Blessed Fate (34 page)

Tom turned to face me, leaning against the metal railing. "Colton, near as I can tell, you've been doing that for years. I know we'll never get that time back, but I'm glad she had all of you to look after her. Now, you going to offer an old man a cup of coffee, or will I have to learn to drink beer before noon?"

He stared at my beer disapprovingly, and I regretted grabbing it. To us, the hour on the clock didn't matter because we rarely kept the same hours as most normal people did. When I started to sputter a response, Tom took one step forward and slapped my back. "Calm down, son. I was giving you a hard time. You'd think you'd be used to that after spending so much time around my girl for so long."

Rain was still getting ready for the show when I had to leave or risk being late for sound check. It was going to be hard as hell for me to keep my mind in the zone if I could see her in the audience. Even though I saw her all the time wearing the skimpy shit Tanya always put her in, seeing her comfy and casual was my favorite look for her.

The red, plaid corset-style top she was wearing showed enough cleavage to make me want to see what was hiding beneath the fabric while covering enough that her poor dad wouldn't go into heart failure when he saw her. Her pants were baggy, black skater pants that didn't show the slightest hint of the tight curves beneath, but she more than made up for it with the confidence she exuded in her own clothes.

The good thing about all of this going down in November was that I wasn't on the bike. That gave me time to make phone calls while I drove to the venue where we were doing an intimate show for twenty-five hundred invited guests from regional radio stations.

"Mark, it's Colton." I couldn't ask Matt or Mike for any more help since they were with Rain, and she would overhear them talking.

"Hey! So, is my brother full of shit, or are you really thinking about asking Maddie to marry you?" I loved Mark; he was the brother who knew us well enough to get right to the point.

"Well yeah, but there's more to it. I'll tell you about that later tonight. For now, I need your help." I twisted my hands on the steering wheel, the nervous energy still jolting my body. "After dinner, you need to find Angie backstage. You remember her, right?"

"Yep, short girl with the cute pixie haircut? Looks like she could kick the shit out of just about anyone?" It was an apt description of one of the few females we had on the crew. It was a little known fact that before an injury took her out, she was a competitive body builder. Not the fitness-model body builder, but the pure 'how much weight can you lift' kind, and she was damn good at it.

"Yeah, that's the one." I reminded myself to find her as soon as I got there so I didn't forget. "She'll get you to where I need you to be."

"Colton," he sighed, dragging out my name into about four syllables. "What are you planning? Please tell me you're not proposing in front of everyone." I could hear the desperation in his voice.

"No, when I do it, I promise it will be a family affair. We've fought hard to keep our relationship private, I'm not giving up any memories I can hold onto."

"Good! I'd hate to see you get rejected on stage, and I really think it's too soon since you've only been back together for hours." I hoped Rain shared her brother's feelings, but that didn't matter right then because all we had to do tonight was get her on stage.

In almost complete darkness, I watched Rain and her family walk along the side of the stage before squeezing into the front row with some assistance from Angie and another roadie.

I saw her the moment the lights came up. She looked so young and carefree singing along with the rest of our fans. I had to laugh at how into it she was. Her brothers created a bit of a wall around her so no one could easily see her, just as we had planned. It didn't look conspicuous, just four grown men and a girl enjoying the show.

I tried to steal glances at her throughout the first half of the show while trying to make it seem like I hadn't seen her. After we finished
When You Cross My Mind,
I looked directly at her and winked before turning to Jon. It was time to get our girl back where she belonged. Jon and I sat there talking about what we wanted to do after the show while we made it seem like this was all some impromptu move. I pointed in Rain's direction and everyone started looking to see what caused the interruption in the show.

Before anyone could start encroaching on her, I made my way back to the mic. "How's everybody doing tonight?" I shouted, returning the focus to the stage. The crowd went nuts, the energy level through the roof for such a small show. "That's what we like to hear! Now, you might have noticed we're short one very important person up here tonight." I looked down to Rain, laughing when I saw her glaring at me. She knew damn well this was a set-up. "Rain's been taking personal time the past month or so, and we're happy to announce that, very soon, she'll be getting back on stage doing what she does best. But first, there's a little something we guys need to do for her."

I crooked my finger, calling her to the stage. She shook her head violently, not enjoying being put on the spot. I wasn't surprised. She had wanted to perform and we told her no so we could do this for her. Once it was
our
idea to bring her up, she didn't want to. Typical Rain. "Okay guys, apparently Rain's a little shy tonight and thinks she can hide out behind her brothers. How about I get a little help coaxing her to get her sweet little ass up here?"

