The rearview mirror gave Philip shadowy impressions of the kids and Joan. Nason slept in the farthest row back, and Nila had zonked out against her pillow in the seat directly behind Philip. In the bucket seat next to her, Joan also dozed. She wouldn’t want to drive this SUV in this weather anyway.
“How long are you good for?” Philip’s dad asked from the front passenger seat.
“Two or three hours.” With the snow, keeping the vehicle on the road would take intense concentration. After being awake all day and pouring energy into the show, Philip couldn’t promise much more than that without risking his family’s safety. He spared a glance away from the rusty white tailgate of John’s ride about five car-lengths ahead. “You can get some sleep.”
Surely corralling the kids all day had taken a toll. Instead of relaxing, Dad leaned toward the radio. “Something tells me this music won’t keep you awake.”
“It’s fine.” Since he doubted any of the music he stored on his phone would help the kids sleep or meet with Joan’s approval, Philip streamed an easy-listening Christian station, though he’d never been much of a fan. The answers these songs touted didn’t satisfy the questions that haunted him.
Where was the love of God when Clare died? How was Philip supposed to take care of Nason and Nila without her?
Gannon’s faith drove a lot of Awestruck’s lyrics too, but Awestruck wasn’t a Christian band. Even as an outspoken believer, the lead singer sometimes left songs at an unanswered cry for help.
Now, that was the kind of relationship with God Philip could relate to.
“So, how are you doing?”
Philip’s attention shot to his father.
That silly Christmas light necklace cast bursts of color across an expression more serious than festive. Back when Philip moved the kids from Iowa back to LA, Dad’s expression mirrored this one. He’d not said much, but one remark stuck with Philip. “Be the man your kids deserve.”
“I’m good, Dad. Awestruck’s good to me. The tour’s been a whirlwind, but the good kind.”
“So you’re saying it’s good?”
Philip smiled at the tease in his dad’s voice, but the levity proved short-lived.
“And now that it’s ending?” Dad prodded.
And now that it was ending, he was considering giving up his children.
Except, he couldn’t admit to his own father that he himself wasn’t cut out for fatherhood. He’d do what he had to. He’d fake it. Somehow, they’d get through.
“Your back has been bothering you?”
Philip struggled against a powerful impulse to squirm in his seat like a kid with a guilty conscience. “No. Pain free.”
He attempted to vanquish the guilt. Since joining Awestruck, he’d been on the straight and narrow. One more reason he could take the kids, be their father.
“Daddy?” Nila’s voice stabbed the quiet.
Philip checked the mirror. “What’s wrong?”
“I had a dream you weren’t here.” Her voice trembled, teary.
“We get to be together for Christmas. I’m going to show you the new house where we’re all going to live together in a few weeks.”
The house was an hour and a half from the cabin. They’d make the trip on Christmas Day, while Gannon and John visited their families.
“What if I don’t like it?” Her voice wobbled, the tears increasingly evident.
He tried reassuring her, but within a half mile, her crying woke Joan. After trying to calm her unsuccessfully, Joan suggested he give his dad the wheel and move back to sit with his daughter.
Ahead of them, John’s vehicle continued to lead the way down the dark highway. The precipitation fell faster than it had in the city, and a veneer of snow crystalized over the slush. He hated to ask the guys to pull over for his sake when they hadn’t even been on the road an hour, but Nila’s crying continued.
He used voice commands to text the others. At the next exit, they found a gas station. The other two vehicles idled as Philip, Joan, and Dad all switched seats. No sooner had Philip sat in the seat Joan vacated than Nila complained he was still too far away.
He lay his arm across the narrow space between them. Her tiny fingers gripped him, her hand completely swallowed by his. With her other hand, she held her locket, which contained a picture of Clare.
She held onto both her parents as tightly as possible, but Clare was long gone, and though present, Philip doubted his ability to serve his daughter much better.
Adeline blinked away the shadows and straightened the arm she’d been sleeping on, lifting herself to survey the room. Light from the Christmas tree fell softly on the chairs, tables, and thick rugs. Tegan’s form lay cuddled under a quilt, only her blond head visible. Bruce’s snoring sounded from the floor, so the glitter of eyes from Tegan’s couch must have been those of one of John’s dogs.
A warm, heavy weight pressed on Adeline’s own legs. Sure enough, the other pit bull snuggled between her legs and the back of the couch, his massive head resting on her feet.
She sort of remembered waking when Trigger hopped up toward the end of the movie.
Now the TV was black. Auto shut-off? Or had Tegan done that? She hadn’t meant to fall asleep out here. What time was it, anyway?
