My Side (24 page)

The camera fell on
Lochlan, as he finished the song with his head back, and a peaceful look on his
face. The crowd erupted as the host walked over, clapping. “Man, you guys are
hot!”

Lochlan smiled. I saw
him wink into the crowd. It made my stomach hurt, but I pushed it away.

“I heard you guys in
Boston, not too long ago, amazing show. Ladies and gentlemen, thank Thin Ice
for coming and playing for us. Their album will be available…” he looked at
Lochlan, who laughed, “Soon.”

“There you have it…
soon. Stay tuned, we have the entire cast of The Dreamers up after this.” He
waved and the screen went to commercial.

My phone didn’t ring.
No texts came through. I stared at it for a while, and then decided it wasn’t
too lame to message him.

‘Awesome
show, baby.
I loved it.’

He never messaged me
back. I could see it had delivered, but there was no message back.

I forced myself to
study and not look on the net, or think about why he hadn’t texted me.

I woke to messages,
weird ones like ‘hey, sorry there is just so much to do, I’ll call later’ and
‘hey, princess, we’re exhausted from the sets and rehearsal. Talk later.’

I shrugged it off,
until my late-morning class with Dean.

He waved me over after
class, “Did Gerry or Lochlan send you the pics from the people they’ve met?”

I shook my head,
clutching my books and forbidding myself to think the worst.

He pulled out his
phone and held them up.
There were pictures of everyone
,
it was crazy chaos
. The band was in front of
restaurants, at bars, and I couldn’t believe the famous faces gracing Dean’s
phone. Lochlan letting famous female singers lick his face and kiss him. The
group of them were smiling brightly and hanging themselves off dozens of
different people for pictures.

Dean noticed my face
and pulled the phone back, “He’s such a joker.”

I nodded blankly. I
was secretly hyperventilating. I smiled weakly, “I better go. I’m leaving in
two hours for Nashville.” I could feel the glossy tears starting to form.

He swallowed, “I’m
sorry. I assumed you didn’t care about the fun drunk he was, or you wouldn’t
date someone like him.” Oh my God… he was drunk for the pictures. God only
knows, what he did.

I laughed awkwardly,
“Oh, I am. He’s crazy. I’m just tired.”

He hadn’t done
anything wrong. I needed to remind myself, he was acting the part. He was
hugging famous people and doing things mere mortals would never.

The walk home gave me
the chance to ponder, if I was doing what abused women did? Was I justifying
him? I needed to see inside of his eyes. I needed to know if I was still there.

I packed my things and
got my flight to Nashville. It wasn’t nearly as bad, probably because I had
been flying so much. His family lived in a small town just on the outskirts of
Nashville called Mt. Juliet. I knew nothing about them, beyond that.

When I got to the
Nashville airport, I pulled my carry-on to the waiting area. I smiled when I
saw a handsome dark-haired guy in a lime-green tee shirt and tight jeans,
holding a black jean jacket. I walked right up to him, “You have to be Alex.”

He smiled and it was
insane. They were identical but Alex was better looking. He had spiky, dark
hair, styled perfectly, and the brightest smile. He flashed it at me and I
almost fainted. He was a thinner and cleaner Lochlan. And way better dressed.

“Erin!” he squealed
and attacked; his emotions were everywhere, like they had exploded from a box.

I hugged back, “It’s
nice to meet you.”

He pulled back, “Oh my
God, you are delicious. Look at you, no wonder he loves you.”

My stomach burned. I’d
hardly spoken to him, since he’d left for New York. It was weird.

I cleared my throat,
“Thanks for coming to get me.”

He rolled his eyes,
“It’s a twenty minute drive. It’s not a liver.”

I laughed. He looped
his arm in mine, “Mom and Dad and Lissie are going to go nuts. They have been
dying to meet the unstoppable Lochlan Barlow’s beautiful girlfriend, that he
never shuts up about.”

I glanced at him, “I
can’t wait to meet them too.”

He shook his head,
“It’s crazy you guys just met. It feels like he’s known you forever.”

