Page 45 of Stone Heart
But I’m not fooling anyone. The guys know something’s up. They see the crappy material I’m bringing to the studio.
That very day, as they were wrapping up their session, Lauren overheard DJ saying to Stevie that he was worried about her. That something was obviously on her mind and throwing her off her game. She pinched her nose, the gesture old muscle memory from her abusive affair with cocaine. The action came wrapped in an almost wistful longing, and Lauren flinched. That wasn’t going to solve her writing problem. She flagged down the waitress and ordered a cup of tea.
She fussed with her phone. Earlier she’d texted Danny to say that she hoped his day had gone better than hers, and that she was going to head over to Red Parrot. She didn’t ask him to come, but she hoped he’d at least answer her message. The absence of alerts on the screen didn’t make her feel any better.
“Hey, good-lookin’.”
Lauren was halfway through her second cup of peppermint tea when Danny thumped down into the chair next to her.
“Hey!”
“Glad I caught you. I’m heading to meet Joey, so I can only stay for a minute.”
“A few minutes is better than none. How are things?” She could see the waitress watching them, and Lauren made sure to keep both her hands firmly on the warm mug.
“Work’s work,” he answered. “Lucas is doing really well with baseball. Kid keeps it up, and I might not have to worry about paying for his college. Matty seems to prefer hoop. Tommy’s more art and music.”
“Hey, don’t knock music,” Lauren said. Danny laughed, and the deep notes warmed her.
“Speaking of music,” she continued. “I invited Cole to come watch a session in the studio while we were recording. I haven’t heard from her or Maggie, but I was thinking—you should stop by, too. Say hello to Augie, meet the rest of the band.”
“I wouldn’t want to be underfoot.”
“Whatever, wise guy. You’re never underfoot, and you know it. I’m serious.”
“I know, and maybe.”
The answer was evasive, and Lauren guessed it was because of Heather. “I don’t mean to put you in an awkward position, I just thought—”
“Don’t even… You didn’t. I think it would be cool to see the studio. But between work and the boys, my schedule is, you know, crazy.”
Lauren let it go. “I get it. But the offer stands.”
“So how is the album going?”
It was Lauren’s turn to equivocate. “Pretty good. Couple songs are fighting me, though. Can’t quite get them where they need to be.” The self-doubt in the back of her head screamed that she was full of shit, and that the songs weren’t just fighting her, they’d abandoned her. But Lauren kept a smile plastered on her face. “Songwriting can be a thorny process.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said casually. “You’re Lauren Stone!”
Deep down Lauren wondered if “being Lauren Stone” was enough.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Despite the anxiety consuming Lauren, The Kingmakers were right on schedule for how they usually came together during album production. Each day, they started with a short jam session to warm up. They’d pull chairs into a semi-circle in front of Augie’s drum kit, and someone would start. A few notes, a cadence, and everyone else would join in. They’d spend an hour doing that most days before Fitz had them get down to business.
Today had started the same, and they’d come away with some interplay between Augie and Ox that had a lot of promise. But looming later in the day was a production meeting, and Lauren wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. There were three songs she needed to finish, and she hadn’t. She berated herself for not stepping up, and she knew the guys had noticed her mood swings. But they didn’t know the source.
Once the meeting started, after they got through schedule minutiae, the band dug into a problematic set of lyrics. A few ideas got moved around, and then Ox picked out some bass lines that caught everyone’s attention. Twenty minutes later, a tap on the studio window interrupted them. Tisha was in the control room and she had company: Danny.
Augie and the rest of the band made no pretense of subtlety as they looked through the window. Ox craned his head to the side to get a better look at Danny. While they couldn’t hear what Lauren and Danny were saying, the couple’s body language spoke volumes. Augie’s brow furrowed when he saw Danny run his hand down Lauren’s arm.
“That’s him, huh? The one she used to date? Shorter than I thought he’d be.” DJ’s squint was critical.
“Yep. That’s him.TheDanny Padovano.” He wondered if this was the reason Lauren’s moods had been all over the map. Without looking at it, Augie made a small adjustment to his ride cymbal and gave the bell a tap. Satisfied with the sharp ping that resulted, he quieted the bronze alloy disc.
“I don’t like him,” DJ said. “Looks like a jackass.”
Stevie’s observation that Lauren and Danny just looked like old chums distracted Augie from the odd note in DJ’s voice.