Down Dog Café. Words that she couldn’t take back. But, certainly, words she could now apologize for in person.

  Even if it was in front of a crowd of hundreds. If he’d listen.

  After an awkward pause, someone from the crowd, someone who sounded suspiciously like Sidewinder, said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Cat got your tongue, girl? Who’s up next?”

  The crowd tittered. And that was enough to break the spell. She muscled through the fear. It would be okay.

  Shit. She’d overcome many of her demons in the past three months. Hard things, things she’d thought she’d never get over. She’d always known Josh would step back on the island one day because of the café, she just never thought it’d be today. Now. In front of hundreds of people.

  She sucked in a breath and shook her head in a forced laugh. What the hell? She tossed the index card over her shoulder.