A Time to Move On (18 page)

Laura’s mouth fell open. She was
mortified. Mack let Luke go and he left the bus right behind Frank. Then Mack
turned and faced Laura.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Mack
said.

Laura dropped the blanket and took
a step back. She started to dress and Mack walked by her to do the same. Once
they were dressed, Mack put his hands to Laura’s waist again and guided her to
the front of the bus. They left the bus and Laura half expected for the rest of
Fallen Tuesday to be standing there, waiting for her walk of shame. Thankfully
they weren't.

Outside, the late morning was
comfortable.

“I can give you a ride home,” Mack
said. “Or you can take a car. If I come with you, I’m not going to leave for
the day.”

“Then you better stay here,” Laura
said.

Mack’s eyes sent a swirl of
emotions through her body. She thought about what Luke had said.

He’s in love with you.

Laura looked to the black car. “Do
you always keep cars waiting?”

“That’s probably for Frank,” Mack
said. “But you take it. He’ll come back for Frank. Are you sure you don’t want
a ride?”

“No. No ride.”

“Hey,” Mack said. He touched
Laura’s face. “Look at me. Talk to me.”

Laura looked at Mack. “What?”

“What’s wrong?”

“When does your tour start?”

“You know that already. Tomorrow
night. Album drops and then we tour.”

“How long is the tour?”

“This first part is just around
here for a couple weeks. Then we start traveling. Why?”

Laura quickly replayed the entire
night in her mind. Confessing to Mack about Jon and
baby Ella.
She had never
told anyone exactly what happened and how it actually felt. Then Mack told her
about Kelly. Was she ready to become the woman that replaces Kelly in Mack’s
heart?

“Are you in love with me?” Laura
blurted out. Laura covered her mouth for a second and then stepped back. “I’m
sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

Mack reached for Laura. “Whoa, wait
a second. Why would you… I…”

“No, Mack. I shouldn’t have asked
that. That was wrong. Not the time or place. I’m going to go.”

Mack followed Laura to the car and
opened the backdoor. The driver got out and looked at Mack.

“Give us a second,” Mack said.
“Then take her where she wants to go.”

Mack looked at Laura.

“It’s a weird morning,” Laura said.
“After last night… all the confessing was a lot to handle."

“I know it was,” Mack said.
“Nothing’s changed today. We both know that."

Laura put a hand to Mack’s hand as
he touched the car door. “Forget that question I asked. It was just something
about the morning. I didn’t want it go away. I didn’t want today to come and
have this happen. You have to go one way and I have to go another.”

“Not for long,” Mack said. “Hell,
you could stay here all day if you want. We’re going to do one more run through
on our set list and then we wait for tomorrow and the show.”

“It’s okay. I have to meet up with
Steph. She's going to go crazy when I give her these passes."

Mack smiled. “You make me go crazy.
And I have an answer to your question.”

“Just keep it for a little while
longer, Mack. I don't know if I'll ever be ready to give... everything…”

“I wouldn’t ask for everything,”
Mack said. He leaned in and kissed Laura.

With the door shut, Laura stared at
Mack. She sensed sadness all around when it shouldn’t have been that way.

Laura was in love with Mack. So
damn in love.

(19)

Laura couldn't breathe. Steph had
her arms so tight around Laura as she tried to jump and scream. The scream was
murmured because Hannah was taking a late afternoon nap. The poor baby had
picked up a little cold and had been sleeping more than normal to fight the
cold away.

“This can’t be real,” Steph said.
She broke the hug and stared at the tickets and passes. “This…”

“It’s real,” Laura said. “Right
from the band manager. You and Jeff can enjoy a night out.”

“I’m calling the babysitter right
now. We get to hang out tonight, sister.”

Laura forced a smile as Steph
rushed away.

Tonight started the Fallen Tuesday
tour. The band would be traveling for years. Across the country and the world,
they would take stage after stage and play for millions of fans.

Millions of fans.

It was amazing to think, and it was
well deserved. Mack’s world peace was being on stage and behind his drums. Or
playing acoustic guitar. It all made sense because he was a total rock star and
nothing mattered more.

Laura listened to Steph make the
call to the babysitter and then to Jeff. She put Jeff on speaker and his voice
screamed so loud, Laura thought the small phone speakers were going to explode.

It made Laura happy to know that
Steph and Jeff were going to have a great night. They’d be standing just feet
away from Fallen Tuesday. Enjoying a great show.

Steph came back into the living
room and hugged Laura again.

“I can’t wait for this!” she cried
out.

“It's going to be fun,” Laura said.

“I can’t believe all this. All
because you jumped on the back of a motorcycle. You’re something special,
Laura. I hope you know that. I’m proud of you.”

“Proud of what?”

“All you’ve done. Your life is a
beautiful story. And if whatever is happening between you and Mack is real,
then keep it real. Don’t let it go. You deserve a life of happiness."

“Thank you,” Laura said. “That
means a lot to me.”

