Last Song (Chasing Cross Book Five) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (rockstar contemporary romance) (7 page)

When they got to the
alley, Sarah looked down and saw it was empty and quiet. Strangely quiet. She started
her walk, Molly by her side. Her thighs were a little sore from that morning’s
run, mostly because of her unexpected move to dart across the street.

She was at the garage
behind her house, facing the garage of her new neighbor. Nothing was out of the
ordinary. Nothing broken. Nothing burned. Not even a sound. The band must have
called it a day.

Of course they would be
quiet during the day.

Sarah took a step and one
of the garage doors flew open. The sound was like a growling thunder. Molly darted
behind Sarah and jumped a mile out of her body.

“Whoa, hey...”

There he was. Standing
there, one arm up in the air, holding the garage door open. The sleeve of his
t-shirt fell up towards his shoulder. Sarah tried to keep her eyes on his face,
his handsome face, but she looked once, okay, twice, at his arm in the air,
noting the muscle.

Of course he had muscle. He
played drums. Behind him, was a garage full of instruments.

“Uh... hello,” Sarah
managed to say.

The man had a garbage bag
in his other hand and he lifted the lid on a black trash can and dropped the
bag in. “The truck comes down the alley for these?” he asked.

“I...”

Sarah seriously thought
about lying about who she was. For a split second, she felt like telling her
new neighbor she wasn’t from the area. Like that would ever stick.

“Yeah,” she said. “they
drive straight down and take the trash. There’s a recycling truck too. Do you
have... a recycling bin?”

Sarah thought about what
she was asking. Who was she right then? Her first conversation with her new
neighbor was about recycling.

“In the garage,” the man
said.

He closed the lid on the
can and smiled at Sarah.

“How was your run?”

“My what?” Sarah asked,
snapping at the man.

“Your run. You were
running this morning, right?”

“Yeah. I...”

“You live around here?”

Again, Sarah thought
about lying. Instead, her cheeks flushed and she looked over her shoulder at
her house.

“You live right behind
me?” he asked.

“Or maybe you live right
behind me,” Sarah said.

He laughed.

Oh, he had dimples.

The man then crouched
down and put his hands on his knees.

“And who is this?” he
asked.

He made two kissing
sounds and, of course, Molly ran towards him. She put a paw up for the man to
take and when he did, Molly added the other one. She quickly began to kiss him,
again and again.

She kept a tight hold on
the leash and thought about tugging Molly back.

“Name?” the man asked as
he rubbed the dog’s head.

“Sarah.”

“Sarah,” the man said.
“Aren’t you just beautiful?”

As Sarah’s cheeks
reddened some more, she realized he had been talking about the dog.

Of course he was talking
about the dog.

“No,” Sarah said. “My
name is Sarah. The dog is Molly. She’s three years old.”

“Oh, okay,” the man said.
“Well...” He looked up to Sarah. “What I said still stands.”

He stood up and Molly
loyally sat in front of him. His eyes never moved from Sarah, making her wonder
what his comment actually meant. Was it for the dog? Was it for Sarah?

“I’m Rick,” the man said.
“Rick Sauderst. I just moved in.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sarah
said.

Did she just sound
bitter?

Did she just sound like a
bitch?

“Sorry to bother you,”
Sarah said. “I’m sure you’re getting settled.”

“You’re not bothering
me,” Rick said.

You’re bothering me,
Sarah said.

Your drums.

Your music.

Your eyes.

She looked down at Molly
and tugged on the leash.

“Well, we have to get
going. Our daily walk continues.”

Sarah hated herself as
the words slipped from her tongue.

Our daily walk?

Great.

Now he’d know she went
for a walk everyday.

“Nice to meet you,” Rick
said. “I’m not really a neighbor kind of guy, so don’t mind me. And if the
music or anything is too loud...”

There was her opening. He
brought it up. All she had to do was say something along the lines of not
playing in the middle of the night. It was simple. Just spit it out, right?

Sarah smiled like a fool
and nodded. She had no idea what she was nodding at.

“And Molly,” Rick said,
“nice to meet you.”

He put his hand out and
the ever loyal Molly gave her paw to him.

“She expects a treat
now,” Sarah said.

