All Stars Fall Read online

  He beamed. “I know! Jennifer told us all about you. Don’t you worry, this is one of the best places to live in the Pacific Northwest. Remember what I said.”

  “Scout’s honor.” I winked just as the bell went off again.

  Eight more men walked in, all around the same age, with a flurry of canes and walkers, and every single one of them ordered a black coffee except for the last one, who had the most beautiful brown skin and wide smile. “I need a little sugar.”

  I let out a little laugh. “All right, so you want sugar in your coffee?”

  “Oh no, I think I want a latte today, can you surprise me?”

  “You mean with the flavor?”

  He gave me a sheepish grin. “Every day’s a new day, isn’t it? Why not try something new? Life’s too short, Penelope.”

  Did everyone know my name?

  “Okay.” I quickly pulled his shot, steamed the milk and handed him his drink.

  Exact change.

  Again.

  Well, at least my job was easy.

  The morning crowd was indeed loud, but only because they were arguing about football. Apparently, we had a few Seahawks fans still upset over the Patriots beating them in the Super Bowl.

  It was hard not to grin as they bickered.

  “….they’re a running team and they threw the damn ball!”

  “I knew it was PI the minute it happened.”

  “Lucky catch.”

  Smiling, I cleaned out the machine just as a few high school girls walked in with their backpacks secured on their backs and an astonishing amount of makeup painted across their young faces. “What can I get you girls?”

  I didn’t have to guess. They would want frappuccinos. I would bet my life on it.

  “Two frappuccinos.” The first girl gave me a weird look and then handed me a twenty. “With extra whip.”

  “What size?”

  “Sixteen.” She stared down at her phone. “Anyways, you were saying?”

  “He fired me!” the other girl complained. “And he made fun of me, and then he thought I called him old. Whatever, I don’t even know, it was so strange. At first I thought he was hitting on me then he looked so offended that I don’t know, adults are weird and his kids were so annoying!”

  “But he paid you like a hundred bucks for three hours,” the friend pointed out. “I’d put up with a lot for that kind of money, even if it meant babysitting some famous guy’s kids.”

  “He’s not that famous.” She sniffed.

  Still eavesdropping, I got them their change and grabbed their cups.

  “Adrenaline won two Grammys last year, one for song of the year.” My ears perked. Adrenaline? The Adrenaline? Hottest boy band from my teen years? I had posters of them in my room when I was fifteen and was convinced I was going to marry the lead singer.

  And then I went to a concert and the drummer caught my eye.

  Golden brown hair, sexy eyes, and…

  Wait.

  Why did that seem familiar?

  Huh. I made their drinks, the noise from the blender shutting out any more of my eavesdropping, sadly. Did that mean that Adrenaline was here? In this town? Wouldn’t Dani have told me? According to her, a lot of the celebs refused to spend the winter in Seaside since it got so cold. They all ran back to LA, only to return to Seaside during the summer.

  Not that it mattered.

  “Here you go.” I handed the girls their drinks.

  “I said extra whipped cream.” The one grumpy girl who had been fired turned her nose up at me. Perfect. Insulted by a girl who was going to be buried with her phone actually grown into her palm from usage.

  “Sorry.” I pulled the lids off, added more whip cream, and handed them back.

  “You must be new.” The girl’s eyes narrowed.

  “Yup.” I had so many other things I wanted to say, but I refrained when the bell dinged again, and this time a hushed silence filled the room.

  “That’s him,” Rude Girl said under her breath, her cheeks reddening.

  Her friend’s eyes widened in shock like she wasn’t sure if she should pass out or say hi.

  “Trevor!” One of the old guys stood and patted him on the back. “How’s the album coming?”

  Trevor, Trevor, Trevor. Holy.

  Stay calm.

  Calm.

  Trevor Wood.

  And he’d been in here the day before.

  What was he doing here? Wasn’t he married?

  With kids?

  Living happily ever after?

