In My Father's Shadow (25 page)

He hated shopping and usually did things online. He’d
already bought his dad and Stacy something and he and the guys
never really exchanged gifts, unless they found something cool.
Stephanie, well, he’d asked Stacy to pick something out for him to
get her, claiming he didn’t know her that well yet. All that left
was Ally and he couldn’t give her the same stuff he always did;
hoodies of her favorite sports teams or stuffed animals or
something like that. He’d been complaining about it all morning
until Stephanie finally dragged him to the mall.

Then he spotted it. It was perfect, almost too
perfect. On a shimmering gold chain was a heart shaped charm,
sprinkled with minute diamond chips, with a music note in the
middle. He smirked, imagining the look on her face when she opened
it. He gestured for the salesman, who’d kept a close eye on him
from the second he and Steph had walked into the store.

“Can I help you, sir?” the old man asked, looking
down his thin nose. He was very tall, very skinny, and very stiff.
He looked like he belonged in some sort of freaky curio shop and
not a jewelry store.

“Yeah,” Cole said. He pointed at the necklace. “I
want that. And could you gift wrap it, please?”

The salesman peeked in the case, opened it, and
glanced at the little price tag hanging from the chain. “Sir, that
piece is a little pricey.” He held up the chain, pointing at the
tag.

Cole looked at the man and blinked as if he hadn’t
understood a thing he’d said. “I didn’t ask, but thanks for letting
me know.” He rolled his eyes and handed the man a credit card. “You
will gift wrap it, right?”

The salesman took the card and the necklace over to
the cash register to ring it up.

“What a moron,” Cole said when Stephanie joined
him.

She laughed and tucked her hand in the crook of his
arm. “You do look like a hood, you know -leather jacket, old jeans,
messy hair. You fit the profile.” He rolled his eyes again. “So,
you found something, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s perfect. A music note in a heart necklace
thing.”

She beamed at him and patted his stomach. “Awww! A
kinda ‘you’re the song in my heart,” thing,” she smiled.

“I did not say that,” he protested, blood rushing to
his cheeks.

“But that’s what you’re thinking, right?” she
teased.

“Shut the hell up, Steph,” he warned with a shy
smile.

“Mr. Crawford,” the salesman called in a lighter
tone. Cole lifted a brow as he approached the cash register. “Here
is your package and if I could have you sign the sales slip…”

Cole did as he was asked, grabbed the necklace and
yanked Stephanie out of the store. “Get me out of this mall.”

***

Christmas passed pleasantly enough and Cole had been
right; the necklace had been a big hit with Ally. He’d taken her
out twice and they’d hung out quite a bit with the others. Nate and
Stacy planned a small New Year’s party at their house for just the
band and their families.

Ally stuck close to Cole all night, wishing she could
sneak him away for just a few minutes – long enough to kiss him a
time or two without everyone watching. And he knew what she wanted
and didn’t help matters any by teasing her and whispering in her
ear how pretty she looked.

About a half an hour before midnight, she escaped to
the kitchen to get a refill on her soft drink when he tiptoed in
behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in
her ear.

“What’s the matter, princess? Afraid to kiss me in
front of your dad?” He pressed his lips to the soft skin below her
jaw line making her shudder.

“Stop it, Cole,” she chastised, smiling and turning
in his arms. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Besides, I
think my dad’s watching us like a hawk.”

Cole let go of her waist and hopped up on the kitchen
counter. “My dad, too. He’s afraid I’ll hurt his adopted little
princess.”

She held a soda can over her glass and paused, jaw
dropping. “Really?”

“I know,” he said, appalled. He winked at her.
“You’re surprised he doesn’t have a little more faith in me,
huh?”

“No,” she said, grinning evilly as she set her can on
the counter next to him. “I’m surprised that your dad considers me
his adopted princess!”

Cole dug an ice cube from her glass and dropped it
down her shirt before she could move away. She squealed. “Cole! You
idiot,” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, I agree, sometimes,” Nate said, pushing
through the kitchen door, an empty meat tray in his hands.

Cole shrugged. “Like father like son,” he said.

“You are a riot, kid,” Nate said sarcastically as he
set the tray in the sink.

