Real Time (19 page)

“How’s Christian?” she asked.

“He beat it one more time. Doctor said he’ll be fine.”

“He has someone in heaven watching. That boy was stone dead on the floor earlier.”

“He finally agreed to go to rehab. I made the arrangements before I left so he couldn’t change his mind,” Nick confirmed. “Hopefully, it does some good. We can only hope.”

“I’m sure Trent is relieved. Where are you now?” Kate asked.

“Almost to Long Beach. I should be there soon.”

“Good. Today’s been a really long day.”

“Won’t disagree with you there, love,” Nick said, hearing something in her tone of voice. “You’ve something in mind?”

“You bet,” she said softly. “Most of which includes your sexy body.”

“Better hope I don’t get a ticket,” he said laughing. “My speed went up another ten.”

“I have dinner in the oven. I thought we could have a quiet evening.”

“Dinner might be quiet,” he teased. “Lots of noise later.”

* * *

K
ate laughed with his comments, glad she could hear he was over the incident with Christian. Some issues lasted longer with him and she never knew which way he would go. Kate found it was easier to stay with general conversation and not get too inquisitive until she had established his mood. The fact he called her in the first place was a good indication things were going well. They didn’t normally drive into the studio together so they would get home at different times. If Kate was recording tracks for someone, it could be well into the evening before she got home. She cherished the times they had, like tonight. A simple dinner, some conversation, and the time they shared in the bedroom.
Doesn’t get any better than that
, she thought.

T
he new tour started off without a hitch. Nick continued to play for sold out crowds even with the shows they did in Canada. Instead of declining like other singers or groups who had been in the music world for years, it seemed Nick was as popular as he had been in the early days. His records had quit selling only at gold level over five years ago and now the platinum records had become double platinum, which were two million copies; one had gone diamond, which was over ten million. The latest one immediately went platinum in the first week of its release and the single, “Real Time” was still sitting at number one on the Billboard chart, even after almost two months. It had become almost common to have extra shows added now just to accommodate the demand. The guys growled good-naturedly that they were starting to spend more nights on the bus than ever before. With Arlan running the day to day business, Nick’s phone calls had dropped to only two a week - and this was to check in and make sure all was running fine.

Kate had finished drying her hair when her cell phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, she noticed the phone number was strange – obviously not a US number. She didn’t know of anyone who would be calling from out of the country but answered it, hoping it wasn’t some crank caller.

“Hello?”

“Kate?” the voice on the phone said. “This is Trevor, Nick’s brother.”

“What’s wrong?” Kate asked instantly. She was surprised it was Trevor - she wasn’t aware that he even had her cell number but figured Nick must have given it to him.

Trevor paused for a moment. “Is Nick with you by chance?”

“No. He’s gone down to one of the local radio stations to do a promo for the shows here in Minneapolis,” Kate told him. “What’s the matter?”

“Our mum died,” Trevor said, almost a whisper.

“I’m so sorry,” Kate said sympathetically. “Are you all right?”

There was another pause on the phone. “I will be, yes. “

Kate could hear the hesitancy in his voice. It was the same tone she would hear from Nick and Kate knew there was more going on than what was being said at face value. “What else, Trevor?” Kate asked. “You have to tell me. I’m not going to spend two days trying to pry this out of Nick, because he’s a bastard on tour with normal issues.”

Trevor gave a little laugh. “A little blunt, aren’t you, Kate?”

“It’s the truth. Nick’s one of the hardest people I‘ve ever worked for and musicians in general tend to be fairly arrogant. Being married to him doesn’t fix that - it only helps make it easier to deal with his moods.”

“Mum died last Saturday,” Trevor said, starting to explain. “Phillip didn’t tell anyone and I found out this morning when Catherine called me.”

“Today is Thursday. She died
six
days ago and your brother didn’t call you?’ Kate asked, stunned. “I understand why he didn’t call Nick, but I thought you two were close.”

“Not since Nick and I started to patch things up. Last time I talked to Phillip he called me all kinds of names and hung up on me. That was about a month after I saw Nick in London.”

