In My Father's Shadow (15 page)

“You’re supposed to be resting in your room,” he
said.

She snorted. “I’m only here for the first half. I
wanted to see some of Jamie’s first game.”

“He understands why you can’t be here,” Alec
persisted.

“Dude,” Cole cut in before the discussion could
escalate into a full blown argument. “I’ll keep an eye on her. If
she’s hurting, I’ll take her back to her room. Don’t worry.”

Alec nodded and Ally sighed in frustration. “How come
he’s okay with it if you say it’s okay but not if I do?”

Cole peeked at her over her shoulder. “What?”

“Never mind,” she muttered as the ref blew the
whistle and the game started.

She tried to concentrate on the game but she was
constantly aware of Cole’s arms wrapped around her waist and his
breath gently blowing her hair. And the pain was easing into her
ankle again. But she didn’t want to let on that she was starting to
hurt or else Cole and RJ would insist she return to her room.

At the start of the second quarter, her ankle was on
fire and she was focusing so hard on keeping her breathing even
that she nearly missed Jamie’s first touchdown pass. The crowd
around her cheered but she couldn’t even muster an excited
smile.

“You’re ready to go, aren’t you?” Cole asked softly,
not wanting to attract attention.

She nodded, afraid to speak as tears threatened to
fill her eyes.

“Can you make it back?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Just let me get out of here on
my own, okay?”

“Sure,” he said as he eased out from behind her. “RJ,
I’m taking Ally back. I’ll catch up with you later.”

RJ nodded and helped Ally get her casted leg on the
ground.

Alec leaned forward, concern etched on his face. “You
okay, Ally?”

She smiled through her pain in an effort to reassure
her brother. “Yeah. Just starting to hurt so I’m going to go take a
pain pill, ice it, and get some rest. Come see me tomorrow.”

Cole walked in front of her down the steps so she
could grab him if she should start to fall. Once they made it to
the main concourse, he walked right beside her, pushing people out
of the way if needed.

As soon as they were away from the football field, he
turned to her and smiled. “I know you’ll hate me for saying this
but, I’ll carry you if you need it.”

“I can do it,” she said, perspiration beading on her
forehead. “Thanks.”

They stopped in front of her building and he took the
key card from the front pocket of her sweatshirt and opened the
door. As soon as they entered her room, she made a beeline for her
bed. She sat on it, letting her crutches clatter to the floor, and
scooted her body back toward the headboard, wincing as fire shot up
her thigh.

“Where are you pain meds, Al?” Cole asked, his jaw
tight. She pointed to the bathroom and he ran to fetch them. He
returned and handed her two along with a glass of water. She
swallowed them eagerly and he took the glass and set it on the
small table by her bed.

“Help me take this sweatshirt off, will you,” she
asked, the pain making her warm. She wanted to get comfortable as
she figured it was only a matter of time before the pain meds
knocked her out.

He raised a brow and smirked. “Honestly, Al, now is
not the time.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” she said with a sarcastic smile. “I
have a t-shirt on underneath the sweatshirt.”

He pulled her sweatshirt off and dropped it on the
floor, next to her crutches. He helped her arrange pillows under
her ankle then found an ice pack in the small freezer portion of
her mini fridge. He placed it over her cast then settled next to
her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he grabbed the TV
remote.

“How about if we watch a movie?” he asked.

She snuggled into his shoulder as the meds kicked in
and relaxed her body. “You don’t have to stay. The pain meds will
knock me out soon.”

He shrugged and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t
mind. Besides, I’m waiting for you to fall asleep so I can call
everyone and let them hear you snore.”

She punched his stomach weakly. “I don’t snore.”

He snorted ruefully and flipped through the stations,
stopping to watch the tail end of a movie. She slumped against him,
drawing nearer and nearer to slumber and it made him smile. He’d
sit with her a little while longer to make sure she was sleeping
comfortably, make sure everything she needed was within easy reach,
then he’d sneak out and let her rest.

The movie ended and he resumed flipping through the
channels, stopping on VideoMusic Television in time to catch the
music news.

“Tight Control kicked off a new tour this week amidst
rumors that Jay Jones is planning to leave the band to pursue a
solo career,” the newswoman said as a picture of the band appeared
behind her.