“I know babysitting Hannah wasn’t
easy. And I cannot thank you enough for doing that.”

“It was fine.”

“It wasn’t. Jeff said you looked
confused when you left that night. I should have been more sympathetic to what
you were feeling. I put myself before you that night. That was wrong.”

“I needed to face it,” Laura said.
“I’m getting there, Steph. I promise. I talked to Jon that night.”

“You called him?”

“Yeah. It didn’t go well, but I
have a sense of… I don’t know, understanding I guess. I don’t know.”

“That’s okay to not know,” Steph
said. “As long as you try to stay true to yourself.”

“That, I definitely am doing.”

Hannah let out a stuffy whine and
Steph went to get her. When she brought Hannah downstairs, Laura reached for
her niece. Hannah had a stuffed up nose and her face looked puffy. She looked
right at Laura and started to smile.

“Oh, you want to play our game?”
Laura asked.

She lifted Hannah into the air and
made a silly face. She then brought her down and made the
pop
sound with
her lips. Hannah instantly smiled. Laura did it again and Hannah let out a wild
laugh that made Steph burst out laughing.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard
her laugh so hard,” Steph said.

“Just Aunt Laura being a goof,”
Laura said.

She hugged the baby tight and
kissed the top of her head.

“I have to give her some medicine,”
Steph said.

Laura took Hannah to the kitchen
and put her in her seat.

An hour later, the babysitter
arrived. Laura had met Amber once before. She was a young woman, a freshman in
college. She was very responsible and Steph and Jeff trusted their children
with her.

“I need a shower,” Steph said. “I
have to get ready.”

“Good. You'll have lots of fun,”
Laura said.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yeah. I have to get going.”

“Okay. I’ll catch up with you later
then.”

They hugged and Laura left the
house. She sat in her car for a few seconds, shaking her head. She would see Steph
and Jeff later. Not tonight, no, but definitely later. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe
next week.

It all depended on where the car
could take Laura.

She drove and she thought.

Losing her sweet Ella still hurt
like fire in her chest. But she was gone and there was no changing that. Jon was
living his own life, a good life, getting ready to be married. Laura wasn’t
sure what the future would hold for her. But it couldn’t be with Mack and
Fallen Tuesday. It wasn’t fair. Mack needed to focus on the tour and the band.
Plus, Mack had been in love with Kelly. He would have married her. Laura didn’t
want to replace Kelly and she didn’t want to threaten his memories of her. Mack
deserved a good, strong woman who could take care of him.

Laura could barely take care of
herself.

So she drove. And she drove fast.

There was one road Laura needed to
get to. The road that started all this. It would be the same road to make the final
decision. Wherever the road took her, she would accept it.

Tears filled Laura’s eyes. She
thought about that damn conference call. When the call came through from Jon,
it was far too late.

Probably the same way Mack felt. He
had answered his cell phone, hoping to talk to the woman he loved. But instead
it was a police officer with news that crushed him.

Laura started to slam her hands on
the steering wheel. It didn’t feel right or fair to anyone. To have so much
tragedy in life. Because of it, Laura was on the run again. Fleeing from
commitment. Fleeing from what could be happiness. Fleeing from the life she
could have if she allowed Mack in to her heart.

As Laura wept, her hands shook. She
touched her face and wiped the tears away. Her cell started to ring. It was in
the cup holder. Laura looked and saw it was Mack calling.

“No, Mack, no,” she whispered.
“Please… let me run from you.”

Just as she heard the car horn,
Laura looked up with blurry eyes and saw that she was mere feet away from an
oncoming car. Half her car was on the wrong side of the road. Laura screamed
and cut the wheel to right to avoid a head on collision. Her car swung to the
right and Laura let out a cry as she turned the wheel left and  right, trying
to find traction. The back end of the car kicked out a few times and somehow Laura
managed to save the car from going off the road.

With her nerves in a tight ball of
anger and fear, Laura slowly pulled over and turned the car off. Her body was
shaking and the tears flooded her eyes.

Why would Mack want this? Why
would anyone want this?

Her phone started to ring again.

Mack
…

Laura lifted the phone and declined
the call. She then opened her text message screen and started to type. Her
heart ached and slowly broke into the pieces it had once been. Back before Mack
made it whole again.

*

Mack touched his ear and hit a
stick against the snare drum. It was a tight sounding snare and it sounded
perfect in his ear. He gave a thumbs up to his drum tech and then he pointed
the sticks at the rest of the band.

Luke walked to the mic and said,
“Check one. Check two. Check three. Hello out there…”

His voice boomed throughout the
empty arena. The voice also played in Mack’s ear.

Frank was about four rows back,
standing on the floor and he gave two thumbs up.

“Let’s play!” Luke yelled.

Mack hit the sticks together four times
and Fallen Tuesday broke out into another song. They were running through a
long winded sound check. The first one of the tour. They needed to get the
sound perfect for this opening show. There would be around twenty thousand
people packed into the arena within a few hours. It would be the official start
of the tour. The start of it all.

