A Sound Like Hope (Fallen Tuesday #3) by Karolyn James Read Free Book Online Page A

’ t an infant and that he didn ’ t need to be checked on four
times a night, but this was still so new to her. She turned the doorknob and
opened the door just a little. At first, she thought Nicholas was snoring. But when
she listened closer, she realized Nicholas was... crying.
    She listened to him as he tried to
hold it back and not make noise. The wet sniffling sound. The shaky breathing.
When he swallowed, she heard his lips smack together.
    Emily touched her chest and took a
step into the room.
    “ Nicholas,
are you okay? ” she
whispered.
    “ What
are you doing in here? ” Nicholas asked.
    Emily watched his silhouette scramble
to wipe his face. He was sucking in deep breaths of wetness, swallowing all his
emotions down.
    “ It ’ s okay, ” Emily whispered. “ I ’ m right here. You don ’ t have to be afraid of me. ”
    “ I ’ m not afraid of anything. Get
out of here. ”
    “ Nicholas,
I just heard you …”
    “ I
was sleeping. ”
    “ You
were crying. ”
    “ Shut
up, Emily, ” he said.
    “ There ’ s no shame in crying, Nicholas.
If you ’ re upset, you can
talk to me. I want you to talk to me, okay? I ’ ll
never get mad at you. If you keep all that emotion to yourself …”
    “ I ’ m not a baby, ” Nicholas said. “ I ’ m
not like you. Why don ’ t you
go cry somewhere? ”
    Emily took a shaky breath. “ Nicholas, you have to stop
getting so angry at me. I didn ’ t
do …”
    Emily held back. She reminded
herself not to point fingers at anyone. It didn ’ t
matter who did what and why right now. This was about how fragile Nicholas was
right now.
    “ Just
go, ” Nicholas said. “ You don ’ t understand it. ”
    “ What
don ’ t I understand? ” Emily asked.
    “ Just
leave me the hell alone. Emily. ”
    Emily backed out of the room again,
feeling even more defeated. She didn ’ t
shut the door yet.
    “ Nicholas,
if you need anything, please come talk to me. I ’ m
very sorry for however you feel, but I want you to know that I cannot help you
unless you talk to me. ”
    “ Good, ” Nicholas said. “ I don ’ t want to talk to you. Close the door. ”
    Emily pulled the door shut and
found herself once again standing in the dark, listening. Before she had been
listening to hear if Nicholas was trying to break out of the house. Now she
stood and listened to hear if Nicholas would cry again.
    Even if he didn ’ t cry, Emily found herself
unable to control her own emotions.
    Something needed to be done to help
her nephew.
     
    *
     
    The five guys were huddled around a
table with empty beer bottles and shot glasses in the middle. Trent watched the
rest of the band - his brothers - as they talked. It seemed petty and
ridiculous that a girl could cause such a problem between grown men, but whenever
Trent looked at Jake, he realized that damn memory would always be there. The
rest of the band would never understand it, and that was fine, but he and Jake
needed to find a better way to handle it.
    Mack leaned toward Trent and elbowed
him. “ Your eyes are going
to start spinning soon. What the hell is going on up there in your mind? ”
    “ Just
thinking about music, life, the usual stuff, is that alright? ”
    “ No,
man. Not when we ’ re out
like this. This is to talk about the crazy things that have happened in our
life. The tours. The shows. Finding that spark of inspiration. ”
    “ I
don ’ t need inspiration, ” Trent said. “ I ’ m
ready to play. Right here, right now. ”
    “ Careful
with those words, ” Gray
said. “ We can arrange for that
to happen. ”
    Trent looked to his left and eyed a
small stage at the back of the bar. This wasn ’ t
a usual hang out for the band but it was a nice, laid back kind of place. The
town had gotten used to the celebrities and rockstars who lived there, so only
a handful of people had come up to the band so far and asked for an autograph
and picture.
    “ That ’ s tempting, ” Trent said.
    “ Very, ” Jake