Page 26 of #Moonstruck

“That’s a very bad idea.” A very, very bad idea. Although for the life of me, I couldn’t remember why.

He walked backward to his car, grinning at me. “Just because it’s a bad idea doesn’t mean we won’t have a good time. You’ve got my number. Call me if you need anything.” Then he got into his Prius and drove off.

I didn’t even get the chance to figure out how I felt about any of this because my brothers came outside and ushered me into the van. Where I tried very hard not to think about Ryan De Luna.

And failed.

“We’ll have to get a lawyer to look over the contract,” Parker said, and then he and Cole started talking about the money.

Even if I didn’t date Ryan, what if I wanted to kiss him a little? Would that be so bad? “I have a condition,” I announced. “For doing this tour.”

“Like only pink Starbursts kind of thing?” Cole asked.

“No. Like you guys are going to acknowledge the fact that I am a grown woman who can make her own decisions. You won’t intimidate anybody who speaks to me or threaten any guy who looks my way. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and you’re going to respect that.”

I was met with a deafening silence.

“Promise me—a Mom promise—that you guys will do that, or else I’m not going.”

“I promise to back off,” Fitz said, and although I could tell it killed them to do it, Cole and Parker also promised. Cole then turned on the radio, even though we got only AM stations, muttering something about how he was promising only because of the money.

“Will it be enough?” I asked Fitz. “The money? Can we keep the house?”

“I don’t know, Maisy.” He put his arm around me and squeezed. “It doesn’t solve all of our problems, but it’s going to help a lot. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be able to catch up on some bills and pay others off. Let’s see how things go before we make any major decisions, okay?”

For the first time since Fitz had told me about the money situation, I felt hopeful.

It was all thanks to the world’s biggest pop star. Who, no matter what I told him or myself, I was most definitely attracted to.

And who might have me possibly reconsidering my stance on Rule #1.

The first thing I did the next morning (afternoon) when I woke up was call Angie. Her side of the conversation was basically a series of shrieks and screams and “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” She promised to take extra good care of my mom. I tried to visit my mother at least once a week, and I wasn’t sure how often I’d be able to see her while we were touring. Even though she wouldn’t remember whether anyone came to visit her, I would know.

I briefly wondered what Angie would have said if I’d told her my initial response to Ryan’s offer was to decline. It probably would have involved some veiled threats about kidnapping me and leaving me on the tour bus. I promised to send Angie lots of pictures. Although she didn’t know it yet, I planned on including quite a few of Fox.

“You also have to tell me every single detail about what happens with you and Ryan De Luna,” she instructed.

“Nothing’s going to happen with me and Ryan De Luna.”

“We’ll see.”

I decided to leave her to her delusions and misplaced optimism.

The second thing I did was go into my current place of employment and tell them I was leaving. Permanently. Nothing in the entire world had ever given me more joy than to say those two beautiful words: “I quit.” Honestly, I hated only three things about my job at the quickie haircut place—the people, getting out of bed to go there, and the work. I had been so miserable I remembered thinking once that if I died and went to hell, it would take me at least a week to realize I wasn’t at work anymore.

Of course none of my now-former colleagues believed me when I said I was going on tour with Ryan, but I didn’t care.

The contracts arrived, and after finding an attorney who Parker had gone to high school with and getting his input, we all happily signed.

Fitz found one of his more responsible friends to watch the house while we were gone. He also chatted with Piper, the tour manager, and got the details of where we should meet the bus, and she told him to get there early so she could show us around. The expression on his face after that phone call was kind of goofy and endearing. It made me hopeful that he might be ready to move on with his love life. Because it occurred to me while he was talking that if Fitz had someone to focus his attention on, he might be less inclined to worry about me.

When early Friday morning rolled around, I was completely packed and too excited to sleep. With nothing else to do, I went into the kitchen to try and re-create my mother’s brownies.

My mom’s famous brownie recipe, the hit at any gathering, was handed down to her from my grandma and from my great-grandmother before that. Mom always promised me she’d give me the recipe when I graduated from high school. I’d turned the house upside down looking for it, but if she’d written it down, she’d also hidden it really well.

After spending so much time trying to figure out the ingredients, brownies were basically the only thing I could make. I was useless in a kitchen; Cole was the baker of the family. He’d half-heartedly tried a few times to help me in my quest, but he said it made him too sad.

So it was left to me to figure out how to carry on this family legacy. I kept downloading recipes for brownies and chocolate frosting, ever hopeful that I’d find the right mixture of taste and consistency.

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