Sunsets at Seaside(73)
Before going to the meeting, he made two phone calls. The first was to one of Blue’s brothers, Gage Ryder. Gage was a sports director for No Limitz, a community center in Allure, Colorado, where he developed and ran sports programs for teens. He was well connected in the sports world, thanks to having played Division 1 baseball in college and being scouted by the major leagues. His father had played professional baseball, and Gage had seen firsthand how the rigorous travel and practice schedule affected their family. He’d chosen not to go that career route, in hopes of one day having a more stable and less stressful family life.
Jamie’s call went to voicemail. He left a brief message. “Gage, it’s Jamie Reed. I need a favor. Call me when you get a chance.”
The second call he made was to Kurt Remington. Kurt’s brother Sage was well connected in the arts community and could get him tickets for anything at the spur of the moment. He didn’t want to rely on reports; some things he needed to see with his own eyes to believe. He hated to call in so many favors at once, but if ever there was a time he needed them, it was now.
After talking with Sage, he picked up his files, laptop, and the envelope, and headed into the meeting.
Chapter Twenty-One
“FIVE MINUTES.” CHARLIE patted Jessica on the back and lowered his voice. “It’s nice to have you back.”
“It’s nice to be back.” It was Monday evening, and they were already playing the second concert of the week. Although Jessica was prepared, her stomach was queasy and her hands were shaky. Not sleeping and eating very little was not a good combination for such a rigorous schedule as the one she’d had to keep lately, but apparently this was what being heartbroken did to a person. She had no experience with this sort of thing, and she wasn’t enjoying it one bit. Going from hopeful to hopeless, then finding an inkling of hope to cling to again—even if made up in her own head. He’ll call. He’ll hear my voice on his voicemail and miss me just as much as I miss him. She had no idea how women went through this roller coaster of emotions over and over, some starting as young as high school.
Charlie leaned in closer. “I was going to wait to tell you, but it’s too exciting to keep to myself. You’re going to be invited into the Chamber Players. The formal invitation is forthcoming.” He squeezed her arm and smiled, then put a finger up to his lips.
Jessica couldn’t have responded if she’d wanted to. She was stunned silent.
An invitation to play with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players would be the pinnacle of her career, what her mother had always hoped she’d achieve. The icing on her already perfect career cake, and still, her heart ached.
“I…” She couldn’t figure out how to express what she was feeling. She knew she should feel overwhelming joy and pride, but she felt numb. Any happiness she was supposed to feel was buried deep inside her grief over losing Jamie.
“Exciting. I know. We’ll talk.” Charlie hurried off to talk with another musician.
The Chamber Players.
How was she supposed to concentrate now? This was the chance of a lifetime, and she was too heartbroken to enjoy it.
“Put your phone away,” Greg, another musician, said sharply.
She hadn’t realized she had it clenched in her fist. She checked for a return message from Jamie one last time and realized that for a woman who hated cell phones, she’d become awfully adept at texting and checking messages in the last two weeks. She had two text messages. One from Jenna and one from Bella, both telling her they missed her and she should come back to the Cape. Even with the happiness over their friendships, her stomach still took a nose dive when she realized that Jamie hadn’t returned her way-too-desperate message.
It’s really over.
She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat as she shut the phone off and tucked it into her purse. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. She closed her eyes for a beat and conjured up her mother’s stern voice. No pouting. No whimpering. No frowns. Up, up, up with your chin. Jessica lifted her chin, doing her best to swallow the ache seeping from her heart and filling her chest, tightening her throat, and making her heart race. With another deep inhalation, she recalled her mother’s voice again. Shoulders squared. Eyes forward, serious and happy, happy, happy. Remember, when you’re on that stage, there’s no place else you’d rather be.
Shoulders back, chin up, she followed the group to the stage.
There’s no place else I’d rather be. There’s no place else I’d rather be.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
AMELIA WALKED ACROSS the conference room where Jamie was meeting with the directors and managers of several divisions, strategizing new ways to track down the drone in their system. The large conference room looked like a war zone, with empty coffee cups scattered around the table, whiteboards filled with strategies for deciphering where the drone in the code might be, and documents and files spread across the large mahogany table. There were twenty-seven managers and directors around the table, each looking worn-out and frustrated, but because of their dedication to OneClick, and in turn, Jamie, they were still there, hours past closing time.