Everything Is Blue

Chapter 28

The car ride to the airport was mostly silent, except for the radio playing softly in the background. They left three days after Kimbra had called her father. It gave Bud time to sort things out in St. Canard. He still couldn't believe he was going to Alaska, of all places.

Alaska. Bitter. Cold. Alaska.

A radio commercial ended, and the disk jockey announced, "Here's Fallen Empire and their new hit single, Euphoria."

Bud noticed that Arctic Records had been promoting the boy band more as of late.

The hottest new thing, apparently. They were beginning to pop up more and more. Their songs were played regularly. They opened for a few festivals, taking the place of Brice Cawson, Arctic Records's current poster boy. That's just how Harrison was. As long as you were worth something to him, he'd give you his time. He'd toss you aside once you stopped benefiting him.

Bud's grip on the steering wheel tightened at the thought of his estranged father.

He really wished he hadn't left his younger brother, Colin, behind. Not with Harrison of all people.

You shouldn't have left him behind, you selfish bastard.

A hand on his shoulder pulled him from the thought. "Are you okay?"

His dark eyes glanced at Kimbra for only a moment. "Yeah, I'm okay, why?"

"You look stressed."

"I'm fine." He exhaled, loud, through his mouth. The man didn't look happy at all.

Kimbra leaned over, turning the radio down. Her gaze slid to his face, noting the grimness of his mouth. "You can talk about it, if you want."

There was a weighty pause.

"The band." His voice was barely there.

"Fallen Empire?"

"They're signed onto Arctic Records."

Kimbra vaguely could recall the name. "Oh yeah, they tried to sponsor C.O.R.E."

His eyes snapped to her for only a second before focusing back on the road ahead. "They did?"

"Yeah? Cassie Fletcher was at the presentation."

His jaw tensed. "She must be a new manager."

"Bud, what does this have to do with anything?"

A deep sigh. "My father, Harrison Flud. He owns Arctic Records." Bud didn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Oh," was all Kimbra could say. Not that she hadn't tried. A million words ran through her mind, but none of them felt like the right thing to say.

She didn't pressure him to talk about the topic further.

***

"Sorry that you had to reschedule the flight to a later time," Bud said, walking at Kimbra's side through the busy airport. "I'm sure you didn't want to be flying this late."

She had to pace to keep up with the man's much bigger steps. She cursed her legs for being short and her feet for being so small.

"I don't mind," Kimbra took the hound's hand in hers. "Just means we'll get there a little later than planned. No biggie."

She wanted this to work out so badly. She wanted her family to accept the man and love him as much as she did. Their opinion meant the world to her. If they didn't like Bud, it'd devastate her. The thought of them disapproving of the business man made her even more anxious.