Spirited Ride

by Rebecca Avery

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Spirited Ride

  Other Books in this Series

  Rough Ride (book 1)

  Slow Ride (book 2)

  Wild Ride (book 3)

  Long Ride (book 4)

  Unexpected Ride (book 5)

  Spirited Ride (book 6)

  Honor Ride (book 7) – Coming soon!

  Spirited Ride

  Riding with Honor series book 6

  Rebecca M. Avery

  This is an original publication of Rebecca M. Avery

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are being used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014

  Rebecca M. Avery

  Cover Design by George Guignet (Miserable George)

  miserableg@mindspring.com

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

  Library of Congress Catalog

  ISBN- 978-1495328305

  Spirited Ride

  Rebecca M. Avery

  To Heather, the best friend a girl could ever ask for. Much like the group of friends in this story… you have always had my back, regardless of the changes that father time has brought to us both. I couldn’t ask for a better sister from another mister. I love ya! Thirty years and counting… where does the time go?

  Chapter One

  “You may now kiss the bride,” the minister said with a smile.

  “Woo hoo!” Sherri Simons cheered and whistled loudly as she watched Tommy and Dana McMurray, two of her closest friends, share a matrimonial kiss.

  Even though this was technically a celebration of the couple’s five year wedding anniversary rather than their actual ceremony, they stared at each other as if this truly was their wedding day.

  Sherri tried in vain to shove away the small itch of jealousy she felt while looking around at all the other happy couples who were in attendance. Then back to the bride and groom.

  It wasn’t like she would ever get married again anyway… even if she were asked. Hell, she wasn’t even divorced from the first one yet. Marriage was a senseless ritual filled with unrealistic expectations and ridiculously painful results anyhow. At least that’s what it had been for her.

  She was content with what she had now… a man who she could enjoy and when she grew tired of him, could politely send on his way… sometimes a little more politely than others.

  Instead of marriage, in her mind people should go into relationships like a lease agreement for a car. At the end of a designated period of time the couple could either decide to renew the terms of the agreement or cancel the whole thing.

  That would save a lot of money and heartache in the long run as well as keeping a person from building up unrealistic expectations. Fairytales didn’t exist in real life.

  Somehow those philosophies sounded better when she explained them to patrons at the bar where she worked, than contemplating them while sitting in this old auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee where countless musical greats had performed over the years.

  It was a little harder to think that way while watching two friends pledge themselves to each other all over again with the same look of love as they’d had five years ago.

  Tommy and Dana McMurray deserved this day after all they’d been through and Sherri wouldn’t ruin it for them with her jaded remarks on love and marriage.

  Even though she had brought a date for this event, once again she felt like the odd man out because unlike all the other couples in this room, she wasn’t in love with the man standing beside her. He was convenient and never questioned or pushed her for more than she was willing to give.

  She had clarified with him from the beginning that nothing more would ever happen between them aside from a date now and then and casual sex. Neither of which happened very often. He wasn’t a good conversationalist but he tried to fulfill her needs when she had them and would allow it. Lilly was right in that he made a pretty good lap dog.

  Perhaps it was because she was now forty years old and middle age brought about more than a little extra padding on her ass. It also came with a lot less willingness to put up with other people’s bullshit. Maybe it was just her… but either way she could take sex or leave it these days.

  It was sad to think that even though physically she only felt like she was thirty and acted more like she was twenty five, maybe she had crossed a hidden biological line into the next phase of life where hot, sweaty, great sex was nothing more than an a fading memory.

  Those kinds of memories should be met with a fond smile of remembrance but instead just pissed her off so she pushed them aside along with her cynical thoughts on love and marriage. Wherever her still legally wed husband, TJ Simons, was in this musical city right now… he could kiss her fat ass. Sorry bastard.

  “Are you going to wipe that frown off your face before you go up and congratulate Tommy and Dana?” her date, Chris Anderson, asked.

  Most people who knew Chris thought he was older than he was because of the grey hair and beard. He was actually only a couple of years older than her. Chris was slightly overweight but compared to some guys his age, or even some who were younger, he was a relatively handsome man.

  The two of them got along pretty well but she often wondered if he had picked her out to flirt with simply because of the fact that Bobby Jackson was her brother in law.

  If someone had told her a decade ago that her younger sister would one day marry the infamous rough and rowdy biker and take over running the office of his custom motorcycle shop, Sherri would have laughed in their face.

  Watching the two of them now as they congratulated Tommy and Dana she could only smile at the picture they made. If the saying about opposites attracting needed validation, one only needed to look as far as the two of them.

  Bobby wore jeans and a leather vest with Bobby’s Custom Chop Shop emblazoned on the back while Lilly wore a form fitting dress with a scarf that she’d draped loosely around her shoulders. She looked like she could have just stepped out of a woman’s fashion magazine.

