At the sound check, Ryan found herself more relaxed than she'd ever been preparing for a gig. It almost made her laugh. Jason's absence was liberating, and added weight to the others' argument that perhaps they shouldn't replace him. She still wasn't sure, but had to admit the idea was appealing, especially if it meant reduced stress levels like this.

She looked up and saw Trout, who was nodding as he adjusted levels on the sound board. Brody was up there, too, standing back so as not to get in the way. She'd seen Trout explain a few things to Brody as they went along, and wondered what Brody thought of it all.

They finished the song and Trout gave them a thumbs-up. Ryan and the others acknowledged him with waves, then turned to pack up the instruments. Mitch broke down his drums, and Ryan and Nate gathered up their patch cords and effects pedals before putting their guitars in cases.

"Wow. I can't believe it's here." Nate shook his head as he snapped the case shut on his guitar, then moved to do the same for his bass.

"I know, and I can't believe how relaxed I am. Mostly," Ryan said. Lara held Ryan's laptop while the latter put the keyboard in its case, then put away her guitar.

"Funny how taking the asshole out of the equation makes things easier," Mitch said.

Ryan laughed. "I thought the same thing. Maybe not in so many words."

"So, you think maybe we stay this way?" Nate looked over at her as they walked back to the dressing room with their gear. They put everything inside and then locked the door.

Ryan shrugged as they walked back out front. "I don't know. It certainly sounds good. I mean, I'm a lot less stressed about this show than I was before. Let's face it: not having to worry about what Jason will or won't do takes a big load off."

"That it does." Lara nodded, then grinned. "I bet there's another reason you're less stressed."

"No. No, no, no." Nate held his hands up and backed away. "I can guess where this is going and I don't want to hear it."

Mitch made a face. "Me, neither. Go have your . . . I don't know, girl talk sessions somewhere else. Where I can't hear it." He gave an exaggerated shudder.

Lara and Ryan traded amused glances.

"You guys are such wusses," Ryan said.

"Careful, I'll go get Jason back." Nate just managed to keep a straight face and the women burst out laughing.

"The hell you will." Mitch glared at him and punched his shoulder. "I'd have to hurt you, man. A lot."

Nate gave him a wry look. "Take a number. Allison is still pissed at me. Oh, which reminds me." He reached for a bottle of water and took a long drink. "Don’t be surprised if she and Jason show up tonight. She's got into her head that we're going to go down in flames in a big way."

"Is that so?" Ryan grinned. "Well, I think she'll be disappointed."

"Hell, yeah, she will." said Lara. "We're going to kick ass tonight, and that A&R guy will be begging us to join that tour."

"On that optimistic note, I'm out of here for a while, guys." Mitch grabbed his coat. "Mom said Maria was going to try to call on Skype, so I want to be there. Be back in plenty of time, though."

"How's she doing?" Ryan asked, and the others echoed her.

"Good so far." Mitch nodded. "It's quiet, for the moment. I did have an email this morning, and she said thanks for setting up the Facebook thing. The unit's been getting a kick out of the messages people have been leaving."

"Great." Ryan squeezed Lara's shoulders; her friend had done all the work setting that up. "Tell her we're proud of her and want her back soon."

"You're not kidding. I hope the deployment's shorter this time, but she's looking at a year, I'm sure." Mitch looked over as Brody came over to them. "Hey, Brody, what's up?"

"Not much." He shook hands with Mitch, then stepped over next to Ryan. "That was something. I had no idea what went on with the sound. I still don’t, but it was cool to watch Trout." Ryan looked over; Trout was still at the sound board as No More Trees, the second of the opening bands, set up for their sound check.

Before Ryan could say anything, she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw Annette Kochanski, the drummer from the Trouser Minnows, coming in with part of her drum kit. Annette wore an eye-catching, if not eye-popping, outfit including torn fishnet stockings, short blue cut-offs, and a black camisole under a pink blouse. The Minnows would be the first act of the night.