“Sorry, puppy,” Rick
said. “I only have beer in the garage.”

Rick looked at Sarah and
smiled. She thought she smelled something on him, but her eyes were trying to
convince her mind to focus on how good he looked.

Sarah turned and sighed. Her
neighbor was hot, he played drums, and he drank.

She felt like she had
stepped from her quiet neighborhood into a college frat house or something. As
she walked away, she swore she could feel Rick looking at her, but she didn’t
look back to see... because either way, it wasn’t a good thing.

(8)

After three days of
practicing and jamming, Rick found himself in a better mood. A much better
mood. He told himself it had nothing to do with the fact that he had memorized
the times that his neighbor went on her runs and walks, but it certainly did
help. Those three days turned into a week, and although having a pretty
neighbor gave Rick something to look at, the bottle was still his best friend.
He kept a drink near his nightstand for a night cap or an early morning start.
The fridge had come and was always stocked with beer. The recording equipment arrived
and was set up, giving Rick and his new band a chance to record some of their
new material to hear it and enjoy it.

The music wasn’t great
but it wasn’t supposed to be great. It was supposed to be something to mess
around with and have fun with. They wrote three songs in that first week and
three more in the second week. During that second week, Rick noticed his
neighbor wasn’t around for three full days. He purposely wasted time standing
on his porch, waiting for her to run by. Seeing her was almost as satisfying as
taking a drink. It kept Chasing Cross out of his mind and that was maybe the
most important part. He told his lawyer to relax for a month to give him time
to think. The rest of Chasing Cross, including Peter, agreed, but it meant
Chasing Cross would keep touring. Rick pretended that it didn’t bother him, but
each time he pictured Luke from Fallen Tuesday behind the drum kit in front of
twenty thousand screaming fans, it tore at his heart.

After the third day of
not seeing Sarah on her run or late day walk, he gave up on it. That night he
called Nick and told him to come over for band practice.

The guys showed up and
they played for two hours. When they finished playing, they traded their
instruments for bottles of whiskey and vodka. They were playing back their
recorded songs when Rick blurted out an idea.

“We need a name and a
show,” he said.

He sat behind his drum
set, feeling really good.

“A name and a show,” Nick
said. “Wow… okay.”

“I can make some calls,”
Rick said. “There’s got to be something open around here looking for bands. I
mean, we’ll just name drop.”

“You have the biggest
name here,” Timmy said. “You know that.”

“I can call Chucky,”
Jackie said. “He owns that little place over near the highway. They have a
small stage, but they pack it in there. He’d give a set in no time.”

“Call him,” Rick said.
“Set that up.”

“What’s our name then?”
Nick asked.

“I don’t care,” Rick
said. “Call it Rick for all I give a shit. I want to play a show.”

“I’ll tell him it’s Rick
from Chasing Cross,” Jackie said.

“But that can’t be in the
name,” Rick said.

Anger hit him. He didn’t
want to hear the name
Chasing
Cross
. Not right then and not in the comfort of his garage with his
new band.

“I’ll tell him it’s Rick
Again,” Jackie said and laughed.

Rick snapped his fingers.
“Perfect. Just go with that then.”

“Nice,” Andy said. “We
have a show.”

“We have a show,” Timmy
said.

“This is great,” Rick
said. “Really great.”

The rest of the night,
they drank and laughed, and drank some more. One by one they slowly started to
pass out. Rick stood at one of the garage doors and slowly opened it. He stood
with his arms folded, staring at Sarah’s house. There was a light on. That
meant Sarah was home, finally. Rick caught himself smiling and had no idea why.
He hadn’t talked to Sarah since the day he took the trash out and saw her with
her dog.

Rick shook his head and
went back inside.

He left the garage
through the backdoor and stumbled his way into his house and up to his bed.
When he woke the next morning, his head hurt like hell, and for the first time
in as long as he cared to remember, he went for a glass of water to start his
day. He washed his face at the kitchen sink as he waited for the coffee to
finish brewing. His mind felt jumbled and nothing made sense at all. From his
kitchen he could see the back of Sarah’s house. He stared as if something was
going to happen.

Nothing happened.

