Sound of Heartache ("Sound of" Book 2) (12 page)

“
I did. I’m a pediatrician. It’s not glamorous like a surgeon or anything, but I love it.” Brent could hear the sincerity in her voice and he was deeply, fiercely glad it was him who had financed her dream. He always intended it to be that way; he just had imagined them together while he made it happen for her. Still, it was damn good to hear she had done it.

“
The band Eric and I started practicing with turned out to be successful.” He told her, quirking his lips. He remembered their big fight over banning her from their first gig and his smile grew. She laughed a little, sounding relieved, and he knew he needed to drop the subject of the money.

“
I’ll say. I always wished I got to see you guys play when you first started up but between school and…” she paused and swallowed loudly, “everything else going on, it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ve always regretted that.”

Brent nodded at her, knowing she did regret it. They wouldn’t have fought so fiercely about it when she was pregnant if it hadn’t been important to her. Still, it seemed like Aimee was going to ignore the giant pink-colored elephant in the room. Because of her continued avoidance, his gut pitched and churned over the different possibilities. The Aimee he knew faced things head on.

“
You’re here today.” He said, more of a question than a statement. Aimee nodded and her head dropped down, hiding her eyes from him. He was standing close enough to see that her pulse was thudding rapidly in her neck.

“
I am here today.” Her hands twisted once again. This was a new nervous gesture, one he hadn’t seen before. Part of the adult version of Aimee, a person he didn’t yet know. “I’ve had tickets for quite a while. Once your tour dates were announced I knew I had to come.”

“
You’ve followed my career, then?” He asked. He didn’t know why it was more painful to him to hear her say she’d followed him than finding out Aimee she hadn’t. He supposed it brought home the fact that she could have reached out to him at any time and had chosen not to. What he didn’t understand was why she hadn’t. Had she not loved him?

“
I have. At first there wasn’t a lot to go on. San Diego local news mostly. But you guys gained notoriety pretty quickly after the first year.” Aimee was looking everywhere around the dressing room but at him and Brent felt himself getting angry at her again. She was setting some kind of record with him, pinging all of his triggers, because he was never really angry with anyone.

“
So you knew where I was. You could’ve come back,” he accused bitterly. He wasn’t surprised when Aimee nodded, admitting she had chosen to stay away. She wasn’t going to avoid her own part in this mess and she’d never been a liar. That wasn’t her style, or at least it hadn’t been. Hell, he didn’t know her now at all. Not really. He only knew the girl she’d been such a long time ago.

Brent was having trouble breathing, he was so angry. Knowing he had loved her and looked for her while she had avoided him hurt like a mother fucker. His fists clenched at his sides and he saw her gaze flicker to them. She stiffened her shoulders, and met his eyes. He forced himself to relax. No matter how angry he was, he would never hit her. Ever. The wall, maybe. But not her.

“
It just wasn’t the right time Brent,” Aimee told him softly. She glanced at his hands again and then took a step toward him. Or maybe it was toward the door he was still blocking. He wasn’t really sure what she was intending to do, but he knew touching her would be bad. Bad for them both.

“
Why is it the right time now? Why show up ten fucking years later?” Brent hated the vulnerability in his voice. He hated how it cracked and shook. He had given this woman absolute power over him once before and had nothing but heartache to show for it. He didn’t want to go down that particular road again, ever.

“
Because I knew you were ready.” Aimee told him, and stepped so close their chests were almost touching. He could feel the heat coming off her body, smell the light scent of her perfume.

Up close he could see the passage of years. She was more beautiful than ever, age giving character to the woman’s features that the girl’s face had lacked. Her brown eyes were artfully lined and the lids bore traces of shimmery eye shadow. When they’d dated, she never wore any makeup and Brent had enjoyed her effortless natural look. This woman, though… She knew how to wear it without looking overdone.

“
You knew I was ready for what?” He ground out. He didn’t mean to sound harsh, but dammit, she was really screwing with his head. Aimee blew out a breath and tentatively reached out and tugged his calloused hand into hers. Clasping his hand in both of hers, she stared into his eyes and smiled tremulously.

“
You’re ready to meet Brenna.” And with Aimee’s words, Brent felt the world come to a screeching halt around him.
He had a daughter.

CHAPTER TWO

Aimee’s heart lurched sickeningly in her chest. She was so anxious she probably could have downed several Xanax and remained standing. She felt awful for springing this on Brent but there was no easy way to tell him about his daughter. She was concerned, though, about his pasty white complexion and the wheezing sounds coming from his chest. He didn’t protest as she led him to the velvet sofa and pushed him into it.

Her bravado running out and her legs shaking badly from the adrenaline rush, she sank down next to him on the sofa. Brent’s entire body stiffened and he shifted away from her. She drew in a painful breath. It wasn’t like she had expected an open-armed welcome, but his distance from her was painful.

In the relative quiet of the dressing room, she realized that sitting next to Brent was surreal. She had pictured their reunion so many times over the years it was hard to distinguish her fantasies from reality. Thanks to the invasive news media, her fantasies had always been very realistic, down to the eyeliner he’d gotten tattooed on at some point. She had memorized how he’d aged, what he looked like, and God help her, even who he’d dated. She hadn’t stopped waiting for the right time to come to him and she knew she needed to find a way to explain her words to him.

“
Will you hear me out?” She asked him quietly. She prayed he wanted to know what happened to her and their baby, or at least was curious enough to find out what had become of them.

“
Do I have a choice?” He mumbled, his head dropping into his hands. His body shuddered next to her and she wanted desperately to put her arms around him.

“
You can tell me to go.” She offered, hoping he wouldn’t send her away.

“
No. I need to know.” His words were muffled. “I need to understand how you could do this to me.” His pain was there in his voice, sharp, and it jabbed at her. She deserved every bit of his anger and more.

