Teacher: The Final Act (A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy #3)

by R. L. Merrill

  “Dad! What the heck is going on here?” He handed me the flowers, I looked to Cosmo for explanation, but he just grinned.

  “Come on, Jess. Danny’s waiting.”

  All the breath whooshed out of my lungs. The flowers. Danny’s weird call. Roland here at Universal.

  “That little shit is throwing a surprise wedding?”

  My father laughed and tugged on my arm. “Come on, now. Let’s not keep your groom waiting at the altar. He’s been in a panic all morning.”

  Cosmo stepped around the building and the next thing I heard was the wedding march being played on two guitars. My feet were stuck in cement. I felt my palms sweating and my heart racing.

  “Daddy,” I squeaked out nervously.

  Dad leaned down and kissed my cheek. “You look beautiful, sweetie. I’m so happy for you.” He had tears in his eyes as he tugged once more to get my feet moving. We rounded the corner of the building and there, in front of the dilapidated Bates Motel set, was my family. Mom, Jane, Nora, Amalia, Patricia, Jinx, Rebecca, “the guys,” and my devilishly handsome fiancée dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt. An arbor had been set up with flowers intertwined in the latticework and Roland stood in the middle on a raised step. My dad led me down a path marked by a roll of artificial turf.

  My face hurt from smiling so wide. This was it. We were finally going to do this. I was going to marry Danny. As we approached him, my father started to shake. I looked up into his strong face and was shocked to see him falling apart.

  “Daddy?”

  “I can’t help it. You’re just so beautiful and grown up.” He wiped at the tears with a laugh and hugged me tight again. I had to tap out in order to get some oxygen. He apologized and reached over to shake hands with Danny. “I don’t even have to say it, do I,” he warned.

  Danny shook his head. “No, sir.” Then those warm, brown, heavenly eyes descended on me and there they stayed throughout the entire whirlwind that was our ceremony.

  I vaguely remember Roland talking about the Universal Life Church and how honored he was to be officiating our wedding. I think he talked about meeting Danny, but I was completely dumbstruck staring at my soon-to-be-husband. He’d gone to all of this trouble and had put together the most perfect wedding we could ever have had. Forget breathtaking Spain, or wacky Vegas… Our perfect wedding was in front of a historic movie set where horrors and camp were so well known. It was us. We’d been through horrors, we had plenty of camp, and I hoped our love and marriage had the staying power of the Alfred Hitchcock classic. I just prayed Danny didn’t develop a taste for women’s clothes.

  “I do,” I said suddenly.

  Danny’s eyes bugged out and he laughed, looking to Roland for help. “Darling, we haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Roland said softly.

  “I don’t care,” I said, squeezing Danny’s hands tight. “I just want to say it and let it be real. I don’t want anything to stop us this time.”

  Danny’s eyes watered. He stepped closer to me and put his hand on my waist. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Nothing will stop us, but I have some things I want to say and I’ve got this ring and everything, so can I just—”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush. “Go ahead.”

  He proceeded to recite the poem he’d written for me almost a year ago, but this time it had a different ending.

  CAGES

  We all live in cages

  some are solid, some imagined

  Some keep us in and hidden

  some keep us from what we’ve been given

  To break free one must hold the key

  but if we don’t know what it is

  then how can we see?

  My cage is right here

  mine is patient, mine is loving

  finally with all I could desire

  a family was all I desired

  To break free I had to find my key

  I found it in you

  And now I am free

  For this cage protects

  It is safety, it is home

  This cage surrounds us

  It will always be a part of us

  And together we are free

  I gasped at his words. If I’d had any doubts that this man loved me completely, they were gone now.

  Roland looked at me and spoke. “Jesse, do you have anything to say?”

  I smiled nervously, remembering the vows I’d written for our last attempt at this before tossing them out of my head. “I do. Danny, you’ve had my heart and soul for some time now. Today, I give you my life, for better or for worse. I give you all the breaths I have left in me, all of the remaining beats of my heart. I give you my all, as you’ve given me, from now until the end of time. I love you, and I’m so grateful we made it to this moment together.”