"Hi, Annette."

Annette set her case down and they exchanged a quick hug, Ryan introduced Brody, and Annette said hellos to everyone else, then raised an eyebrow. "So, your guitarist got out quick again, huh?"

"Can't leave early if you don't show up." Ryan shrugged. "He quit."

"We fired him," Mitch clarified.

Annette's eyes widened. "He what? When?"

"Last week." Ryan explained what had happened.

"What a little shit!"

The others laughed. "Yeah, that's kind of how we felt," Lara said.

"Well, that tops our latest drama." Annette brushed her bangs back. "Michelle and her guy broke up and she was just impossible for most of the week. I'm hoping she channels it into the guitar tonight."

They caught each other up on the local scene, and watched as No More Trees worked through their sound check.

"Anyway, Lara, I'm glad we caught you guys," Annette said. "We wanted to ask if Trout could do our sound, too. He's the best, and the last time we were here, it wasn't great. Pretty please?"

"Yeah, Trout is the best." Ryan looked back at Trout, who was talking with someone on the club staff. "We keep Lara around for him, and vice versa."

"That's right." Lara tossed her hair back and grinned. "That was the plan. We're both indispensable."

"Annette, I can help you bring your kit in," Mitch said. "Then I have to be out of here."

"I can help, too," Brody added, and Nate echoed the offer.

"Thanks, that'd be great." Annette gave them all a grateful smile.

"Anyway, Annette, I'm sure Trout'd be happy to do sound for you," Lara said. "Just go on over and ask. He's already doing sound for No More Trees."

"Say hi to your parents and Maria for us, Mitch," Ryan said.

"You bet. Later, guys."

"Thanks, Lara. Thanks a bunch." Annette squeezed her hand. "Okay, let me talk to him and then I'll get all my stuff. Thanks, guys!" Annette grabbed her case and hurried over to the sound board.

Lara turned to Ryan. "So, what are you going to do with all your free time? As if I couldn't guess." She flicked a glance at Brody, who left with Nate and Mitch to help Annette with her drums.

"I don't know." Ryan shrugged, although it was hard not to smile.

When Lara quirked an eyebrow, Ryan protested. "I don't. We haven't planned anything."

Lara shook her head. "You really are out of practice at the whole boyfriend thing, aren't you?"

"Not the whole thing." Ryan grinned and Lara widened her eyes.

"You, oh, you so owe me some talking time!" Lara smacked Ryan's shoulder. "You've been holding out on me."

"No, I haven't. You're just too involved with marine biology." Ryan laughed and turned to smile at Brody as he came back. "Hi."

Nate and Mitch called their good-byes and headed out, and Lara walked over to talk to Trout and Annette.

Ryan looked up at Brody after her friend left. "So, now what?"

"I have a plan."

"Okay." Ryan shrugged into her coat but didn’t bother zipping it, although she did wrap a purple striped scarf around her neck. "Lara's mom made it for me," she told Brody. "It's a good luck charm."

He smiled. "More original than a rabbit's foot."

"They always creeped me out when I was little." Ryan made a face as they walked outside. "I had images of all these little three-legged rabbits hopping around. I figured it wasn’t real lucky for them; how lucky could it be for me?"

Brody laughed as he led her to his car. "You never say what I expect."

"Just keeping you on your toes."

They got in the car and Brody eased into the flow of traffic. "So, you nervous?"

"Of course, some." Ryan nodded. "On the other hand, I realized how much easier it was without Jason around, so I'm not so bad. Yet."

"That's good. So, how much time do you have before you need to be back?"

Ryan pretended to be shocked. "God, Brody. Haven't you had enough?"

He shot her a glance and shook his head. "Not yet, but that's not what I'm talking about. Come on, I'm serious. How much time?"

Ryan looked at her watch. "Well, it's going on three. I need to be back by eight. What are you planning?"

"We're going shopping."

"Shopping? You hate shopping. I hate shopping. What kind of shopping?"