  The girls scooted out of the coffee shop so fast it looked like their little trendy backpacks were on fire.

  And then a chubby little face peered over the counter at me. “I like hot chocolate.”

  The poor thing had just gotten a haircut, and from the looks of it, her hairdresser had either been drunk or…

  “Got all the gum out?” I leaned down so we were both at eye level across the counter.

  Her eyes looked puffy from tears. “Yeah, Daddy said it will grow back.”

  “It will,” I soothed. “I cut my bangs to here when I was about your age.” I pointed to the top of my forehead. “And my hair grew back just fine.”

  “You have pretty hair.” Her teeth looked like little Chiclets. Be still my heart, she was freaking adorable. And she said I had pretty hair even though I hadn’t washed it in five days and smelled like car.

  “Thank you.” I beamed. “So why don’t I grab you some hot chocolate? With sprinkles?”

  “Red ones!” She clapped her hands. “Please?”

  “Coming right up.” A shadow descended over me. I was still at eye level, so I had to look up, up, up, up directly into Trevor Wood’s penetrating and amused stare. “Hey there.”

  My voice croaked.

  I smelled.

  And I was hunched down nearly touching the floor.

  I quickly stood and nearly collided with the old cash register before tugging my black apron down and focusing in on his smirk. “I see you fixed the hair?”

  He frowned and then gave his head a shake. “Right, yeah, well, I’m not so sure we’re calling it fixed, but it’s better and both brothers have been grounded for using Gorilla Glue after spending hours getting the gum out.”

  I gasped. “Gorilla Glue?”

  “It’s been an exciting twenty-four hours,” he said in a tired voice. “I told them I’d buy each of them a pony if we could stop and get coffee.”

  “And when you don’t follow through?” I crossed my arms.

  “I didn’t specify what kind of pony. They have them at the dollar store, about this big.” He held up his fingers an inch apart. “Brown. Three for one dollar.”

  “Trickery.” I nodded.

  “Warfare,” he deadpanned just as one of the boys behind him kicked the other in the shin.

  “Take it back, Eric! Take it back!”

  “It’s true! Mom left because of you!”

  My heart cracked while Trevor flipped around and grabbed Eric by the shoulders. “Son, we don’t say things like that.”

  “Who cares?!” Tears filled his eyes. “It doesn’t even matter anymore.”

  The shop went quiet.

  Even the old timers were staring.

  Eric clutched his dad’s hands. “Maybe if we weren’t born…”

  Oh, my heart.

  The little girl gasped, her lower lip wobbling.

  “Hey.” I tried distracting her. “Wanna help make the hot chocolate?”

  “Could I?” Her eyes were so big, so innocent. What sort of person left this messy perfection?

  “Of course!”

  The little boy closest to us looked between his dad’s hushed conversation with Eric and the girl as she made her way around the register.

  “You can help too,” I offered.

  He took one look at his dad then me, and suddenly he and the girl were by my side while I grabbed them each a cup and showed them how to pump the chocolate.

  “W
hat are your names?” I asked casually.

  “Bella.” The girl licked some chocolate off of her finger after dipping it in the cup.

  “Malcom.” The boy’s voice was soft, almost like he was afraid to talk too loud, or maybe just taught not to talk to strangers.

  “Those are some pretty awesome names.” I steamed the milk. “All right, guys, so each of you get a spoon so you can stir really hard when I pour the milk in, and remember it’s hot so we have to be really careful.”

  “Okay!” they said in unison. I handed each of them a spoon and poured the milk in. Bella’s sloshed a bit, but Malcom was determined as he focused on the spoon, stirring all the chocolate in.

  While they were busy, I made the same coffee I’d made the day previous for Trevor and another hot chocolate for the other little boy.

  “All finished?” I asked once Bella took a sip.

  “Mmm.” Milk had found its way onto her upper lip. “So good!”