  Danny closed his eyes, perhaps to pull his emotions together. He squeezed my hands and spoke as he opened his eyes. “Thank you, honey.”

  All that was left to do was exchange the rings and then Danny was on me before Roland could say, “You may now kiss the bride.” It was a whole body kiss that I felt all the way down to my toes. He held my body against his as he claimed my lips along with all of the rest of me that I’d offered up to him. The cheers and roars were much louder than just from our little crowd. Cringing, I pulled my lips away and looked to find six tour trams lined up along the road, all witnessing my marriage to Danny Black. The applause was almost as loud as one of Blackened’s concerts.

  “Oh my God, Danny,” I whispered, mortified.

  He pulled me tighter, took my lip between his teeth and grunted. “I can’t wait to get you out of here.” Snickers and whispers surrounded us.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Adam Black.” The cheers grew louder as another tour bus rounded the corner. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched in horror as a man stepped from the office of the hotel carrying a wrapped object shaped like a…

  “Yes! Do it, man!” Danny raised his fist and gave the horns to the Norman Bates look-a-like as he loaded the body in the trunk of the car and drove off in a cloud of dust. Everyone clapped and cheered when they saw Danny’s Challenger parked on the other side of Norman’s classic car. The Challenger had writing all over it and trails of tin cans strung from the bumper. Danny swooped me up into his arms and started running for the car.

  “Aren’t we going to say goodbye,” I joked.

  Danny cursed. “No fucking way am I putting you down. Nothing is getting between me and my happy place, God dammit!”

  I laughed as he tossed me unceremoniously in the car. I caught Janey’s eye and mouthed, “I love you. Thank you,” to her.

  She mouthed it back, gave a thumbs up, and then turned into Nora’s waiting embrace. The last thing I saw before Danny pulled away with a roar of his engine, was my parents in an embrace and my father kissing my mother sweetly.

  Epilogue

  Cosmo

  I watched the only woman I’d ever loved drive away with her new husband. I remembered what she’d said about everything happening for a reason. Didn’t mean I wasn’t going to drown my sorrows in about a dozen beers tonight on my deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Jinx and I agreed tonight we could put our sobriety on the shelf and toast the newlyweds, but in a mourning fashion. I’d finally made Jinx stop telling me what was going on over at the house while he stayed with them. Recovering from a broken leg while mending a broken heart was hard enough without his constant updates shoving more hot pokers in my chest.

  I’d done the valiant thing. I’d let her go, even though every bone in my body was screaming for me to drive over there, sweep her up in my arms, and carry her away from all the bullshit in Danny fucking Black’s life. She’d hate me, but whatever. It would be easier than worrying about her all the time. But once they got serious with this wedding talk and I saw how miserable she was after two failed ceremonies, I had to let her go. She was seriously in love with the dude, and all I wan
ted was for my Jesse Baby to be happy.

  The rest of the crowd climbed on to the trams to finish the tour and head over to the Dresden, where the newlyweds were supposed to make an appearance, but I was over it. I was just about to climb onto the rear of the tram so I could sulk in peace when I noticed Patricia standing off by herself, her arms wrapped around her middle.

  The redhead was all class. She’d been phenomenal in arranging shit for me and Jinx, despite everything falling apart with the Tragedy. She’d even helped me find my house out in Malibu, which I really wanted to get back to after stopping to pick up a case of whatever beer caught my fancy. But something was off with the lady, and I felt an urge to soothe someone else all of a sudden, although I had no fucking clue why. I walked over to her and just stood, waiting for her to speak. When she did, she continued to stare off in the distance.

  “He’ll take care of her, you know,” she murmured.

