by Oliver, Tess
She heard my footsteps and glanced back at me. A weak smile formed on her face. “She’s sleeping,” she whispered in a tone far more friendly than the first time we had spoken.
I looked inside the room. Jami was fast asleep, and the violin case was beneath her injured hand.
Her mom turned and stuck out her hand. “I guess we haven’t really been introduced. I’m Lauren.”
“Denver.”
“Yes. Nice name and from what Jami has told me, nice man too. Good to know there are still some nice men around.” She dropped her eyes. I could see that the news of her husband’s involvement had shocked the hell out of her. “I’m just glad the violin is back in one piece.” She looked back into the room. “I’ve always thought the connection between her and that damn thing was strange. But I suppose I’d have to be in her shoes to understand it. I think she has a piece of her grandpa with her when she has the violin near. She loved him just like she adored her own father. She lost both of them in a short period of time.” She paused. “And, in a way, she lost me as well.” Her voice broke on the last words.
“You’re still here,” I reminded her.
She nodded. “I saw the video. Thank you for what you did. If I had lost her, I don’t think I could go on.”
“You need to tell her that.”
She looked back toward the bed. Jami looked pale and thin but content in the big hospital bed. She stretched and rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. The bright blue color had returned. “Why are you two standing out in the hallway?”
Lauren went in first. “We didn’t want to wake you. You looked so darn cute. It reminded me of the way you used to look when you were little and I’d walk in to make sure you were tucked in and not too close to the edge of the bed. I don’t know why but I always worried that you’d roll out and hurt yourself.”
I placed the soda on the table and held out the bag.
Jami grinned. “You are the best friend a hungry girl could have.” She ripped open the bag. “Ooh, and you remembered the hot sauce.”
“Well, you said hot sauce three times and asked if you needed to pin a note to my shirt to remember.”
“And you did it without the note. Well done.” She opened the paper on the burrito. She busied herself dripping hot sauce onto it. “I’ve decided I’m going to have the surgery on my hand.”
“I’m so relieved, Jami,” Lauren said. “I’ll call New York this afternoon.”
Jami swallowed a bite of burrito. “You don’t need to. I’m having the surgery at USC. Nicky King has arranged the whole thing.”
Lauren took a second to respond. “Nicky King? Leather pants, rock and roll legend, that Nicky King?”
“Yep, that’s the one.” Jami took another giant bite of burrito. She hadn’t eaten in several days, and her hunger had obviously caught up with her.
“I don’t understand,” Lauren said.
“I’m close friends with his son,” I said. “Cole called his dad right after the accident.”
Lauren’s mom put her hand to her chest. “My gosh, please tell Cole and his dad thank you.”
“I wanted to let you know, sweetheart, I’ve asked the lawyers to draw up something that gives you full ownership of Stuart.”
Jami looked up in surprise at her mom.
“Anyone who knows you and that blasted Stradivarius knows that you two are connected by some invisible strings, heart strings maybe.” Her mom’s voice broke, and her eyes watered. “I’m so sorry about what happened. I had no idea what Harold was capable of.”
Jami put down the burrito and tears rolled down her face. “Mom,” she sobbed.
I took it as my cue to leave.
Chapter 38
Denver
Eight weeks later
Jami opened the door. “Hey, neighbor, come in.”
“Seems like you could say something besides hey neighbor when I come up.”
“Like what? Hey, hunky neighbor that I’m nuts about?” She wrapped her arms around me and smiled. “The physical therapist said I was improving fast. Almost have complete motion of my fingers.”
“That’s awesome. You’re a fast healer.”
“Come and sit. I’m making lemonade.” She walked behind the kitchen counter and lifted a lemon. “It is hot as Hades here, but I’m getting used to sticky sidewalks and having the skin on the back of my legs scalded by the seats in my car.” She twisted a lemon on the juicer and licked a bit off her pinky. Her face scrunched up. “Now, if I could just find a job, so I don’t have to leave.”
