Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
That man was him.
Son to Lana Mason.
Stepson to Chloe Mason.
Husband to Stella Gunn.
Father to Tallulah India Jet Mason.
And…yeah. Brother to Caitlin Mason.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“First, Tex and Nancy are joining us this weekend. She mentioned she’d never been to Universal Studios, so obviously Tex made it his mission to get her here. They arrive tomorrow.”
“Not a problem. We got room.”
And they did. They had a seven-bedroom, nine-thousand square foot house on a compound located on the north side of Malibu that included a detached studio, a casita, a pool house (so also obviously a pool) and extensive gardens.
“Second, you need to call the head of security at Universal Studios and warn them Tex is coming.”
He chuckled and lied, “I’ll get right on that.”
He heard her husky laughter, felt it in his chest and parts south, then she said, “Tally been going on again about how she just can’t live without Sophia.”
Mace blew out a sigh.
He liked their house with its proximity to the beach, so he and Tally could surf.
Tally liked that, and the pool.
Stella liked the studio.
But all of them were done with LA.
Tally’s best friend had moved to Phoenix. Now, Tally was in fits of despair—near-tween-girl style—that her bestest bestie since forever had left because her dad got transferred, and they weren’t going to get to see each other at school every day.
He and Stella tried not to spoil their girl.
But seriously. Droughts. Mud slides. Earthquakes. Daily run-ins with fruits, nuts and flakes (no judgement, Mace was a fan of letting it all hang out and being who you were, but Mace couldn’t deny he missed the solidity of Denver, there were fruits nuts and flakes there too, but not at every turn).
And living in a town where you could walk into any store, coffee shop or restaurant and see anyone from the A-list to the C-list (Stella being A-list) and have to deal with the fans who didn’t have a problem asking for a selfie, or who did and took pictures of you while you were eating eggs benedict at brunch, was getting really old.
Phoenix had zero natural disasters, three-hundred-sixty-five days of sunshine, and a plot of land they’d bought in Paradise Valley, which they already had the permits to build on.
“Family meet tonight?” he asked.
“Family meet,” she agreed.
“Got some things to wrap up. Should be home in a couple of hours.”
“See you when you get here. I’m cooking.”
Of course she was. Rock star who’d repeatedly made the cover of Rolling Stone, cooked for her family every night when she was home.
“Look forward to it, whatever it is.”
“Okay. Later, babe.”
“Later, Kitten.”
He ended the call and stared at the phone.
He then swiveled in his chair and looked left to right, taking in the overabundance of framed photos on his credenza his wife and daughter added to regularly.
Mace in jeans and a white linen shirt, Stella in a white bikini that had lace applique around the hips and on the top, just under where the straps started. She was wearing a sheer duster with more lace dotted on it that fell to her thighs in the back. A single strand of flowers crowned her loose hair, and she had a long string of freshwater pearls hanging on her neck, the end of which was an oblong peridot.
They were on a beach in Hawaii. It was their wedding.
A shot of Mace and Stella and the whole crew in the back room at My Brother’s Bar. Everyone was smiling, though Tex looked like he’d just completed a murder spree.
Mace leaning over Stella who was on her back in a hospital bed, tendrils of her hair plastered to her face, her cheeks red with the effort she’d just expended, a gunked-up bundle resting on her chest with a scrunched-up face and dark hair on her head.
Chole and Ben, his mom and Tom, and Tally and Stella in front of the Christmas tree.
Tally and Mace at the foot of a run in Aspen, boards under their arms, goggles up on their helmets, smiling at the camera because Stella was behind it.
Stella and the girls in their bridesmaid dresses at Luke and Ava’s wedding, Jet’s large baby bump proudly displayed.
Stella and her guitar onstage at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when BMG did the tribute at the induction of the Pissed-Off Hippies.
Mace and Stella on the way into the Grammy’s, Stella in a slim, white tuxedo with a shimmery pink top that dipped way low, Mace in a black tuxedo, white shirt, collar open. Pong, wearing more makeup and having more hairspray in his hair than Stella, was photobombing them.
Lee and Tally on the beach when Tally was five. She was pointing at something in the ocean, Lee was crouched by her, one hand to her back, his head turned, looking in that direction.