Chapter 2

I don't really remember much from the next few days. I was staying with a friend of the family, Jay, but it was made clear that it was only temporary. I made it though all the preparations, wakes and the funeral in a haze. Then the most dreaded day came. The lawyer reading Mom and Dad's Will. We had never discussed who Alli and I were to live with if anything happened. I'm only 15 so I can't live by myself! When I walked into the lawyer's office with Jay, I was tense. What was going to happen to me? The lawyer walked in and the session began.

“Ms Shepard, your parents left you a will and a guardian. Were you aware of this?”

“The will, yes, the guardian, no.” I answered quietly.

“Well, have you ever heard of a man called Richard Sambora?

“Yeah,” I said. “Mom and Dad spoke of him. I don't know him, but they did.

“Well, he has been named your legal guardian. Everything is being given to you that your parents owned to do with as you please.”

I sat there in a daze. The house and everything was mine. We had just moved here so everything was still pretty much packed and or in storage. The only things I really wanted were the things handed down for generations, and my parents' wedding rings.

“Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to my parent's wedding rings? Were they ever found?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“Well, you're in luck, dear. They were found in the wreckage. Here.” He handed me a small box. I looked inside and tears filled my eyes. There laying on a blue pillow were the rings. I always loved their rings. Mom's was a ring that had once been Dad's grandmothers. It was a white gold band with a solitaire diamond in the middle with blue sapphires surrounding it on either side. Dad's was a simple gold band. I held them in my hand and slipped them on my right hand. Dad's was a bit big but it was almost as if they were there with me. I felt comforted, for the first time in a few days.

Richie Sambora...I vaguely remembered him from my early teen years...Haven't seen him since then. He was pretty nice if I remember straight. If I only knew if I could live with him or not, or if my parents told him he had a goddaughter.

He knocked on the front door of Jay's house. I was pretty nervous about meeting him again. I mean, who wants a screwed up girl like me? I can barely speak 5 words to anyone! I looked up as Jay and Richie walked into the room. My jaw dropped. He had changed a little, but not much. He was about 5'11'' and was lean. He had brown eyes and longish brown hair. He wore jeans and a layered shirt. Looking at him brought on a new wave of tears. He reminded me so much of Dad. He wore a tentative smile to show that he was just about as nervous about this as I was. I noticed that his eyes were slightly red rimmed and puffy, as if he had been crying.

“Hi, Sydney” He said.

“Hey” I managed to get out. He walked over to sit beside me and looked as though he was going to hug me but decided against it.

“I heard about what happened.” He said. “I came as soon as I heard I was your godfather. Came from Europe as a matter of fact” he said smiling slightly. I must have looked confused as he added “The band and I are on tour promoting the new record” He said this with a hint of pride in his voice. He looked at me and said the thing I learned I hated most: “I'm sorry about your loss”. Did people not realize that my life is over? I have nothing now. My family is dead. Nothing left for me. Jay had been taking pretty good care of me, but he didn't have a stable job to provide, and I have no one else bit this Richie guy of whom I haven't seen in a few years.

“Um, I don't know if you know this or now, but as your legal guardian, you can come live with me. I'm not exactly next door, but New Jersey isn't that far from here. What do you say we get your stuff packed up and I'll have it shipped down there?” I nodded, not really having a choice in the matter. “If I could, I would move up here with you. But my recording studio and everything is down there and thats where the rest of the band is. Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. It wasn't as if I didn't know New Jersey. I had lived there before I moved to New York.