“I thought your mom was working on a permanent position in a Los Angeles orchestra.”
She continued to busy herself with the lemons but bringing up the job had made her flinch. “I’m not sure what I’d do in an orchestra. I guess I could just make sure everyone’s music was on the right page. And then there’s always ticket puncher.”
I got up and walked to the counter. “Yeah, you’re right. Ticket punching is a perfectly fulfilling job for one of the most talented musicians in the world.”
“That label is from my past. I’m now Jami Holliday.” She lifted a lemon. “Lemon squeezer.”
I leaned my forearms on the counter and stared at her. She pretended to be absorbed by her task.
“After my fall, I recall someone mentioning that they couldn’t live a life without playing violin.”
“That was before my hand looked like something Dr. Frankenstein sewed together in his lab.”
“So what. And I think that little mosaic of scars is kind of sexy.”
She put the lemon rind down with a sigh. She stared down at the juice in the cup. “I can’t, Denver. What if I can’t play anymore? What if everything I had was lost when my hand got smashed in that van door?”
“You won’t know until you try. But I don’t think your talent had as much to do with your hand as it did with your heart.”
She seemed to be thinking it all over but then she pushed the idea away. “Do you like your lemonade sweet or sour?”
Footsteps pounded the stairs. I looked at Jami. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No.”
Loud voices echoed off the front door. Before they had a chance to knock, I opened it. Cole was standing on the landing with his dad and Nate Riggs was behind him. He had his guitar with him. I stared at them all.
Cole reached forward and flicked my chest with his finger. “Hey, you should close that mouth before a fly jumps in. Can we come inside?”
I heard a small gasp behind me as Jami saw the visitors on her doorstep.
I stepped out of the way. Nicky King was one of those people who filled a room with his presence. With Nate Riggs at his side, it was double the presence. I could hardly find my breath, let alone my voice.
Jami, on the other hand, jumped right into social mode. “I’ve just made some lemonade if anyone is interested.”
“I’ll take some. Hot as bloody hell out there,” Nicky said. He walked right over and sat on the couch. “How’s the hand?”
Jami crossed the room and Nicky took hold of the fingers to look it over. “Healing fast, eh?”
“Yes, thank you so much for lining up that doctor. He was wonderful.” Jami headed to the kitchen. “I’ll get the lemonade.”
Nate put his guitar down and walked to the kitchen. He and Jami talked and laughed while they prepared the lemonade. I pulled the two kitchen chairs out to the front room. Nate sat down on one and Cole on the other. Jami sat next to Nicky and I sat on the floor.
It was a little surreal sipping lemonade with half of Black Thunder in the tiny front room of Jami’s apartment. Nate hopped up and grabbed his guitar. Like Nicky, he’d hung onto his long hair. He was still bone thin as always. His face was weathered with the lines of age and a lot of p
artying and good times.
Nate looked over at Jami. “Thought we could jam again. I still remember a very young violinist sitting in my house in London. The music coming from her instrument silenced the entire room.”
I’d mentioned to Cole that Jami had talked herself out of playing violin, but I’d never expected him to bring Nate and Nicky over.
Jami blushed and stared down at the glass of lemonade in her hand. “I think my hand has changed too much.”
“Just like riding a bicycle,” Nicky said.
“No, Nick,” Nate said, “I know exactly where she’s coming from. The mechanics of playing an instrument are important. At least to those of us who are mostly mechanical in our approach.” He looked at Jami. “Of course, if the talent comes from within, then there is nothing that can take that gift away.”
Jami lifted her eyes to him and forced a weak smile. “I’d love to hear you play.”
He reached for his guitar case and opened it up. “I’ll play on one condition—if I can hold that Stradivarius of yours under my chin first.”
Jami nodded. “Absolutely.” She hopped up and ran into the bedroom to get the violin.