  “It’s better when you work for it yourself, right?” I ran a hand through her short hair and frowned. It was actually longer than it looked, and we didn’t have any more customers coming through the doors. “Want me to braid it?”

  “My mom used to braid it,” she said into her cup and then looked up after drinking several more gulps. “Braids are my favorite.”

  “All right then.” I grabbed a rubber band from my wrist and quickly tugged the larger pieces back into a braid and tied everything together while Malcom finished his hot chocolate and started pumping more chocolate into his cup.

  Boys.

  By the time we were done, I realized we’d been hanging out for at least ten minutes. Where was…?

  I looked up.

  Trevor stared at me with stars in his eyes, actual stars. Or maybe it was me, maybe I was the one with stars in my eyes.

  “You’re hired,” was what came out.

  “Huh?” I tilted my head. “For?”

  “Dad fired our nanny.” The boy next to him crossed his arms. “She was on her phone a lot.”

  I surpassed a laugh. “Oh?”

  “She was so annoying,” he continued. “And she always asked about Dad. It was weird.”

  I made a face.

  Trevor just shook his head as if to say leave it.

  “I’m sorry,” I found myself saying. “I have a job, I actually just started yesterday and—”

  “What are your hours?” He took a step closer. I had no escape. I could see the flecks of gold in his green eyes, could almost taste his cologne. The guy was built for being so tall. He was at least six four and had enough muscle that it was noticeable through his white Henley.

  Tattoos swirled and peeked out from under the collar running halfway up his neck, and he had both ears pierced.

  Yeah, he looked nothing like a dad.

  More like his tour bus forgot him in Seaside.

  Did he live here on purpose?

  “Um, my hours.” I found my voice. “I work until noon Monday through Friday and on the weekends I work all day Saturday.”

  “Could you do one to seven every afternoon? Weekends off? I’d pay well.”

  “Um…”

  Bella looked up at me with her wide eyes and nodded her head like I should say yes, like it was the best idea ever to take a job with my junior high crush and try not to stare at him all day.

  His life.

  His family.

  His kids.

  My fresh start.

  Hah, my fresh start did not include becoming a nanny to a rock star.

  “Please?” Bella slid her hand into mine and squeezed. “I miss having my hair braided.”

  That was all it took.

  A little girl’s sticky hands, milk mustache, and a sad-looking braid, to say yes to a man who I could swear no human had ever said no to in his entire life.

  And I knew in that moment. I was completely and utterly screwed.

  Chapter Four

  Trevor

  I woke up the next morning to a pounding headache and Bella sitting on my chest asking for peanut butter pancakes. Something flew into my room. A ball? A spaceship? Who knew at this point?

  And then crying.

  All the crying.

  “He hit me with the ball!” Bella wailed and wrapped her arms around my neck. I just laid there staring up at the ceiling wondering how I was messing it up so horribly. Josie had a lot of faults, but at least she’d been a good stay-at-home mom, until she couldn’t handle the fact that I was touring for an entire year, leaving her in the dust.

  Her words, not mine.

  She left me the night of the Grammys.

  I got a Grammy, and she walked out of my life because she was jealous.

  I saw it for what it was.

  Knew several Hollywood couples who said the very reason they never dated or married someone in the same industry was because you were always competing for roles, fame, Instagram followers.

  I held on to Bella until she stopped crying.

  “All better?” I asked in my raspy sleep-filled voice. I’d at least gotten five hours last night. I needed to lay some more tracks. Each of the guys had taken a much-needed break and decided to drop a solo album.

  Our manager was thrilled.

  Our agent was swimming in money.

  And since I owned my own studio back in Malibu and now one in Seaside, I’d known it would be easy to do too, except now I wasn’t so sure.

  What was I supposed to do? Take the kids with me on tour? They’d done a few cities with me last year, but I didn’t want to take them out of school.

  With a deep breath, I heaved Bella into the air and threw my feet over the side of the bed, landing on a few misplaced Legos that had my eyes watering and curse words screaming inside my head. There was a reason they weren’t allowed in my room. Legos.

