A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) (15 page)

Trent held Emily as she cried. He had
no idea that she would open up to him so much. He definitely hadn't been
prepared to hear a story like that.

“
I
’
m sorry for this,
”
Emily said.
“
You probably thought we
’
d be doing something else.
”

“
My
only agenda was to get to know you better,
”
Trent said.
“
Don
’
t worry like this. You deserve the
chance to cry if you want, Emily.
”

“
I
shouldn
’
t be like this,
”
Emily said.
“
I should be stronger. I have to
be stronger. But it
’
s hard
when you
’
re alone.
”

“
You
’
re not alone right now,
”
Trent said.

Emily looked at him.
“
Am I a bitch for not letting you
have a drink?
”

Trent smiled.
“
No. You
’
re worried about me. And Nick. Plus, I don
’
t drink and drive, no matter
what articles online say about me.
”

Emily wiped her eyes and sat up.
“
What happened with that?
”

“
So
I guess it
’
s my turn to
talk now?
”

“
Please,
”
Emily said.
“
I need to know I
’
m not the only one messed up in
this world.
”

“
Oh,
I
’
m messed up,
”
Trent said.
“
The only thing is that being
messed up and being a rockstar typically go hand in hand.
”

“
Did
you bring your guitar with you again?
”

“
Always.
Never know when the moment strikes
…”

“
Tell
me your story and then play me a song.
”

Trent was enamored right now. He
couldn
’
t stop looking at
Emily. Darkness had settled in and Emily asked Trent to turn on the light on
the back deck. The light was subtle, enough to let him see Emily. He sat back
down and leaned forward, folding his hands.

Did he really want to go back
there? Back in time? Explain everything that had happened with Chloe?

There were only three people that
knew the truth about him, Jake, and Chloe. Trent turned his head and saw the
beauty of Emily
’
s eyes and
knew there would be one more person now.

“
What
I said to Nick about not going too crazy about that girl, that was done on
purpose.
”

“
I
heard,
”
Emily said.

“
The
funny thing is, it was a girl who started me down the path to my career. I
wanted to write her a song to win her over. Typical boy stuff I guess.
”

“
This
has to do with all that stuff online?
”
Emily asked.

“
Oh
yeah. It
’
s a long story.
”

“
I
have time.
”

“
Jake,
one of the guys in the band, and I have a really tough past. If it wasn
’
t for the band, I
’
m pretty sure the two of us
would have beaten the hell out of each more than once. There was a woman that
came between us, from day one it seems. Her name
’
s
Chloe.
”

“
Chloe?
”

“
Yeah.
She was the
it
girl. The first one that was pretty. The first one that
was
…
you know, developing.
The first one who was willing to have fun and do things. It drove me mad to
hear stories of her making out with other guys and stuff. And then one day she
set her eyes on me. And that was it. I was smitten. No matter what she did to
me, it was never wrong. She cheated on me a lot. She messed with my head, my
heart, everything. But she always had this way of getting me to take her back.
She would cry. She would flirt. She would
…
well, she would do things with me.
”

“
Do
things?
”
Emily asked.

Trent looked at her.
“
We were teenagers. What do you
thing I mean when I say
things
?
”

“
Oh.
”

“
Yeah.
I swore to myself I was in love with her. I swore that I would marry her. I swore
I would become a famous guitarist and it would work out.
”

“
You
’
re not a famous guitarist,
”
Emily said.

“
And
I
’
m not married to Chloe
for damn sure.
”

“
Do
you regret that?
”

“
No.
Not for a second. We broke up and that seemed to be it. It was hard for me. I
was young and it was my first love, my first everything. And she was gone for
good. Or so I thought
…”

“
Oh
no.
”

“
Yes.
She wasn
’
t gone out of my
life forever. Now, granted, I think it
’
s
kind of dumb to think once you break up with someone they are out of your life
forever. But one day I showed up to jam out with the band and there was Chloe,
hanging off the arm of Jake. And Jake had that look on his face. That look that
I knew so well, because it was the same look I had on my face at once point.
”

“
Meaning?
”

“
Meaning
I just knew what they were doing together. That's what hurt the most. Knowing
that before and after practices and shows, Jake and Chloe were off together, to
do whatever they want. Some nights, if we had parties, then I would have to
endure being with both of them and trying my hardest not to run into them. Except
Chloe loved the attention. She loved knowing that Jake was tripping over his
own feet to get to her. She loved knowing that it was hurting me. And she loved
flaunting their relationship in front of me. Worst of all, if she could find a
way to corner me, alone, she would flaunt herself. She would talk about things
we did. She would close in on me and tempt me.
”

“
She
sounds like a
…
a
…”

Trent smiled.
“
You don
’
t have to hold back. I
’
m not with her now or anything like that.
”

“
Good.
Because she sounds like a manipulative bitch.
”

Trent let out a small laugh.
“
Yeah, that sums it up. But what
does that make me, since I kept falling for her same old crap?"

“
That
means you wanted to believe that she was worth all the pain,
”
Emily said.

