All I Ever Wanted(63)

Jimmy blew out a cinnamon-scented breath and leaned back against the couch cushions. "Wow. I needed that."

"Hey." Grady shoved at Jimmy's knee. "I know this performance isn't something you wanted to do. Thanks for coming on board."

"Are you kidding me?" Jimmy's eyes misted over. "It was the right thing to do. And although I'm nervous as hell, I'm not hating it as much as I thought I would. Or maybe I'm not as geeky as I used to be."

"Uh, yes you are," Jesse said, and Grady laughed, wondering for the millionth time how they could be twin brothers and be so different.

"Hey, geeks are the new cool," Jimmy said, getting an eyeroll from Jesse. "It sure helped that the dance routines are easier. Arabella did a fantastic job of making the routines more simplistic but still full of energy."

Jesse nodded. "And we're on our home turf. We might still be referred to as a boy band, but we're grown-ass men, and this was the right thing to do for a lot of reasons."

"We should have done this years ago, but I was too busy wasting my time not having any real goals in life," Grady said.

"I don't know about that, Grady," Jimmy said. "I think we all struggled trying to figure out our lives after Mom died. I think I still am. My songwriting is therapeutic, but sometimes I feel as if life is passing me by." He shrugged. 

"I just don't know how we're going to get through Mom's song," Jesse said, and then took another swig. He sucked in a breath.

"If it's not perfect and if there's emotion in our voices, I think it will only be better," Grady assured them. "Don't be afraid to let the audience know how you feel. Mom and Dad meant a lot to Sea Breeze. There won't be a dry eye in the crowd."

"I'm glad we don't have dance moves during Mom's song," Jimmy said with a sigh.

"You don't have to worry about that," Grady said, and the twins nodded in agreement. Arabella knew that the emphasis needed to be on the song and the lyrics, not on them.

"Where is Arabella, by the way?" Jimmy asked. "I spotted her earlier but not recently."

"I think she's taking care of last-minute details up onstage," Grady said. The thought went through his mind that she might leave, but he pushed it aside. "I sent her a text message but she didn't respond. I'm sure she's just busy."

"Do you think we should go get Oliver and get him to settle down and take a break?" Jesse asked. "He seriously needs to chill."

"He'll drive us crazy with worry. He's still worried about rain even though there's only a stray chance and that little hippo cloud."

"Yeah, he needs a shot of Fireball as much as we do. Maybe more. But you know he's eating this up just like the old days," Jimmy said. "Remember when Devin masterminded that whole fake teen romance between him and Belinda Beal?"

"I should have put an end to that nonsense," Grady said, and then reached for the Fireball. "And she was a cutie back then. It's a shame that her career fizzled. She had an amazing voice."

"I wonder what happened?" Jesse asked. "She seemed on the brink of stardom."

Grady shrugged. "Good question. But that's the nature of this business. I think I read somewhere she had a creative disagreement with her record label or something. I still wish I'd stopped the whole fake-romance thing. But I was too damned busy dealing with my own issues."

"Oliver loved the attention," Jimmy argued. "I know you're the oldest, but you don't have to take responsibility for that."

Grady took another swig of the whiskey. "It's hard to believe this day is finally here."

"I know." Jesse reached for the bottle. "It kind of feels like waiting for Christmas. Once it's over, Oliver is gonna need something to occupy his time," he said. Grady wondered if Jesse might feel let down too.

Grady felt a little flash of guilt at the thought. Could Arabella be right? Would tonight be such a tremendous success that his brothers might want to do more? And if so, what would he do? He'd promised. . . .

Jesse nudged Grady's knee. "You okay?" He passed the bottle to him.

Grady took another swig and then forced a smile, grateful that the bottle was small or he might want to consume too much. "I'm thinking too much," he said, sympathizing with Arabella and her runaway thoughts. He inhaled a cleansing breath, telling himself not to worry and to enjoy the night they'd worked so hard on for so many weeks. "Mom and Dad brought music to Sea Breeze. Tonight's all about them and bringing awareness to lupus." He put his hands on his knees. "Now I'm going to head out to explore the food trucks and grab a light bite to eat," he said, and pushed up to his feet. He pointed to Jimmy. "That's the only bottle, right?"