“Not a damned thing.” Evan checked his watch. Crap, it was getting close to two in the morning. “I gotta split before Grace sends out a search party.”

“Wait till she hears that song you wrote for her. You’re gonna get so lucky, dude.”

Evan couldn’t imagine getting any luckier than he already was, engaged to the most beautiful woman—both inside and out—he’d ever known, running his own business and getting ready to launch his own record label, right from his home on Gansett Island. Life was as good as it got, and Grace was the reason for most of his contentment these days.

High off the successful recording session, he wanted to see her and be with her and breathe in her intoxicating scent, even if she was sound asleep. He’d take her any way he could get her, he thought as he rode his brother Mac’s ancient motorcycle home to her. Another bike went by in a blur on the other side of the road, passing him at high speed on the island’s winding roads. Evan hoped the driver was someone local who knew the twists and turns, or he might end up wrapped around a tree if he didn’t slow down.

Evan’s cell phone vibrated in his pocket, but he left it there until he pulled into the parking lot at the pharmacy Grace owned in town and parked the bike at the foot of the stairs that led to their place behind the store. He pulled the phone from the front pocket of his jeans, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw a text from his manager, Jack Beaumont. He hadn’t heard from Jack in months, since his once-promising recording career blew up in a mess of bankruptcy filings, leaving his debut album locked in a court battle.

Are you up? Jack’s message said. If so, call me. Urgent.

Evan glanced at the stairs, longing to be with Grace after sixteen hours at the studio, but he knew he’d never sleep until he found out what was so important that Jack had to text him in the middle of the night. He found Jack’s number in his contacts and placed the call.

“Hey, Evan. Sorry to reach out in the middle of the night, but I just got the most incredible call, and I didn’t want to wait to get in touch.”

The unusually effusive tone to Jack’s voice put Evan immediately on guard against whatever he might say.

“Are you there?”

“Yeah,” Evan said. “I’m here. What’s up?”

“I heard from reliable sources that the judge is going to issue some rulings tomorrow in the Starlight Records bankruptcy case. One of the rulings is about your album. He’s going to allow it to be acquired by Long Road Records.”