Back to the Top (Ross Records) (3) (29 page)

“You boys sound like girls,” I said, laughing. “But I have to admit that it will be nice for them all to have each other.”

“What’s your next move?” Jake asked.

“I’ve already talked to the lawyer and we settled on a support amount. He’s sending it to Andrea’s lawyer and we’ll go from there. We’re going to try to work out a visitation agreement between ourselves, first, but if that doesn’t work, then we’ll have to go through the court.”

“Good,” Jake said. “I can’t wait to meet the little dude.”

“I’ll bring him over soon,” Nick said. “I’m closing on the house next week. I have a contractor going in after that to do a little work.”

“Are you going to have a room for Jase at your house?” I asked.

Nick put an arm around my shoulders. “As a matter of fact I am. And, to give you and Greta a little practice, I was going to ask you ladies to get it all fixed up for him.”

“No problem,” I said.

“Now that I’ve got this all out of the way,” Nick said, bending over to pick up the list on the coffee table, “what can I do to help with this fundraiser?”

We moved all the papers to the kitchen and spent the rest of the evening finalizing plans. Nick was more relaxed than I’d seen him in months and it lifted my spirits.

We cooked brats on the grill and ate on the deck, watching BK chase squirrels in the yard. Jake called Matt and Ronnie and pretty soon, it turned into a small party. The guys went over a set list for the concert while Greta, Carly and I went over last minute details. By the time everyone left around midnight, I was confident that everything would work out perfectly.

Twenty-Three

The morning of the fundraiser, Jake and I left early to help set up and make sure things were moving smoothly. We met the rest of the group for breakfast in a diner two miles from the new Children’s Center building.

Everyone was in high spirits, anticipating a great day full of family and fun. Tickets for the concert that evening sold out within an hour of going on sale. The band had brought plenty of merchandise to sell at the show, hoping to raise even more money for the children.

The fun fair was to be held at the high school football stadium. Jenny and Kevin met us there, along with George and Mildred Tharpe. Jenny had enlisted plenty of volunteers to help sort through all the donated materials – classifying them as building materials, Center supplies, and prizes to be given out at the fair. Several local restaurants were setting up booths, promising to donate all proceeds to the Center.

It was truly a small community coming together to help. And it made my heart soar. The sense of pride from the people working hard to get things ready hovered in the air. It was almost like the entire town had taken the closing of the Children’s Center personally and were fighting back to restore things back to normal.

“All the games are set up,” Jenny said when she caught up to Greta and I at the trailer where we had placed all the merchandise. “I have a schedule of volunteers who are going to man the booths but now I need to figure out what prizes go where.”

“Don’t you have a list?” Greta asked as she consulted her electronic tablet. “I’m sure you emailed it to me.”

“I do,” Jenny said, pushing hair out of her face. “I just have to get them there and you two pregnant women don’t need to be lifting.”

“There’s a bunch of high school boys over by the band,” I said, grinning as I pointed out the group loitering around Jake and the others. “I’m sure they’ll help get things where they need to go.”

“Excellent,” Jenny said. “George and Mildred are setting up the silent auction. They donated several things to the auction, too. Mildred was volunteering with me for awhile and fell in love with the children.”

“Fantastic,” I said. “I’ll make sure to get over there to thank them sometime today.”

“Hey, Iz,” Carly said as she joined our group. “The dunk tank is set up and I have Jake, Ronnie, Matt, and Nick all scheduled to be in it.”

“Oh, that’s going to be funny,” I said. “I have a feeling that line is going to be long all day so we’ll have to figure out a way to keep it moving.”

“I know,” Carly grimaced. “Well, it’s going to be two bucks for three balls and I’ll just make sure that people don’t hang out, gawking at the guys. I’ve got two girls from the community college helping out.”

“Cool,” I said as I consulted my own tablet. I scrolled through the pages of notes, mentally checking off things that had been completed. “We’re pretty much set except for getting the prizes to the booths.”

“I’m on that,” Jenny said as she jogged toward the group of boys near Jake.

“Where’s Cammy?” Greta asked.

“She’s setting up her booth,” I said. “She’s doing the dart game. She blew up over a hundred balloons last night.”

“Wow,” Greta said. “I’m surprised she’s not lightheaded.”

“She has help today. One of the girls that volunteered at the Center will be in the booth with her. They should be able to handle it,” I said. “What time is it?”

“Quarter to eleven,” Greta said. “Fifteen minutes until we open the doors.”

“I better check in with Jake and make sure security is set,” I said. “Call or text me with any problems.”

The other girls disappeared to man their booths or to see to other tasks as I approached Jake.

“All set?” he asked as he draped an arm around my shoulders.

“Yes,” I said. “How’s security?”

“Perfect,” he said. “They’ve all been updated on Brad and know what he looks like. If he shows up here, he’ll be escorted out.”

“Good.”

“I have to get in the dunk tank at one. The other guys are taking turns, too,” he said. “But we need to leave here around four to make sure everything’s ready for the show.”

“Okay,” I said. “I spoke with Bill Metter from the hotel and he said everything was fine this morning. He said that he spoke with your crew and that they can go in this afternoon to start setting up.”

“Okay,” he said, kissing my cheek. “How you feeling?”

“Fine,” I said.

“Make sure you drink plenty of water and get something to eat this afternoon.”

“Yes, sir,” I said. “I need to make rounds and check on everyone. I’ll see you at the dunk tank if I don’t see you before.”

We parted ways and I began walking through all the booths, checking to make sure everyone was ready. When the gates opened at eleven, I was slightly shocked at the amount of people streaming into the fair. It did my heart good to see so many people eager to support such a good cause – I just hoped our security could handle it.

