Snared(14)

“Did you freak him out or something? Go all fan girl on him?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. Geez. My dad and I are the ones who brought Jaded Regret here. I think that’s just him. He did offer me a drink, though.”

Bella’s eyebrows raised. “Well, that’s a good sign.”

“But the second I asked him to stay, he did kind of freak out.”

“You asked him to stay? Wow, April. You grew a pair tonight. What’s gotten into you?”

I didn’t know the answer to that, other than just being tired of being at a stalemate in my life. “I want what you and Jeremy have.”

“And you think you’re going to find that in a drummer for a rock band you’ve only known for a few hours?” Well, when she put it like that, it did sound ridiculous.

I shook my head. “Well, not really. I just want to do things that are outside my ‘norm,’ you know? Doing things the way I’ve always done them isn’t getting me anywhere these days. Anyway, so he was friendly, but dismissed me much too soon. I didn’t come on to him or anything, but he still escaped back to his room. He said he had to check in with his sister.”

Bella tapped her finger against her wine glass. “Well, maybe he’s shy.”

“I know he is. Even when the band gets interviewed, I’ve never heard him say more than a few words. He lets the others speak, mainly Bex and Johnny. He’s well known for being the quietest rock drummer on the stage. He rocks the hell out of that drum kit, but he rarely engages the audience. Then again, when he does that drum solo . . .”

“April Knight, you act like a high school girl with a crush. It’s so cute to see.”

I shrugged. “I can’t wait to see them play tomorrow. I get to go to rehearsal before the show and see them do all my favorite songs. This is a dream come true. How did I get this to happen?”

“You had an idea and your dad ran with it. Much like everything else you do, April. Your father loves and respects you.”

“Hmph. He’d love and respect me more if I was ‘Dr. Knight’ like him.”

“Don’t,” Bella said. “You know he’s proud of you. You’ve only worked for Children’s Services for five years, and you’re already a supervisor.”

“Yeah, but I’ll still never make even a fraction of what he does. You know that’s what he equates success to.”

“Not true. I hear the way he talks about you. It may not have been the career he wanted you to choose, but he can’t deny the impact you have on the families. Plus, how can he be disappointed for your reasons behind your career? He’s the one who saved your mom from her past.”

It was true. In that respect, I knew my dad was proud of what I did. The job was hard. There were days I’d go into my office and shut the door to sob at what I’d seen. Children who were abused and neglected by the people that were supposed to love and care for them would never get easier to see. But it was the other side, the ones who found forever families and had huge grins on their faces when they’d meet their new parents. That was what kept me doing this.

My mom didn’t remember her parents. She’d been told over the years they’d abandoned her at a church, never to be heard from again. She’d been part of the system since she was five years old and, for some reason, had never been adopted. She had lived in over twenty foster homes in her thirteen years in the system, several of those being group homes. When she got out at the age of eighteen, the state essentially dumped her and said, “Have a nice life.” She’d turned to what any young kid on their own would turn to—surviving.

My dad was a resident at the same hospital my mom had been taken to. When she’d been dropped off, she was half dead and addicted to heroin, but he’d seen something in her. Over the two weeks she’d stayed there, he visited her every day. By the time she was better and on her way to a rehab facility to get clean, he’d fallen for her, despite every indication it wasn’t a good idea. Months later, she’d come back to the same hospital, healthy and clean, to find the doctor she called her “Guardian Angel.” They hadn’t been apart since.

“I just want to find someone to love me the way my dad loves my mom,” I admitted, downing the rest of my wine.

“You will.” Bella patted my back. “But I doubt you’ll find him having a one-night stand with a quiet drummer of a rock band.”





Beau

I WAITED FOR Johnny and Bex to finish the riff that intro’d my drum solo, tapping my toes on the ground. My drumsticks were poised and ready to strike the cymbals. Nervous bubbles erupted in my stomach, just like every time I prepared to do my solo. I loved every second of doing this. It was the only time I’d willingly get into the spotlight. I twisted my neck, stretching my shoulder muscles.