Tia smiled. “It was the one thing we’d all agree on as little girls, moving to Tennessee.” Andy drew her close, smiling at her.
“A dog named Tennessee…” Win chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “Okay, angel. I can work construction anywhere. You and the girls want Tennessee, then I say, what the hell, let’s find ourselves a place in Nashville.” He folded his arms around her. “But when we get ourselves settled we deal with your ex, and do what we have to to get you divorced, and married to me. Deal?” he whispered into her ear.
“Deal, playboy,” she said, turning in his arms to hug him.
Chapter 15
The seasons were changing and Addison could smell the frost in the air. Funny how quickly you can go from a pair of shorts and a tank top, to jeans and a sweatshirt in a matter of a month. Win told them all that he didn’t think Jimmy would be coming out like they were thinking, because of what he saw happen between Nickels and Jimmy in L.A.
So Winston and Andy flew out to Nashville to find all of them a place to live, and jobs for when they moved in with the girls. Win gave South permission to pick up Addison from work and keep an eye on her and the others until they came back. Rex agreed and told Win that he’d help them out.
Margie just ignored Rex now, wanting nothing more to do with him. He still tried to talk to her, but settled by making sure he was always nice, asking how her day was, was she doing anything later, and so on. But she was truly done; she really had started to love him, and his cheating in L.A. was just too much for her.
Andy found an apartment building for Lynn and Margie to live in. It was nice, two-bedroom place with all the amenities on the second story. It was close to the heart of downtown Nashville, making commuting a breeze. Andy made sure to also take pictures of beauty salons in the area for Margie so she had a plan to start looking for work.
Winston found himself and Addison a little place five minutes away from Lynn and Marge. It was a cute little tan three-bedroom cottage. The big picture window took up most of the front of the house; there were flowers all along the front in bright purples and pinks, and a small backyard for a dog, and a baby.
The guys told them that they picked this neighborhood because it had good reviews, was clean and friendly, had a nice homey feel to it, and Andy could get a place for Tia and him just two doors down, which made Addison and her little sister extremely happy.
The girls were happy to stay home, packing and working out their remaining two weeks at their jobs. Every night when Addison got on the phone with Win, he’d reassure her that Jimmy wasn’t coming for her, and he’d be home in a couple of days.
The time came when Addison was working her last night at the hospital. Lynn and Tia worked the mornings and Rex took them to and from work. Margie had a friend who didn’t mind taking her home in the evening.
Frank threw her a little goodbye party in the break room. They had cupcakes and a candle for her, singing her a corny goodbye song. She started to tear up as everyone came up to her, giving her hugs, telling her she was going to become a great doctor.
She wrapped up her shift at eleven and asked South if he wouldn’t mind picking her up at eleven thirty, which he told her was fine. When she stepped out into the cool autumn night air, she slipped her arms into her coat, pulling it tightly around her and looking for South’s Camaro. She was looking all over for him, and starting to get a little panicked, when she saw lights turn on from a parking spot, coming her way. Sometimes she wished she hadn’t given up smoking just yet.
Opening the door, she looked in and smiled at him. “Hi, thanks for picking me up a little later. The guys gave me a little farewell party tonight,” she told him nicely.
“Sure.”
He hadn’t spoken to her that much since the whole L.A. incident. She understood about having a dream, and why he was upset with her. So she did something she hoped he wouldn’t be mad at her about. She had called a couple of people, pulling some strings for South to start a music career if that’s what he wanted.
He didn’t say anything to her as they left the lot, which was typical now…but not the South she knew. She thought now would be as good a time as any to tell him what she did.
“I wanted to ask you a question,” she said out of the blue.
“Yeah, about what?” he said, looking over at her before turning back to the road.
“Do you really want to be in the music industry?”
He chuckled. “Where did this come from?”
“Just answer my question…please,” she sighed.
“Yeah, I would’ve liked the chance.”
“What if I was to give you one?”
“What?”
“Well, you see, Jimmy isn’t the only one with connections.”
“Ah yeah, you dated Mickey Tamms, and made out with Tom Hunter and were married to James Richardson. I’d say you have connections, sweetheart,” he laughed.
“Agh, men! That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she grumped at him.
He laughed even harder now. “Okay, so you have connections. What about it?”
“I called my friend Samantha, who owns with her boyfriend a big record label herself. And well, I got you an audition with Billy Byou. I showed him the YouTube video, and he liked it. His record label is smaller than Nickels and Jimmy’s. But just because it’s smaller doesn’t mean it isn’t better,” she told him.
They pulled into the apartment parking lot and he didn’t say anything until he turned off the car, looking over at her. “What are you getting at, Ad?” He squinted at her, acting like there was a catch.
“Well, I don’t think it’s fair for you and Rex to miss out on your dreams because we took two of your band members from you. So I talked to Bill and I told him you’d need a new drummer and bass, but you guys would be big if given the chance, so he’s willing to give you a chance,” she said, hoping it would make him happy.
He squinted at her like he wanted to be sure he got everything she said right in his head. “Are you telling me you got me and Rex a record deal?”
She shrugged. “I got you the audition, but with the way you sing and Rex plays, you guys will get yourself the deal.” She smiled at him.
He sat back, running his hands through his hair and letting everything sink in. “Holy shit, Ad, are you serious!”
She chuckled now. “Yup, Bill sent me the tickets for you guys and you leave Monday to go see him.”
