A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) Read Free Page A

and the band
then entered the last chorus three times before the song ended. They purposely went
right into each of the next songs so the radio host wasn't given a chance to
talk. In total, they played four songs. Two new songs. Two old songs. The
second they hit the last note on the last song, Luke stood up. Jake, Trent, and
Gray hurried to put their guitars down. Mack was already at the door. There was
no way in hell the band was going to give the radio host a chance to ask another
dumb or uncomfortable question.
    In the hallway, Frank met them. “ What the hell, guys? ”
    “ We
played, ” Jake said. “ We ’ re
done. No more questions. Time for the fans. ”
    “ You
should go in there, ” Frank
said. “ Say something about
the album. ”
    Mack opened the door again and
nodded. “ Go ahead. Get in
there. ”
    Jake gave Frank a quick slap to his
face and smiled. “ Tell the
world about us, Frank. ”
    “ We ’ re going outside to be with the
fans, ” Luke said.
    These were the moments when it felt
good to be a rockstar. The freedom of being able to do whatever the hell they
wanted, when they wanted.
    Halfway down the stairs, four security
men with radio pieces in their ears met them. They wore black and looked big
enough to be linebackers on a professional football team. They turned and led
the way down the rest of the steps. Jake loved it. The fact that they needed
security guards got his adrenaline pumping. He wanted to scream, jump, and run
out the doors to their loyal fans. When they reached the door, one of the
guards mumbled something into his radio and then opened the door to another
group of guards waiting to escort the band through the crowd.
    Jake stopped and looked around.
    Hundreds of people were screaming
and jumping. Waving signs. Taking pictures with their cell phones.
    He soon realized he wasn ’ t the only one who stopped. The
rest of the band stopped too. They all stood there taking it in.
    A woman screamed Jake ’ s name as loud as she could.
Jake looked at her and smiled.
    “ What? ” he asked.
    The woman ’ s mouth fell open. She screamed again and started
to jump. She held out a CD and a marker. Jake started to jump, mimicking the
woman. He laughed and then jumped right to her and signed the CD. She threw her
arms around him and hugged him.
    “ I
love you so much, ” she
screamed in his ear.
    Soon there were dozens of hands
clawing at Jake.
    The rest of the band came to him
and the crowd started to swell. Everyone pushed and pulled, wanting their
chance to get near Fallen Tuesday.
    Jake felt people pushing and let
out a whistle. “ Hey! We ’ ve got time. Relax. Everyone
have fun. ”
    The band took their time and walked
up and down the parking lot. Shaking hands. Fist bumps. Autographs. Pictures.
Answering questions … denying marriage proposals … the usual.
    A woman worked her way through the
crowd carrying a baby. When Jake spotted the infant, it stopped him dead in
tracks. The first person he thought of was Chloe. The woman and her baby wore
matching Fallen Tuesday shirts. It never dawned on Jake before that they made
Fallen Tuesday shirts for infants.
    “ Look
at this guy, ” Luke said.
    “ We
love you guys so much, ” she
said. “ He listened to you
from the time he was in my belly. I swear on it. His father put headphones on
my stomach. ”
    “ That ’ s awesome, ” Mack said. “ What his name? ”
    “ Lucas
Mack …”
    “ No
way, ” Luke said.
    The woman ’ s face blushed as she nodded. “ I would have named him everyone
one of your names. But when we have more kids, I swear, we ’ ll name them after the rest of
you guys. ”
    Jake was taken back. He just stared
at the baby. The infant looked around with big blue eyes. Gumming two of his
fingers. Slobbering everywhere. He had fat cheeks and fat little fingers. Jake
put a hand out and the infant grabbed his pointer finger.
    “ Hey
buddy, ” Jake said.
    The baby - Lucas Mack -
smiled a big toothless