Page 77 of The Lookback

My sigh’s bigger than any that have come before. “Thank heavens.”

“I personally think you should let her make the album, though.”

“What?” I’m coughing again. “Why would you say that?”

“She’s suing you because she doesn’t respect you and your decisions. She thinks you’re holding her back. You can beat her in court, but you’ll just make an angry girl even madder, and I think you could really damage her ability to trust you in the future.”

“Well, thank you for your advice, Dr. Phil, but I think the only thing I need from you is the legal help right now.” I snort. “Oh, and get that YouTube account pulled down immediately.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.” I hang up. I’m practically shaking when I walk through the doors to our house. Eddy must have a light morning planned, because he hasn’t even left yet. “You are not going to believe what just happened.” I wave the manila envelope at him.

“Maren has more record deal offers?” He lifts both eyebrows and swivels the laptop around, showing me that someone else sent him the newest song already. “I’m not surprised.”

I fill him in on her stupid lawsuit.

He looks like he might be sick. “But what if the court?—”

“Abby says they won’t.” But now that she’s not on the phone with me, insisting it’ll be fine, I’m nervous again. “She seemed pretty sure.”

“If she’s sure, then it’s fine. The one time she lost, she told you she might lose.”

That’s true. I wasn’t listening at the time, but she wasn’t saying it was a slam dunk. “She also said. . .” I can’t actually bring myself to say it.

“What?” Eddy straightens. “Abby said something, you mean? Or Maren?”

“I should watch the video.” I sit down and hit play on the YouTube channel. The song is good, and I worry about how many people will see it in the days it takes Abby to get it pulled down. The last thing we need is more people clamoring to sign her.

I do have to begrudgingly admit that Maren’s dancing has improved, and she’s even recruited some of her friends as backup dancers. The girl has an eye for choreography. I’ll give her that, too. Even their outfits are pretty cute. . . “Do you think she has been in touch with the stupid label this whole time?”

“I’d be shocked if she wasn’t,” Eddy says. “They don’t relinquish gold mines easily, especially these days. They’re all hurting for money right now.”

Great.

I hate to admit it, but the tune really is catchy—Abby was right. The lyrics are even pretty good. “Did she make this up herself, do you think?”

“That might be my fault.” Eddy’s broad shoulders fall a bit. “Two or three weeks ago, she was playing around on the piano.”

“What?” I can’t help arching my eyebrow. “Your piano?”

He scrunches his nose. “It was that one, my practice one.” He points at the corner. “She was going over and over this melody, but it was missing a consistent theme.”

“You helped her.” I should have known.

“I didn’t realize she was planning any of this.” He sounds sheepish. “I thought we were bonding, and we didn’t say she couldn’t learn, just that she was too young to sign a deal.”

“Maren’s always been someone who’s willing to use any angle to get what she wants. She gets that from her father.”

“Or she’s a typical teenager,” Eddy says. “They all do that. It may be from her dad, or maybe she’s just itching to have control she’s just not ready for yet.”

“Abby thinks we should let her record the album.” I finally blurt it out. “Can you believe that?”

Eddy swallows, but he doesn’t look outraged. At all.

“Don’t tell me you agree.”

He shakes his head slowly. “I’m not saying that. Not at all. But I have wondered how much of our vehement denial was because of whatIdid and not because of her situation.”

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