  I grunted. It was like she was reading my fucking mind. I looked down and saw her eyes were watery, but her perfect makeup hadn’t run. Maybe she was trying to hold it in with that death grip she had going on.

  “You want to go get drunk?” Her question caught me by surprise. I looked around to make sure it was directed at me. “Yes, I mean you, Cosmo. You look like you need a beer, and you’re probably the only other person here besides me who can’t be totally excited for the lovebirds.”

  Ah. Her dumbass husband. Patricia had had a rough time of it. I can’t even imagine how I would have felt if I walked in on what she did. He’d done her dirty, that’s for fucking sure.

  I wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “That sounds like a perfect end to this day.”

  She nodded and took a deep breath. I started to say I needed to tell Jinx, but he’d already found a skirt to get under, some chick on the tram who already had her fingers in his hair. I smirked and then looked down at Patricia. I was immediately lost in her blue eyes. There was so much pain and longing there, feelings I recognized in my own heart. I couldn’t help myself. I brushed a thumb along her cheekbone and took a deep breath.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she said in a husky voice that grabbed me by the balls. Things were about to get interesting, and I for one was going to let the lady drive…In her little red Corvette…To wherever the night carried us.

  The End… Of this trilogy. Stay Tuned for More Rock n’ Romance!

  Acknowledgements

  My family members are my biggest supporters and have made it possible for me to share my brand of crazy with all of you. Thanks to my husband, children, Mom, Dad, and sister for always being there when I needed a kick in the ass or a big hug.

  My amazing writing partners, Ellay Branton and Kimberlie L. Faye, were instrumental in keeping me sane while I worked to get this book out. Their encouragement, knowledge and patience are invaluable in my writing process. I don’t know which of the Fates decided to put them in my path, but I’ll be eternally grateful.

  Thank you to my friends in the Indie Author community for your continued support. I consider myself blessed to have you all in my life.

  To my beta readers, those who have been with me from the beginning, and the new ones I’ve recently come to call friends, thank you for the use of your eyes and for allowing me to corrupt, I mean, entertain you with my tales of Rock ‘n’ Romance! Thank you for always being available to check over some crazy idea no matter the time frame or task. Without you I’d be nowhere.

  To the Sexy Rock Goddesses of our Street Team…You ladies are always there to support us, be it with pictures of yummy food, pictures of yummy men, or a great song to get me through the day, thank you for sticking with Ellay, Kimberlie and I and helping us live the dream! Big hugs to you all.

  Connect With R.L. Merrill

  I would love to connect with you! Here’s where you can find me lurking: Facebook at: www.facebook.com/rowritesrocknromance

  Email at rlmerrillauthor@gmail.com

  Twitter @rlmerrillauthor

  And my groovy website: www.rlmerrillauthor.com where you can find my newsletter-y thingie and stay up-to-date with the latest from my world of Rock ‘n’ Romance! You can even pick up passwords to unlock short stories set in the Teacher, Haunted and The Rock Season worlds.

  Reviews

  Reviews are incredibly important to authors. If you enjoyed Teacher: The Final Act, please leave your review for others at Amazon, GoodReads, or whichever rooftop you’d like to shout it from!

  Coming Soon!

  Road Trip: A Rock Season Novel

  Here’s a sneak peek at the story of Abra and Kelly.

  Road Trip - A Rock Season Novel

  July 2014

  Abra

  Ahhhh… Summer vacation! Work hard all year, two and a half months off every summer. Greatest gig in the world, right? Actually, I really did have it good. As a counselor at a continuation high school, I worked my ass off nine months of the year with the most desperate kids, so I allowed myself to play hard every summer. Playing hard for me meant going to as many concerts and festivals as I could squeeze in. Sweaty, hot, and loud…That’s what I needed, and I was about to have a fantastic fix this weekend, even if I was flying solo for the first time in a long time.

