“Of course, we’ve got your back, Pix.”
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Over and over in front of the mirror this morning, she’d said to herself, You will keep your shit together.
Pixie took a deep breath before she answered. “Thanks, both of you. For this. For saving me all those years ago. You’ve been the best family I could have wished for.”
“Speaking of family,” Cujo said, looking down at Petal, then back to her, “you want to tell us what else is on your mind?”
“I wanted to ask if there was a way for me to drop to part time,” she said bravely, despite the way she was shaking all the way down to her knees.
“You don’t want to leave?” Trent asked. “Perhaps move somewhere colder?”
Pixie shook her head. “No, not yet. I’ve only known Dred for what, seven months, and we’ve been together a lot less. And there’s all this with Arnie, and Dred has a tour coming up. No. I’m going to stay where I am for now, but going down to part time will enable me to start up my business and give me a little more flexibility to fly out and see Dred while he’s on the road.”
“Yes,” Cujo said.
“Yep,” Trent agreed.
“It’s that simple?” she asked.
“Of course it is,” Cujo said, making a funny face at Petal. “Look, she’s smiling at me.”
“She’s got gas,” Trent added with a laugh. “Yeah, it’s that simple, Pix. We’ve been thinking about expanding. We’re constantly turning away people right now. So Cujo and I have been chatting about adding two more artists and a body-mod expert. Perhaps the body-mod expert doubles as a part-time office manager too while they build their client list. By the time they do that, you’ll have a better idea of where you want to be.”
Pixie shook her head. “I don’t know what to say, guys. I love you both.”
There was a knock at the door, and Drea walked in wearing her work uniform. “Here’s your gym bag as instructed, Mr. Bossy—whoa!”
Pixie could see the exact moment Drea realized the man she was madly in love with was holding a baby.
Cujo waved Petal’s hand. “Hey, Drea,” he said in a baby voice. Drea sighed.
Trent laughed. “Oh my God. Harper was the same. Ga-ga over a baby.”
Drea put her hand over her heart.
“Put that look away,” Cujo laughed. “None of these until there’s a ring on your finger and your university degree certificate is nailed to our wall.”
Pixie could feel the love between Cujo and Drea. She felt the comfort from Trent holding her hand in his, and looked at Petal blowing bubbles.
Sometimes, it really was that simple.
*
Dred wandered into the studio, his mind drifting in a thousand different directions. He owed it to Sam to speak to him before he fired his ass for the misery he’d created. But first he needed to explain to the band what was going on.
Their producer, Stu, was sitting at his desk. “Morning, Dred. Ready to get those lyrics wrapped up from yesterday?”
“Hey, Stu. Can I get five with the guys first?”
“Yeah, I’ll go get caffeine. Long day today, right?”
Dred focused on the guys. Lennon was sitting behind his kit with one headphone on as he warmed up to play. Nikan was bouncing around as he played a series of notes for a song they hadn’t recorded yet. Jordan sat quietly on a stool in the corner, and Elliott had his back against the wall, mindlessly sipping on coffee. It was going to hurt them all to find out what he’d learned.
Putting his feelings aside, he walked into the studio.
“Glad one of us is getting some,” Elliott said with a grin. “Wish I had a good reason to be late.”
“Fuck off, dude. I had that TV thing this morning. Anyway, I need to talk to you guys.”
Nikan pulled his strap over his shoulder and put the guitar back on its stand. Lennon slotted his sticks into their holder on the side of his drum.
“What’s up?” Jordan asked.
“I just got off the phone with John Ferica. I think Sam is screwing us over.”
“You serious?” Lennon stepped out from behind his kit.
“Yeah. Ferica said he knew nothing about the concerns we had. Said he’d not heard from Sam in a while and was wondering what we were up to.”
“Any reason why Ferica might lie to us?” Elliott asked.
Dred walked over to a stool and sat down. “I don’t know, El. Possibly. But I honestly didn’t get that vibe from John. He seemed genuinely surprised. He didn’t know about Petal, or our concerns. Said he didn’t give a shit about the festival stuff as long as we nail the album and tour.”
Nikan leaned against the studio wall. “What made you call him?”
“I got a message from Sam this morning saying he’d spoken to John about our requests, and that they wanted us to just keep going. I was pissed, so I called him.” Dred switched his phone from hand to hand.
“Fuck. So you definitely caught him in a lie,” Jordan added. “So what do we do?”
“Well, I placed a couple of calls. You remember how pissed I was when the photograph of me and Pix at the Miami gig hit that trash mag?”
The guys nodded.