Save a Prayer Read Online Free Page B

it.
    When Angie and I had been a couple, I'd imagined my life would be perfect if the band could just make it for real. I'd never taken the time to think about the price I'd pay, giving up things like walking down to a pub for a pint without being bothered. The worst thing I'd given up was Angie, but that had been my own doing. I'd practically handed her away. I'd let my ego run the show.
    "How's your family?" I decided I'd start with the simplest of topics. "Your dad must be chuffed that you got a job as a photographer."
    Her mouth fell open. Somehow her skin became even more pale, turning a ghostly white. "You don't know about my dad? I just assumed you'd heard from somebody." A tear rolled down her cheek. She stared down at her hands, now a ball of worry in her lap.
    "No. No." It felt as if the floor beneath us had fallen away. How had I missed news about her dad? "What happened?"
    She was collecting herself, nodding and not looking at me at all. All I could hear was my own pulse, pounding in my ears. "He had a stroke. Five months ago." She raised her head, her chin dimpled, her face holding more sadness than I'd ever seen from her. "He was at work at the news bureau. They rushed him to the hospital and into surgery. He nearly died. I got there as quickly as I could from London. You should have seen my mum. I almost didn't recognize her." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "If only he'd quit smoking. It probably would've saved him."
    My heart burned in my chest for her. She'd gone through this horrible, traumatic experience and I hadn't been there for her. Oh no, I was the prat who'd been running around the globe with a pop band while she dealt with life and death at home. "Good God, Angie. I'm so sorry. How is he doing?"
    "Honestly? It's bad. It's really bad. He's paralyzed on his right side, he can't walk, can't speak. I can't have a conversation. It kills me. And it's so hard to watch. There are some days when Mum and I almost think it would've been easier on everyone, especially him, if he'd died. I know that sounds awful."
    "I am so incredibly sorry. I had no idea. I talk to my mum every week, but she can be such a hermit. I don't think she always knows what's going on around Stourbridge."
    "Well, my mum has kept it to herself. She's really gone downhill herself since this happened, stopped taking care of herself. You know, even if your mum knew, she probably didn't want to say anything since I'd broken her son's heart."
    "No way." I shook my head, stood up, and pulled my chair closer to hers. "My mum loves you. You know that. I don't know how she'd get that idea. I didn't tell her anything when you ended it."
    Her lovely pink lips pressed together. "Yeah, I know. I ran into her at the market. She asked me about it. Said she'd wanted to know what the reason was, but that she knew better than to ask you because you don't like to talk to her about that sort of thing. I told her I'd broken up with you because you were going on tour and I didn't want a long-distance relationship. I mean, it's not that far from the truth. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of long-distance. I figured that meant we shared the blame."
    "But that's not the real reason, Ang."
    "I know that, Graham. You think I don't know that? I couldn't let your mom see that side of you. It didn't seem right."
    That side of you. She'd protected me from my mother having a horrible, albeit true, opinion of me. I really was a prat. An utter wanker. No doubt about that. "Even though it was all my fault."
    Angie's eyes were an impossible blue after she'd been crying—intense and luminous. She let out a bittersweet laugh. "I've had a lot of time to think about it, and I realize now that it was for the best. It was going to happen eventually. I mean, I get it. You're in the biggest band on the planet and you have a million girls at your feet. You're young. You'd be stupid not to want that."
    The thing was, she wasn't wrong. Even I could admit it probably would've happened