Page 24 of Drum Me Away
I stretched and glanced around at wooden plank walls, two windows without any coverings, and mirrored double closet doors. Sunlight filtered in through the windows, but it was definitely muted, and that was when I remembered where I was and why I was here.
In a treehouse. In rural Washington, east of Seattle.
Faith. Her grandmother. The concert in Denver, the look of utter devastation on her face afterward as she’d listened to that voicemail. I didn’t even know her mother and I already had a bad taste in my mouth over the way she handled passing along that news. Who did that? And to their own daughter, no less.
My mother hadn’t been thrilled when I traded orchestral percussion for a drum set in a garage band, but that had mostly been because she’d been a groupie back in the ’90s and therefore had firsthand knowledge of all the unsavory things that went along with that lifestyle.
Her unease hadn’t ruined our relationship. We’d talked about it, I promised to make smart choices, and yeah, I’d partied too hard a few times, but for the most part, Mom’s fears had gone unrealized. And we were still as close as ever.
And there was my dad’s advice not to lose myself over a girl. If only he and Mom had switched their timing. If Dad had told me that story and given me that warning fourteen years ago when I’d headed off to college in LA, maybe I wouldn’t be in this position with Faith. Maybe I wouldn’t have developed a crush on her in the first place.
Maybe…
I lay in bed on my back and listened for a moment. The rustling of leaves in the trees. Birds, the sound of water trickling over rocks somewhere obviously not too far away.
And voices. They were low, like whoever it was probably was trying to be quiet for my sake, but I still heard the murmur. Faith, I presumed, and whoever was with her also sounded feminine. Had her mother showed up and they were making amends?
One of them laughed—not Faith, I knew her laugh—and curiosity pulled me out of bed and over the threshold into the hallway before it even registered that I was wearing nothing save a pair of gym shorts. I should have grabbed a shirt, and I should have stepped across the hall to brush my teeth, maybe splash water on my face, but when I glanced up, two women were sitting at the counter in the kitchen, staring back at me.
One was Faith, of course. Her hair was still braided, and she wore a black cropped top and no makeup. I’d bet money she was wearing her favorite pink sweatpants.
The other occupant was a petite, dark-haired woman who was pretty much the opposite of Faith in every way. Her hair was a smooth wave draping over one shoulder, her face was carefully painted to look as if it wasn’t done up at all. She had pearls in her ears and around her neck and a fat diamond on the ring finger of her left hand. Her shirt was blue, with a boat neck.
A nearly empty bottle of wine sat on the counter, perched between plates of crackers and cheese and the berries and grapes I’d grabbed at the grocery store because both Faith and I liked to eat healthy. It was a habit that was challenging to maintain on the road.
Whoever this was, it definitely wasn’t her mother. This woman looked to be Faith’s age, maybe slightly older but not by much.
“Whoa,” the other woman said. Her eyes widened as they raked over me from head to toe. “I mean, I’ve seen pictures, but holy shit.”
Faith, who had also been perusing my body with her gaze—and it was about to become painfully obvious how much I liked it, since these gym shorts were lousy at hiding erections—slapped a hand over her mouth and whipped around to face the other woman.
“I can’t remember the last time I heard you swear, Maria,” she yelped.
Maria chuckled and nodded at the green bottle sitting in front of her. “This may be the first time you and I have shared a drink, or three. Which is really quite a shame, because I have had a blast. And now there’s eye candy to boot.” She gave me another swift once-over. “How do you live with this specimen and keep it totally platonic?”
Whoever this was, she knew Faith and I weren’t really together. I hoped like hell Faith knew what she was doing by letting people in on that big secret.
Faith lifted a finger to her lips and hissed, “Shhh. No one is supposed to know that, remember?”
Maria nodded sagely. “Right. Except you two obviously already know. And you didn’t answer my question.”
I raised my hand like I was back in elementary school. “I’m going to grab a shirt and then maybe you could introduce me to your friend, Faith.” Because if she knew our secret, I needed to know who this person was.
By the time I stepped back into the room, Maria was sliding off her barstool and slinging a gigantic black purse over her shoulder. “I should go. Vic will end up calling the police if I’m unaccounted for for too long. And by ‘too long,’ I mean more than an hour.” She rolled her eyes. “And then he’ll call our mother, and no one wants that.”
Ah, that’s who she was. A sister. I didn’t even know Faith had siblings. I strode forward and offered my hand to shake. “Lucas Lloyd, nice to meet you.”
She squeezed my hand. “It certainly is.”
Faith grabbed her arm and tugged her out of my grasp. “Lucas, this is my sister, Maria. She’s the middle child. Also Mom’s favorite.”
“That isnotsomething to be proud of,” Maria said with another giant eye roll. She spread her arms wide. “Give me a hug.”
Faith obliged her, the two sisters clinging to each other.
Maria pushed her to arm’s length, holding her biceps. “Can I come by tomorrow? I’ll probably have to bring Riley. If I leave her with the nanny, the nanny will tell Vic and I’ll have to sit through a boring lecture. I’d rather avoid that if possible.”
“Of course,” Faith said immediately. “I’d love to see my niece. She’s two years old, and I haven’t even met her.”