"You'll see."

An hour later, Ryan was in her kitchen staring at the array of purchases. Ground beef, ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, frozen spinach, noodles and more covered the counter. "Just what do you expect me to do with these?"

Brody took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "I told you. You, Miss Bancroft, are going to make a lasagna."

She shook her head; he'd told her that in the store and she still didn't believe him. "Brody, I'm not much of a cook."

"Yes, I know. However, this is pretty simple."

"Why do you want to teach me to make lasagna? And how can it be simple?" She swept her arm at the counter, indicating the array of ingredients. "Nothing made with this much stuff can be simple."

"For one thing, you can't live on macaroni and cheese alone." He shuddered. "For long, anyway, and if you insist on having that, I'll teach you a better way to make it. But for now, lasagna is a good place to start. It's easy, filling, nutritious with the spinach added in and you'll have leftovers. Besides." He brushed her hair back. "I can't be worrying about what you'll eat while I'm away on road trips."

Ryan smiled and clasped her hands behind his neck. "You worry about me? Aw. You big softie." She tried to cover up a sudden surge of feeling with humor.

He gave her a mock glare, then kissed her. "Yeah, I know. Don't let it get around. You ready?"

She took a deep breath. "I guess so. You sure we have everything here? Lara and I hardly ever cook."

"I checked, and we're fine. No more stalling. First, we brown the ground beef."

For the next hour, Brody showed her how to cook. It wasn't that bad, she realized. She could handle browning ground beef, and the rest was mostly mix and pour. She did like the no-cook noodles. Brody agreed they were a lot less hassle, but admitted that he preferred to cook the pasta when he had the time.

"So, tell me about these other bands." He said as they mixed up the ricotta cheese and eggs. "I have to admit I did a double take when I saw a group named Trouser Minnows, although Annette seemed very nice."

Ryan chuckled. "They're fun; an all-female punk-ish band. Nate dated their lead singer for a while, and she's really nice. They broke up, but it was one of those things where they just realized it wouldn't work. No hard feelings."

"And what about No More Trees?"

At that, Ryan laughed. "The full name is No More Trees on the Potomac. Remember a few years ago when Dan Snyder got rid of those trees along the river? He wanted an 'unobstructed view' from his mansion." Ryan rolled her eyes. "The guys got really ticked and picked that for their name. They're Redskins' fans and well, you know how they've been doing lately. We call them No More Trees for short." She gave the mixture one last stir. "Okay, now what?"

"Now we layer it in the baking dish."

"I'm going to make a mess," Ryan warned him.

"No problem. Messes can be cleaned." Brody was unfazed.

She listened and followed the directions, spilling only minimal amounts of sauce and cheese on the counter, and contemplating her feelings about Brody. He was fun, and she enjoyed that, but under all the jokes, she'd come to see he had a serious side. He would tease, but he never aimed to hurt. Even when he had tried to spin her mom's guilt trip the previous week, she knew it was to try to make her feel better, not to defend her mom.

She shook her head; however casual they'd meant to keep things, she wasn't sure she could for too much longer. Lara would have a good laugh over that, Ryan thought, along with a ringing "I told you so."

At last, it was in the oven, and Ryan huffed out a breath as she leaned against the counter and surveyed the mess. "I hope this is worth it," she said. "It's a lot less work to buy it frozen."

"This is better for you. And now comes the fun part." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" Ryan turned towards him, one hand on the counter, the other on her hip. "And what's that?"

"Well, now that we've made a mess, and we're all sweaty . . . ."

"Yes?" Ryan bit back a laugh as he stepped closer.

"We're going to need a few things."

"Such as?"

"Some water . . . some soap . . . ." His body brushed up against hers.

Ryan laughed and slid her arms around his waist. "Sounds good so far."

"You think?" He lowered his head and nipped at her earlobe; she jumped.

"Yes, I think so."

He kissed her once, hard, then stepped away. "So, you want to wash or dry?" He held up a dishtowel.