“Wow, your brother lives here?” Chloe pointed up at the three-story, cream-colored stucco traditional, decorated with a circular driveway and a stone fountain centered perfectly in the middle.

“Impressive, right?” Emelia put an arm around her friend’s shoulders, so glad she had decided to fly to LA to join them. She would be helping with some marketing efforts for the rest of the tour, mostly, helping Emelia keep up with her freelance work.

“Little Campbell really made it in the world, eh?” Chloe winked at Emelia as she flashed her hot pink manicured hands around in the air. “It’s too bad he’s married now.” She poked out her bottom lip with satire.

“You did not just say that,” Emelia laughed and playfully slapped her friend on the shoulder. “I don’t even want to imagine you and my brother.”

“He’s a wealthy man. What’s not to love?” Chloe feigned innocence.

“He’s not that rich.” Even as she said the words, Emelia knew they weren’t true. Her big brother had done really well for himself.

They were in Los Angeles for three days, and Grant had rented a car for them to share. He had made a disgusted face when she had asked him to join them at Campbell’s for dinner tonight. So she’d left him immersed in something on his phone — no skin off her back. She had Chloe anyway.

“I can’t believe Grant would rather stay in the hotel room rotting away when he could be here at this mansion having free dinner,” Chloe joked as they climbed the stone steps leading up to the front porch.

“Me either,” Emelia pressed the doorbell. “Now calm down. Don’t embarrass me.”

The front door flung open, and a tall, fit Campbell scooped Emelia into his arms.

“Emelia!” He gave her a giant squeeze. “It’s so great to see you,” he crooned.

“You too!” Emelia’s voice was muffled against his chest.

He let her go, and she introduced Chloe, who shook his hand enthusiastically.

“This is some home you have here.” She gestured around the grand marble-floored foyer in awe.

“Thanks.” Campbell shrugged humbly. “It’s really my wife, Sarah. She’s an Interior Designer. She has a knack for this kind of stuff.”

“Did somebody call my name?”

A petite, well-endowed brunette with shoulder-length straight hair waltzed into the room, a bright smile on her face. She was wearing shorts and a dress shirt displaying tiny little roses all over it.

“Hi, Sarah!” Emelia chimed as the two women embraced in. “This is my friend, Chloe Adams.”

“It’s lovely to meet you. Emelia, where is your male friend?”

Emelia and Chloe shared a glance. “Oh. He uh...” she trailed off and searched for the right words. She didn’t want to make Grant seem like a total ass. “He’s so tired from the tour that he decided to stay at the hotel and rest.”

“That’s too bad.” Campbell’s disappointment was apparent in his voice. “Tell him that we’re sorry we missed him.”

“Will do.”

She tossed Chloe a subtle glance of appreciation for her discretion on keeping the white lie about Grant.

“I thought it might be nice if we enjoyed the meal on the back terrace by the pool,” Sarah suggested.

“Are you kidding?” Chloe all but shrieked. “That sounds amazing.”

Campbell welcomed them inside and gave a brief tour for Chloe’s benefit. Emelia had been here twice before, once when they’d first bought the place and again for their fifth wedding anniversary. The splendid home was flooded with natural light, soothing in cream and beige hues dotted with colorful accents from Sarah’s expert decorating. They exited a pair of French doors to a large patio in the back. Palm trees encased the space, a considerable pergola towering over plush outdoor seating. Despite the heat of the day, two dome-shaped fire pits were lit, flames dancing from opaque and colored stones on the tops.

“You ever miss Chicago winters?” Emelia quipped.

Campbell nodded as he glanced around his deck, pool and mini outdoor kitchen with pride. “Hell. No.”

“You mean you guys don’t miss digging your car out of a foot of snow every morning from October to April?” Chloe joked.

He held up a bottle of Moscato. “Let’s cheer to never shoveling snow, ever, ever again.”

“Easy for you to say. We still live in Chicago!” Emelia accepted a glass and passed it to her friend. She kept the next glass for herself and took a seat.

Her brother gave her a curious glance, one eyebrow raised. “You know sis, my offer always stands. Whenever you’re ready to come to LA, just say the word.”

She cupped her wine glass in her hands and avoided Chloe’s curious glance. She hadn’t mentioned to her bestie that Campbell had offered her a job, multiple times, while welcoming her to stay right here, as long as she wanted. If not for her relationship with Grant, she’d seriously consider it. She could find a lot of social media management work with her brother’s connections and grow her business. Hell, she could probably even hire Chloe full time to help. The thought caused a burst of excitement to go through her.

But she couldn’t. She was tied to Grant, well, connected. Loyal. Devoted.

Except that Trevor and the band were thinking about taking up permanent residence in LA. She had overheard them talking about it. Now that they’d made something of themselves, it was only natural to ditch their crappy studio in Chicago for the real deal here in California. She was devoted to Grant, sure. But—

“Thanks, Campbell. I’ll think about it.”

“What’s to think about, Em?” Chloe nearly fell off her seat with excitement. “Do it and bring me with you!”

They all laughed, but for Emelia, it wasn’t humorous. It was an opportunity for change.

“So, what is for dinner?” She needed to change the subject, badly.

“Salmon, orzo, salad, and tomatoes from my hydroponic garden,” Sarah said proudly.

“Oooh, I’d love to see that.”

“Sure, Chloe, come on. I’ll show you.” Sarah rose from her seat and handed her wine off to her husband. She gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head before walking away. 