 
I nodded, fighting the frown on my face,
“I know. It was August 12
^th
at 4 in the afternoon.
I maced him and some fake-breasted female.
Got them both
handcuffed by the police and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”

He winced, “Longest
three and half months of your life?”

I shook my head, “It’s
felt like I’ve crammed everything humanly possible into the time.” I almost
stopped myself from talking, but he was easier to be around than any one person
I’d ever met. I gave him a soft smile, “But I wouldn’t trade the time. It’s
been fun. Bizarre and fun.”

He laughed and led me
to a car in the short-term parking. It was beautiful, a red BMW M6. I knew the
car because it was on the 2013 calendar hanging in our kitchen. My hands
trembled when I touched it, dragging my fingers along it.

“It’s so beautiful.”
It was my dream car. The one I would have bought for myself, if I were rich.

He flashed me the
smile and tossed me the keys. I instantly went in two directions at once, “I
can’t.” One side of me wanted to but the other really didn’t.

He nodded, “Yeah, you
can. It’s paid for and insured. I just watched you cargasm. You can drive.” He
climbed into the passenger side, after sticking my bag in the trunk. I sat in
the driver’s seat, taking mental pictures of every angle. It was stunning. Not
too showy but sleek and sexy. It had the European flare and class, but the red
paint gave it the American
bad-ass
feeling I loved
about the car. I stroked the steering wheel and put the key in. The engine gave
a slight roar and then purred. I looked at him, “Oh my.”

He laughed, “Oh my
indeed.”

“You look so much like
him.”

He frowned, “We’re
identical twins.”

My jaw dropped open,
“Oh.”

He frowned, “He never
said that?”

I shook my head, “Must
have slipped his mind.”

He pushed on his
sunglasses, “Yes well, a great many things slip his mind. Small details don’t
fit with all that personality.”

I laughed and pointed,
“Oh, we are going to get along great.”

He chuckled. I put the
car in reverse and started the trek to his parents’ house. It was much less
than twenty minutes in an M6. I barely had time to make the turns he told me to
take. When I pulled into the new subdivision, I was stunned. The houses were
new and pretty. It was a small, clean area with plumbing and underground
electricity. It was a beautiful family neighborhood. I was confused, “I
imagined it more like a farm.”

He
gave me a look
,
“Turn here.”

I looked at the street
name, “Erin Lane?”

He laughed, “Yes
ma’am.” He definitely sounded more Southern than Lochlan did. “This one.”

I pulled in slowly.
The house was a new rancher with beige siding and burgundy trim. “My mom would
love it here. She likes new.”

He nodded, “Dad bought
it a couple years ago. It’s easier with mom to be in a rancher. We had a huge
house before, but she can’t get around like before.”

I started to feel like
I was completely in the dark. I swallowed, “Is she okay?”

He frowned, “Wow, did
he talk about us at all?”

I nodded, “He did but
it was like Alex does this and that, and when we were little Lissie hated this,
and when we went to Disney, Alex cried because they made him put on a prince
outfit instead of a princess.”

His cheeks flared, “Of
course, he remembered that one.” He sighed, “You will discover he’s bad with
the people he loves, he kind of gets distracted.” My heart hurt instantly but
then he smiled, “But you’ll never meet a person who loves anyone as much as he
does. Lochlan is the best person I’ve ever met. Our mother had a massive stroke
a while ago. She has been pretty much cared for by our father. It was intense.”

“I’m so sorry.” I
wanted to cry but I couldn’t. Who cries as they meet their boyfriend’s family?

He shook his head,
“It’s fine. She is fine and we are fine. Don’t make a big deal about it, okay?
She hates that.”

I nodded, “I’m going
to kill your brother. Are they still getting in tonight after the show?”

He shook his head,
“They fly in at five in morning. I have to go get them. Had to change it when
they found out they were playing two songs, and the show is longer than they
expected.”

I smiled and muttered,
“Figures.” He had just stranded me with his family for the next few hours,
alone. I was at least grateful that Alex was amazing.

