A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (29 page)

“
That
woman
’
s pregnant?
”
Mel asked. She stopped and
faced Jake.

“
She
was,
”
Jake said.
“
I
’
m
sorry. I wanted to tell you everything. But you fell asleep and then we talked
a little
…
and it all just
got
…”
Jake shook his head.
“
I screwed up. I didn
’
t want you to leave. I didn
’
t want you to think I had other
obligations.
”

“
Obligations?
”
Mel asked.
“
Is that what I
’
ve become to you? Because I
’
m not rich or have my life
planned out?
”

“
No,
”
Jake said.
“
Mel, never. The thing with Chloe
goes back so far. It
’
s not
that easy.
”

“
Try
me then.
”

“
Nobody
had seen her for years, okay? She came back to town and got Trent into trouble.
Then she set her sights on me and I let her in. Like an ass. Okay? Like a
complete ass. Then she told me she was pregnant. She has always been a liar to
get what she wants, so the band talked me into forcing her to take a pregnancy
test in front of me.
”

“
Wonderful,
”
Mel said.

“
She
did and it came up positive. That
’
s
why I was at the hotel that night. I was drinking it all off. I made a huge
mistake being with her, and I couldn't believe I was going to have to raise a
child with her for the rest of my life. But then the next day she went to the
doctors and
…
well, it was
gone.
”

“
She
lost the baby. Do you even care?
”

“
I
do,
”
Jake said.
“
Damnit, I do, Mel. She took off.
So I called her and left a message letting her know I was sorry. Letting her
know that I wouldn
’
t have
abandoned her if she was pregnant. Because of that message she took it to mean
that we were going to get back together. Which brings me to today. Right here,
right now.
”

Mel stared at Jake. For such a
tall, strong man he looked so vulnerable that the softest of breezes could
topple him over. His face was pale and his eyes were sincere. But Mel had no
idea how to process all this. To be with Jake like she had been. Enjoying his
company and his body, believing in his words, it all meant something to her.
Mel couldn
’
t compete with
history. Not with someone like this Chloe person.

Mel looked down at her phone and
texted Alex to come get her. She used the word
emergency
to create
urgency.

“
When
I met you, Jake, there was a woman in a hotel room,
”
Mel said.

“
No...
don't,
”
Jake said.

Mel nodded.
“
And now I come to your apartment and there
’
s a woman in there. I can
’
t live that kind of life. I
’
ve been living in a fantasy for
a while now. Thinking about my father, paying to find him, worrying, crying,
hoping. And it all just came to a sudden end. I can
’
t do that with you. I can
’
t try to find you or worry when the next woman will
pop up.
”

Mel backed away and Jake took her
by the hands.
“
Mel, that
’
s not who I am. You know that.
You look into my eyes and you know that.
”

There was a moment of silence as
Mel looked back and forth at his eyes.

“
I
have to go,
”
Mel said.

“
I
love you,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s what I
’
ve
been wanting to say for a little while now. But I was waiting for the right
moment. I thought tonight we could talk about everything and figure out our
future. But it doesn
’
t
matter now, because without you my future is empty.
”

“
Your
future is not empty,
”
Mel
said.
“
You
’
ll be on stage in front of
thousands of fans. You
’
ll
be on tour. With every mile and every day you
’
ll
forget about me.
”

Jake touched Mel
’
s face.
“
That
’
s
ridiculous. Mel, I swear what I
’
m
saying is true. My love
…”

“
Just
face what you have to,
”
Mel
said.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

Mel slid back and Jake let her go.
It was a cold and horrible feeling. It was the same feeling she had in the caf
é
the moment Tommy told her that
her father was dead. The building door shut and Mel's heart ached. She pictured
Jake rushing to that other woman -
to Chloe
- and holding her. Kissing
her. Making love to her.

It seemed like it took forever for
Alex to get there. When she pulled up, Mel ran to the car and got inside.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Alex asked.

“
Sorry.
I just need to get home.
”

“
Where
’
s Jake?
”

Mel looked at Alex and the
floodgates opened. When Alex had called earlier and asked about Washington, Mel
had simply said 'things didn't go as planned.' But there in the car with Alex,
Mel spilled every detail of her time with Jake. She was crying as she spoke,
and she wasn't sure whether it was because of her father, Jake, or everything
that had happened since she lost her mother.

By the time Mel finished talking,
Alex had parked the car outside Mel
’
s
apartment and just sat there.

“
I
’
m sorry for all this,
”
Mel said.

“
No,
”
Alex said.
“
I
’
m
sorry you
’
ve gone through
this. I wish there was something I could do.
”

“
You
did. You came and got me. I just need to be alone right now. To think and
figure out what to do next. I don
’
t
want to work at the hotel. I
’
m
pretty sure I
’
m fired
anyway, not that I care. I just thought the end of all this would have more
meaning or change something for me.
”

“
It
will,
”
Alex said.
“
Give it time. I
’
m always a phone call away.
Okay?
”

“
Thank
you, Alex. For always being there for me.
”

Mel went to her apartment and the
first thing she saw was the painting she had done. It sat on the kitchen table,
completely dried now. Mel touched it and closed her eyes. Emotion flooded her body
again and she clutched her chest.