When Rick checked the
clock, it was already after noon. Sarah was probably out living her life and
doing whatever it was she did for a living.

Rick poured himself a
coffee and went to the garage to wake up the rest of his new band. He opened
the door and said, “Okay... wake up time...”

But the garage was empty.
They had already woken up and left. The sight was almost eerie. The
instruments, the stands, and the equipment were all still. Everything was
quiet. Rick was alone. A pain shuddered through his body and he sipped his
coffee.

He found a note from
Jackie on the snare of his drums.

Gig is set. Friday at
eight. Rock n’ roll, brotha

Rick smiled.

His first show.

His first show since...
wow, it had been weeks now since he quit Chasing Cross. With his mind actually
sober for the morning, dates had a little more perspective than he was used to.
The show would be nothing like a Chasing Cross show, but that was the point. To
just be in front of people... a few people even. Hell, maybe they’d boo Rick.
Maybe they’d hate him for leaving Chasing Cross.

Rick’s phone beeped and
he looked at it.

A message from Nick.

Old band is talking about
you on the radio...

That caught Rick’s
attention.

“Talking about me?” he
whispered.

He scrambled to open the
radio app on his phone. He sat at his drums and put his coffee mug on the
floor. He found the local rock stations and checked them until he heard a
familiar voice.

Johnnie’s voice.

“Yeah, we’re still out
touring while Rick is on his break.”

“Just a break?” The host
of the radio show asked. “I mean, come on, we’ve seen it before, right? Guy’s
got a drinking or drug problem...”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Not at all...”
Chris’s
voice said.

“Rick left the band,”
Danny said. “He didn’t quit.”

“That’s not what I’ve
heard...”

“You heard wrong then,”
Johnnie said. “Rick is just taking a leave of absence. He’s got some personal
business he’s tending to and that’s it. We’re lucky enough to have Luke
stepping in. Just stepping in.”

“Stepping in?” the host
asked. “That’s how those stories always go. They step in... time goes by...
come on. You guys have been together for over a decade. Millions of albums
sold. Fans across the world. And someone just steps away? What about the new
album?”

“Let me tell you about the new
album,”
Johnnie said. He was heated. Rick caught himself smiling.
Good thing he wasn’t in the studio because Rick would have went after the host
by now. Then again, if he hadn’t left the band, this conversation wouldn’t be
happening.
“The album was
Rick’s idea... we’re recording in a different way... with a different style...”

“Yeah, but who’s going to
be the drummer?”

The silence was maybe
worse than an answer Rick didn’t want to hear. He killed the radio app on his
phone and sat behind his silent drum kit in the silent garage and looked
around. He’d become a joke now. He left Chasing Cross and now the band had to
endure those kinds of questions. It wasn’t right or fair to the band and it
wasn’t right or fair to Rick. This was part of the problem. Rick wanted his job
to be the drummer, but he also wanted to be a normal guy. A guy people didn’t
have to recognize all the time. A guy that didn’t have to be labeled.

It made him think of
Sarah. She had talked to him without acknowledging who he was. He feared what
would happen if he told her he had been the drummer for Chasing Cross. Maybe
she didn’t know who the band was, or maybe she did and she was too afraid to
say something.

The thoughts frustrated
Rick and when his stomach let out a cry, went inside. He needed food. Once
inside, he realized he hadn’t gone actually grocery shopping in at least over a
week. He got changed and decided to go get groceries.

Rick chose the closest small
store. He feared going into a large store and being recognized. Lucky for Rick
he was able to grocery shop without anyone knowing who he was.   While checking
out, he saw a small display of charcoal grills and it made his mouth water. He
pointed to the largest one and added that to his bill. By the time he got home
and got his grill set up and ready to cook on, it was well past five. It was
the first time he cared about looking at the clock. He was used to relying on
everyone else around him to give him a schedule. Peter with a destination, Johnnie
with the call for sound check.

With the grill warmed and
some burgers and chicken cooking, Rick looked at Sarah’s house. He wouldn’t
know if she was home, unless she came down the alley on her walk with Molly.
Rick took a picture of the food cooking and sent it to the guys of
Rick Again
. It was time
for something to eat and time to practice their songs to get ready for the
band’s first show.