“So his wife called you this morning?” Kate confirmed.

“Catherine said that she didn’t think what Phillip did was right. He took care of all the arrangements, did no funeral service, and she’s already buried in the cemetery plot with my dad.”

Kate didn’t say anything for a moment. “Your brother is a vindictive asshole,” she said in a definite tone. “This is going to be really hard on Nick. Your mom was the only reason he came for your dad’s funeral.”

“I know. How long before you think Nick will be back?”

“Probably an hour or so. When he gets here, I’ll call you back and hand him the phone. Work for you?”

“I’ve cancelled my classes for the rest of the day, so I’ll be waiting for it.”

“I’m sorry, Trevor,” Kate said again. “Losing a parent is never easy and I know you’ve lost both of yours in a short time.”

“I appreciate that, Kate,” he answered and they finished the call.

Wonderful.
After what had happened at his dad’s funeral, Kate had not picked up any kind of respect for either of Nick’s brothers. She was still working on this with Trevor because he and Nick were trying to lay down a foundation they never had before. They talked at least a couple of times a month – a little less now since Nick was on tour. But this was almost heinous in Kate’s mind.
To not tell any of your immediate family their mother died
? She was thankful Trevor was going to tell him because this would not be something she wanted to relay. Both sets of her parents had been loving and kind. Her stepfather was wonderful – sometimes even more loving than her own father had been. But her dad had been sick most of her pre-teen years and they hadn’t been able to enjoy a comfortable father/daughter relationship.

Nick was back in about an hour, as Kate had guessed he would be. He was in a pretty good mood which told her the radio interview had gone well. Nick didn’t like doing them – he liked the radio ones better than the television ones – but knew he had to sell his music however he could. It wasn’t usually necessary because his shows were already sold out but he would keep tickets for the radio stations to give away which always made the fans happy.

Nick walked into their suite with Sam talking about tonight’s show. Kate made eye contact with Sam and motioned for him to go back out of the room. Sam made a quick excuse and left. Kate pulled out her cell phone, walking over to Nick. She dialed Trevor’s number, got him on the phone, and handed it to Nick. Nick looked confused but took the phone from her, walking into the bedroom.

Kate didn’t walk in while he was talking to his brother but was half listening from the sitting room. When it was certain the call was finished, she took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom. She found Nick sitting on the bed and sat down on the bed beside him. She gently put her hand on top of his that was resting on his thigh, giving it a tight squeeze for support.

“Trevor tell you the whole story?”

“Yes,” Kate said. “I feel bad because I badgered him to tell me. I was afraid you would keep it locked up inside and I would have to nag you to get you to tell me. I didn’t want to do that. You have enough stress while we are out on the road - you didn’t need me in your face. “

“I’d like to say I can’t believe Phillip would do what he did, but I can believe it,” Nick said quietly. “It does surprise me he excluded Trevor.”

“From the sound of things, Nick, you can only be on one side. Phillip’s or yours. Trevor didn’t like the way Phillip was acting toward you and made a stand. He told me he hadn’t spoken to Phillip in over two years.”

“Trevor’s going to do a memorial service there at the college and broadcast it live back here to me so we can be a part of it, albeit remote.”

“That will at least provide a little closure for you both,” Kate agreed. “Are you okay?”

“Do I have much of a choice?” Nick asked. “I know my mum missed my dad badly. They’d been married over seventy years. That’s a long time to be married to the same person and I don’t wish her back. And this will let me close the door on the whole animosity thing with Phillip. I’ve spent the better part of forty years not talking to him. Can easily do another forty.”

“It’s sad things are that way, Nick.”

“Indeed. Off you go, love. I would like some time by myself for a while if that’s all right.”

“It’s fine. I’ll tell Sam to keep folks out.” Kate stood up and left the room. Going out into the hallway, she found Sam waiting by the door. “Nick’s mom died,” Kate told Sam. “Nick said he needs some time to himself.”

“I’ll keep people out,” Sam agreed.

“I’m going down to the lobby to call my parents.”

“Take someone with you,” Sam said.