She had always imagined love being
this amazing feeling that would erase all her problems. If that was how it was
supposed to be, why were her problems getting bigger?

(27)

Jake had to face Chloe, again. He
was hurt and angry, but he wanted to make his point very clear to her. When he
went back into the apartment, Chloe stood there with her hands on her hips. She
looked cocky and she was trying to be seductive.

“
Who
was that?
”
Chloe asked.
“
Someone to kill time with?
”

“
Chloe
…
you need to go. Once and for
all.
”

“
You
’
re playing that game with me?
”

“
There
is no game,
”
Jake said.
“
I should have never gotten
involved again. I
’
m sorry
for doing that to you and to me. I
’
m
taking everything as a sign. You
’
re
not pregnant anymore and you don
’
t
belong here. Go home, Chloe. Go home and find your own way in life. I
’
m sorry.
”

Chloe touched her lips. Tears
filled her eyes and started to fall. Jake wasn't phased. He wouldn
’
t fall into the trap again. His
heart belonged to Mel and he would spend the rest of his life proving that to
her.

“
Who
was that woman?
”
Chloe
asked in a shaky voice.

“
If
you want to know,
”
Jake
said.
“
That
’
s someone I care about and love.
That
’
s the woman I want to
spend forever with. I
’
m not
trying to hurt you, I
’
m
trying to make myself clear.
”

“
So
just like that you move on? After you cheated
…”
Chloe
’
s eyes went wide.
“
Is that the woman from the
hotel?
”

“
Yes
and no,
”
Jake said.
“
She wasn
’
t the one you think I
cheated
on you with.
But I met her at a hotel. That
’
s
all I
’
m going to say about
it, Chloe. I thought you had actually taken a step in the right direction when
you left, but I guess not.
”

Silence fell and Jake stood his
ground as Chloe cried. He knew deep in his heart Chloe probably already had other
arrangements somewhere with someone else. That was just her style. She would
forever be the woman who couldn
’
t
truly be happy.

“
What
do I do now?
”
Chloe asked.

“
I
’
m sorry, but you have to leave.
For good. We were never in love, Chloe. Some day you will realize that. I'm
sorry that it has come to this, and I'm sorry for the loss of the baby, both of
them, but it proves how wrong we are for each other."

“
I
thought rockstars were supposed to be tough. I thought we could be something
great together, Jake. We did love each other. We had a family. Now it
’
s all gone.
”

“
We
were never together the way you thought in your mind,
”
Jake said.

Chloe moved toward Jake and grabbed
his shirt. She inched closer and closer. Jake could smell Chloe
’
s perfume. Her shampoo. The same
smells from all those years ago.

“
Just
go,
”
Jake said.

“
Is
that what you want?
”
Chloe
whispered. She bit on her bottom lip. She tried to seduce him.

“
Just
…
go
…”

Chloe blinked.
“
Jake
…”

“
I
’
m not saying it again.
”

Chloe opened her hands. She backed
up a few steps and then nodded.
“
This
is what you want?
”

“
This
is what we both need,
”
Jake
said.
“
You know that. I don
’
t even know why you came to town
to begin with. For some reason, you decided that you wanted Trent again. He was
smart enough to say no and I wasn
’
t.
”

“
I
’
m going home then,
”
Chloe said.
“
If that
’
s what you want to know. I
’
m going home to my mother
’
s house. She
’
s
not doing well and I have no place else to go.
”

“
That
’
s a good thing,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s a very good thing. Go home and start over.
Please.
”

“
Then
I
’
m gone.
”

Chloe grabbed her bag and walked
toward the apartment door. Jake watched her linger for a few seconds before finally
leaving. When the door clicked shut, Jake stumbled back toward the table. He
put his hands to his face and wasn
’
t
sure what to process first. His heart raced and ached at the same time.

This was bad, but Jake knew he had
to fix things with Mel. He had never meant for her to be hurt by any of it. He
loved her and he needed her to know how much.

His cell rang. He took a deep
breath, hoping it was Mel. It wasn't.

Jake sighed as he answered.
“
Gray, tell me something good.
”

“
You
sound off, man,
”
Gray said.
“
We
’
re at the practice stage. We have some details to
talk about. Are you local?
”

“
I
’
m local. In my apartment.
”

“
Stop
by. We need you here.
”

Jake looked around and made the
sudden decision that he no longer wanted to live there.

“
On
my way,
”
Jake said.

He went into his bedroom and
grabbed a couple bags. He opened his closet and filled the bags as much as he
could. Ten minutes later, he left the apartment with everything he needed,
promising himself he
’
d
never come back.

Time to move on with life.

At the practice stage, Mack and
Trent were on stage with two guitars, strumming and jamming. Luke and Gray were
sitting on the front of the stage with a piece of paper, writing song titles
down.  Frank was nowhere to be found.