“Don’t feed his ego,” Ally begged, picking up the ice
cube that had finally fallen out of her shirt and clattered to the
floor. She dropped it in the sink and moved next to Nate. “It’s big
enough.”

Nate wrapped an arm around Ally’s shoulders. “I agree
one hundred percent, Ally girl.”

“What is this, everyone gang up on Cole?” Cole
whined.

“I want to join,” Stephanie said as she entered the
room carrying empty glasses. She eyed Nate standing next to Ally
with his arm around her and quickly turned toward the sink. Triumph
rushed through Ally for a moment, until she recalled how awful it
was to feel left out.

“Do you need help, Stephanie?” Ally asked, pulling
away from Nate.

“No, thanks,” she said with a grateful smile. “Nate,
Jay said he needed to talk to you.”

“Thanks, Steph,” Nate said with a wink and left the
room.

“Well,” Stephanie said, awkwardly. “I’ll leave you
two alone.”

“It’s all right,” Cole said, jumping down from the
counter. “We’re going back to the party anyway.”

He took Ally’s hand and led her back to the family
room where everyone was gathered, waiting for the emcee on TV to
start the countdown.

Ally looked at her parents and smiled. She remembered
her mom telling her that she and her dad had shared their first
real kiss on New Year’s Eve. And even now, years later, they were
still so much in love.

She was so intent on them that Cole startled her when
he yanked her arm and pulled her to his chest once the countdown
reached one. He kissed her softly and sweetly before pulling back
to smile. Her heart soared to the ceiling and she thought for sure
she’d never been happier.

***

Two weeks after they’d returned to school, Ally sat
at her computer, fingers moving furiously over the keyboard. She
was desperate to finish a book report for her Literature class so
she could spend a little time with Cole after his rehearsal.

Just as she was saving her work and printing it out,
Jeana rushed into the room, out of breath and her eyes drowning in
concern.

“What’s the matter?” Ally asked as she jumped out of
her chair and ran to her cousin. “Is something wrong?”

“I was just in the Student Center,” Jeana said, her
chest heaving. She grabbed the remote control off the desk and
turned on the TV, flipping through channels until she found VMTV.
“They said coming up on the Music News they had a breaking story
about Tight Control.”

Ally fell to her bed and trained her eyes on the TV
as an energy drink commercial came to an end. A pretty, smiling
blonde appeared on the screen, the VideoMusic News logo behind
her.

“In breaking news today, Rhys Redden, president of
Redden Records, announced today that he will be opening a new
branch of Redden Records in Chicago.”

A photo of Tight Control replaced the logo over the
reporter’s shoulder.

“Rhys Redden announced that Jay Jones, lead singer of
Tight Control, will head the new branch later this spring. Tight
Control is at the tail end of a tour and no word has been given as
to the future of the band. Stick with VMTV Music News for
updates.”

Ally’s heart fell to the floor. Her eyes wouldn’t
leave the screen as her mind whirred frantically, trying to process
the information.

“Ally?” Jeana asked softly. “Did you know about
this?”

Ally shook her head, her heart breaking. How could
her parents not tell her? Didn’t they just say at Thanksgiving that
her dad wasn’t leaving the band? What was going on now?

Jeana sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her
shoulders. “Do the boys know about this, do you think?”

“I…” Ally started, and then shook her head. “I don’t
think so. I mean, they would have told me, right?”

“Yes, they would have,” Jeana said. “You guys are so
close.”

Ally’s bottom lip trembled. “This can’t be happening.
I mean, they can’t just break up now. What will happen to them
all?”

“They’ll remain friends,” Jeana said confidently.
“I’m really sorry to hear all this, Ally, but it’s not the end of
the world. I mean, I know it’ll be weird for you, but at least
they’re still friends and not splitting because of an argument or
anything.”

“I know,” Ally said, raking her fingers through her
hair. “You’re exactly right. I don’t know why it upsets me so much.
It’s just that they’ve been together for so long, you know?”

Jeana smiled and gave Ally’s shoulders a squeeze.
“Because that band has been such a big part of your life. You love
your dad being in an awesome rock band. I remember when you were
younger and you used to go on tour with them and you’d send me
postcards from the cool places you’d go. You were always so
happy.”

