Chapter 1

Gage

“The best I could arrange is standby on a two-thirty flight heading into Oakland. If you make it to Oakland on time, you’re booked on a four-thirty flight from there to Portland,” Madi explained.

“Standby? Seriously, Madi, there has to be an available flight out of here,” I said in desperation. “Can I transfer at a different airport?” If things worked out, this would be an improvement over the nine-thirty flight I’d booked, but I’d been hoping she’d find me a confirmed seat.

“Don’t you think I already tried those options?” I could picture her eyebrow arched in question. It was a dumb question. Madi was incredibly efficient. She’d likely checked all options, some I’d never consider.

“Sorry,” I said on a sigh. “I really do appreciate you doing this for me. This definitely isn’t part of your job.”

“I know you appreciate it, and I’m sorry I can’t give you better news,” she began. “You are spoiled, Gage Addison,” she added with a laugh.

She was right. I was spoiled. Since my band, Reckless Release, had signed with a major record label six months ago, I’d quickly gotten used to living like a rock star. Technically, I wasn’t that famous yet. There was no private jet, but I was used to flying first class when I visited my mom in Portland. Waiting on standby for a coach seat on a crowded flight was definitely not something I wanted to deal with, especially when I was already stressed out.

“Don’t tell me you’d be excited about flying coach,” I told her.

Amelia Madison, or Madi as we all called her, was our business manager. We’d hired her when we started making good money. It wasn’t only Madi’s successful career that clued me in to the fact that she’d never flown coach. Amelia Madison was the daughter of a wealthy tech mogul and the wife of a successful corporate lawyer.

“I’m not the one who insisted on flying up to Portland last minute,” she pointed out. “Be glad I like you and the rest of the band enough to take care of this for you.”

“You are incredible, Madi,” I said with feeling. “When are you going to leave your husband and run away with me?”

Every member of the band agreed, Madi was irreplaceable. She was more than our business manager; she was our friend. Her husband was also great. I’d expected him to have a stick up his ass, but he was actually an okay guy who didn’t mind when one of us proposed to Madi—something that happened at least once a week. Usually, it was Xander, our lead singer. The tradition had started the day he discovered she could make waffles.

She snorted. “As I’ve told you all several times, the only band member I’d consider leaving my husband for is Harley.”

“She’s crazy,” I began. “You wouldn’t really choose Harley over me, would you?”

“She’s the only one who could offer me something Ethan can’t,” she stated.

I chuckled. “Fine. Remind me that your husband is more successful than I am.”

She snorted. “That’s not why I stay with him, but we don’t have time to talk about my husband’s many fine qualities. You need to get off this phone and rush your rocker ass through security.”

“Thanks again, Madi,” I began. “I definitely owe you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she replied. “You still aren’t on a flight. You should get off the phone and hurry to the gate.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

She was right about me needing to get off the call for more than one reason. My phone battery was about to die.

I had my baseball cap pulled low to conceal my face as I made my way through security and hurried to my gate. It was crazy that people recognized me. Normally, I didn’t mind getting stopped. Seriously, it was awesome having people tell me they loved my music. Today, I’d barely make it to the gate on time without any extra stops.

With the upcoming tour, I didn’t have time for a trip to Portland, but my mom needed me. She wasn’t always stable enough to act like a responsible adult, and she’d sounded off when I’d talked to her. Though she’d always been good at taking her medication, she had episodes where she needed inpatient psychiatric care.

During one of her longest stretches living at home, she’d done a good job of raising me and my half-brother, Colin. That said a lot about how great my mom was. Colin wasn’t my mom’s son. She’d divorced my dad after learning of Colin’s existence. More accurately, she’d divorced my dad after learning of his long-standing affair and secret love child. After Colin’s mom died, he was stuck with my dad. That isn’t a good place for any child. He’d come home with me from a visit to my dad’s and stayed for five years. That had been my mom’s longest stretch of sanity.

When she’d called to tell me it was urgent I come home, I’d immediately started planning my trip. It might be nothing, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I’d tried to get her to move closer to me, but she refused to leave her condo. My mom didn’t like change. Normally, my aunt would stop by to check on her, but she was out of town, meaning I was the only one available.

After making my way through security, I tried my mom’s number again, hoping to get a better idea of what was going on. This last call would kill my battery.

“Hello,” she answered in a tired voice.

“Hey, Mom,” I greeted her.

“Are you on your way, Gage?” she asked in a more urgent tone.

“I have a standby ticket on a flight to Oakland. From there, I’ll connect to a Portland flight.”

“Standby?” she asked. “What if they don’t have any extra seats?”

“I won’t be there until after midnight if that happens,” I admitted.

“Can’t you use your influence to get someone bumped from the flight?” she demanded.

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t do that,” I said with a sigh. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“I need to show you,” she insisted.

“Send me a picture,” I coaxed.

“You need to see this in person,” she argued. “I’ll see you soon.”

There was no holding back my sigh of frustration when my mom abruptly ended the call. It looked like I’d have to wait until I got to Portland to figure out what was going on.