Page 26 of Chronicles of a Rockin' Mess

I head to the office and book a hotel for Lincoln and me. Then, I text Kade and tell him to go stay with Savannah tonight.

Kade has still been spending a lot of time here, but less so since I’ve settled back in. I’m about to go alert Lincoln to our temporary housing change of plans when Gwen calls me.

“Lark, we need to chat about the upcoming tour. We’ve cut it down to six dates now over about three weeks. Two concerts per week. I’m emailing you cities and hotels now. I’ll need you to follow up at each location and confirm everything. We leave on Saturday for the first city,” she says. It’s our normal pre-tour discussion, but I grimace at the thought of actually doing this. Part of me still wants to pack up and leave, but…a bigger part of me can’t let him go.

I make the arrangements that need to be done sooner rather than later before heading up to find Lincoln not in his bedroom but in his music room. His back is to me as he sits in a chair. He has on headphones and is strumming an electric guitar. His head bobs to a beat that matches his knee as his foot bounces up and down. But it’s not the visual that captures me first, it’s his voice. All I hear is his raspy, deep voice, and it guts me.

“Carrie, why did you go?

You should be here,

You should be here, oh, oh, oh.

Carrie, you left to soon,

It used to be me

And you in our cocoon.

Carrie, where are you?

I need you,

But instead, I’m blue.”

His voice crackson the last word, and my heart breaks a bit. I’ve always known Lincoln was a bit of the cliché messed-up rocker with a difficult past, but hearing his words…my heart constricts.

I clear my throat, but he doesn’t hear me, I walk up and tap his shoulder. He jumps and turns, pulling his headphones down.

“Sorry to bother you, but, uh, we have to go away for the night,” I tell him.

“Sorry?” he asks in confusion.

“The plumber just told me that he has to cut the main water to the house to fix the pipe, so I booked us at a hotel for tonight,” I explain.

I see something flash over his eyes, and I swear it’s excitement, which confuses the hell out of me.

“Oh, OK,” he answers after a beat.

“Cool, uh, well, I’m gonna grab some things. I have a car picking us up in about an hour,” I say to him. “Should I have Maria pack you a bag, or should I?”

“No, that’s fine. I can do it,” he says, placing his guitar down.

“Right, OK, well, Kade is staying at Savannah’s, so I booked you a suite,” I say.

“What about you?” he asks.

“I have a room at the hotel, too. Don’t worry about me,” I say to him.

“Why don’t you just stay in the suite or get us adjoining rooms?” he asks.

I scrunch my eyes as I try to figure out what the hell he is talking about. He always gets a suite, and I always get a single room somewhere nearby in the hotel.

“Uh, you don’t want your normal suite?” I ask him.

“It’s just one night. It seems like a waste of money to get a suite and another room, don’t you think?” he asks.

I shrug. “Sure, uh yeah, whatever,” I mumble as I head out of the room. I turn back realizing I’ve been sort of presumptuous. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t even think. I know you’ve been seeing Celia. Would you prefer to stay with her?”

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