Page 82 of Hauling Ashe

“So…practice?” Tommy says, his Southern drawl thick. “It’s been a while.”

“We just played together last October,” Denton interjects. My brows pinch. They’ve already gotten back together? Then why do they want me? I quickly remind myself this reunion isn’t their wish but that of my daughter.

“I was obviously thrown off when I saw you guys, and I didn’t have anything to do with this plan. So, I understand if this isn’t really your gig. You don’t need to do this.” With the four of us huddled together, Brut joins us on the tail end of what I’ve said.

“Julia wants it,” her soon-to-be father-in-law reminds me.

“You know, I never thought you liked me, so if you still don’t want to play with me, after all this time, just say it,” Hank says, his voice deep as his eyes narrow at me.

“Not like you? Are we kids in a schoolyard again?” Tommy scoffs, chuckling to keep the sudden tension low.

“Hank, you promised no bullshit,” Brut adds.

“It’s not bullshit. We have some unresolved shit and maybe we should resolve it before tomorrow,” Hank states, glaring at me.

“There’s nothing unresolved,” I point out.

“The hell there isn’t,” Denton interjects next. “You quit. We were just getting our feet wet with Kit and you bailed.”

“I—” I was twenty-three. More than a kid but not really an adult. I had a grandfather I loved who’d made a request to save the family name and I honored it, while I owed my father nothing. How do I explain this to them? Do I even need to?

“Haven’t you done anything you regret?” I retort to Denton.

His eyes cross the room where I see his wife looking up as if she senses him watching her and she softly smiles at him. Yeah, I remember his tale about leaving behind his true love. Took him twenty-seven years to find her again.

“We don’t need to do this,” Tommy says, pointing a finger in the space between us. “Rehash the past. We’ve all had our issues over the years.”

“You aren’t going to do this,” Brut adds next. “For Julia and Chopper, you’re going to play your damn instruments and make nice. She wants this and Chopper wants her happy.”

I like my daughter’s future father-in-law. He’s a good man.

“My leaving had nothing to do with you, Hank,” I say to him, giving him a firm look. “Nothing. It was all family bullshit.”

“Know about that,” Denton mutters beside me, which reminds me that he and I connected the best when we were younger. We both had shit fathers and came from backgrounds in the public eye. Whether his was small town and mine wasn’t didn’t matter. We understood each other then.

“We’ve all had family bullshit and made decisions accordingly.” Tommy claps Hank on the shoulder and a private look occurs between them. I don’t understand what it means, and I don’t need to know. There’s no sense in turning back the clock. We can’t change the past.

“For Julia and Chopper then,” I say, holding up my glass of wine.

“For Julia and Chopper.” A crystalline chime rings out as Brut taps his glass to mine. The others follow suit while Hank holds up a fist on the edge of our collective glasses. We drink.

“Now, what the fuck are we going to play tomorrow?” Tommy says with a deep laugh and the tension breaks. A new anxiety hits. I have no idea what song my daughter wants to hear.

+ + +

I’m definitely feeling the buzz of good wine and renewed memories. The guys and I shared stories from the past for hours, skipping over the drama of me leaving, and the tumultuous relationship Hank and Kit eventually had. We talked about gigs and old names in the business, and in some ways, it was like I never left. In others, it was a reminder of all that I’d missed. Then I’d look up at Julia smiling at Chopper and him kissing her nose, and I knew I’d do it all again as I’d done it.

Mae’s also tipsy. She easily got along with all the wives—Edie, Midge, Lily, and Mati. Mati especially wanted dirt on Garrett to take home and tease him about. From the sound of things, Mati and Denton are close with Dolores and Garrett back in Blue Ridge.

I’m still stunned that all these old connections have made new ones with my daughter, and the past few years they’ve circled her, included her, and now she’ll be family with them. Was I not paying enough attention? How did I miss these people in her life? I can’t recall Julia ever mentioning Tommy or Hank, but then again, I didn’t know Tommy as anyone but Lawson.

Eventually, Mae and I stumble into my room, and I kiss her neck. “Still want to pour that wine over your body,” I mutter into her skin.

She purrs and we knock into the side of the bed. Mae’s wearing the dress she wore on our last day of road trip travel. She washed all her things at her brother’s place, and she had nothing to worry about as she fit right in with the casual affair tonight.

“Have fun with your friends?” she mutters to my mouth, struggling with the buttons on my shirt.

I did have fun in a strange sort of way, but I don’t want to discuss them.