Page 101 of Feuds and Interludes
For an old man who’d made many mistakes in his life, he sure had great advice.
It had been his idea for me to invite my mother to the gala, and shockingly, she’d agreed. She’d arrived the day before with my stepfather, and the three of us had gone into Portland for dinner. It had gone well, actually, and we agreed to keep the lines of communication open. She’d had a civil conversationwith Vera Jean as well, and I think she was coming around to the idea that Pops was truly living a happy and healthy life.
The show went off without a hitch. Aldous acted as a lovable yet unhinged emcee, as well as performing one of the massive hits he’d recorded with Morrison and Leland a couple years ago, which resurrected his career. He kept everyone in stitches, and I was laughing my ass off when he started talking about me.
“Along with creating some of the biggest rock songs of the seventies, Bruce Duncan had himself a lovely little family. His daughter Christina is here—hello darling. Love to buy you a drink after the show. Oh, and her long-suffering husband Arman, so lovely to see you again. If you need a good financial advisor, they’re the two to see.”
I peeked out and saw Mom rolling her eyes but clapping begrudgingly. Aldous was one of those guys who was so wrong but you couldn’t help but love him.
“Thankfully for Bruce’s grandson, Shane, Bruce’s stubborn Irish temper seems to have skipped—oh, that’s right. It didn’t skip him. Our firebrand, Shane Butler, has torched the airwaves with his band Wicked Soul, and rumor has it, there’s been some sheet-scorching recently as well. Ahem, but this is a family show, so I won’t go into the prevalence of love bites around this place. Perhaps there’s a colony of vampire bats living here. Lydia, Morrison, you should have that checked out.”
“Har har,” I said to myself, as I pulled my acoustic guitar on over my head.
“Without further ado, let’s welcome Shane Butler to the stage.”
The guys from Blackened all passed me as I took the stage, clapping me on the shoulder. They’d come back in a few moments to accompany me on the last song of the show.
I approached Aldous and he held his arms out for a hug. He kissed me on the cheek, patted my other one and turned to theaudience. “Look at this handsome lad. If only I were thirty years younger—oh, hello Boone! Ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary brethren, say hello to theothergrandson, Boone Collins.”
Boone’s cheeks flushed, and he stood and waved. He was stunning in that blue suit. I’d asked Vera Jean to bring it for him, as well as the shoes, which she bitched about. Turned out she wasn’t a fan. Thankfully, she and I had reached a place in our relationship where we could work as a team, both in taking care of Pops and, I hoped, supporting Boone. I felt bad that I’d ever doubted her motives for getting involved with my beloved grandfather. They were good for each other. If they could put the past behind them, I could too.
I wasn’t used to seeing Boone with his hair pulled back so tightly. Occasionally he threw his thick hair up in some sort of bun, but today it was expertly braided, and the look enhanced his widow’s peak and cheekbones. And those giant blue eyes.
God, I was so in love with him. I’d missed him more than I thought possible. We’d gotten close so quickly, and when him going out on tour seemed like a maybe-someday thing, I thought it would be good for us to have some space. Turned out maybe someday happened really fucking fast, and I’d managed to screw it all up. My ego used the time to recover and my rational side reminded me of reality. I could love Boone and still be frustrated with my career. The two were separate, and if someday the two merged, if we continued to work on material together, then I would have to shove that ego back in the box where it belonged.
Boone was more important than my bruised pride.
But I could see that Boone was struggling. His face was pale and he had circles under his eyes. I knew he’d been dragging the past few weeks, and I wanted to curse out his manager for agreeing to Australia and Japan right after Europe. It was too much for him. Hopefully my elaborate gesture would go overwell, and he’d let me take him home and nurse him back to health.
“Take it away, Shane. I’ll just be over here keeping out of trouble.” The whole audience laughed riotously while Aldous faked shock. “It could happen. I’m a redeemed man, didn’t you know?” He winked and then gestured for me to take the mic.
“Thank you, Aldous, and thank all of you for being here. The Collins Foundation has done so much good for our rock ’n’ roll family, and I’m pleased that Pops and I could join Vera Jean and Boone this year to help raise funds to support our fellow musicians who are struggling financially due to health-related expenses. We never know when we might get that diagnosis, have an accident, or struggle with our mental health, and as a community, we need to support each other, lift each other up.”
There was strong applause, a few shouts, and everyone in the amphitheater seemed tuned into my words. Boone watched me intently, with Annie and Bran beside him looking just as wrecked. Part of me wanted to call an end to the show and let them go to bed, but I had one more thing to say first.
“I know most of you are used to seeing me with an electric guitar in front of a massive Marshall stack, but my purpose today is a bit more heartfelt.” I strummed the guitar, taking a deep breath. “The past year has been special for many reasons. John Boone was inducted into the Rock Hall.” I paused for applause. “Pops decided to let us in on the real meaning behind ‘Paisley.’ Thanks for that. And congratulations to Pops and Vera Jean on their impending nuptials.” Laughter, applause, and whistles filled the air.
“For me, this year has been special because I finally discovered what an incredible person Boone Collins is. Yeah, I know I’m late to the party, and I’m going to ask you to bear with me for a minute while I do a little groveling.”
Everyone laughed, and Boone put his hands over his mouth, which didn’t hide his flushed cheeks.Good.
“For various no good, very bad reasons, I spent my formative years bitter and angry.” Feigned shock from the audience got me a few laughs. “I know, right? Those of you who’ve known me my whole life, my apologies. It wasn’t until I formed my band Wicked Soul that I learned how to channel that anger into an acceptable outlet. It worked, for the most part, but that temper Aldous mentioned? Yeah, I come by it genetically.” I shrugged. “But whatever my reason or excuse, any time Boone’s name came up, I found that little green monster peeking it’s ugly head up, and over the years, I judged him erroneously.
“Then our grandparents started dating.” I dramatically rolled my eyes, and everyone cracked up. “You can imagine the conversations Boone and I had when it became apparent we were going to be seeing a lot more of each other didn’t go smoothly at first.
“Then both Stellar and Wicked Soul were booked simultaneously up here at Bolder Breed last summer. It appeared the universe was trying to tell me something. I finally got to witness the magic Boone makes when he’s in the studio, and I was blown away. The man is truly a wonder.”
A long, steady, thunderous applause rang out, until Boone was peeking up at me with narrowed eyes. I kinda liked watching him squirm.
“Then my band broke up with me.”
A shocked gasp.
“But it’s fine,” I said quickly, holding up my hands. “The market has changed, people change, and I wish my former bandmates well. In the wake of that event, I found a new songwriting partner…and along the way, I fell in love with him.”
There was a loud chorus ofawwwwww, followed by more applause and laughter.
“And, in true Shane Butler fashion, I managed to mess that up. But today, in truesongwriterfashion, I’m going to try to use my words to get my message across, so I hope you’ll be patient with me as I try to make things right.”