Cole bolted upright, rousing Ally in the process.

“What?” she asked.

“Shh,” he said, his eyes glued to the television

“The band joins the ranks with the likes of the
Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and Def Leppard whose music has spanned
more than two decades. Rumors surfaced early this week alleging
that Jay Jones plans to leave the band at the end of the tour to
pursue a solo career,” the newswoman said in a solemn tone.
“Neither representatives for the band or Redden Records confirmed
these reports but an anonymous says that Jones has wanted to
venture on his own for years and has finally decided to give a solo
career a shot after he wraps up his latest tour. VMTV will monitor
the story and report updates as they come in.”

The newswoman continued with other items as Ally
clutched Cole’s arm tightly. “It’s a lie, isn’t it, Cole?” she
asked, sinking her stubby nails in his skin. “My dad wouldn’t leave
the band, would he?”

He shook his head. “No, princess, I don’t think so.
I’m pretty sure your dad would have said something to you and Alec
by now, don’t you? And the other guys would know. My dad hasn’t
mentioned a word to me.”

Ally’s eyes filled with fear but the exhaustion
wasn’t far behind. He wanted to soothe her anxiety and get her back
to sleep. “I’ll give RJ and Jamie a call and have them come over.
We’ll see if they’ve heard anything and if they haven’t, we’ll see
what they think.”

“Thanks,” she said as he whipped out his cell
phone.

“Hey, when the game’s over grab Jamie and get over to
Al’s room,” he ordered, flashing a wink in Ally’s direction. She
smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“No, she’s fine – we just need to talk to you. And
just you two.” He hung up and looked down at Ally biting her lip.
He kissed her forehead. “Rest, Al. When they get her, I’ll wake
you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t sleep now. Maybe I
should call my mom.”

“Wait until the others get here and let’s ask them if
their dads said anything first.”

She nodded. “Turn on another music channel, please.
See if there’s any news on them.”

He flipped through the other channels and only caught
the news on one. Unfortunately, they didn’t say anything about
Tight Control other than listing them on their “Currently Touring”
segment.

RJ dragged Jamie, who was still a bit damp from his
shower, through the door forty-five minutes later, just as Cole
flipped back to VMTV to catch the top of the hour music news.

“What’s up?” RJ asked.

“Sit down and listen,” Cole answered. He’d gotten up
to let them in and instead of taking his seat next to Ally, he
began to pace as the newswoman went through her first two
stories.

“Dude, chill out,” Jamie said, standing next to the
bed with his arms crossed over his chest. When the newswoman
mentioned Tight Control, they all froze and listened. She repeated
the same words Ally and Cole had heard earlier and when she was
done, Jamie sank down on the Ally’s bed.

“You’re kidding me,” he uttered, turning to Ally with
a stunned expression on his face. “Did any of you know about
this?”

“Nope,” Cole answered for her as she shook her head.
“My dad never said anything or even hinted around about something
like this. We wondered if your dads said anything to either of
you.”

“Not a word,” RJ said, in contemplation, sitting on
the edge of Jeana’s bed. “Do you suppose it’s true?”

“It can’t be,” Ally whispered groggily. “It has to be
a rumor. I mean, my dad is happy with the band. I’ve never heard
him say anything whatsoever about wanting to go out on his
own.”

“This isn’t right,” Jamie declared, joining Cole in
pacing the room. “People can’t just report stuff like this without
making sure it’s true. That’s how people’s lives get ruined.”

“Yeah, well they said it wasn’t confirmed,” RJ said.
“They can say whatever they want until Jay or someone from Redden
Records disputes it.”

“True,” Jamie said as he sat in the desk chair. “And
they will, right?”

Cole sat gingerly on the bed next to Ally, smiling
weakly at her. “They will. Maybe Rhys Redden hasn’t heard these
rumors yet.”

“I know it’s not,” RJ stated, hotly. “Certainly
they’d talk about it and tell us if it was. I mean, they wouldn’t
want us hearing about this on the news.”

“That’s not Uncle Jay’s style,” Jamie said.

“Jay and Nate put the band together,” RJ stated. “Why
would either of them want to see it end? They’ve been together so
long.”

“I think we should call them,” Ally suggested,
looking for her phone. “Right now.”