“
There
he is,
”
Luke said.
“
How was your excursion?
”

“
Bad,
”
Jake said.
“
Really bad.
”

Trent looked at Jake and stopped
strumming his guitar. He jumped up and put it down.

“
Should
I ask?
”
Gray asked.

“
No
need,
”
Jake said.
“
I deserve it for everything I
have done."

“
Sounds
serious,
”
Mack said.

“
Gray
said we had stuff to talk about?
”
Jake asked, not wanting to talk about his issues anymore.

“
Just
mapping out some more dates and thinking of songs,
”
Luke said.
“
Frank
thinks the album will be dropping in the next month or so. We need to release a
single.
”

“
A
single,
”
Jake said.

That was the next step. Picking
that one song from the album to test the waters for the album. To see how the
fans would react.

“
Thoughts?
”
Trent asked.

“
Any
of them,
”
Jake said.
“
How
’
s that sound? Any of the songs. They
’
re that good.
”

 Everyone smiled. Gray played a
drumbeat on the stage and jumped down. He clapped his hands together.
“
I agree.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Luke said.
“
They
’
re all strong songs, aren
’
t they?
”

“
But
what does the record company want?
”
Jake said.

“
Screw
them,
”
Mack said.
“
It
’
s
our album. Our songs.
”

“
If
we
’
re talking business and
strategy,
”
Jake said,
“
then we need to release
something exciting first. Then we can release one of the slow ones.
”

“
Or
just do both,
”
Gray said.

“
Both,
”
Jake said and smiled.
“
I like it. Two singles. Back to
back. We do one a week.
”

“
Yes,
”
Luke said as he climbed to his
feet.
“
Call Frank right
now. Tell him.
”

Everyone looked at each other,
shaking their heads. Nobody wanted to call Frank. Slowly, the guys all started
to laugh and casually pointed at Luke.

“
No
way,
”
Luke said.

“
Yes,
”
Jake said.

“
Conference
call,
”
Luke said.
“
I
’
ll
call.
”

The band huddled together with the
exception of Jake and Trent.

“
Hey,
man, are you okay?
”
Trent
whispered.

“
Trying
to be,
”
Jake said.
“
Chloe caused more problems. But
hopefully she is gone for good now."

“
I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Me
too. She made a comment about her mother not doing well and that she was going
to go home. I told her to go. To start over and stop living her life like this.
”

“
Good
advice, but who knows if she
’
ll
hear it,
”
Trent said.
“
As far as causing problems
…”

“
I
have some things to take care of here,
”
Jake said.
“
Some decisions
to make. I feel a certain way right now and it
’
s
new to me. But I don
’
t want
to hurt anyone.
”

“
You
mean a woman,
”
Trent said.

“
Yeah.
I think I am being punished for the whole Chloe saga. It's karma.
”

“
Or
maybe you've just fallen in love,
”
Trent said. He punched Jake in the shoulder.

“
Hey,
Frank,
”
Luke yelled into
his phone.

Jake and Trent joined the band and
they all pitched their idea for releasing two singles off the album instead of
one. Frank thought it was a brilliant idea and couldn't wait to pitch it to the
record company. Before hanging up, Frank told them that the tour dates were
continuing to grow and that their tour was one of the most anticipated ones
since Chasing Cross's first major tour. All the guys yelled and hugged each
other.

"There's only one thing left
to do..." Frank cut in.

All eyes were on Jake. He knew
Frank was talking about the cover art Jake had promised.

“
I
’
m not going to say it,
”
Mack said.

“
Then
don
’
t,
”
Jake said.
“
I have to take care of
something.
”

“
I
thought we could jam a little here,
”
Luke said.

Jake spotted an acoustic guitar on
stage and instantly knew what he needed to do.

“
We
can jam later,
”
Jake said.
“
I have a concert of my own to
play.
”

Jake jumped up on the stage and
grabbed the guitar. He turned around and the guys were staring at him.

“
Dude,
are you in love or something?
”
Mack asked.

“
That
’
s exactly right,
”
Jake said.
“
I
’
m
sorry, guys, but I can
’
t
let her get away.
”

“
Go
then,
”
Luke said.

“
Get
that cover art!
”
Mack
yelled, laughing.

Jake rushed to his car. He couldn't
believe that someone was able to make him feel the same way music had made him
feel his whole life.

He was in love with music.

And he was in love with Mel.

*

Mel sat at the kitchen table with a
mug of tea in front of her. It gently steamed, the milk and sugar enticing her
nose, but she stared at the blank wall in front of her. She hadn
’
t moved in a few minutes,
feeling empty and numb. It should have been a freeing feeling to have, but it
was anything but right now. There was nothing free about this. Feeling foolish,
Mel tried to put herself back into the mindset she had the day she decided to
find her father. It had only been because she missed her mother so much. She
was grieving and angry, and wanted to find the man who had left her mother
alone with their young daughter. Now she would never have the chance to hear
his side, and she wasn't even sure she had the chance to properly grieve her
mother's death yet.