  Their only child, also named Bobby, followed between them dressed much like his dad but holding his mom’s hand.

  While Bobby Jackson was dark and intimidating and wore a permanent scowl most of the time, Lilly was bubbly and friendly and like a beacon of light in their little family. However, both father and five year old son adored Lilly.

  A small sense of pride filled Sherri’s chest as she watched her elegant sister move away from the happy couple. When their parents had died her senior year of high school she’d had a hell of a time convincing the courts that she and Lilly would be fine on their own.

  Fortunately for the two of them, Sherri was already eighteen and had a job. That, combined with money from the insurance settlement, had allowed her to graduate high school and be there until Lilly was also out of school.

  Colleges were kind to Lilly in equal parts because of her good grades in school, her personality and their parents’ unfortunate deaths.

  When Lilly had left to attend one of the top universities in the country on a full scholarship, Sherri had figured it was her turn to find herself and headed south.

  Florida with al
l its beaches and sun had been where she’d landed. Not having been one for school or college she’d started bartending the minute she’d turned twenty one and still worked in the same hole in the wall she’d started in.

  When the old man who owned the place decided it was time to retire, she’d convinced him to sell it to her on land contract. Just after she’d signed the papers and become the proud owner of the little town’s only bar and grill at the ripe old age of twenty five, along came TJ Simons.

  Being four years younger than her, she’d made every attempt to ignore Trevor James Simons. He was only twenty one at the time and full of himself… with good cause. Tall and lean with shiny, blond, all one length hair that fell to his waist, he’d caught her attention the minute he came in that night.

  He’d worn a leather cuff around one wrist and carried a guitar in his hand. His free hand raked through the mass of hair as though tempting her with it. His brown eyes had essentially asked her for sex as they watched her for several moments before he finally approached the end of the bar.

  “Hey… can my friends and I set up and play in that room back there?” he’d asked, nodding his head in the direction of the dark, empty room that contained a small stage and dance floor. Then he flashed a smile that she’d felt clear across the room.

  As pretty as he was to look at she’d said, “I don’t think so.”

  His grin had only widened. “Why not?”

  “Because if you suck… it might drive off my customers here,” she’d answered, pointing her thumb toward the two old men who sat at the bar drinking their beers and talking quietly. They were the only two customers she had but it had been an excuse to send him on his way.

  “Don’t you worry about that, little miss sexy… I’m good at everything I do,” he’d responded with cockiness dripping from every word.

  If only she hadn’t smiled back and eventually laughed at his insinuation. If only she’d stayed firm in her denial to let him play his guitar in her bar. If only she hadn’t ended up in his bed. If only she had never married him. If only…

  TJ was from the area and had gone to school with Tommy McMurray and Bobby Jackson. Though he was younger than them, they often hung out together. He shared a love of music with Tommy and the two of them along with Gina, a girlfriend of Sherri’s, had started a band together while they were all still in high school.

  TJ worked part time doing body work on cars during the day and used her bar in the evenings for band practice. At night he’d introduced her body to something resembling heaven. Pleasure… that she could remember even after all these years.

  Forcing her mind away from vivid sexual images of a man she hadn’t even laid eyes on in a decade, she instead smiled at Chris and said, “Sorry… lost in thought.”

  She moved out into the aisle to stand in the receiving line and looked at Tommy and Dana and their three little girls. Tommy had come a long way in the almost fifteen years she’d known him.

  Going from being one of the biggest man whores on the planet to a loving father and husband was one concept Sherri never would have imagined back in the day. He wore family man now as well as he’d worn band member and connoisseur of groupies back then, especially when he smiled at Dana.

  Sherri watched as Chuck and Meredith Reynolds approached Tommy and Dana’s little family after Lilly and Bobby moved through the line.

  A small giggle escaped her as she watched Chuck scoop up the youngest of the happy couple’s daughters, Ginny, and tickle her belly. The five year old little girl squealed with delight even after he set her tiny feet back on the ground. Then he did the same to her six year old sister, Melody, who also giggled.

  Chuck might be one of the most talented artists of this century, according to the media anyway, and a millionaire to boot but to all the kids, he was just Uncle Chuck.

  Uncle Chuck was the equivalent of an energy drink to a little kid. Within minutes of being in his presence they all caught some form of adrenaline high and would start running around like they’d just been released from time out… or a straitjacket… whichever.

  Even the idea that he would soon be a father for the first time hadn’t raised Chuck’s maturity level any. While his beautiful wife, Meredith, looked on he then approached the oldest of the three girls and his favorite of all the kids. Gretchen McMurray. She was only eleven years old, almost twelve, but she was a force to be reckoned with and Chuck absolutely adored her.