“They’re on stage,” Cole reminded her.

“Our moms aren’t,” she said. Cole winced slightly and
she squeezed his hand. “And neither is Stacy. They would most
certainly know.”

“They won’t tell us anything over the phone,” Jamie
pointed out. “They’ll just say they’ll talk to us when we come home
for Thanksgiving.”

“But that’s three weeks away,” Ally declared. “I’m
not waiting that long to find out if these rumors are true!” Not
able to locate her phone, she ripped Cole’s from his hand and
opened it.

Cole put his hand over hers and gently closed it.
“All Liz will say is that they are rumors and we shouldn’t listen
to them. It’s not like we haven’t heard rumors about our dads
before.”

“But this is different,” she said, pain meds making
her over-emotional. “This isn’t one of those stupid rumors about my
dad getting hopped on drugs again.”

“Don’t get all worked up, Al,” he said patiently.
“We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

She looked at Jamie who nodded and then at RJ who
shrugged. “Fine,” she agreed, releasing the phone to him. “But what
do we do in the mean time?”

“Well, first of all, I think we keep this between us
four,” RJ suggested. “I don’t think we need to say anything to Alec
or Ren until we talk to someone.”

Cole nodded in approval. “Or Jeana. But, I’m sure
they’ll hear it on the TV very soon.”

“What did you tell them when you came here?” Ally
asked.

Jamie shrugged. “Ren was talking to some of his
friends and Alec had already left. We just told Ren we were going
to check on you.”

“Not everyone went to the game and the bonfire
tonight,” Ally said, her panic starting to rise again. “Some people
are bound to have heard.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Cole agreed, rubbing his hands
tiredly over his face. “And they’re going to question us
endlessly.”

“So we just tell them they’re rumors and leave it at
that,” Jamie stated.

“Yeah,” RJ agreed. “We can’t confirm or deny anyway,
but they don’t need to know that.”

Ally bit her lip. “We really should tell Ren and
Alec. I don’t want them finding out about all this because some
idiot approaches them and asks them if it’s true.”

“She’s right,” RJ agreed. He got up and headed for
the door, releasing a long sigh. “Come on, James. Let’s go find
them. We’ll take them aside and tell them. We’ll all meet back at
our room tomorrow morning and call the folks.”

“We should meet here so Ally doesn’t have to walk
over,” Jamie suggested.

Ally shook her head. “Jeana’s likely to be about and
I don’t want her in on this, as much as it pains me.”

“Okay,” Jamie agreed, following RJ out the door. “Get
some rest, Ally.”

Once the door closed behind them, Ally looked at
Cole, tears building in her eyes. “Do you really think my dad is
going to leave the band?”

He kissed her forehead and hugged her. “I don’t know,
Al, but we’ll figure it all out really soon. I promise.”

She relaxed again and settled in the bed. He jammed a
DVD in the machine, hoping to take her mind off of things so she
could rest.

“Get some sleep, princess,” he whispered, as he held
her hand. “I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

“Thanks, Cole,” she mumbled, falling back under the
effects of the pain meds.

He watched as she drifted off, hoping that he hadn’t
made her an empty promise.

Chapter Thirteen

Ally woke before dawn, ankle positively blazing with
pain, and stumbled to the bathroom. She found her pain meds and
swallowed two immediately as she leaned against the counter,
waiting for the pain to lessen enough for her to pull on a clean
pair of sweats and brush her hair.

When she felt as if she could move again, her head a
bit woozy, she ran a hasty brush through her hair, tied it back and
found a clean pair of gray sweatpants. She glanced at her clock and
sighed at the early hour, but decided she just couldn’t wait any
longer. Grabbing her keycard, she hobbled quietly out of the
room.

No one was out and about that early except for one or
two dedicated joggers. Dew had collected on the leaves that
littered the sidewalk and she dodged them carefully, not wanting to
hit one with her crutch, slip, and go sprawling on the sidewalk.
The pain in her ankle hadn’t abated fully and she could only
imagine what a fall would do.

Her mind wandered back to the rumors they’d heard on
television. She just couldn’t believe her father would ever abandon
his friends just to have a solo career. She couldn’t remember ever
hearing him express his desire to go out on his own.