Meant to Be (23 page)

MV
NAHE IS CHLOE
,
Chloe book one

Chloe Miller, Josh's younger sister, is a free spirit with dramatic clothes and hair. She struggles with her identity, classmates, parents, boys, and whether or not God is for real. But this unconventional high school freshman definitely doesn't hold back when she meets Him in a big, personal way. Chloe expresses God's love and grace through the girl band, Redemption, that she forms, and continues to show the world she's not willing to conform to anyone else's image of who or what she should be. Except God's, that is. ISBN 1-59052-018-1

SOLD
OUT
,
Chloe book two

Chloe and her fellow band members must sort out their lives as they become a hit in the local community. And after a talent scout from Nashville discovers the trio, all too soon their explosive musical ministry begins to encounter conflicts with family, so-called friends, and school. Exhilarated yet frustrated, Chloe puts her dream in God's hand and prays for Him to work out the details. ISBN 1-59052-141-2

ROAD TRIP
,
Chloe book three

After signing with a major record company, Redemption's dreams are coming true. Chloe, Allie, and Laura begin their concert tour with the good-looking guys in the band Iron Cross. But as soon as the glitz and glamour wear off, the girls find life on the road a little overwhelming. Even rock-solid Laura appears to be feeling the stress—and Chloe isn't quite sure how to confront her about the growing signs of drug addiction… ISBN 1-59052-142-0

FACE THE MUSIC
,
Chloe book four

Redemption has made it to the bestseller chart, but what Chloe and the girls need most is some downtime to sift through the usual high school stress with grades, friends, guys, and the prom. Chloe struggles to recover from a serious crush on the band leader of Iron Cross. Then just as an unexpected romance catches Redemption by surprise, Caitlin O'Conner—whose relationship with Josh is taking on a new dimension—joins the tour as a chaperone. Chloe's wild ride only speeds up, and this one-of-a-kind musician faces the fact that life may never be normal again. ISBN 1-59052-241-9

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I woke up crying last night. Sobbing so hard my chest hurt. I thought it was a nightmare, although I couldn't recall anything specific. Only this heaviness pressing down on me like a bag of rocks, like my world had come to a horrible end. I tried to shake it off, the way I used to do as a child after a frightening dream. Or else I'd sneak off torny parents’ room, crawling into bed with them, always on my mom's side, snuggling up to her and sometimes even warming my cold feet on her. She never once complained.

And then I remembered…Mom is gone. Like a slap in the face I remembered that she had died on Saturday night, prom night, and that her funeral service had been just yesterday. Full realization hit me—my mom is gone, and she isn't coming back! That's when I started crying all over again. Only harder now. How long will it take for this to really sink in? And how long until that dull ache deep down inside of me goes away?

This morning I get out of bed and start to leave my room when I remember that Maya and Aunt Shannon are still here. Maya is sleeping in the family room, and I might wake her up if I go tiptoeing around. And after my last “interaction” with her yesterday afternoon, well, I'm
not eager to disturb her and set myself up for another big mess. So I sit at my computer and catch up my diary. Or so I think. Mostly I've been sitting here, staring at the blank screen and wishing that this ache would go away. I so miss my mom.

“At least you had a good mom,” Maya said yesterday afternoon, after I accidentally stumbled upon her sitting in a chaise lounge on the back deck. I'd gone out there to get away from Shannon, who was sitting like a hypnotized stone in front of the blaring TV, watching some ridiculous soap opera that she's addicted to since she actually had a small role on it back in the early eighties.

“Huh?” I said as I tried to decide how to gracefully exit. I could pretend that I came out here to get something, but what?

“Or so it seems,” she added with a dramatic roll of her dark brown eyes. Maya is astonishingly beautiful, the kind of girl who people actually stop and stare at.

Realizing that there was no polite way to escape my cranky cousin and remembering my resolution to honor my mother by being kind to her relatives, I decided to sit in the lounge chair next to Maya. At least it was quieter out here. I leaned back and sighed. But I still didn't respond to her comment about our moms. I knew better than to engage by now.

“It's true,” she continued, as if looking for an argument, which wasn't surprising. “I can hardly believe that your mom and my mom were actually sisters. It's like your mom was some sort of saint, and my mom,”
she laughed an evil sort of laugh, “is the devil.”

“Your moms not the devil.”

“Like you'd even know.”

