“We’re sorry to bother Cam at work,” Crystal said. She glanced between us. “This will only take a minute. Then we’ll be out of your hair.”
Mom stared at each one of us for a couple of beats. Then she nodded. “Be back in fifteen.”
“Thanks.” I ushered Crystal and Heath toward the kitchen and then out the back door. This was the designated smoking area. Fortunately, nobody was outside at that moment.
“It’s over,” Heath said, crossing his arms.
“We wanted to tell you in person,” Crystal added. “Hank’s on a plane back to L.A.”
I fell back against the cool red brick. “Dylan?”
“Went with him.” Heath grimaced. “Sorry.”
I nodded. “What’s wrong with him? With Hank?”
“At first, they thought his vocal chords were strained, but...” Crystal let the sentence drift away.
As much as I disliked Hank, this sounded worse that strained chords. I stared at Heath.
“Cancer,” he said. “In his throat.”
“That’s all we really know,” Crystal added when I opened my mouth to ask another question. “Nobody’s talked to Dylan except for Reynolds.”
“He didn’t say anything to either of you?” I asked anyway. Crystal had just said as much, but I felt the need to ask anyway. He’d never responded to my last text.
They both shook their heads.
“This sucks,” I said.
“Yeah, it does,” Heath said, huffing out a long breath. “So, we need to get our schedules together and find a time when we can practice. Mike’s playing with some metal band out of Cape now. We’ll need to find a bassist and guitar player.”
“For what?” I asked.
“Our band. Well, your band,” Crystal said. She widened her eyes. “Did you forget?”
I barked a laugh. “Honestly, I wasn’t thinking that direction. But, yeah, let’s figure it out. I was only filling in here until the show came back. My schedule is flexible at the resort, but I usually work days.”
“My schedule is flexible too,” Crystal said. “Heath’s working days and evenings, but we can work it out.”
“We’re really doing this?” I asked, a bubble of excitement formed in my chest.
“Yeah, why not?” Heath smiled and offered his hand.
I put mine on top and Crystal added hers.
“This is going to be amazing.” Heath turned his hand over and tickled mine.
I laughed and pulled away. “It will be.”
Crystal and Heath hugged me then left a few minutes later. My break was over, but I needed to do one more thing before I went back to work. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. His number was still stored under my favorites. I stared at the photo of us together before I messaged him.
Sorry to hear about your dad. You and your family will be in my prayers.
My phone buzzed before I put it back in my pocket. I hesitated before I opened his response.
Thank you. That was all he said. It was enough.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
July turned into August fast, but September came even quicker. Once Labor Day passed, business in Branson slowed. My hours at Mountain View Resort were cut back. It made it hard to save anything. I bought a van with what little I had saved. My band needed a way to haul our gear to shows. We’d had a few already, then our guitar player quit. It wouldn’t take long to get someone into our groove, but it would cost money on gigs we had to cancel.
Money was everything in this business. If you didn’t have any, you couldn’t get to a gig. If you didn’t have any, you couldn’t buy or repair equipment. But you had to have the gigs to make the money. I was learning a lot about the dirty side of the music industry.
My YouTube channel was getting hits. The video for “Walk Away” that Dylan had made was over a hundred thousand views and growing. Crystal had taken over getting us the gigs, managing my brand, and basically running everything behind the scenes. She thrived on it. Our little band was getting seen and it was thanks to her.
I parked in front of Crystal and Heath’s new place. They’d moved in together before Labor Day. We used the garage to practice. Sometimes with an audience made up of the neighborhood kids. Heath had started teaching guitar and drum lessons, and many of the kids were his students. Crystal took a new job at a call center until we could get the band off the ground.
“Hey, Cam,” Heath said as he set up chairs in the garage. One for me and one for him. Crystal was working overtime, but we had our cameras to record the potential candidates.
“How many do we have today?” I asked as I strolled toward him.
He lifted his head with a grin. “Ten. Hope they’re better than the ones from yesterday.”
“That Gary kid wasn’t that bad,” I pointed out.
Heath just snorted. He nodded toward the door. “Get the cooler, would ya? I loaded it with water and beer. That should get us through the afternoon.”
I went inside and walked straight into a galley kitchen. The cabinets were white and the appliances matched. Crystal had painted what little wall space they had a pale yellow. It wasn’t much, but it was theirs. I loved it. The small cooler was on the counter. I reached for it when Heath’s phone buzzed beside it.
Dylan’s face lit the screen. I hadn’t talked to him since the day he left. His face disappeared, leaving behind notification of a voice mail. I closed my eyes to steel my racing heart. It didn’t matter. I made my choices, and it was what was best for both of us.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?” Heath asked when he peeked inside.
I pointed to his phone. “You have a missed call.”
He held out his hand for his phone, and I gave it to him. Heath swiped the screen and his infectious smile disappeared. His gaze shot to mine.
“I didn’t know you still talked to him,” I whispered, failing to hide the