As I walked through the crowd, checking each booth, I was greeted by lots of people, many offering support. I smiled a lot, having a wonderful time.

At one o’clock, I meandered to the dunk tank, eager to watch Jake. The line was long, as we expected, but Carly and her helpers were doing a fabulous job of keeping it moving. I stood back and watched until someone – a high school baseball player – finally hit the target and dunked Jake. Everyone cheered, including me.

Finally, at four, Jake and the others had to leave to get ready for the show. They were going onstage at six-thirty and playing until ten with one twenty minute intermission.

I kissed Jake goodbye, promising to stay safe and in sight of security. The fun fair didn’t shut down until five and I had to stay after to make sure the cleanup was completed. I was hoping to get to the hotel before the show started.

As the fun fair slowed down, I started cleaning up on my own, wanting a head start so I could get out of there by six. Each booth closed and the person manning it brought their money and leftover prizes to Greta and Cammy. A crew of twenty volunteers began tearing down and cleaning up, making things move much faster.

“What time are you going to the hotel?” Carly asked as she carried two garbage bags to a trailer hooked to a pickup truck.

“I’m hoping by six,” I said. “But I want to make sure everything is taken care of here.”

“I know,” Carly said. “But we’re in good shape. There’s only one game booth left to take down. The restaurants are responsible for their own booths so we don’t have to worry about that. And most of the trash has been taken care of.”

“Good,” I said, watching as a man loaded the dunk tank into the back of a truck.

“Hey, Bella,” Jenny said, jogging to my side. “George and Mildred said they would handle the rest of the cleanup if we want to get over to the show.”

“Really?” I said. I’d taken a few minutes earlier in the day to speak to the older couple. Both were apologetic about the entire situation with Brad and more than willing to pitch in to make this fair a success. “That’s excellent.”

“If you’re done with whatever you were doing, we should go. Kevin is going to meet me at the hotel at six-thirty,” Jenny said.

“Okay,” I said, sending a text message to Greta, Carly, and Cammy to let them know what was going on. “I’ll tell the other girls to finish up what they’re doing and to head to the hotel.”

We got to the hotel in enough time to wish the guys luck before the show. We stood just off stage, Jenny and Kevin joining us, and watched the show. It had been a long time since I’d been able to watch them this way and I’d nearly forgotten how thrilling it was. Not only was the sound good, but I was able to watch their little quirks – the things that would hit me during the long, lonely nights before I’d reunited with Jake.

The day was beginning to catch up to me. Exhaustion was creeping into my body, tugging at my eyes, making me yawn. The show was almost over and I just wanted to crawl into the bed upstairs in my hotel room with Jake beside me.

Finally, the show ended to an explosion of applause. The guys came running backstage, sweating and panting.

“Give the crowd a couple of minutes to clear and then we can start tearing down the stage,” Jake said.

“Don’t you have crew?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Jake said. “But not a full crew. I just rounded up volunteers so I didn’t have to pay anyone. We wanted all the money to go to the Center.”

Security quickly cleared the crowd and the guys went to work packing up guitars and winding up cords. I helped for a bit but I couldn’t stop yawning.

“Go up to the room and sleep,” Jake ordered. “We got it under control.”

“I’m fine,” I tried to argue.

“Iz,” Jake sighed. “Greta already went to bed. Carly is up in her room, calling Ronnie’s mom to check on RJ. Cammy and Jenny left to count money. You need to get some rest. It’s been a long day for you.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “How much longer will you be?”

“Not long,” Jake said. “The security guard near the elevator can walk you up to the room.”

Rolling my eyes, I pecked his cheek. “I think I can make it there on my own.”

He lifted a brow. “Humor me, huh?”

“Fine,” I grumbled again as I waved to everyone. Pushing through the side door, I found myself in a long, dimly lit corridor. The elevator was a short walk to the left, next to a utility room, and the only exit was through double glass doors leading to the bar at the end of the hall to the right.

Glancing both ways, I tried to find the security guard but he was nowhere in sight. I considered going back to find Jake but decided that I could certainly handle riding the elevator up to the top floor. Still, I wondered what had happened to the guard. Jake would be extremely upset if the guy had decided he was done for the day and knocked off early. Perhaps he was in the bar, having a drink.

Just as I turned to the left, I noticed the utility room door ajar and something sticking out of it. Squinting my eyes, I concentrated hard; finally making out that the object was a black shoe.

“What in the world?” I mumbled as I walked toward it. I didn’t think it belonged to anyone from the band since most of the guys wore sneakers on stage, but I couldn’t be sure. I’d hate to listen to any of them grumbling because they lost a shoe.

As I neared, the door squeaked as it opened and Brad stepped out, something in his hand.

“Hello, Isabella.”

My heart stilled as my body froze. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you have money,” he said, snatching my arm. “Now come on. It’s time for you to return home.”

I struggled in his grasp, reaching in my pocket with my free hand for my phone. I couldn’t find it.

“Just leave now, Brad, and I won’t tell anyone about this,” I said, trying to reason.

He chuckled as he punched the elevator button with the thing in his hand. I couldn’t tell if it was a gun or a Taser and was too afraid to ask.

“I’m leaving, all right,” he said. “With my fiancée. We’ll go home tonight and be married in the morning.”

“Too late,” I said, pain radiating up to my shoulder as I twisted my arm, trying to loosen his grip.

“Iz, you forgot…Stanich! Let go of her!”

I turned, my heart thrilling at the sound of Jake’s voice. He stood, momentarily rooted to the spot in front of the stage door, my phone in his hand.

“Go away, Johnson,” Brad said, brandishing his weapon. “Just go back to your druggie friends and leave Isabella alone.”