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

smile.
    “ Look
at him! ” his mother cried
out. “ Shaking hands with
Jake from Fallen Tuesday! ”
    “ Take
a picture, ” Trent said.
    The band huddled together with
mother and son for a few pictures. She thanked the band ten more times and then
they moved on.
    Jake ’ s
heart had too many emotions running through it. For the next few minutes, he
was in autopilot. Engaging with fans but not really sure what he was saying or
what it meant to them. Two girls cried as they recalled a story of how their
father recently died from cancer. They wanted to thank the band for their
music, because it was all he listened to for comfort during the worst of his
days. That made Jake think about the pregnancy even more; would he be a good
enough dad that his child would miss him that much if he passed away?
    The small stage was just a hundred
feet away, but the path to it was like a metaphor for Jake ’ s life in that moment; he was so
close to having his rockstar life, but there were obstacles and people between
him and the stage.
    “ Hey,
check this out! ” Gray said. “ We have another fan in
training. ”
    Jake turned and almost lost his
step. There was only one thing that could have been harder than seeing a woman
with an infant son. And that was seeing a pregnant woman.
    She stood holding her belly. Two
security guards surrounded her and fought the crowd back.
    The rest of the band rushed over. Jake
hung back.
    “ She
okay? ” Luke asked.
    “ Yeah, ” one of the guards said. “ Crazy enough to stand at a gate.
Thought she was going to hurt herself. Or her baby. ”
    “ I ’ m sorry, ” the woman said. “ I
had to meet you guys. I couldn ’ t
help it. ”
    She touched her stomach and blinked
away tears.
    “ What ’ s wrong? ” Mack asked.
    “ Just … life … but your music means so much …”
    Christ, Jake thought.
    He could see it in the woman ’ s eyes. She was alone. Probably
knocked up by some random guy or maybe some asshole who used her and ditched
her.
    His heart ripped a little more. It
made him feel terrible for contemplating leaving Chloe. He would support her.
She ’ d have more than enough
money to survive. To raise a baby on her own. Nobody would go homeless or
hungry. But what kind of father did that make Jake then? How fair would it be
for Chloe to be alone all the time with no one to comfort her when she felt too
big or was too uncomfortable?
    Jake turned and faced the stage. He
ignored everything around him. He saw the speakers, the mic stands, Mack ’ s drum kit. Life was happening
too fast and felt way too real. Part of being a rockstar was about living in the
fantasy of it, and this did not feel like that at all.
    “ Hey,
you okay? ”
    Jake turned to Trent and nodded. “ I'm good. ”
    “ You
look … out of it. ”
    “ Overwhelmed
a little, ” Jake said. “ So many people, right? ”
    “ Bro,
we played in front of forty thousand people, ” Trent said. “ This is
nothing compared to that. ”
    “ But
we ’ re hearing and seeing
their lives, man, ” Jake
said. “ Up close and
personal. ”
    “ Is
that all? ” Trent asked with
a smile.
    “ Come
on, man. You know how I am with this stuff. I ’ m
not like Luke and Mack. ”
    Jake nodded in the direction of the
band - his brothers - and watched Luke and Mack talk to and work the
crowd as if they were all old friends. That wasn ’ t
how Jake operated. He liked being the quiet guitarist. His mystery only made
his guitar playing better. His demeanor drove fans wild and five years ago, it
was one of the biggest reasons women did anything to get on the band ’ s old touring van.
    “ I
get it, ” Trent said. “ But look how close we are to the
stage. ”
    Jake didn ’ t respond. He heard Trent but that was about it. He
simply looked at the pregnant woman. She was still touching her very round
belly. She was blinking fast, tears in her eyes. Luke had his arm around her.
The crowd cheered and cheered. Jake ’ s
heart raced