Adeline patted the end table until she found her phone. Three thirty.
Depending on the weather, the route they’d chosen, and when they’d actually gotten on the road, the guys could be anywhere from Milwaukee to Madison. Or near Oshkosh? She unlocked her phone, hoping Gannon would’ve silenced his if he were sleeping.
You up? How’s it going?
Trigger sighed heavily. Adeline scratched the dog’s smooth, short fur.
Her phone lit up with a reply. Good. We’re somewhere between Portage and Stevens Point.
She researched the routes. Driving from Chicago in good weather, reaching a city as far up and over as Portage should’ve taken three hours. Stevens Point, four. Awestruck hadn’t left Chicago until midnight, so either way, they’d made good time. Maybe too good.
You’d better be closer to Portage. Precious cargo.
She sent the text and rose, smirking. He’d never let her get away with calling him precious.
The dogs followed her from the room. Since they’d been shut in the cabin since seven thirty or eight, she let them out. The snow blanketing the property nearly reached the dogs’ bellies. They did their business quickly and trotted back in, shaking off clinging flakes.
She checked her phone. No reply from Gannon.
Back in the den, Tegan remained asleep. Since she seemed comfortable, Adeline opted not to wake her.
The dogs shadowed her to the bedroom. No sooner had she pulled the covers over her legs than Camo and Trigger sprang up and plopped next to her.
“You are so spoiled.”
Camo blinked at her. Trigger settled his head against the blankets.
Tired of being alone, she didn’t have the heart to shoo them off.
She checked her phone. Still no word from Gannon.
He’d probably drifted off after his first reply. She ought to do the same—sleep so she’d be more rested to spend quality time together once he arrived.
Lonely impatience loomed in the darkness, nudging her awake each time her mind began to settle. Would they ever really share their lives?
Tegan had been wise to suggest she seek remote career opportunities.
She might sleep better with a possible solution in mind, so she ran a job search.
Most of the results seemed to be customer service representatives. She could only imagine what it’d be like to take shifts on the phone, answering questions about cable channels or hiking boots from some hotel while the band ran a sound check.
Sighing, she slid the phone onto the nightstand and pulled the blankets up to her chin. She wasn’t alone. God was with her, and Gannon would be soon. People endured far more heart-wrenching separations than a rock star and his girlfriend.
But knowing the facts didn’t lend her peace.
Because peace came from God, not knowledge. Hadn’t she learned that by now? Instead of another fruitless job search, she turned to prayer, and somewhere in that, found sleep.
Nicole’s cry pulled John out of a dream.
Snow pelted the windows. The seatbelt banded tight on his chest as the vehicle skidded. An ominous shadow passed out the window. The truck came to a stop, askew in the far-right lane of the interstate.
John twisted. No traffic besides Philip’s SUV, which passed in the next lane, then pulled over. The shadow they’d passed was the third truck, the one Tim drove, pointed the wrong direction.
“Pull onto the shoulder,” John instructed.
When they’d last stopped, at three a.m., John and Gannon had realized they needed to put their Californians at the wheel—in fact, they should’ve let the inexperienced winter drivers have the first shift. That way, John and Gannon could rest and be ready to take back over when conditions got worse.
Which, apparently, they had.
“Did you see that?” Nicole placed both hands on the wheel and sat as tall as possible, as if seeing the road right before her would help her steer onto the shoulder. “One second they were there, and the next…” She circled her hand through the air as if Tim fell victim to a tornado. “Are we going to have to tow them?”
“We’ll see.” He dipped his head, watching in the mirror. They weren’t in deep. The truck’s four-wheel drive ought to get them out.
John’s phone buzzed with a message from Gannon.
At least our warm-weather friends made it three hours.
John chuckled.
“What’s funny?” Nicole asked.
John shook off his smile. “They’re all right. Tim’s not used to winter driving.”
A group text from Philip arrived. Kids woke up. Need a pit stop.
Behind them, Tim and Gannon’s SUV rolled forward and back, still stuck.
Gannon sent a message to the group. Wausau’s a couple minutes ahead. We’ll stop at the first gas station.
Tim’s engine revved, and the SUV broke free into the lane. Gannon must plan to wait for the stop to switch places with Tim. Not the worst idea. In this, other drivers wouldn’t see vehicles stopped on the edge of the highway until they were right on top of them, making this a dangerous place to get out.
John looked to Nicole. “Are you okay until Wausau?”