They ran through the song as
adjustments were being made. When they finished up, Mack stood and looked to
everyone. He took his ear pieces out and yelled, “We all good?”

“Sounds good to me,” Frank yelled.

“I’m solid,” Gray said.

“Ready to roll,” Jake said and hit
a chord. He killed the sound and smiled.

“Okay,” Luke said. “Let’s test the
acoustic setup next.”

The sound checks were sometimes a
pain in the ass to do. But it was all about the sound. Finding a way to make
sure everyone could experience the same show, from the person fighting to be
front row to the person standing with their back against the wall at the top of
the arena.

Stools were brought on stage along
with five acoustic guitars. Luke sat down and strummed a chord. The clean
acoustics sounded amazing as they reverberated all around. The rest of the guys
sat and did the same.

The band played one acoustic song
and then went back to their regular set. Mack sat behind the kit and played a
few minutes by himself, working on a solo that he hoped to debut tonight for
the show.

By the time the sound check was
done, they were all sweating. They gathered at the front of the stage and looked
out to the empty arena. Two people who had been hired by the record company to
take pictures were snapping away from different angles. Mack wasn’t sure how he
felt about it right now, but he knew that one day later in life he’d be able to
look at all the pictures and remember this moment.

To when everything felt perfect.

“What next?” Luke called out.

Frank looked at his watch.
“Nothing. You’ve got a couple hours then we get ready. They’re going to sound
check Gone By Autumn now.”

“Excellent,” Gray said.

The band left the stage and went
backstage. There was so much activity going on right now. Guys with headsets running,
yelling, arguing, talking. There was so much work to be done for each and every
show.

The outside setup was just as
crazy.

There was the massive tour bus for
Fallen Tuesday. The small bus for Gone By Autumn. There was a tractor trailer
with the back open as guys were still unloading some stage setup and equipment.

To Mack’s shock, there was already
a group of fans standing at the gate, chanting the band’s name.

Luke turned to the guys and said,
"It begins now. Let's do this!"

The band went to the gate and
signed autographs. Then Mack grabbed a cell phone from one of the fans and
turned on the video. He spun the phone around and asked, “Tell yourself what
you think of the band.”

Everyone laughed and the woman let
out a scream and said, “I love Fallen Tuesday!”

Mack turned the phone around so it
was filming him and the band. “She loves us.”

He turned the camera off and gave
the phone back.

With a quick wave, Mack and the
band went to the tour bus to relax. This was the hardest part of the touring
and shows. The lag time between everything. It was damn near impossible to keep
the nerves calm. But they had to save their energy for the show.

Mack went straight to his bed and
climbed in. He immediately pictured Laura. He wanted her there right now. He
felt terrible for not answering her question better, but Mack had a question of
his own.

Am
I be good enough to
love her forever?

Mack got his phone and called
Laura. He needed to get her here now so he could tell her exactly how he felt.
Laura didn’t answer the first time, so Mack tried again. That call went to
voicemail quickly and Mack stared at his phone. He could sense something was
wrong. After the embarrassing morning on the bus yesterday, she had acted taken
back and distracted. Scared. Worried. Or maybe she regretted it all. Mack opened
up to her and she…

“She ran,” Mack whispered.

Mack’s phone vibrated and it was a
text message from Laura.

Mack… I’m sorry but I had to go.
You know my story. You know what happens next. You need to be happy
.
I’m sorry
.

Mack read the message three times
before he stood up. He ran to the front of the bus where the rest of the band
was relaxing.

“I have to do something,” Mack
said. “I’ll be back.”

“Whoa,” Trent said. “You can’t
leave, man. The show…”

“We have a little while,” Mack
said.

“Mack,” Luke said.

“I have to!” Mack yelled.

He went outside again, to the
excitement of the fans, and got on his motorcycle. Someone opened the gate and Mack
took off. He barreled out into the parking lot and saw the collection of cars
already starting to pull in. People were set up in the parking lot, having fun
before the show.

But Mack had a mission.

He had to get to Laura.

There was one place Mack thought of
checking and if she wasn’t there, then Mack would keep riding. He couldn't turn
his back on the band and the tour, but he couldn't turn his back on love
either.

The motorcycle roared like thunder as
he rode faster by the second. If Laura was serious about falling in love, she
would be waiting. She could run… but love wouldn’t allow her to run away. There
was a difference.

Damnit, there was a difference.

Mack flew down the road, knowing he
was traveling at a dangerous speed. He wondered if this was what it was like
that day. Was the drunk guy flying down the road before losing control and
hitting Kelly’s car?

It made Mack angry.

Without Laura, the past would continue
to hurt him. And if Laura ran away from Mack, her heart would never heal either.

When Mack spotted a black dot up
ahead on the road, he gripped the handlebars tighter. He rode faster and
watched the black dot turn into something. It turned into a car. And sitting on
the hood of that car was Laura. He could see her, but it felt like it took
hours to get to her.