Page 7 of All Stars Fall
“I’m going to stop you right there before all of my platinum records fall off the wall and chase you down the street. You’re fired.”
“What? Because I wouldn’t suck your—”
“Wow!” I was seconds away from calling in one of the security guards I’d hired for the kids when I was away during the day. The last thing I needed was a kidnapping. “You can show yourself out.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You couldn’t handle me anyway.”
That would be because I knew how to handle women, and she was nothing but a girl with an iPhone X and way too much time on her hands.
The door slammed behind her.
And just like that, the crying started.
“Daddy!” Bella wailed. “Eric put more gum in my hair!”
“It’s gonna fall out! It’s gonna make you bald!” Eric shouted.
“Is it normal for gum to be that sticky?” Malcom asked in a confused voice.
“I don’t think that’s gum.” More from Eric.
“DAD!” Malcom shrieked. “I think it’s Gorilla Glue!”
“Son of a bitch!” I roared.
The crying intensified.
Of course I just had to fire the nanny. Fantastic. The album deadline was rearing its ugly head, I had absolutely no help, and my kids were understandably upset that their mom was a selfish bitch.
“Just give me a minute to think,” I called up, not that it helped. The crying intensified, something was pushed over, a crash sounded louder, another shriek. A curse word.
“Malcom Jonathan WOOD!” I roared.
“It was Eric!”
“Shit!” Eric repeated over and over again.
My eye twitched as I looked at the fridge and saw the beer waiting inside. Once they were in school it would get better. They’d make friends and—
“Daaaaddy!” Bella ran down the stairs and jumped into my arms. “Eric said it’s never going to grow back!”
“Everyone downstairs!” I yelled. “Now!” I kissed Bella on the cheek. “Sweetheart, we’ll figure it out. There has to be something at the store we can get that will take it out, all right, maybe we’ll try the peanut butter this time?”
“Mom would know,” came Malcom’s solemn voice as he jumped down the bottom stair. “She always knew what to do when—”
“Yeah well, Mom’s not here!” Eric shoved him. “So just drop it.”
The pain was evident in Eric’s face, in Malcom’s voice, hell, in the size of Bella’s tears.
I was failing them.
I loved them more than anything in the world.
And I was failing them when they needed me the most.
I let out a helpless sigh. “Coats and shoes, we’re going to the store.”
CHAPTER THREE
