Sedona Law 6, Dave Daren [hardest books to read .txt] 📗

a lawyer looked like, I might have lived a little differently.”

“Trust me,” I smirked. “It’s not all sex and Tahitian beaches.”

“Hmm,” he muttered. “Not based on what I see.”

“Jesus, dad,” I replied. “I’m in a courthouse.”

“Well,” he said. “It’s this new song I wrote about your mother. And it’s gone viral. We can’t say anything official, but there are rumors that it may have gotten in the hands of Columbia Records.”

“Columbia, huh?” I smirked. “Of all the record companies in the world.”

“Yeah,” his voice was soft. “Of all the record companies in the world.”

In the 1970’s my dad had been in a band that had been offered a deal with Columbia Records. They were good, as good as anyone out there at the time, and could have been as big as the Rolling Stones or any of those other guys.

But days before the deal was signed, however, the drummer got offered a job with Led Zeppelin and quit. The ensuing chaos didn’t impress the executives at Columbia, and the deal was rescinded.

The band members were crushed and took a healing pilgrimage to Sedona to be near the vortexes. They studied under a Hindu guru, which is how they met my mom.

She was the daughter of a rebellious British aristocrat who had moved to New York to join the hippie revolution of the sixties. My mom was a faithful hippie that moved to Sedona because she was looking for someone to backpack across the United States with like Jack Keraouac.

They were married in a ceremony by the guru in a ceremony on Cathedral Rock.

But, the deal falling through with Columbia Records had changed the destinies of us all. Even in my L.A. years, when I would go to their offices for meetings, I would wonder how my life might have been different had that deal not fallen through.

“Well,” I said. “Maybe you’ve come full circle in your life.”

“I think you’ve always seen that wrong, Henry,” he said. “I’ve never regretted what happened back then. It was disappointing and hurtful, yes. But, you know, the universe is unpredictable like that. If that thing with Columbia hadn’t fallen through all those years ago, I wouldn’t have met your mother, and had you kids. And, when I think about how I was back then, I couldn’t have handled a big record deal like that. Touring. Ugh. I’ve had my fill of touring.”

I laughed. “I did a one week tour with a client once. It sucks.”

“It does,” he said. “You know, I’ve always thought that you believed I missed it in life. And that’s why you went to L.A. yourself.”

Whoa. This was getting to be a deep conversation for a hallway. The worst part was, he may have been right.

“I-I...” I slowly stammered a response to get conversation back to shallow waters.

“I’m not offended,” he said. “I just think you should know that before you get married. I think maybe you might have seen life a little differently if you had known that. I chose Sedona over L.A. too and I’m happy with that.”

“I’m happy too, dad,” I said. “So about this Columbia Record thing.”

“Yeah,” he said. “So they’re doing a taping tomorrow night. I wanted to invite you guys.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “We’ll be there.”

“Great,” he said. “Good to have you home.”

“Good to be home,” I said.

I got off the phone and Vicki was finally done with the client.

“Good win,” I smiled at her.

“Thanks,” she said. “I got lucky.”

“I think we should celebrate,” I said.

“Hmm,” she said. “That sounds good. What do you have in mind?”

“Well,” I smirked. “Something not entirely not safe for work.”

She laughed. “Your mother just texted me though.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked and checked my phone. “I just off the phone with dad.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Phoenix is coming home.”

My twenty year old brother had gone to South America for a year on a vision quest.

“It hasn’t been a year yet,” I said.

“Well,” she said, “Apparently he’s at the airport now. They want us to pick him up.”

“Absolutely,” I said.

The airport was in Flagstaff, so it made sense to pick him up since we were out here anyway. Vicki and loaded into my car for the drive out to the airport to pick up my brother.

Chapter 2

I barely recognized Phoenix when strolled out of the terminal and into baggage claim.

“Christ Almighty,” I muttered. “You’ve got a beard.”

He smiled and stroked his facial hair and laughed. When he left, he was a gangly emo kid, lost in life and insecure.

But now, he was filled out and well built. He had a scruffy beard and his dark hair, normally unkempt and falling in his eyes was well trimmed. He wore khaki shorts and a white t-shirt with sunglasses hanging off it. He strode with a confidence I had never seen in him.

“You look so grown up,” Vicki gushed as she rushed to hug him.

“Hey, Vicki,” he smiled and I caught just a tiny glimpse of someone I recognized under that beard.

“Nice rock,” he smirked at me, and I laughed.

Our great grandmother, the British aristocrat, had left the ring to either me or Phoenix, whichever one of us got engaged first.

During my bachelor years there was a running joke that I would never settle down, and middle school Phoenix would be the one to get the ring. It just took that long to find the right woman, I guess.

I shrugged at Phoenix and hugged him.

“Well, you were a good contender,” I laughed.

“It looks better on her,” he said. “Girls my age, that kind of ring just doesn’t look right. But she’s got that sophisticated look. It works on her.”

“Awww, thanks, Phoenix,” Vicki smiled and patted his back. He winked and grabbed