“She’s a sweetie.” Stokes scratches Stevie’s back and I smile.
“She is. This is Stevie Nicks. Real original, right?”
He laughs and walks to the front door, guitar in tow, and I follow him.
“Can’t help it. She’s one of my favourites.”
“I remember.” The warmth in his voice stops me.
“You do?”
He insists he remembers a lot about me. What makes me happy. What I want in life. How could he when he doesn’t really know me anymore? What I’ve been through. The person it’s changed me into.
He folds his arms over his chest. “Do you remember my favourite?”
I smirk and nod to his shirt. “Pink Floyd.”
We laugh and he leans against the front door. “Listen, you’re going to do great tonight. I’ll be right there beside you. Meet us there, the door to the green room is past the bar, in the back-left corner—but I guess you knew that. You were there a lot, right?” I nod. “Ask for Jamie and he’ll show you the way.”
He opens the front door and the Hilden couple next door, about a decade older than me, walk their cocker spaniel, Ace, past the house. They wave up at us. “Love the music,” Carol calls.
“We got a private concert out here on our porch,” Alex calls as they pass us.
I wave back as Stokes turns to face me. “Our fans will still be expecting Pascha to be there, but we’ll introduce you, and they’ll warm to you eventually, okay? Should be more locals at this one, so they’ll notice more, but at the next show in Toronto at Noblemen, just a small percentage will know us. To most there, it’ll be like you’ve been with us all along.” He steps out onto the porch.
“You know...” I follow him, unsure of whether to tell him what’s on my heart, worried he’ll shy away from it like he always does.
“What?” he asks in a soft voice and stares at me, unblinking, until I speak.
“I wanted to be part of your band for a long time.”
He smiles, stopping before the stairs. “I remember you asking one time. Timing never seemed right. I was a little stubborn, too. I wanted to keep the band how it was when we formed it. Jamie was the one who initially suggested we bring on another lead singer. Royal had Pascha in mind—I thought of you right away. If you’d been living here around Toronto, instead of Montreal, I’d have asked you to join us. You were away, and Royal asked Pascha.”
I blink at him through the sun, squinting until I lean against the pillar, shielding my eyes. “Really?”
He nods. “Yeah, it’s funny how things have a way of working out, though.” He gives me a little smile and hops down the steps.
It is.
“I’ll send you my lyrics to read?” I call as he continues down the path. “Maybe we could do whichever one you guys choose at the Toronto show since fewer people will notice it’s not one of yours?” And a bigger crowd is even better. Thrilling.
He turns and walks backward as he points to me with a smile. “Yes. That. Good!”
“See you tonight!”
He nods to me and crosses the boulevard to his red car parked by the curb. I close the door after him and grab my notebook and cell phone, ready to snap pictures of the lyrics and send them to him over Facebook.
My cell phone rings and the word Mom appears on the screen, bringing me down from my natural high.
Would she be happy for me if she knew what I was doing? Would she try to talk me out of it like Dad did? Would it worry her that I could be following in his footsteps?
I plunk down on the couch and stare at her name. I need to know how she’s doing. What if something’s wrong?
I tap the green button and press it to my ear. “Hello.”
“Hi. Sorry to bug you.” A soft whooshing echoes in the background of the call. “I just wanted to make sure you remembered Carol from next door will be coming over to borrow the Shop Vac tomorrow.”
“I remember. No problem. How are you guys doing? Are you at a beach?”
“Yes, and it’s beautiful, and I’m doing well.” The edge from her voice after her first call home from the resort has disappeared. “Had a couples massage this morning. Not looking forward to being back at work. Are you?”
“I think it’s good you closed the office for a bit. Now you have nothing to worry about and you shouldn’t be worried about going back to work, okay?”
“I know. If Ron were here, I wouldn’t have even mentioned it. He just left to make a dinner reservation for us.” The excitement in her voice reassures me of her mindset. “All good over at the house? Anything new?”
I consider lying by omission, but selfishly, I want her to know I’m doing something I’ve always dreamt of. I want her to be proud of me for having the courage to do it.
“Do you remember Stokes, my friend from vocal class? He has that band, Haddonboro?”
“Yeah, sure I do. Have you two reconnected?” She’s smiling.
She thinks I’m dating him or something, and as I consider the possibility of something more than friendship between us, I shake my head. It was never anything like that, and now that we’ve hung out again, I’m sure it couldn’t be.
There will always be a distance between us.
I can’t let her get the wrong impression. She’s been wanting me to date since the separation. To get back out there like she did, but it’s not my way.
“He asked me to fill in for a member of his band, their lead singer who left recently. I’m going to be doing three shows with them leading up to Halloween.”
“Really?” Her tone drops. “Just three shows?”
“Yeah, that’ll be it, but I’ll
