Roan was my cousin and an up and coming artist, the son of my Uncle Jack and Aunt Lille. He was also the younger brother to Elias, who was the bass guitarist in my band. Elias, Roan, and I had been joined at the hip as kids, with Elias and me being born only a few weeks apart. So when Shannon and I became friends, she also became friends with my cousins. She and Roan in particular had gotten along really well. Their energies just seemed to gel. It was something I was frequently jealous of.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, placing her hand to her mouth with an expression of horror. “Ididget the e-vite, but I completely forgot to reply. That’s tonight?”
I nodded and arched an eyebrow. “It’s not like you to forget to respond to an invitation.”
She blew out a breath. “I know. I’ve just had a lot of projects going on at work that required my attention, and—”
“Shannon,breathe,” I interrupted. “It’s fine. If you still want to come, I can text him now and let him know.”
“That’s all right. I’ll text him myself. I’ve been looking forward to seeing his collection, and we haven’t had a chance to meet up in months. I should be able to get Margie to watch Zara.”
“Great, so I’ll see you there?”
A faint flicker of apprehension passed over her features before she responded with a tight smile. “Sure.”
“I’m ready!” Zara called as she hurried down the stairs. Shannon placed the cap over the reusable mug before handing me my coffee to go. She might’ve only made it to keep busy in my presence, but I still planned to savour every drop.
“Have a good day at school,” Shannon said as she placed a kiss atop Zara’s head. Then her dark brown eyes came to me. I was addicted to her attention, even if there was a wall up.
“Bye, Jace.”
“See you later, Shannon.” I threw my arm around Zara’s shoulders and led her outside. “C’mon kid, let’s get you to school. Gotta learn those ABCs.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m eight, not a baby!”
I chuckled. “Okay, genius. Guess you’re already onto String Theory.”
“Dad, stop being weird,” she replied with a giggle as I helped her into the car.
***
My cousin’s art show was being held in a gallery in the city centre. He’d been sharing his art online for years under the alias,Bowie Tozer, and it had suddenly exploded in popularity in the last few months. Roan was a lot like his mother, a sensitive, artistic type, while his brother, Elias, was much more like their dad; tall, dark and a little bit intimidating.
Shannon had hung out with us a lot when we were kids, and as I said, I’d always been jealous of the closeness she shared with Roan. My irrational possessiveness when it came to her meant I was envious of their bond even now. Still, I went out of my way to invite her. I knew it meant a lot to Roan to have her at his show, but he was the sort of person who hated to bother people. For instance, he wouldn’t text or call Shannon to remind her of the event since he’d already sent the e-vite. He’d feel like he was pestering her if he did.
I spotted my parents first when I entered the gallery. They were standing with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Lille, admiring one of Roan’s larger pieces. Uncle Jack and I had always been close. Sometimes I felt like he understood me better than my own dad. Whereas Dad and I were so alike we’d butt heads, Jack was a calm, non-judgemental figure who I could come to for advice. In fact, it was a conversation with him that finally got me to ditch my drug habit. Jack had spent his younger years as a loner, never letting anyone in. It wasn’t until he’d met Lille that he’d realised how hollow that existence was. He’d basically told me that if I kept going the way I was, I’d lose everyone I loved, and I’d be stuck in that same hollow existence with no chance of ever getting my family back.
He’d been right, and although Zara loved me because I was her dad, not to mention she was too young to remember my junkie days, winning back Shannon’s affection felt like an impossible feat.
The painting they were all looking at showed dancers performing on some nameless city street. Roan’s brush strokes somehow managed to capture their lively movements. The artist himself was nowhere to be found, but I did spot Elias and my two other bandmates, Kami and Angus, nearby sipping on the complimentary glasses of prosecco that were being passed around.
Angus was basically my brother. We’d been friends at school, and he’d had a really shitty home situation. It had culminated in him ending up homeless at sixteen, and my parents had taken him in. They probably would’ve adopted him, too, if his biological parents hadn’t been so impossible to track down, so the legal side could never be dealt with. In the end, it didn’t really matter. Angus was part of the family, and he pretty much saw my parents as his own. The only downside was that he and Shannon never really clicked.
I suspected it was down to the fact that they’d both found sanctuary away from their home lives in my family, and they each felt like there wasn’t room for both of them, which wasn’t true at all. I knew that my mother had always wanted more kids, but her pregnancy with Fran had been fraught with issues, so she hadn’t been able to take the chance with a third baby.
“Jace, over here!” Angus called out, and I headed in his direction, still scanning the space for Shannon, but she hadn’t seemed to have arrived yet.
“Have you seen this?” Kami asked, motioning to the painting nearest them. “I think it’s supposed to be us.”
The painting showed the silhouette of a band on stage. The colours he’d used to contrast our dark figures with the stage lights was attention grabbing. “I think you’re right.”
“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Elias put in, ever the proud older brother. I nodded, and he levelled me with a scrutinising look.“How’s it been being home? I heard you’re staying with your parents for a while.”
“Yeah, just until I can figure out where I want to settle.”
“Are you looking at houses?” Kami asked excitedly. “Can I help?”
“Not yet, but it’s on the horizon. Still finding my feet.”