  “Daddy hurt?” Bella cupped my face.

  “A bit,” I lied. Son of a bitch, I was going to get rid of every last Lego in that house. “Just…give me a minute.”

  “Your face is red,” she pointed out with a grin, damn her and those dimples. “Are you saying crap in your head?”

  I had told her crap was a bad word that adults said when they were angry and that if she was really really angry, she could use it like her brothers.

  Yes, the answer is yes; it has backfired one hundred percent.

  “Boys!” I called downstairs while Malcom and Eric chased each other around the island in the kitchen. “Get the pancake mix out!”

  They grumbled.

  More things were thrown.

  Chaos. I lived in absolute chaos.

  Exhausted, even though my day was just starting, I carried Bella down the stairs and started in on the pancakes, all the while staring at the clock with relief. Five hours. In five hours, the new nanny would be here.

  Fingers crossed the twins didn’t set her on fire.

  And maybe she’d braid Bella’s hair again.

  My gut clenched.

  I’d felt like a complete idiot staring at the pretty barista with my jaw hanging to the floor. She’d wrangled in my kids faster than I did. They reacted to her in a way I hadn’t seen in a really long time.

  It had been such a relief that for a minute all I could do was stare. She had flawless, makeup-free skin, and her hair was in this adorable ponytail poking out of a Met’s hat. I couldn’t tell if she was in her early twenties or late. Maybe all the Botox I’d been exposed to in LA was messing with my head. I hated guessing ages because I was almost always wrong. Look at the ex.

  “Dad?” Eric interrupted my thoughts.

  “Yeah, buddy?” I snapped out of it and grabbed a mixing bowl.

  “You’re smiling awful big over pancakes.”

  Little shit. I stared him down and winked. “That’s because I’m adding chocolate chips!”

  “Hooray!” Bella squealed in delight while Malcom and Eric gave each other high fives then grabbed their iPads and sat at the breakfast bar.

  Coffee.


  Would it be wrong to train my children how to make me coffee so that I at least had a cup waiting when I woke up to multiple screams, tears, and flying objects?

  I heaved a sigh. It would probably have seven Legos and a booger.

  At this point, I would take it all and say God bless you every one.

  I grabbed a pod for the Keurig, yawned, and made myself a cup while Bella tried mixing the batter. She had more outside the bowl than inside, but she liked to stir.

  She started helping cook when she was two.

  And couldn’t say stir to save her life, which only meant I stared at her like an idiot until she grabbed a spoon. “Sway sway sway!”

  That was her word for stir.

  It was a conundrum.

  At least she was helpful while her brothers literally watched other children play with toys on YouTube.

  Something was very wrong with people in this world if that was a thing. I watched one episode of a guy singing Best Friend Best Friend while opening candy and nearly called the police.

  Because if that doesn’t scream pedophile, than I really don’t know what does.

  Coffee brewed, and pan on, I grabbed the bowl from Bella and started to pour out the pancakes.

  I felt slightly guilty when I eyed the clock again.

  My fingers twitched with the need to play out my frustration on the drums, with the need to write music and send it to the guys to see if it was good enough. And on top of that, I had band AD2 coming in at the end of the week to lay two tracks.

  Technically, they lived here only during the summer months, but now that Alec, the older brother, had a kid with another one on the way, they were thinking about staying permanently because of schools.

  My plate was full.

  And I was ready to offer the new nanny a million dollars plus benefits if she’d just clean up the Legos.

  That was when you knew you were at your limit—when you would pay a complete stranger to pick up the hazardous toys sprinkled around your house like miniature bombs ready to go off.

  “ERIC!” Malcom screamed. “STOP TOUCHING ME!”

  I chugged my coffee, burning my tongue in the process, and eyed the clock again. Five hours, I could last five hours. Right?

  Chapter Five

  Penelope