Ten minutes later Nick’s
little black car came down the alley and parked on the grass near the garage.
He climbed out and smelled the air.

“Damn,” he said. “The
rockstar can cook.”

“Careful with that word
around here,” Rick said. “I’m hidden.”

“Hidden? With a band and
an upcoming show.” Nick laughed. “Rock on, man.”

Nick pulled a six pack of
beer from the passenger seat and made a comment how women know to climb in the
back of his car, that his only passenger needed to be the liquid kind. He
disappeared into the garage and Rick flipped the burgers. He stretched his neck
and thought about how long it had been since he had a drink. Well over twelve
hours. His body felt it. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t had a drink all day but
he didn’t. When he looked down at the grill, he smiled. It was okay to feel
calm for the moment. Even though he was hiding in every way possible, it was
still okay. Things got even more okay when he saw Sarah walk by the alley.
Before he could wave or whistle she was gone. Rick found his heart racing,
watching the alley more than the grill, hoping she would come back.

A few minutes later, she
did.

This time Rick waved at
Sarah. She saw him, froze, and if it wasn’t for Molly pulling at Sarah right
then Rick wasn’t sure what would have happened. Sarah tugged at Molly but
finally caved and started to walk down the alley.

She stopped and Molly
hurried to jump at Rick.

“Molly! Down!” Sarah
yelled. She looked at Rick. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine,” Rick said.
He patted the dog’s head.

“Smells good,” Sarah
said. “No music today?”

Rick looked over his
shoulder at the garage full of musical equipment.

“Not yet,” he said with a
little excitement and confidence in his voice. “Once we eat.”

“We?” Sarah asked.

“The rest of my new band
is coming over.”

“New band? Were you in a
band before?”

The question caught Rick
off guard. He looked at her and smiled. “I don’t mean to sound like an ass but
you don’t know who I am?”

“You told me your name is
Rick,” Sarah said.

Rick laughed. It was good
to laugh. It was even better to look at Sarah. Her eyes were a rich green and
her skin looked like silk. The kind that made Rick’s fingers tingle, wondering
what her skin felt like against his touch.

“My name is Rick,” Rick
said. “I was in a pretty big band not too long ago.”

“How big?”

“We toured the world,”
Rick said. “Played shows to twenty thousand people, minimum. Ever hear of Chasing
Cross?”

Sarah’s reaction was a
resounding yes. Her mouth fell open and she stared at Rick, not blinking. It
was the kind of reaction Rick expected, even though it meant he had to drop the
Chasing Cross
name to get Sarah to recognize him. Then again, she probably didn’t recognize
him, just the name of the band.

After a few seconds Rick
reached out and gently touched under Sarah’s chin. He closed her mouth and
laughed again.

“Sorry,” Sarah whispered.
“I just didn’t realize...”

“There’s my secret,” Rick
said.

Other than my love of
drinking... and not being able to get you, Sarah, out of my damn mind...

They stood in silence for
a few seconds until Molly let out a mix between a whimper and a bark, as if to
remind Rick and Sarah that she was still there and that she wanted some of the
awkward, flirty attention too.

“Oh, that reminds me,”
Rick said. “Can you stand here for a second?”

“Stand here?”

Rick backed up. “I’ll be
right back.”

He turned and darted into
the garage. Nick stood near the fridge on his cell phone. Rick pointed and Nick
got out of the way. Rick found what he wanted on the top shelf of a storage
rack he had bought and had delivered a few days ago. It housed extra equipment,
booze, and dog treats. A big box of dog treats.

As Rick ran back outside,
the treats in the box bounced. It quickly caught the attention of Molly. The
sitting dog started to offer her paw before Rick could say a word. Rick laughed
and said, “Now what kind of trick am I going to get you to do now?”

“What is this?” Sarah
asked.

Rick opened the box and
took a bone shaped treat from the box. He crouched down and held it in the palm
of his hand. Molly stared at him, then the treat. Then back to him.

“Take it,” he said.

Molly’s mouth lunged at
the snack. She grabbed it out of Rick’s hand and turned. She dropped it to the
ground and began to smell it. Then lick it. Then take a small bite.

“Don’t be offended,”
Sarah said. “Molly is picky with her treats.”