Her Song

37 - Between the Lines

**Van**

"No mother, Van can't introduce you to Mick Hucknall. Whoever that is," Kim said with an incredulous look. She lifted the phone away from her ear to glare at it as if the woman on the other end could see her.

Mick Hucknall? The dude from Simply Red? Out of everyone Kim's mother could have asked about she asked after that wanker? I'd never met him but in my dad's catalogue of stories about musicians he'd worked with he had a story about working on some charity show with the red-headed git. It figured that Francesca was interested in him, there was nothing understated about him.

"No mother! We will not introduce you to Van's brother! They no longer speak and even if they did he's locked up!" Kim sent a look of apology my way. She was stretched out with her legs in front of her on the sofa with a cup of coffee in the hand not occupied by her phone. She looked longingly out the window. We were parked in front of a diner, the others were already inside and Josh and Ace were no doubt engaging in another bout of breakfast wars. Kim's mother's call had interrupted us just as we were about to go inside. She could have sent her mother to voicemail, again, but she'd dodged her for long enough.

I gave Kim a quick eye roll to let her know I understood her mother's interest. Rich's currency had always been his notoriety and even his current scandals wouldn't hold him back forever. No, he was far more likely to self-destruct completely before the press grew tired of him. But that wasn't my problem anymore. I wasn't going to be around to pick up the pieces for him. My dealings with my brother were well and truly over – I longer had anything to say to or about him. There was no longer anything he could say to or about me that had the power to hurt me anymore and the funny thing was that his attempt to punish me and surf the wave of my growing fame had made that possible.

It was amazing to think how quickly public opinion could change and all it had taken was one brief statement. A statement that I could never have imagined we'd see. Two days after I'd made the decision to say and do nothing everything had changed.

Kim and I had been curled up together in a bunk – the taking turns with Lucy and Bas for the back bedroom was getting pretty tired to be honest – when the curtain was unceremoniously ripped back. I flung the blanket over Kim's sleeping form to hide the smooth expanse of her naked skin.

"Do you mind?" I'd fixed Lucy with a glare.

"Please," Lucy scoffed, "it's nothing I haven't seen before. We used to spray tan each other naked."

"Really?" I dropped my hand to where the blanket draped across my hips, Kim wasn't the only one who was naked, she was just the one who'd kicked the covers off in her sleep. "You've seen it all have you?"

Lucy stepped back and swept the curtain closed. "Get dressed and come out here. And hurry," she ordered through the fabric. There was a strange mix of excitement and urgency in her voice. I glanced at Kim who snuffled and buried deeper under the blanket I'd thrown over her as if in protest at the early hour. I'm sure the desire to grin like an idiot every time I looked at her would wear off eventually.

Groping around for a pair of shorts I pulled them on and swung out of the bunk. Lucy sat, shifting restlessly, at the table with a bleary eyed Bas beside her. She obviously hadn't let him sleep either.

"I made coffee," he rumbled in a sleep thick voice.

"Thanks man." I poured myself a cup. I was going to need something to help me deal with Lucy's manic energy. I took a sip and gave a sigh of pleasure. It was good coffee. I raised my cup at Bas in appreciation as I slid into the booth around the table.

"Read this," Lucy said and shoved her tablet into my hands. I blinked, attempting to focus my still half asleep eyes on the words in front of me. Any vestiges of sleep fell away as I scanned down the brief but to the point statement.