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But not me.
I’m just the “son-of-a-billionaire-turned-rockstar” that can’t stay off the front page of the tabloids no matter how hard I try.
“Okay, well, let me be blunt with you, Mr. Lewis,” Mason says, snapping me out of my thoughts as he leans against his desk. “You need to show that you’re a reliable, responsible parent. You haven’t seen your son in a year—and it’s not because Ms. Noble wouldn’t let you. It’s because you never go home, and you make no attempts to even stabilize your life. You live as if your life is one big party, and that’s fine, but you can’t expect me to continue to fight for partial custody if that’s the life you want to live.”
I hate the fact that I know he’s right. I love my kid, but I hate that I’m his dad, because I’m no role model for him.
And the reason I haven’t made the trip out to Texas is because I don’t want to see my family. I don’t wanna hear their lectures about my lifestyle or my poor decisions.
I hear it from myself all the time.
Though … I suppose I could arrange to see Cooper in secret, or something. But that would probably make things even worse for me when my family inevitably finds out.
Roberta, Texas is much too small a town for secrets.
“You really need to listen to what I’m saying if you want to be able to keep your son for any length of time at your own home,” Mr. Mason continues, his disapproving tone hitting me like a ton of bricks. “You need a stable life—and a stable relationship. All of these toxic, drama-filled break-ups look terrible for you. I can’t blame your child’s mother for wanting to shield her son from that kind of life, not to mention the incident at the zoo…”
“Yeah, I get it,” I mumble, my eyes falling to my hands. “I guess I’ll just have to work on that.”
“You need to show a record of your life changing. Positive PR would be phenomenal for you, Wade. I think that’s what you and Roger need to work on in the downtime of producing your next album. Until I have that, and can prove to the courts that you’re a suitable father, there’s not much I can do.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say, pushing back my chair and standing to my feet.
“We’ll work on it,” Roger retorts, jumping to his feet beside me. “I’ll start coming up with a plan—or something,” he adds, looking over at me with a defeated look on his face.
He’s already given up on me.
Pursing my lips, I head right out of the office. “I gotta go work on writing a song or something,” I mutter out to Roger, who’s trotting along beside my six-foot-two frame.
“We need to decide what we can do about everything—maybe I could schedule you some therapy—”
“I don’t need therapy,” I interject.
“Right. Well, at a minimum, you need to clean up your public image, Wade. Your ticket sales are down. Country music fans like stability. They like ... wives ... and families. If you’re not willing to change your life or settle down, we need to find a way to at least make it appear you are to the public.”
I roll my eyes. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“We could … hire you a fake fiancée?”
I stop in my tracks, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. “A fake fiancée? You must be kidding me, Roger.”
“I’m not kidding, Wade. Think about it. It’s a great way to show the public that you’re settling down and getting your life together. You don’t even have to get married, just have a fake engagement for a little while. It’s been done before.”
I shake my head, feeling uneasy about the idea. “I don’t know, man. That seems pretty dishonest to me.”
“You’re not exactly the poster child of honesty, Wade,” Roger points out. “It’s just a publicity stunt.”
“You know what? I don’t care what the public thinks,” I respond, pushing past him and heading out of the building.
“It’s not just about selling records, Wade,” Roger pleads, grabbing my arm. “It’s about keeping your image clean, so the judge in Texas sees that you’re responsible.”
I hold up my hand, cutting him off. “I’m done talking about this.” Without another word, I turn and walk away from Roger.
As I step out into the warm Nashville air, I can’t help but feel a pang of regret for my actions.
Maybe Roger’s right.
Maybe I do need to clean up my act if I want to have any chance of maintaining a relationship with my son. But the idea of a fake fiancée seems ridiculous.