“Maybe not. Still, I'm guessing that this whole thing is pretty upsetting to her, I mean, making the trip out here after all these years, and then she finds out she's too late to see her only sister. Well, she's got to be feeling pretty bummed, don't you think?”

Maya turned around and stared at me, her expression was that of an experienced grown-up looking down on a sadly misinformed child. “See, that's just how much you don't get it, Kim. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. This is the story of Shannon's life—a day late and a dollar short. It's just the way that woman operates.”

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I changed the subject. “You know, my mom told me that Shannon had been married to someone famous, but with all that's been going on…well, I totally forgot to ask who it was.”

“Don't bother.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because it's inconsequential.”

“Inconsequential to whom?”

“To you or me or anyone.”

I considered this. “So, is this inconsequential person your dad?”

She rolled her eyes again then picked up an old magazine on the table between us. She pretended to be interested as she flipped through its slightly curled pages,
but I seriously doubted that “Good Housekeeping” was that engaging to someone like her.

Then she abruptly set the magazine back down. “If you really must know, this inconsequential person is my dad.” She stared at me with those incredible eyes, her perfectly arched brows pulled together in a fierce frown. “Satisfied now?”

“Not completely. I'm still curious as to whether or not he's famous. Like is he someone I would know?”

She just pressed her lips together, shaking her head as a sigh escaped. So dramatic. Sometimes I find it hard to believe this girl is only fifteen. “Oh, if you must know…Have you ever heard of Nick Stark?”

“You mean the singer Nick Stark?”

“Yeah, the old Nick Stark has-been performer from the swinging seventies Fve-seen-better-days pop singer.”

“He's not exactly a has-been, Maya.” I felt slightly embarrassed to hear the excitement in my voice growing, like I was some kind of Nick Stark groupie, which I am not. “I thought Nick was making a comeback. I mean, he did the soundtrack for that hit movie last year—what was it called? The one with Denzel Washington and what's her name?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Maya said with a bored expression. “His supposedly big comeback. One movie. Big deal.”

“But aren't you proud of him?”

She just shrugged.

Then it occurred to me that since Shannon and Nick were divorced, perhaps Maya wasn't too involved
in her dads life. “Do you see much of him?”

She laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“So he's not around much?” I tried to inject some sympathy into my voice.

“Not if Shannon has anything to say about it. Other than sending his monthly check, Nick keeps a pretty low profile in our neighborhood. She makes sure of that.”

“They don't get along?”

“Like oil and water, cats and dogs, whatever cliche you can think of. They are a restraining order or prison sentence waiting to happen. My mom actually keeps a gun under her pillow.”

“Is she really afraid of him?”

“Afraid?” Maya looked like she was going to laugh again. “Yeah, right. She keeps the gun just hoping he'll show up some night, and she can pretend he's a prowler and blow his head off. That's how much she hates him.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, that must seem very strange and foreign to someone as protected as you.” Maya looked thoroughly disgusted now. “You live out here in middle America with your happy little family in your happy little neighborhood just like some freakin’ family sitcom. So totally unreal!” She stood up and stormed away.

And I know it was stupid for me to even react. I mean; why should I care about what someone like Maya thinks? Talk about needing a reality check! “Happy little family?” We just lost Mom for Pete's sake!

I really wish Maya and Shannon would go home. I'm
tempted to take money out of my own savings to help them change their tickets so they can be out of our hair and our home for good. But then, what would Mom do? What would she want?

So after I cooled off, I reconsidered the news that Nick Stark is like my uncle, or sort of, and I got to thinking that it was kind of interesting. So I do a little investigating of Nick Stark online. And it turns out, I was right; he is making a serious comeback in his singing career.

But here's what makes me sort of sad. I just realized how Mom would've gotten such a big kick out of this news. It's just the kind ofthing she would've called up a good friend and enjoyed a good chat over. I wouldn't even be surprised if my parents have some old Nick Stark records stashed away someplace. But then she's not here to have fun with it. She never even had the chance to find out about her famous “relative.”

On second thought, she might not have liked all the family feuding that comes with getting to know our “extended” family. And she'd probably feel sad to learn that Shannon is so bitter about her ex and that she and Maya are always at such odds.

Still, I think she would've gotten a kick out of a famous brother-in-law. Even if he is an ex. But maybe she's well aware of all this by now. I mean, wouldn't God let her in on all these sorts of interesting developments up in heaven? Or maybe no one cares about stuff like that up there. Who knows? It's too much for my little brain to think about. Especially at 3:14 A.M.