Page 223 of A Song for You

Kevin holds up his hands. “You guys need to cool it. Hate to break it to ya, but the kid is half James, and your enemies are her uncles.”

Garreth crosses his arms. “Fuck it. I’ll buy her a fashion line. No way are the Jameses going to be the favorite uncles. They’ve already had years with her. Beckett, your sister can help us out, right?”

“She like music?” Gavin asks.

“She’s my kid. Of course she likes music.”

He glances at Beckett and smirks. “I happen to know the owner of a certain stadium hosting the biggest concert of the year. And it’s this weekend.”

Beckett shakes his head and sighs. “Fucking A. If you guys embarrass me, I’ll have your asses.”

“Harry Styles loved me,” I defend.

With a scoff, Beckett glares. “You told him your favorite song of his was ‘Sorry.’”

Gavin fucking giggles. “‘Sorry.’ Fucking Justin Bieber’s song. The best part was he actually sang it with you.”

That sends all of us bursting into laughter, and even Beckett cracks a smile.

“So who’s performing this weekend?” I ask.

“You got tickets to see Taylor Swift?” Chloe screeches.

I smirk when Cat whips around and stares at me with wide eyes. “You didn’t.”

I shrug. “True. I didn’t get tickets.”

Chloe’s face falls, but I put her out of her misery quickly. I hold up the tickets in my hand and grin. “I got backstage passes.”

Fifty-One

Cat

Only You by Parmalee

Last year, I spent Chloe’s birthday in Paris with her and Cynthia. We started it out at a café, eating chocolate-stuffed croissants. Then we went in and out of tiny boutiques, all three of us finding outfits from unknown designers—one of which ended up featured in the April edition of Jolie—and then we dressed and went to dinner with Peter, the sparkling Eiffel Tower the backdrop.

This year, we woke up early, ate waffles on Styrofoam plates in the park with Jay, FaceTimed Cynthia and Peter, and then donned matching shirts with Taylor Swift’s face on them for what Chloe deemed the best night of her life.

Yes, Jay and Dexter wore Taylor Swift T-shirts, and I’m pretty sure Jay knew more of the words to Taylor’s songs than Chloe and Del, which he scream-sang out of the top of the limo down the streets of Boston after the concert. Chloe’s smile was wider than anything I’d ever seen, and her joy was blinding. Sophie kept squeezing my hand and pointing at her and Jay. It really was beautiful watching how quickly they had bonded.

We ended it with ice cream cones. We stuck a candle in Chloe’s, then broke out in a rowdy rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

It wasn’t just the best night of Chloe’s life. It was one of the greatest of mine.

Since then, every day like clockwork, Jay sends a song to Chloe, and then he and I share a cup of coffee while we listen to the one he’s selected for me for the day. We talk about business. About the merger. Ideas I have for the whiskey company as well as the magazine. Jay listens thoughtfully to every word. He advises when something is too far-fetched, and stares at me in awe when I come up with something he hadn’t thought of yet.

And I do the same when he points out something that would be good for the magazine. Ideas Cynthia and I never came close to even dreaming of.

We’re good for one another. At work and personally.

And slowly, he joins Chloe and me for dinner a few times a week. We don’t want to push it all on her too quickly, but I’m impressed by how well she’s handled the changes. Every time I watch her chatter with Jay over dinner, I fall a little more in love with him.

Which is probably dangerous.

But I can’t seem to make myself care.

I haven’t spoken to any of my brothers since the encounter with Carter in my office. Cash has been a complete tyrant since losing Grace. He refuses to listen to anyone when we tell him she’s not to blame for what happened. And until Carter gets on his damn knees and apologizes, I won’t be speaking to him. As for Chase, he’s been missing for weeks. I love them all, but every one of them is acting like a child these days. I’ve spent my life worrying about them, but for once, I’m focusing on me.