“
Chloe
isn
’
t though. That I do
know. See, the band kept getting more shows. We were writing more songs. There
was a buzz that couldn
’
t be
stopped. And the tension between Jake and I came and went with the weather it
seemed. One night we were hugging, enjoying life. The next we were looking at
each other like we wanted to fight. Sometimes we would joke about our taste in
women. Sometimes the jokes were more of sarcastic shots between each other.
Then, just as I expected, Chloe and Jake broke up.
”

“
Did
he break up with her?
”
Emily asked.

“
I
’
m not really sure. It just came
to an end. But there is never a real end with Chloe. She does what she wants
…
"

Trent paused and composed himself.
Part of him wasn
’
t sure why
the hell he was about to share this with Emily, but when he looked at her, the
light of the porch cast across her face, he knew why he was doing this. Because
he didn
’
t just already care
about Nick. He cared about Emily too.

“
I
jumped back into the fire,
”
Trent admitted.

“
With
Chloe?
”

“
Yeah.
There was a night it all just came together. Jake was somewhere else. It had
been one of those days, you know? Everything felt wrong and I just needed a
night to feel right. And all of a sudden, there was Chloe, somehow always
knowing when to pop up at the best - or worst - times. I regretted it the
moment I woke up the next morning and she was next to me.
”

“
You
slept with her,
”
Emily
said.

Trent sighed.
“
Yes, I did. Probably the biggest
mistake I
’
ve ever made. It
put a hole in the band that is still there. Jake and I didn
’
t talk for days and when we saw
each other, we wanted to kill each other. Over a woman. It seems so cliché and
dumb, but it was major to us.
”

“
All
this was happening behind the scenes while you guys were becoming rich and
famous, huh?
”

“
Well,
this was long before rich and famous. But it was a hard time to deal with it.
We were booking shows like crazy. Our popularity was through the roof. Then,
like a car hitting a brick wall, Chloe showed up one day to tell me and Jake
that she was pregnant.
”

“
No,
”
Emily said.

Trent paused again for a few
seconds, almost in shock that he just admitted all that to Emily.

“
I
hope you don
’
t judge me
because of all this,
”
Trent
said.

“
I
’
m more interested in what
happened to bring you here,
”
Emily said.

“
It
all connects, Emily. When Chloe said she was pregnant, it was made pretty clear
that she didn
’
t know who
the father was. So now Jake and I had something else to tear each other apart
over. We didn
’
t talk about
it, but it was right there in every snide comment we made to each other at
practice, before shows, and any chance we got. Fallen Tuesday almost called it
quits at one point, it was that bad.
”

Trent stood up and walked to the
end of the deck and gripped the wooden railing. Just talking about all this
made his heart race and ache at the same time. He could remember those days
like they were yesterday. The band had worked so hard and struggled, yet there
was something else in the background causing problems because of a mistake he
made.

When Trent heard Emily
’
s soft steps and then felt her
touch against his back, he swallowed hard. He reminded himself why he was actually
there right now.

“
You
can keep talking,
”
Emily
said.
“
I
’
m interested, Trent. I
…
I care.
”

Trent looked over to Emily and he
reached for her. When his hand touched her waist and found that easy, but very
tempting comfort, he couldn
’
t
help but pull her close.

“
I
sense you have something to ask me,
”
Trent said.

“
Wouldn
’
t you if you were me?
”
Emily asked.

Trent looked down at her.
“
I
’
m
not a father.
”

“
So
it was Jake
’
s?
”

Trent shook his head again.
“
I wish it was.
”

“
Wish?
”

“
She
lost the baby,
”
Trent said.
Ouch. It had been a long time since he let himself say those words out loud.  

“
Oh,
Trent,
”
Emily said. She
touched his face.
“
I
’
m so sorry.
”

“
I
am too,
”
Trent said.
“
It would have been nice to know.
But now I look at it as a blessing for all of us. I
’
m sure Chloe wasn
’
t
just sleeping with me and Jake. She
’
s
not the faithful type.
”

“
What
happened after that?
”

“
It
got dark for a little while. But the music saved me. Saved us. Jake and I found
our peace with each other. We wrote together. And it was almost therapeutic
because we knew the other person was writing music based on feelings about
Chloe. Not
for
her, but
about
her. There
’
s a big difference.
”

“
That
’
s good then,
”
Emily said.
“
Really good.
”

“
Yeah.
Chloe disappeared for a while after the miscarriage, but she recently showed up
and caught me completely off guard. I didn't want to deal with her, so I left
the bar I was at and got into my car. But I didn
’
t
drive. I
’
m not an idiot,
Emily. I
’
ve done some dumb
things in my life, but I know better than to drink and drive. The problem was
that Chloe cornered me outside, we started arguing, and before I knew it, the
police were there and I was being taken away. Then, just like before, she ran
to Jake. He fell right back into her trap. That got to me bad. The video you
saw of me hitting that guy is why I
’
m
here right now. The guy was accusing me of being a drunk who didn't care about
other people's lives, and he just wouldn't let up. I should have brushed it off
my shoulders, but I saw Jake with his phone and I knew he was talking to Chloe.
So I snapped. I turned, swung, and all hell broke loose.
”