Page 166 of Songbird: Black Kite
And in that moment, I knew that there would never be anything in the world that I needed more than this, my two girls, safe and right where they belonged.
With me. Finally.
Epilogue
Wren
ThreeMonthsLater
The crowd gathered in the Hollywood Bowl cheered, the sound the loudest it had been all night. Beside me, Cooper and Jillian were clapping and hollering, practically floating with how happy they were.
I couldn’t say that I blamed them.
Of all the bands Hawk and the guys had showcased this evening, the last one, calledAnte Up, had certainly been the best. A group of young kids in their early twenties, they were talented and smart, their lyrics clever and relevant in a way that good bands always managed to do.
They also had a girl on lead guitar, a brilliant woman named Piper Money who played with such finesse and skill that I was both impressed and jealous.
Cooper was over the moon, completely thrilled to see a hot band with a woman leading the way.
“That was amazing!” Cooper yelled, her voice rough after a night of screaming. “I can’t believe how good they were.”
“They really were,” Jillian added, her face flushed with excitement. Cooper and I had been more than a little surprised when her phone had suddenly been reactivated a few days after the infamous kitchen video had gone live.
But I had been downright shocked when her father had allowed her to spend the last week of her summer vacation with us in California. It looked like Tori’s confession had helped in more ways than I could have anticipated.
It had also caused quite a stir in the music world. Victoria Castor confessing to drugging Hawk with the intent of sexually assaulting him had started a very overdue conversation about how assault really was a genderless crime, and should be treated as such by the law.
Hawk had been really upset when he’d learned the real reason he had next to no memory of that night, and rightfully so. He struggled to talk to me about it, but I was hoping when things calmed down with the label, he’d consider talking to a professional.
It may have been fifteen years ago, but it was still damaging. There really was no time limit on dealing with trauma.
At the advice of Mick and his team of lawyers, Hawk had also started a civil case against Victoria, planning to donate any monetary damages awarded to him to victim advocacy groups.
I was so freaking proud of him.
“He’s on!” Cooper suddenly shouted, drawing my attention back to the stage at the center of the open-air venue. “Mom, he’s on again!”
She wasn’t wrong. Standing there, under the bright lights that decorated the large white dome, was Hawk, his mere presence sending the crowd into another roaring frenzy. For several long moments, he did nothing, content to simply exist in the spotlight, letting the adoration of his fans wash over him and the guys.
The guys had played a couple songs through out the night, giving the audience a few of thegreatest hitsbetween debuting their new artists. It was strange to seeBlack Kiteon stage without Lewis, but after everything was said and done, he had once again sided with Victoria. It was sad, but also not entirely surprising.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
“They sure do love him,” Dakota said from my other side, and I turned my head to smile at her. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with her, what with the guys being so busy filming all over the country for theirBlack Kite Recordsdocumentary, but I had a good feeling about her.
I would have had a good feeling about anyone who could put up with spending time in close quarters with those guys. They were a mighty big handful sometimes.
“Of course, they love him,” Sabrina cut in, her smile huge as she turned from the stage. “What’s not to love?”
“You’re only saying that because he’s put you up in his beach house,” Dakota teased, but it was true.
Sabrina had been more than willing to blow off our Minnesota lake house vacation plans for a trip to the West Coast. Claiming one of the guest rooms in the Santa Monica house, she had spent the entire summer living it up with us.
And so far, she showed no signs of leaving.
Not that I minded, but something was up with her. She was being cagey about why she left her last job so abruptly, and while I hadn’t managed to get the truth out of her yet, I hadn’t given up.
She’d tell me when she was ready.
