Page 81 of Feuds and Interludes
“Thank you. And Shane?”
“Yeah?”
“I…I’ll look forward to seeing you. Will you be bringing a guest?”
I gazed at Boone standing on the other side of the bed watching me, still clutching the underwear.
“I’ll ask, yes. Thank you. Good bye.” I disconnected and shoved my phone in my pocket with a sigh.
“That was… Wow.”
“Yeah. Mom and I have very narrow parameters in which we engage. I had to set limits when she tried to embroil me in her problems with Pops. I told them I refused to be in the middle oftheir issues, but in this case… Shit. I can’t believe he didn’t tell her he moved. That’s major even for him.”
Boone shrugged. “Maybe he and Gran are too wrapped up in each other to have sent change of address notes?” His lip twitched, and I laughed.
“Yeah, how would they write that up? ‘It is after a brief courtship and fifty years of being in love that we have decided to join our lives together for the remainder of our time on this Earth. Please respect our privacy in this happy time while we act like teenagers and make out in restaurants all over town.’”
Yes, the tabloids had been so busy with the news of their engagement and impending nuptials, that our news had almost been overshadowed.
Until the pictures came out later that day.
It started out innocently enough when pics of the two of us at the restaurant in Portland, hamming it up, appeared on Stellar’s fan site. But then TMZ got ahold of pictures of us boarding the plane together…of me smacking Boone’s ass, him turning to me with mock shock, and then us kissing at the top of the steps before slipping inside.
Audra called me right away, at the same time Stellar’s manager, Dickie Henderson, called Boone. They wanted to know if this was a publicity stunt because of the Rocktoberfest gig.
“Absolutely not,” I’d told Audra. “Our grandparents started dating, we were united in our determination to protect them, and in the process, we kind of just happened.”
“I want to say ‘aw that’s adorable,’ but we need to get ahead of this.”
“Already on it,” I’d said. “We’re talking to some trusted media folks.”
Audra was pleased with our plans, and when Sammara’s and Krish’s pieces went out, she was ready to handle all the phone calls so we could focus on the performance.
Bran and I took turns driving the RV from LA to Black Rock, Nevada, with one overnight along the way in a funky campground none of us were eager to visit again.
When we pulled up to the gates of the festival grounds, Boone took the seat next to me and the twins were standing behind us.
“Holy shit, we’re actually here,” Annie said. “On a scale of Lollapalooza to Download, how crazy is this going to get?”
“Good question,” I said. “Soul played here twice before, the last time was before the pandemic, though. Food’s good, nights get chilly, days are warm. We play tomorrow night, which is opening night, so crowds might be a tad smaller, and folks will be high energy and curious. They’re not going to know what to expect, other than what we’ve put out in the media.”
“I love the logo you designed, Shane,” Bran said. “I didn’t know you were into visual art, too.”
Boone’s gaze shot to me and he gave a shake of his head, which I interpreted to mean he hadn’t said anything.
“Yeah, I found a font that was as close to the one California used as I could find. We just needed something for the media for this festival.”
“Yeah, well, it’s awesome,” Annie said. “And I love the t-shirts too. I’m glad you guys picked out the soft cotton. I hate the scratchy ones.”
Along with performing, Boone and I had scrambled to put together merch in a rush order. Thankfully I had good connections, and his assistant, Cat, was willing to ride in the van with our techs, Rowan and Martin, and staff our merch tent.
“It feels good to DIY this shit again,” Boone said. “It’s like the old days.”
“OMG, remember when our mom was our merch girl for that first tour?” Bran said. “And Dad was our roadie?”
“And he nearly electrocuted himself,” Annie said. “Those were the days, man.”
“You guys met at Berklee right?”