The crowd went wild, everyone chanting her name. I got nervous when Matt hoisted her over his head, and the fans started body passing her towards me. I didn't like that many people manhandling her body and I worried that an overzealous fan would do something stupid. One of the event staff grabbed her when she reached center stage, passing her to Travis and me.

I kept her a foot off the ground in my arms, so she couldn't run away. "You're dead," she said loud enough that I could hear it over the in-ear monitor.

Once her feet were on the ground, I held her hand, keeping her by my side as I addressed the fans. "So, here's the deal guys... Some shit went down a while ago and we were a bunch of assholes to Rain, so much so that we almost lost her. Not like she got upset and threw a tantrum, but like she let us know in writing that we'd fucked up. Bad. With a little bit of time and a whole hell of a lot of groveling, she's agreed to keep us around for a while."

I led her back to the tall riser next to Jon, kissing her deeply before lifting her to sit and watch the show. One of the techs brought out my acoustic and I adjusted it as I walked back to my mark. "This song isn't one of ours, but we couldn't come up with the right words on our own this time. Hopefully she'll forgive us that." As we sang
Sorry
by Buckcherry, Rain started tearing up. It was the only song we could think of that would convey how all of us felt about the lack of faith we showed her.

When the song ended, she jumped off the riser giving each of the guys hugs. She finally made her way to me, kissed me quickly and moved to get off stage. "Don't think you're getting out of here that easy. Love you." I wrapped my arms tight around her waist and looked back to Jon. Her eyes followed mine and narrowed on him.

"Who thinks Rain needs to get her ass back to work… Right. Fucking. Now?" Jon yelled from behind his drum kit. Angie rushed onto the stage, helping Rain place her monitor and plug her other ear…and just that quick, we were complete.

By New Year's Day, I had proposed to Rain three times. As I hoped she would, she turned me down each time. I'm not sure what I would have done had she said yes.

The first time I proposed was at Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, two days after we got back together. I made a big production out of apologizing to her in front of everyone before dropping to my knee. I had the ring box in my pocket, complete with a cheap, meaningless ring for show and her actual ring was in another pocket, just in case she was crazy enough to say yes.

As expected, she pulled me up, telling me it was too soon to even think about anything like that. Everyone at the table breathed a sigh of relief.

The next time I proposed was when we went home to see her family for Christmas. We woke up Christmas morning, and her dad passed out Christmas stockings to everyone. In the toe of her stocking was a ring box with the same fake ring. I dropped to a knee when she pulled it out and asked her again to be my wife. Just as before, she rejected me and we breathed a sigh of relief.

Most recently, I proposed to her in Memphis on New Year's Eve. Since everything had been going better than ever before between us, I was a bit scared that she would say yes. We were walking down Beale Street, enjoying some of the best music out there when I got down on my knee, not realizing I was kneeling in a puddle, which made for an added level of discomfort. Jon, Travis, Jared and Angie were all with us that time. Angie had the real ring in her purse, just in case I needed it. She turned me down again.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. All day, I could tell Rain was on edge. I brought her breakfast in bed: waffles with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream, coffee, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. I sat on the edge of the bed talking to her, but nothing more.

When I knelt on the floor beside her, I could see her breathing shallow, and she moved the breakfast tray to the nightstand. I pulled my running shoes out from under the bed, and her shoulders sagged.

It was unseasonably warm for mid-February, so as soon as I got back from my run, we got ready to take the bike out for the first time of the year. I took her out to Ecola State Park so we could sit and look out over the Pacific Ocean. She kept eyeing me suspiciously, as if she thought she knew what I was up to. When we left about an hour later, she seemed mildly annoyed.

By the time we got back to our condo, there was an amethyst cocktail dress hanging in the closet. Emerson managed to find something classy enough for our dinner at Oba, yet funky enough for Rain to be comfortable. She pulled part of her hair back, leaving the rest in soft caramel curls floating across her bare shoulders. The skirt came to mid-thigh, accentuating her already long legs.

I had made reservations at Oba months ago, knowing it was one of the best places in Portland for Valentine's Day. Sure, there were fancier places, but neither of us would have been comfortable there. We were seated in the Havana Room to give us a bit of privacy. I wasn't expecting any major issues, but I wanted the night to be perfect. This way, there were still other diners around, but I didn't have to worry about psychotic fans or former managers awaiting sentencing.

Everything was even better than I thought it would be. The three-course meal was served with an extra level of flair I paid well for. I needed Rain to feel like the only woman in the restaurant on a night she would never forget. After melt-in-your-mouth scallops and beef tenderloin you could almost cut with a fork, the waiter brought our dessert. Because we were in the private dining room, we weren't hurried out of there to accommodate the fast turnaround needed in the main restaurant on a holiday.