  One of Chuck’s meaty forearms snaked out and caught the little girl around the neck. He then forced her head down and into the side of his ribcage so that he could rub his knuckles across the top of her head, messing her blonde hair.

  The spitfire little girl tried unsuccessfully to pry her head free of his grasp and then figuring out that wasn’t going to work, began punching him in the back and stomach in an effort to break free.

  “Stop it, my Chuckie! Can’t you be good even for a freaking minute?” Gretchen’s muffled voice filtered out from the crook of Chuck’s arm.

  “Chuck… really? Let her go,” Meredith could be heard admonishing him as well.

  Since his wife was smiling when she’d reprimanded him, instead Chuck chose to drag Gretchen along with him through the line by her head while he shook Tommy’s hand and gave Dana a big one armed hug.

  As soon as they were finally through the line, he released Gretchen only for her to stomp on his foot, give him a dirty look and then run back over to stand near her sisters again.

  While Gretchen was Chuck’s obvious favorite, aside from her nephew Bobby, little Ginny was Sherri’s favorite. A small smile spread across Sherri’s cheeks as she remembered how Dana had hugged her with tears in her eyes and thanked her for ensuring the little girl would always be a part of their unconventional family.

  Sherri could relate to the tiny little girl and decided to come to bat for her. Feeling adrift in a crazy ass world sucked and was no way to live. This group of misfits is where Sherri fit and she knew they’d welcome Ginny as well. It was where both she and the little girl belonged.

  Sherri watched as Dickie and Becca Long stepped up next to congratulate the couple. One would never know by looking but the petite older woman had been instrumental in helping Sherri ensure little Ginny had the family she deserved.

  Becca was smart as a whip and a true badass in Sherri’s book. Never one to back down or take shit off anyone had nearly cost Becca her life and facing what she had, earned her major respect… even before she’d stuck her neck out for Sherri and Ginny.

  “It took a little longer than planned, but the wedding was absolutely beautiful,” Becca said laughing and then hugging Dana.

  Becca’s husband, Dickie, stood next to his wife nonchalantly pulling pieces of candy out of the front pockets of his jeans and handing them to the three little girls. After receiving her candy and popping a piece in her mouth, Gretchen hugged the older man around his waist as Becca continued talking for a few more minutes.

  Where all the women looked up to Becca, all the men in this tight knit group looked up to Dickie. The two of them were essentially the leaders of this group of friends and well respected in the little Florida community where they were all from.

  Becca and Dickie often took in foster kids and helped Chuck and Meredith with the charity organization that they had started. Dickie also coached various little league sports teams. The two of them were good people and avid motorcycle enthusiasts since Dickie also worked with Bobby, Tommy, and Chuck at Bobby’s Custom Chop Shop.

  Directly in front of where Sherri and Chris stood were Greg and Carla Sanders and their two boys, Matt and Ben. Matt was the oldest and would be turning sixteen in a couple of weeks. He was tall, lanky and quiet. The kid was a wiz with videos, photographs and websites and often worked with Tommy McMurray to produce commercials for the motorcycle shop. He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking every bit the respectable young man that he was.

  In comparison his younger brother, Ben, who was twelve, seemed to be ha
ving a hard time standing still. Only a couple of inches shorter than his brother, Ben was as wide as he was tall. He was only in sixth grade but was on the junior high football team at his school… and still bigger than most of the kids on the team. Bigger than Sherri for sure.

  He was rapidly making a name for himself in the sport not just because of his extreme size but his talent on the field. Currently Ben looked as though he desperately needed to get out and run around. Blow off some steam or something. If only a person could bottle all that energy and market it.

  Greg Sanders was a retired police detective who’d done Lilly a solid when her first husband had decided to get himself involved in crime and then get himself killed. For helping her sister, Sherri adored the man… always would.

  If there was shit going down somewhere… somehow Greg was always in the middle of it even though he was retired now. Sherri also liked the fact that as worldly as Greg thought he was, she could yank his chain so easily it wasn’t funny. Actually, most of the time it was absolutely hilarious.

  Carla Sanders was a peach… sweet and refreshing. The woman was positively one of a kind. She was also Meredith Reynolds’ mother. Everyone loved her because she was goodness personified. Never would Sherri have seen herself being friends with a judge’s daughter, but Carla drew people in like a moth to a flame.

  While Greg was in the middle of the action, Carla was at home cooking a casserole for everyone to enjoy after all the shit was over. They were the cutest couple. Their boys were too sweet and often hung around Gretchen when the group got together for cookouts or parties.

  Looking around, Sherri noticed that there were other people in attendance as well, including members of a local motorcycle club who threw a lot of business at both Bobby’s shop as well as her bar.

  The people who were ahead of her in the reception line were the ones she knew best. They weren’t just friends… they were family. The only one missing was Edna Jackson, Bobby’s grandmother.