"I won't forget-not that you'd let me," Grady said. "Jimmy, I know you're going to start working on some new songs, but will you stay on top of things at the foundation while I try to get my girl back home?"
"No problem. And Jesse can handle the music shop by himself while Oliver gets things going in the studio. And we can nominate him for anything else since he's sleeping and can't protest."
Grady chuckled. "Kinda like when we got him to do dish duty because he was the last one to come in when Mom called us for supper."
"Yeah," Jimmy said. "Hey, it was his own fault."
Oliver groaned. "Okay, good, now that we've got all that settled in the middle of the night instead of in the morning like normal people, can we go back to sleep? Please?" Oliver pleaded.
"Right, you need your beauty sleep, pretty boy," Grady said, and gave his brother a teasing shove.
"I'm already beautiful," Oliver said with a loud yawn. "Jimmy, make Jesse stop!"
"Jesse! Knock it off." Jimmy gave Jesse a hard shove that nearly sent him tumbling over the edge of the bed.
"What the hell?" Jesse grumbled. The snoring stopped and they all sighed with relief.
But then Jesse started up again a minute later, making Grady laugh.
"Dude, this isn't funny," Oliver said. "I'm getting earplugs. I saw some in the bathroom. If the hotel weren't full I'd get a damned separate room."
"Earplugs won't drown that shit out," Jimmy said. "I want the earplugs. I'm the one sleeping with him. How did that happen, anyway? I had to spend nine months sleeping with him in the womb. He probably took up more than his share of the room like he's doing right now. He's sprawled in the middle of the damned bed."
Grady laughed. "Shove the earplugs up Jesse's nose."
"Okay," Jimmy said.
"No, he'll breathe through his mouth and get a sore throat," Oliver argued.
"I was only kidding," Grady said, but his grin stayed in place. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to travel with his brothers. This felt like old times, only better. The anxious feeling that had been haunting him had lifted. He was going to go find Arabella and bring her back to Sea Breeze, where she belonged. Because she loved him. And she adored his crazy brothers. And the beach house had been built just for her. And the night of the concert had sucked for them, but that was over.
Why wouldn't she want to come back? He wasn't about to give up on the woman he loved.
As Grady tried to drift off to sleep, Arabella's image filled his head. As keyed up as he was, his brain refused to give in to fatigue. He knew he might have bags under his eyes during the interview, but still sleep eluded him.
Grady wondered what he could say to Arabella's mom to ensure she'd let him know if Arabella was in Cincinnati? It had been so many years since he'd seen Mindy, but he remembered her as being bubbly and friendly. Still, she wouldn't give away her daughter's whereabouts without a good reason.
Grady yawned and was nearly asleep when the answer slid into his head like a slick dance move. His heart pounded and he was once again wide-awake. He stared at the shadows dancing on the wall from the streetlights outside, waiting for the doubts to butt their way in, but excitement and determination erupted like confetti in his head and love filled his heart.
"Yes!" he said softly, embracing his answer. Luckily, he failed to wake Oliver, or he might have gotten shoved off the bed and booted into the hallway.
Sleep could wait. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. Glancing at the red digits on the alarm clock, he saw that it was nearly four thirty and sighed. He wanted to wake his brothers and talk to them, share his excitement, but he refrained. Barely.
Grady created a mental list of things he needed to do to put his plan into action. He had a lot to get done. After the interview, he planned to head to Tiffany's. Surely a little blue box would have some persuasive power. He wanted to pick up his cell phone and start looking at selections, but he didn't want the light to wake anyone. And he really should try to get some sleep. . . .
Grady felt a nervous tingle of anticipation. In truth, he'd never given much thought to marriage, since he'd never gotten that far in a relationship after Arabella left him. But recently, after he'd found Arabella with the pregnancy test in her hand, at odd times he'd wonder, what would it would feel like to be a father? To hold his own child in his arms? He'd even had a couple of dreams about it that felt real, but when he'd awoken he hadn't mentioned it to Arabella, not wanting to upset her with the tender subject. But he didn't let his thoughts drift to the past. He'd closed that door firmly. All he cared about was the future, and he hoped his future with Arabella included starting a family.