Emelia smiled. She had always liked Sarah and appreciated how caring and nurturing she was to Campbell. She couldn’t imagine anyone else better suited for her brother. They’d had a decent life, blue-collar parents, that did everything they could to care for them. Campbell had a harder time growing up. He had been Kyle’s protector, his guardian. And each time their brother was picked on for his intellectual and physical disabilities, Campbell had felt it right down to his bones. When a particular group of teenagers made it their life’s mission to ruin Kyle’s life with their constant bullying, Campbell had gone so far as to confront them all and walked away with two black eyes, a broken nose, and a shattered collarbone.

And then Kyle had died. And Campbell fled Chicago and never looked back.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” He took a seat beside her and looped his arm over her shoulders.

She traced the rim of her glass with her finger. “Was just thinking about Kyle and that picture you sent me of him and Trevor Jameson together. He would have loved seeing how far Trevor and the band have come.”

“Aside from you, he was their biggest fan. So, does Trevor have any idea the two of you went to school together? It was just a short time, but, does he remember you?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Well, how crazy is it that you ended up working for him after all these years? How’s the tour been so far?”

“Surreal! Amazing! It’s just, like another world.”

“He came pretty far for a kid with a past like his. Junkie parents, living in foster care. Being bounced around.”

She finished her wine, enjoying the heat as it slid down her throat. “I guess he had the motivation to do better.”

Campbell refilled her glass, then his. They sat in silence for a moment before he squinted his eyes.

“You know, things could have gone a completely different way for Trevor if he’d kept hanging out with the Rigger brothers.”

She shuddered at the sound of their name. Those boys had been the death of Kyle.

“What do you mean, kept hanging out with them? He wasn’t part of that clique.”

“You don’t remember? Come on, Em. Remember, he had Shane Rigger playing drums for a while, and the four of them were pretty tight until Roman found another drummer and broke their little bromance up.” He took a drink. “I have to admit, whenever I hear the name Infinity Prism, I think of Trevor being part of that damn group, and it gives me a sour taste in my mouth.”

How could she have not known about that?

“He wasn’t with them very long, though, right? I mean, that night...”

Campbell put a hand on her wrist. “No, honey. No. He wasn’t part of the group that night. They’d parted ways by then.”

Grief cut through her. That night was a blur. All she had was Campbell’s recount of the car skidding out of control, of Kyle.

Poor, poor Kyle.

“That garden is off the chain! Em, you should totally see it. She had got herbs and tomatoes and like, a hundred kinds of lettuce growing in water.”

Campbell gave Emelia a loving embrace before rising to help his wife get food on the table. Chloe rambled on and on about the garden, the weather, the landscaping, barely taking a breath in between topics. Finally, as they sat down to eat, Emelia felt herself come back to the present. Honestly, she didn’t mind retreating into herself because, in that space in her mind, that’s where Kyle lived now. And it was the only place she could go to see him again.

“I could get used to this,” Emelia sighed as she took a bite of the flaky, deliciously seasoned salmon.

“Me too.” Chloe was scarfing down some of the homegrown vegetables. “This food is seriously amazing.”

“The view isn’t terrible either.”.

“You guys are welcome to come and visit any time you want.” Max took his wife’s hand and squeezed it as they gazed adoringly into each other’s eyes.

“You know Campbell; I’m going to seriously consider your offer.”

The words popped out of her mouth, but it didn’t feel wrong to say them. He gave a double thumbs-up.

“The house, the grounds, the weather, hell, that pool over there, all yours for as long as you want to stay. This house is so damn big, and we’d never see you if you wanted to stay hidden away. I mean, don’t do that, but you know what I mean.”

Sarah set down her fork. “Em, maybe you’d like to come to stay for a while after the tour? For a little rest and rejuvenation. I was a stage producer in my former life; I know how taxing the long nights and even longer travel times can be.”

Campbell took his wife’s hand and stared at her with adoration. “That’s a great idea, sweetheart. She can take LA for a test drive if you will.”

She had a pang of jealousy at the look passing between her brother and his wife. Their apparent wealth and comfort were enviable, but this love between them was more so. She and Grant had their moments, but they didn’t have this. Could she imagine being married to him, tied to him in the most legal way possible with the promise to remain so until death?

She was comfortable with Grant, but not over-the-top in love with him. Honestly, even her comfort level with him had dwindled after his recent aggressive behavior. He was distant lately, always on his phone and side-tracked when she tried to talk to him. They hadn’t even had sex since the tour began!

No, her motivation and desire to be in this relationship were in jeopardy. Especially when she witnessed love like this. And, when she felt something remarkably warm and intimate when she was with Trevor. She deserved more. But did she have what it took to break things off with Grant? Or, should she give him another chance, talk to him, see if they could get the passion and fun back into their relationship?

The rest of the evening passed with good conversation, reminiscing and laughter. It was midnight before Emelia figured it was time to go. Campbell walked them out to a backdrop of musical crickets hiding in the bushes.

She hugged him, not wanting to let go. “I’m going to miss you.

“I’m going to miss you too, sis.” Campbell gave her an extra squeeze of affection before they parted. “Hey, seriously consider staying here for a while after the tour!” He cast her a wave as she got back in the car. Nostalgia threatened to reduce her to tears.

“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered, then suddenly realized she’d attested that sacred oath out loud.

“Why not?” Chloe cast a concerned look. Emelia focused on backing out of the driveway. “What’s wrong, Emelia?”

“Nothing.” Emelia immediately attempted to recover. “I just...had a great time tonight. I guess I don’t want it to end.” 

“Yeah.” Chloe glanced out the window. “Me too. Back to reality.” She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

Emelia gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She didn’t want to go back to reality. Having this dinner tonight with her brother and his wife forced her to reflect on her own flawed relationship.

No union was perfect, but she couldn’t help but wonder whether she and Grant were destined to fail. She didn’t want to have that viewpoint, but the more she tried to shift her thoughts to him, the stronger she saw the intense and handsome face of Trevor staring back at her.