“
When my mother took me away from you, I was right about what they would do. They put me in an institution. Filed papers claiming they needed authority over the baby because, as a minor, I wasn’t competent. They planned to take her away.” Ten years had passed since that God-awful summer but Aimee hadn’t forgotten a moment of it. Hadn’t forgotten the drugs they shoved down her throat to quiet her, hadn’t forgotten her fear that her parents would succeed.

“
What happened?” Brent’s gaze lifted to hers and Aimee was blown away to see tears standing in his emerald green eyes.

“
You saved me.” Aimee told him sincerely. She stopped fighting her impulses and leaned toward him. She couldn’t not be near him.

“
How the hell did I do that? I let you go!” His voice was tortured. Aimee grabbed his hand and linked her fingers through his.

“
No, Brent. No.” She squeezed his hand tightly.

“
I should’ve fought your mom. I should’ve done anything but let you get into that car and leave me.” Aimee brought his clenched fist to her mouth and kissed the knuckles, trying to stem the tears that were determined to fall.

“
The first few days were bad. They kept me pretty sedated because they considered me dangerous. After I’d been there about a week, they figured I had calmed down enough, so once a day I was allowed to walk the grounds. It was my free time. At first, the walks were supervised.” Aimee took a deep breath and blew it out. Reciting this was difficult. Living through it had been impossible. “After a month had gone by, they were pretty lax with me. They didn’t think I was going anywhere. I was pretty huge and wobbly. The supervised walks stopped. I was allowed to go alone. And who expects an eight-month pregnant girl to climb a wall? Nobody. But I did.”

Aimee could recall the day she’d escaped from that awful facility with perfect clarity. She had planned so carefully and had waited until the fourth of July rolled around. Everyone had been distracted that day. Some were gone, spending the day with their families. Those who were working seemed resentful to be there. Aimee had slipped out for her daily walk at the same time she had done every other day. Without hesitation she had made her way to the fence that surrounded the facility. Heart in her throat, she had climbed over the eight foot wall with little more than help from tree branches and a grim determination to keep her baby. Dropping down to the other side had been a little more problematic, but once she was out of that awful facility, she hadn’t looked back as she walked off down the street.

Because of the holiday, Aimee had spent the night holed up in the doorway of a brick building. It was a calculated risk, but one that had paid off. When the banks opened the following day, Brent’s bank account had been there waiting for her. That money had been a life-saver. Or Brenna’s life, as it were.

She finished telling her story and looked at Brent to gauge his reaction. He looked sick to his stomach and his hand was clenching rhythmically in hers. She doubted he even knew he was doing it. “When…” Brent stopped. He cleared his throat. “When was Brenna born?”

Aimee smiled hugely. “She’s always been a good girl. Always.” Brent gave a pained chuckle.

“
So I take it she waited until after your eighteenth birthday.” Like her, Brent had been focused on getting Aimee to the goal line. He’d memorized the dates just as firmly as she had.

“
She did indeed. She was a whole week late and came on July twenty-fifth. I’m probably the only mom in the world who wanted their baby to be late.” They both chuckled a little, their eyes watery. Aimee couldn’t tell how Brent was processing the information but he wasn’t kicking her out so that had to be a good sign. They were sitting in relatively companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts, when the door to the dressing room blew open. Aimee gasped at the unexpected intrusion, but just as quickly relaxed when she saw Eric fly through the door. Eric came to a sudden halt when he saw her and Brent sitting together on the couch, hands clasped.

“
Damn.” He said. He pushed his hand through his styled blond hair. Aimee was surprised to see tears in his eyes. “Damn, girl, it’s so good to see you!”

Eric quickly closed the remaining distance between them and pulled Aimee up, breaking her connection to Brent. Gathering her into his arms, he squeezed the hell out of her. Something that sounded suspiciously like a sob broke from him. Aimee rubbed Eric’s back in big circles, trying to sooth him.

“
It’s so good to see you too, Eric,” she whispered tightly into his shoulder. And it was. He had been such an important part of her life. He still smelled like the Eric she remembered, faintly spicy and outdoorsy all at the same time. She had spent plenty of time curled up next to him on the couch watching movies and the smell of him reminded her of happy times.

“
Still don’t like it asshole,” Brent growled at him and the three of them laughed, breaking the tension in the room. Eric cradled her face in his hands and searched her eyes. Whatever he saw there caused him to lean forward and plant a sweetly gentle kiss on her lips. When he drew back, Aimee’s fingers pressed against the spot where his lips had been. That had not felt like a brotherly kiss. She opened her mouth to question him but before she could say anything, Eric grinned his teasing smile at her and broke the oddly tense moment.

“
Too fucking bad!” He taunted Brent. He slung his arm around Aimee’s shoulder. Brent stood up from the ugly velvet sofa and looked like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to make it a group hug or if he wanted to punch Eric. Before he could do either, the rest of the band members and a gorgeous, curvy blonde woman crowded in the doorway of the dressing room. Aimee felt every eye on the room fall on her and she shrank into Eric’s protective embrace. She didn’t want to be judged by these people because they were important to Brent, but she was afraid they were doing just that. She felt Brent’s body heat as he stepped in closely to her other side and she blew out a deep breath. She could do this.

“
I fuckin’ remember you!” Jack growled out. Aimee shivered, an involuntary reaction. Jack quite possibly had the sexiest voice she had ever heard. She imagined there wasn’t a female alive who was immune to his growl. Probably a fair share of men as well. The gorgeous blonde elbowed him sharply in the ribs and hissed something only Jack could hear. She then smiled apologetically at Aimee and Aimee smiled back, trying hard not to be intimidated. She wasn’t sure what the other band members knew about her but they didn’t look overly hostile toward her.