Nate looked over at me. “It’s going to take some time. She’s afraid that it’s gone, that magic she was born with.” He clamped his mouth shut when Jami returned with her violin. She beamed with pride as she lifted it out of the case and handed it to Nate.
He ran his fingers along the wood just as I’d seen Jami do.
“Beautiful,” Nate muttered. He took the bow and pressed the violin under his chin. He played a few notes. I hadn’t heard anyone else play Stuart and hearing it now in another musician’s hands assured me that in Jami’s hands it was completely different. It was hypnotic and like no other sound.
Nicky snorted a laugh. “That sounded like rubbish.”
Nate bowed his head. “Yes, I agree. An instrument like this is only right in one pair of hands.” He stood and handed it to Jami. “Still, it’s a magnificent instrument. It would be a shame if the right pair of hands decided never to play it again.”
Jami didn’t respond. She quickly returned the violin to its case. “I’ll just go put it back in the bedroom.” She scurried off to her room.
“She’ll come around, mate,” Nate said to me. “Just give her time. The world can’t lose a talent like hers. It just wouldn’t be right.”
I nodded. “I agree.”
Nicky leaned back and put his arm on the back of the couch and looked at Cole. “So, your sister is insisting that I embrace a vegan lifestyle. Says it will add back the years that I erased by filling my veins with drugs and alcohol.”
Nate had a good laugh over that.
“Well, are you going vegan?” Cole asked.
“Hell no,” Nicky said. “Of course, Fin thinks I am, but—”
Before he finished his sentence, music drifted down the hallway and into the front room. We all looked around the room at each other and listened. She was playing, and it sounded just as amazing as ever. It was a Black Thunder song, and it was perfect.
Nate shook his head in disbelief. “Unreal.”
She finished the song and a quiet hush fell over the room.
I got up from the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
I walked down the hallway and pushed open the bedroom door. Jami had the violin sitting on her lap. She was running her scarred fingers over it. She looked up as I stepped into the room. Her blue eyes were filled with tears.
“Hey, neighbor,” she said in a wavering tone.
She placed the violin on the bed and ran to me. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her.
Chapter 39
Jami
I walked in without knocking. Denver was just stepping out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist.
“Hot, slightly damp man in a small bath towel. I like it. The towel might be just a bit too much though.” I stopped in front of him. The warm scent of soap drifted off his skin. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which would you like first?”
“I’m a firm believer in getting the crappy stuff over with first.”
“Too bad. I have to start with the good or the bad won’t make sense. I got the job with the Los Angeles orchestra. They are, and I’m quoting the head conductor, over the moon about having me on board. So, it looks like I can make Southern California my permanent home.” I stepped closer and wiped a tiny drip of water off his chest with my finger. “And I’ve decided you can be my permanent boyfriend. If you want the job, that is?”
“Hmm, that depends. What’s the bad news?”
“Ah ha, here is where it gets tricky. My mom is moving to Southern California too.”
He nodded and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. It stood up in black spikes on his head. “That’s not too terrible, I guess.”
“Hoped you’d say that. She’s actually becoming more human each day, so I’m holding out great hope for the woman.”
Denver reached forward and took hold of my hands. He glanced down at the left hand. It was still slightly pink from scarring. “Not that I would have ever wished for something like this to happen, but it’s strange how it all ended up working out in our favor.”
I pressed into his arms. “Can’t change destiny, I guess. And never underestimate the power of Stuart.”
“O.K. that just makes it sound a little creepy.”
Denver silenced my laugh with a kiss.
Wa
nt to read more about the characters in Denver (FMX Bros #3)?
Check out Cole (FMX Bros #1) and Rodeo (FMX Bros #2)
Strangely Normal and the Custom Culture series are where the FMX Bros began.
Strangely Normal is where Finley, Eden, Cole and Jude’s story began.
Freefall (Custom Culture #1)
Clutch (Custom Culture #2)
Dray (Custom Culture #3)
Rett (Custom Culture #4)
Nix & Scotlyn: The Wedding (Custom Culture #5)
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