Kate found Jake talking with Mike by the elevators. She told them she wanted to go down to the lobby to call her folks and Jake agreed to go with her. Kate didn’t think it was necessary but it was futile to argue with Sam.

The lobby of the hotel was spacious and Kate made her way to the business area, where the Wi-Fi signal was better, and called her parents. Her mom was home and Kate told her about Nick’s mom’s passing. Nancy was shocked when she told her what his brother had done. After the call to her mom, Kate went over to a computer and sat down. After about twenty minutes, she had what she was looking for. Phillip had done an obituary for his mom – he hadn’t included that she had any other family other than Phillip’s immediate family. Kate picked up a pencil off the desk and wrote down the name and number for the newspaper in London on the notepad next to the computer. She picked up her cell phone and called the newspaper.

Being around Nick for two years had rubbed off on her as she was able to understand the thick Cockney accent of the girl in the obituary department and was able to make clear there were some things missing from Tessa Marshall’s obituary, asking for it to be edited and sent back out. The girl at the newspaper – her name was Maggie – took all of the information Kate gave her regarding both Nick, Trevor, and Trevor’s family. Kate glossed over Nick, not making a big deal out of his name and Maggie offered to email her the new copy. She gave Maggie her email address and while they were still talking, the new version came over her phone. Since Kate had a smartphone, she was able to look at it while talking to Maggie and thanked her for her efforts. Once off the phone, Kate logged into her email on the hotel computer and printed a copy to take up to Nick. She planned to email it to Trevor as soon as she got his email address from Nick.

Once upstairs, Kate headed to the general room and found Nick there, in conversation with Mickey. Kate was glad he had left solitude behind and was back among everyone in a short amount of time. Kate handed the email to Nick before going over to pour a glass of ice tea from the pitcher that was on the counter. Nick and Mickey finished their conversation and Mickey left to go execute whatever they had been talking about. “What’s this, love?” Nick asked.

“It’s a copy of the revised obituary that’s going to run tomorrow in the London Daily Telegraph. It seems your brother forgot your mom had two more sons, two more daughters-in-law, and four more grandchildren.”

Nick shook his head. “Trevor will be pleased. I think he’s more torn over what Phillip did than my mum’s passing.”

“I have the electronic copy too if you have his email address,” Kate told him. “Trevor is caught in the middle between you two. But I’m thinking this is going to shove him the rest of the way over the fence into your court.”

“He called back a little bit ago. He set the memorial service up for nine tomorrow morning, our time,” Nick told her. “Sam said it won’t be any problem to broadcast it up here.”

Kate came up behind Nick and rubbed his shoulders, trying to work out the tension she knew was there. “Are you doing all right?”

“You keep doing that and I’ll be asleep, love,” Nick told her. “I’m fine. I was prepared for her to go. She didn’t sound too good the last few times I spoke with her. I am, however, more than a little pissed at Phillip.”

“You should be. That was a horrid thing to do.”

“And I’m worried about Trevor,” Nick told her. “He’s taking this really hard. He’s going to see about taking some time off and spending a week with us while we are on tour. I told him he could come see what the rest of the world does. He’s been steeped in academia since he was eighteen.”

“He’ll probably run back screaming; this is not for the weak of heart,” Kate teased.

“Not that whole obsessive thing again.”

“He laughed when I said you were a bastard on tour. I don’t think anyone has ever been that forthcoming with him.”

“I try not to be,” Nick said, petulantly, muttering under his breath.

“You can’t help it, Nick. You didn’t get where you are now by being meek and indecisive,” Kate said, reaching down to hug him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Nick said. “This was so much easier than when my dad died.”

“I think Trevor being here will be good for you. I’m glad you two have managed to work things out.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” Nick agreed, standing up and pulling her into an embrace. “It shows me a lot of what I’d been missing.”

“You’re a lot more relaxed now than when I first met you.”

“We can be more relaxed later, you and I,” he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows at her. Kate laughed and he kissed her softly. “I have empty sheet music that isn’t going to write itself. Am going to get on it,” he said, hugging her once more then walking out of the room.