“Yeah.” Nicole shifted back into gear. “I don’t understand how Tim spun around like that. Aren’t these supposed to drive through anything? Everything’s been going fine.”
“Be careful. It doesn’t take much.” From the looks of it, no plows had been through in hours. Hopefully, crews were making the rounds though. So far, their caravan remained on track to reach their destination around ten a.m., but if conditions deteriorated, their remaining four hours could stretch much longer.
Tim retook the lead, followed by Philip. Nicole pressed the accelerator to fall in line, and snow flew up from the tires past the windows. The truck edged sideways instead of advancing.
“Slow and steady,” John said. Though given her enthusiasm for the gas pedal, she’d be a lot of fun in an empty, snow-covered parking lot.
In the relative quiet, once they reached speed, John noticed the music.
“You’re playing Awestruck?”
“Of course.” She flashed him her best smile. “I love your music.”
Awestruck had plenty of fans, but praise from someone he cared about? The simple compliment slipped past his defenses. Nicole hadn’t explained herself yet, but he’d slept the last couple of hours, and they still had hours to go.
“So that gift Gannon spent all day shopping for. Guess what he got her.” Nicole’s tone said she wouldn’t suppress the secret long, so he waited until she supplied the answer. “A tree growing kit. Is Adeline really into trees or something?”
“No.” The last time John saw her property, the only plant he’d spotted inside or out was the grass in the lawn. “I’m sure he has his reasons.”
“It’s cute that he tried that hard and that’s the best he could do.” Nicole laughed with a shake of her head. “The basses will save him if she likes playing as much as you say.”
Fair enough. Music constituted an important part of Gannon and Adeline’s bond, but even a spot-on present wasn’t what the couple needed most. “The best gift for them is the tour ending.”
Nicole spared him a smile. “It’s nice that our traveling hasn’t been such a strain for us. Some of my exes minded my schedule, and eventually, you can’t enjoy the time you do have together. But we free each other to follow our dreams, and when we’re together, we get to do things like this.”
“You like this?”
“My friends are going to be very impressed I managed to drive a massive truck through a blizzard.” She scrunched her nose, grinning. “I bet none of them suspect I have it in me, and I hate being underestimated.”
Understandable. Was he underestimating her regarding her financial situation? Possibly, and by asking about it, he’d reveal that low opinion to her. Instead, he’d give her more time to broach the subject herself.
For now, she remained cheerfully focused on their trip. “The whole cabin thing is very quaint and sweet, and I’m looking forward to meeting your family. I’ve been studying. Want to quiz me?”
“On what?”
“Your family.”
“You studied my family?”
She’d asked for names a while ago, but he hadn’t thought much of it.
“Of course. Your parents are Hank and Patricia—although Hank is your stepdad. Your real dad has been out of the picture since you were a kid.”
A kid, but old enough to remember, unfortunately. Nic had pressed for the story earlier in their relationship and seemed hurt when he’d resisted sharing.
Telling her now would deepen their relationship, but the details froze in his throat.
She plowed onward, describing his family. “Your sisters are Kate, Stacy, and Angie. Ask me the names of their husbands.”
He watched her sitting proudly behind the wheel, eyes scanning the snow. “What are their husbands’ names?”
“That’s a trick question. Kate is only engaged, not married. Tanner is her fiancé. Angie is married to Mark. Stacy to Rob.”
“Robby.”
She narrowed her eyes, smirking. “If that’s the worst you can say, I’m doing pretty well.”
She was. He was impressed, but there was another quality he liked about her: she could take a little ribbing.
“You’ve been internet stalking.”
“Researching. This is important. I want to get it right. Make a good first impression.”
“You always do.” Since her beautiful face invariably made up the first impression she gave. Beyond that, she was thoughtful and adventurous. He’d never doubted she’d made him a priority, arranging her schedule to see him, willingly taking part in plans like this one.
“Well, now you know my secret.”
“Research.”
A shrug. A nod.
Putting extra effort into relationships came naturally to her. Yet another reason theirs worked. Another reason to start sharing more and building a more solid relationship.
He took the simplest first step. “While we’re up north, I’m checking out a house. Come with me?”
She shot him a million-dollar smile. “I’d love to.”
They weren’t Adeline and Gannon. John and Nicole didn’t have that much history, and maybe that was a good thing, since Gannon and Adeline had spent years recovering from their past. And John’s house wouldn’t be a shared decision the way Gannon’s had been. He and Nicole weren’t that far along in their relationship.
But if Gannon and Adeline could get past all the bumps to their own happily-ever-after, John and Nicole might too.