CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ADAIR

“You’re listening to KGRT, where the grit flows. Here’s your host, Bo Bose.”

Carly’s leg is bouncing up and down fast enough she might just flip herself out of the chair. I reach to grab her hand, to help calm her nerves, but she pulls it back and folds her hands together in her lap. What did I do this time? She’s been acting strange since she showed up this morning.

“Hey, Colorado Springs. It’s Bo Bose here to get you through the day’s highs and lows,” his voice booms through the audio channels. “We have a little surprise in store for everyone listening today,” he offers as he plasters a showman’s smile on his face. A trick we all do to make sure the words come through with the right energy. No one has time for a moody on-air personality, which is exactly what I feel like right now because of the cold shoulder Carly’s giving me. “We have Adair Miller in the studio with us today from the band our listener’s voted as Grit Band of the Year, Amaryllis.” The applause track plays on his cue.

I clear my throat and try to ignore the colossal wedge sitting between me and Carly right now, still unable to force a fake smile. “Hi.” Not the energy I wanted to bring to the show, but it’s what I’ve got. “I’m happy to be here. I’ve also brought the woman responsible for making us look good, Carly Thompson.”

Silence.

“So, Carly,” Bo shifts gears focusing in on her to try and draw her out. This is going to be a long fifteen minutes. “I know you’re the one responsible for putting together the charity event scheduled for later today. Why don’t you tell us a little more about it?” He shoots a nervous glance toward his producer, who looks equally as nervous, sitting in the control room just on the other side of the glass window.

“Sure,” she clears her throat and leans into the microphone. “The purpose of today’s event is to put a little love and life back into the Earth. This is the season for cutting down trees, after all.” Her voice is perky and vibrant and brings every bit of the energy in the room back up “So, we thought it might be the right time to put some back in the ground too, while doing something good for the community in the process.” Her smile immediately fades as she pushes the microphone away.

Bo seems relieved as he leans back in his chair and adjusts the headphones on his ears. “When you reached out to us and said Amaryllis Studios was interested in a co-sponsor, KGRT jumped at the chance. We’re always looking for ways to give back and in the spirit of giving, Adair, can you tell our listeners what’s in it for them?”

“Amaryllis Studios will be buying trees from local tree farmers and gifting them to five participants in today’s tree planting.”

“Just bare trees? There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“They’ll be fully decorated in true Amaryllis fashion.”

Bo slaps the desk for dramatic effect that echoes through the studio. “Sounds like it’s a rocking holiday to me. The Amaryllis fashion will include ornaments created with replicas of the band’s multi-platinum selling debut album, which will be signed by all five members of Amaryllis. How’s that sound to everybody?”

The ringing of the phone lines surprises me, making me jump in my seat. “Sounds like the listeners like it already.”

“Let’s see what they’re saying. Caller, you’re on the air with Bo Bose and Adair Miller of Amaryllis. What do you think about this giveaway?”

“Sounds like you’re just trying to cover your tracks since The Machine and Stone are out there doing real work in the community. This is all just a big—”

“Oh, would you look at that.” He waves to the engineer sitting on the other side of the glass window. “Something went wrong with our phones. Gary will look into it. Let’s try the next caller.” A long pause makes for an awkward on-air silence. “Caller?”

There’s a rustling on the other end that sounds like someone dropped the phone and is still fumbling with it before a familiar voice finally comes through. “Sounds like Amaryllis is scrambling to match The Machine’s current community involvement to me.”

Bo’s eyes jump between Carly and me waiting for one of us to jump in.

“Maybe that little girl of yours in the studio should come up with some new tricks.”

That’s it. He’s gone too far this time. “Stone, you were kicked out of Amaryllis because you don’t know the first thing about community. Stop trying to fool everyone into thinking you’re actually a decent human being.”

“Oh!” Bo leans back in his seat and signals the producer to play a bell ringing like the start of a boxing match. “All right boys, this sounds like a battle our callers might be interested in.”

Carly pulls the mic in close with a fire in her eyes I haven’t seen in a long time. A crushing pain in my chest takes me by surprise. I try to shrug it off before I collapse here on the air. “Listen to me, Stone. You might have been born my brother, but you are dead to me. D-E-A-D. Dead. My attorney will be contacting yours with a protective order.”

He lets out a condescending chuckle before the line goes silent.

“Well, that was eventful. Care to tell us about the history there?”

Carly and I shake our heads in unison. “It’s nothing more than a misplaced sense of entitlement. His brand goes against everything Amaryllis stands for—integrity, community, respect,” I say into the microphone.

Carly snorts. On-air. Close enough to the mic that everyone tuning in heard it.

“Sounds like your definition of Amaryllis standards might be challenged by our other guest here. What’s your take on the Amaryllis community, Carly?”