  Interstate 5 ran the length of California and driving it was always an adventure. Running only two lanes in each direction, it was a constant game of Frogger trying to avoid the big rigs, tumbleweeds, assholes speeding in their Smart Cars—

  Oh, hell no! I was not about to be passed by a damn Smart Car in my 2010 Mustang GT. There were some things that could not stand. The speed limit was seventy, I was going eighty, and this old guy was passing me at eighty-five… Uh uh! I stepped on the gas and flew right by him, my Metal road trip soundtrack urging me to step on it.

  Heavy Metal was honestly the soundtrack of my life. It allowed me to sing and scream along and get out all the aggression, anger, frustration, sadness, and yes, depression that my job brought along with it. Healer heal thyself? Yes, please! Some Korn will do just fine, thank you!

  In fact, I was headed to see Korn this very weekend! I was going to headbang, crowd surf, people watch, and just fucking LIVE! Yes! If only I didn’t have a seven hour drive ahead of me. Oh well. It would be worth it.

  I drove the 580 to get out of the Bay Area and the traffic on this Friday night was killing me. I’d waited to leave until ten o’clock, figuring I’d miss the traffic that way. No such luck. It seemed many of the East Bay’s inhabitants had the same idea: Beat the dog days of summer by getting out of town. On the road there were tour buses, fifth wheels, RV’s towing cars and big trucks towing boats…It was insanity!

  My first pit stop of the night was an hour into the trip. Why did I do this to myself? Some day I would learn to not start my trip with a 44 oz. Diet Coke! There were a few families with screaming kids hanging around and others walking their dogs. I stood in line for the restroom and got back in my car as soon as I could to avoid any unwanted attention. Dressing the way I did usually kept people away from me, but there was always some jackass who saw a woman alone at night and figured she might ‘need some good lovin’. Barf.

  I managed to make it another three hours without having to stop. Barely. By the time the next rest stop came into view I was nearly in tears from the pain in my bladder. I’d been contemplating which would be worse, cleaning up an accident in the car, or copping a squat in the wide open space next to the road. Luckily I didn’t have to resort to either of those.

  I pulled off the interstate and breathed a sigh of relief that not much was happening at this rest stop. I’d been pushing ninety miles an hour for some time now and I’d left most of the other traffic behind. There were only a couple of big rigs parked on the side closest to the highway, and one other car near the restrooms. It was nearing three in the morning and I wasn’t the least bit tired, so when my headlights illuminated the horrific scene in front of me, I knew I hadn’t fallen asleep at the wheel and succumbed to a nightmare.

  Tw
o guys were beating an unmoving body on the ground and another was pouring liquid out of a red can onto the body. Before I could think, I laid on the horn and revved my engine. The rough-looking guys looked up and scattered, piling into a van I hadn’t seen parked out of the light. The van and the lone car peeled out and sped off down the on ramp.

  I scanned the area and didn’t see anyone else. We were miles from civilization. I prayed quickly that the body on the ground wasn’t dead as I climbed out of my Mustang and hurried around to the trunk where I grabbed a Mag-lite that was as big around as my arm and my softball bat.

  I remained aware of my surroundings as I cautiously crept over to the man lying on the ground. I could make out black work boots, black utility pants, a vest covering a plain white t-shirt… Holy shit! This was a cop on the ground! And there was no police car anywhere. And I’d left my phone in the car. And the smell of gasoline was burning the shit out of my nostrils.

  I stepped up next to him and could see he was breathing heavy. I heard soft moans as I knelt next to him and touched his shoulder.

  Kelly

  “Don’t touch me,” I snarled. I thought they’d all left after stealing my car and pulling off my uniform shirt. I sat up quickly and tried to get to my feet, but all I succeeded in doing was staggering around before falling against something, or someone soft.

  “OOof! Relax! Dude, you weigh a ton. Stop moving and I’ll help you.” Her high-pitched voice shocked me into a little bit more of a coherent state. I couldn’t see anything other than the halo of the flashlight she’d dropped. I lunged for it, nearly falling on my ass, and spun around.