“Yeah,” Ally agreed. “It was like a very long family
vacation.”

Jeana shrugged. “Now you can take real family
vacations in which your dad doesn’t have to go out on a stage every
night. And you won’t have to ride in a tour bus all the time.”

“But the tour bus was the best part,” Ally protested.
“I remember one time we locked RJ in the bathroom. He went in there
and me, Jamie, and Cole propped everything we could in front of the
door.” She laughed at the memory. “We got in trouble for that one.
RJ was claustrophobic for a while.”

Jeana giggled. “I can imagine.” She stood up and
turned off the television. “See, Ally, you’ll always have those
memories. And you’ll always have those guys as your friends. You’ve
all gone through so much together.”

Ally slipped off the bed and hugged the other girl.
“I’m so sorry we don’t do more stuff together, Jeana.”

“Ally, just because we’re cousins, doesn’t mean we
have to be best friends!”

“I know,” Ally said, pulling away. “But you’re always
around to help me out when I have a crisis.”

“Yeah,” Jeana agreed. “And you’re always around for
me, too. Remember when we were kids and we spent that week at
Grandma’s? We went to the playground and that big girl pushed me
face first in the sand box? You punched her in the face.”

Ally gasped. “She deserved it! You weren’t doing
anything wrong!”

Jeana laughed. “I know, but I never would have stood
up to her but you didn’t have a problem with punching her. You told
her no one messes with your cousin.”

Ally smiled, remembering that day clearly. “It was
funny.”

“And when we came here and I beat that horrible Macie
Carmichael out of the cheerleading squad, she started spreading
rumors about me. I know you’re the one that confronted her about
it. I saw you talking to her outside of the Student Center and then
the next day, the rumors stopped.”

“She was nothing but a jealous little witch. You were
ten times better than her and she knew it,” Ally defended.

“Well, the point I’m trying to make is that even
though we don’t hang around each other all the time, we’re still
there for each other and that’s all that counts.” Jeana hugged Ally
briefly. “So relax.”

Ally nodded and fell into the computer chair. “Maybe
I’m over reacting. I mean, just because Dad is going to work with
Rhys Redden doesn’t mean he’s leaving the band. Rhys Redden still
toured when he first started Redden Records.”

“Exactly,” Jeana said. “Why don’t you call the
guys?”

Ally nodded, still a little numb. “Yeah, I think I
will.” She got up and searched through her bag until she located
her phone. She flipped it open and hit Cole’s number. She nibbled
on her thumb nail as she waited for him to answer. She cursed and
slammed her phone shut when she was put through to voicemail.

“I’m going to have to go to the music room,” Ally
said as she grabbed her coat. “They’re probably all there.”

***

Cole shoved his drumsticks in his back pocket and
grabbed a bottle of water. He twisted off the cap and took a long
slug. Jamie lifted Parker’s bass guitar from his hands and was
showing off the little bit of skills Mark had taught him before
Jamie had decided he liked sports better. Ren and RJ were going
over a certain section of a new song – comparing notes – when the
door flew open and admitted Ally, face flushed and hair in
disarray.

“Al?” Cole said as he set his water bottle on the
piano bench. He rushed to her. “What’s wrong?”

RJ, Ren, and Parker lifted their heads while Jamie
set the guitar on the stand and furrowed his brow at his
cousin.

“I just heard on the VideoMusic News…” she said as
the ache hit her heart again and floated up to her throat,
preventing her from speech. She sniffed and moved past Cole to sit
on the piano bench.

“What did you hear, cuz?” Jamie said.

Before Ally could respond, the door opened again and
Stephanie ran inside, straight to Cole. She grabbed his arm. “Cole,
it’s all over the VideoMusic News that Jay is going to head up a
new branch of Redden Records in Chicago.”

“What?” RJ said as he hurried to Stephanie’s side.
“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said, clutching Cole’s arm tighter. “Did
they say anything at all?”

“Not a word,” Jamie said as he sat next to Ally. He
nudged her lightly. “Did your dad say anything to you?”

Ally still couldn’t find her voice so she shook her
head. Jamie put an arm around her as he looked at Stephanie. “What
exactly did they say on the news?”