She gives me a look that could quite possibly suck my soul out through my nose. “Amaryllis, the group as a whole is absolutely committed to family, integrity, and respect. The entire community is seen as an extended family and really everything they’ve put together is for their family.”

Bo narrows his eyes as a wicked grin creeps across his face. “You said the group as a whole. Does that mean there’s one in particular who doesn’t put those values first?”

Of course, he saw an opportunity to make great radio and snatched it up like it was the last cookie in the jar.

“Oh, uh—” She stammers until he cuts her off.

“Let’s take a poll from our callers.” He signals the engineer to start patching them back through. “Caller, you’re on the air. Who do you think Carly is referring to?”

“Most definitely Adair.”

“Thank you,” I grunt.

“Caller, you’re up next. Who do you think is the subject of this revelation?”

“The bass master himself.”

“Oh, you’re a fan?” Bo asks.

“Of course! I have all the international cuts and special releases.”

Bo laughs into the microphone. “The UK release was epic, wasn’t it?”

“Thanks,” I mumble into the microphone.

“I still think it’s him though. He’s always a real jerk at the shows. I don’t blame him though. It’s got to be tough living that life.”

“Alright. We’ve got two votes for Adair is a jerk and zero votes for… Well, anyone else.” He snickers. “Sorry, man.”

I nod and make a whatever face. “Truth hurts sometimes.” My eyes peek at Carly sitting next to me. She doesn’t seem amused in the slightest as she twists the giant amethyst ring on her finger. It’s the only piece of her mother she has left, since she died giving birth to her. The pained look on her face is enough to gut me right here in front of Bo Bose and the Grit. I can’t do this anymore. “I would like to hear from Carly though. What exactly were you talking about?” If she’s going to throw me under the bus on-air then I’m going to find out why—even if that means the P.R. push goes down the drain. We’ll figure that out later. What matters right now is fixing whatever happened between us.

“Seriously?” Her face turns a bright shade of red. “You really want to do this right now?”

I throw both hands up in the air smacking the boom stand holding the microphone in front of my face. “Why not?”

“Okay.” She turns to face me and pulls the mic in front of her. “How about we start with the fact that you say one thing then do another.”

“What are you talking about?”

“How you said you would be willing to support Amaryllis Studios, but you’ve still got both feet in L.A.”

Bo flicks the switch to take another call. “I think she’s got a good point there. You can’t support your brother’s studio if you’re halfway across the country.”

“I—”

He holds up one hand. “Caller, you’re up. What do you think? Should Adair move to Oklahoma to better support his brother’s new studio venture?”

The caller squeals before answering the question. Fans. Sigh. “Nah. He can support by sending talent or promoting it on socials. He doesn’t have to live here to do that.”

“Fair enough,” Bo says as he hangs up the line. “How about you, caller?”

“Seems like he’s building himself up as a partner, or at least that’s what I got out of his earlier comments. If he’s a partner, then he should probably be available to help build the business from the roots up.”

“Roots.” Bo nods as he hangs up. “I think that’s what we’re talking about here. Adair, have you forgotten your roots?”

“Is this really what I signed up for?” I ask holding my hands out in front of me. “I don’t think it is.”

“Maybe not, but we like to let the grit flow here at KGRT.” He gives me a smirk and shrugs. “Sorry, man. You didn’t answer my question.”

“I have not forgotten my roots.” I turn to face Carly who isn’t any happier now than she was before. “I haven’t forgotten any of them.” The words were in the mic, but they were meant for her. She has to know I haven’t forgotten or moved on. I never will. “Isn’t that why we’re putting some roots back into the earth today?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I thought that was just a way for you to get back at my deadbeat brother.”

Bo holds up both hands as a bell rings through the speakers. “That’s a wrap for Round One. I think I have a solution though. Let’s have our callers help you two settle this at the planting today. We’ll separate them into two groups. Team Carly versus Team Adair. Whoever wins, plants the most trees, gets to tell the world live and on-air exactly what the issues are here. It’ll be featured on New Year’s Eve during our Grit this Year special show. What do you two say?”

“I’m in.” If I win, I know exactly what I’ll be saying.

She bites her lip as she mulls it over. “In.”

“All right, callers. Stay tuned for the instructions on how to register to be part of the event today. Don’t forget to add #TeamCarly or #TeamAdair to your sign-up forms. We’re going to play one last song for you. Be good, but if you can’t be good take pictures and share them to #ItsTheGrits.”

“And we’re out,” comes a voice from the control room.

Bo laughs and slaps me on the shoulder. “Well, I think that went well. Sorry about the drama, but drama makes excellent radio.”

I shrug and keep my eyes on Carly as he walks out of the studio.

“Just tell me what I did so I can fix it,” I beg, reaching for her hand.

She grabs her bag off the back of her chair, wrapping both hands around the shoulder strap so I can’t take her hand in mine. “Let’s just go, so we’re not late to our own event.”