“Oh we don’t bite, not
hard anyway.”

My smile increased.

“So Loch said you’re
in law,” he said as he grabbed my bag and we walked up to the door. The front
porch was beautiful.

“I am, and you’re a
dentist?”

He rolled his eyes,
“Pediatric dental surgeon.”

I laughed, “Those are
the same thing in Loch’s mind, apparently.”

He chuckled, “Loch
doesn’t have room for the small stuff.” He opened the door. A kind-looking man
with dark hair, bright-blue eyes and red cheeks greeted me with a smile, “You
must be Erin.” He hugged me. I didn’t expect any of it. He was chubby and tall.
His face was a huskier version of Alex and Loch’s.

Lissie walked in with
light-red hair and the same bright-blue eyes. She joined in on the hug. She was
tall, thin, and very pretty. Her skin was ruddy and freckled. I assumed Lissie
looked like their mother.

Alex pulled me into
the living room. A woman with short, strawberry-blonde hair and a slack look on
her tired
face,
moved her eyes to see me.

“Mom, this is Erin,
Loch’s Erin.”

She didn’t move. I was
about to lose it. He never warned me, he never prepared me at all. I dropped to
my knees immediately, taking her hand, “It’s lovely to meet you.”

Her eyes filled with
tears. She gripped my hand with little strength.

Her eyes darted about
the room.

Alex leaned forward,
“He’ll be here tonight. It’s okay. He’s coming.”

I was too near tears.
Lissie came and sat beside me and thankfully started talking, “So he told us
the mace story. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone, before I met
them
. But you, I loved you.”

I started to laugh,
“It was a bad day.”

Alex laughed with her,
“No, it was our best day. Anything that humbles the super hero in the family is
good.” He winked at Mom. Her eyes shone with delight and pride.

Their dad came in with
a tray of sweet tea. He passed me one, “Hope you like your tea sweetened.”

I nodded and drank a
small sip. He sat next to his wife with a spoon in her glass, “I made yours the
way you like it, love.”

He spoon-fed her tiny
sips, not taking any of his. Lissie and Alex acted like it was normal, so I
tried not to stare.

We chatted and laughed
and got to know each other. Lissie was a schoolteacher, she taught tenth-grade
math. She had her master’s in teaching. She was twenty-nine years old. I knew
Loch and Alex were twenty-seven.

We sat enjoying each
other’s company. Their father had made dinner, tomato-basil soup. He made up
his wife’s bowl and fed it to her. He drank from her
tea,
chatting away with her, like nothing had changed and no time had ever passed
between them.

Eventually Alex leaned
over to where I sat in front of the hot fireplace, “Want to take a walk?”

I nodded. Lissie had
left with promises to be back early to help with Thanksgiving dinner.

We left the house and
I sobbed, leaning against the truck in the driveway. I covered my face in
hateful shame.

Alex rubbed my back,

“It’s a lot to take at
first, I’m sorry Loch never told you. I honestly don’t think he notices
sometimes.”

I shook my head, “He
treats me the same as her and I got mad at him. I told him to stop making my
fucking plates of food and drinking my drinks. I never knew…”

He wrapped himself
around me, “How could you have known? We’ve seen it for almost a decade? Well,
almost six years anyway.”

He took my hand in his
and pulled me along. I sniffled and nearly heaved. I’d never felt worse in my
life.

“I feel so bad.”

He nudged me, “You
shouldn’t. We’ve been exposed to it for so long, it’s just regular for us. Dad
refused to put her in a home when it happened. She was young, jeeze,
fifty
-years old. We were on the road to success. Loch had
just finished his MBA, I was in university, taking too many courses, and Lissie
had finally made it off the substitute list. She had her first full-time job.
We were all so busy. Loch decided not to take the job he’d gotten. He sang at
the bar nights and spent the days with Dad. The two of them got her to where
she is now. She’s as good as it gets. She can swallow normally, breathe
normally, and she understands us. If we ask her questions, she can blink her
eyes as answers. Loch spent a lot of time with her.”