He looked over at her in shock. “But why…”
“Because you guys are good. If I was still in the game I would have had Jimmy snag you up as well. I told that to Bill, and now he’s chomping at the bit for you, because that’s taking business way from Nickels. I have to warn you, Bill and Sam can’t stand Nickels,” she winked.
He reached over across the seat to give her a hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. I can’t thank you enough for this chance. And I’m sure Rex will as well,” he told her, kissing her cheek.
She took his face in her hands before he pulled away, looking into his green eyes. “Listen to me, South Parker. Fame is not all you think it is. At first you’ll love it, you’re going to be getting laid quite a bit I predict.” She grinned, but then her smile fell. “But it gets lonely pretty damn fast. Picking up a groupie who only sees you as a thing, gets lonely. Don’t lose yourself and the people you love to the falseness of the business,” she whispered to him.
“I know, Ad. I won’t lose myself, I promise,” he told her, and she smiled at him.
“I can’t blame him, you know,” South told her quietly.
“Can’t blame who for what?” She smiled at his strange comment.
“Win. I can’t blame him for choosing you over the group. If you would’ve chosen me and not Win…I couldn’t have left you either. I would’ve married you and kept you all to myself as well.”
Her hands dropped from his face. “South…I don’t… I never…knew,” she stuttered over his confession.
“Don’t worry about it, sweeth
eart. I know you love Win, and I know he loves you too. I just wanted you to know that I love you as well,” he said softly. “Now come on, I need to tell Rex we still have a chance in a music career.”
He got out, went over to her door, opened it up for her and helped her out. Addison’s mouth was still hanging open. “If you don’t shut that pretty little mouth of yours, I’m going to kiss it, and just take the beatin’ that Win will give me for touching his woman,” he told her, laughing when her mouth clicked shut.
***
Win had just called Addison to let her know he and Andy were boarding the plane in about ten minutes, and he had something very special in mind when he came home that evening. That thought made her smile and shiver at the same time.
She hopped in Win’s truck with some food she’d picked up for the next couple of days before they left. She was feeling more secure now that Winston was on his way to her, and knew that he’d never let anything hurt her.
Margie had gone out with a friend from work today, saying goodbye over a cup of coffee. Lynn said she had some things she wanted to get done before leaving, letting Addison think her vague answer might be just to let Win and her have some time alone.
Her hands were full when she made it up the stairs to their apartment door. She put down a bag, reaching into her purse to get her keys that seemed to be evading her at the moment, when Tia came out of Andy’s apartment holding a basket full of laundry in her hands.
“I didn’t lock it, Ad. I was just over at Andy’s to get his laundry,” she told her sister, kissing her cheek.
“Are you washing everything he owns, Tia?” Addison laughed, then saw the new romance novel on top of the pile. For some strange reason Tia loved the sound of washers and dryers when she read, she said it was her white noise to help her get lost in the books.
She smiled and started down the stairs. “Okay, then I’ll see you in a couple hours when you’re done with the book,” Ad laughed.
“Yup, and not even then cuz Andy and Win will be back, and you’ll be busy yourself,” Tia told her, sticking out her tongue at her big sister.
Ad chuckled as she opened the door, walked inside and into the kitchen. She put both bags down when her phone rang in her pocket. She reached back, pulled it out and noticed it was a 323 area code. Her palms started to sweat and panic raced through her body as her finger swiped the phone. “Hello.”
“Addison. Thank God I got ahold of you. Where are you at right now?” Nickels’ voice came through her cell.
“Nickels, why are you calling me?” she asked, with a bad feeling in her gut.
“I’m sorry, Ad, but Dax talked Mindy into coming home. Which I’m sure you already figured out, but when Mindy showed up without you and Jimmy saw her… Dax told him you were coming home. That you were just getting loose ends tied up,” he told her.
She heard the phone being passed, and Dax’s voice now came on. “Ad, Jimmy has gone off the deep end. We thought if we got you to come home maybe he would get himself clean, and he did for about a month. Then when he saw Mindy, she told him you weren’t coming home and it would be best for everyone if he just moved on…” Nickels grabbed the phone, muttering something to Dax about, Jimmy was the least of their concerns right now.
“Why are you telling me this, Nickels? What’s really going on?” she whispered.
“Addie, I don’t think Jimmy is in his right mind right now. I think he needs help, and I think he’s on his way to come and get you.”
“Oh Lord,” she whispered, leaning against the table.
“Look, Addie, when he knew you weren’t coming home, he went on a binge of drugs and booze for a little over a week now. Jones thought he was trying to kill himself. But yesterday he was supposed to be at the recording studio, he never showed up, and we couldn’t find him. We all thought the worst…but Dax called the airport and found out he took his jet to Cleveland yesterday.”
She could feel her body shaking from the adrenaline running through her. “Addie, I want you to get your things and get the hell out of there. Dax and I will be there in an hour.”
Her mind was wandering, putting things together. “Tia’s in the laundry room…”
“Then grab Tia and just go. He loves you, but he hasn’t been thinking straight for a long time now. We should have stopped him from hurting you. We’re going to get him and get him some help, sweetheart. Then you’ll be safe. I’m sorry for what I…”
“Hang up the phone, Addison,” a deep voice commanded her. She stiffened at the sound, closing her eyes, not wanting to believe this could be happening right now.
“Jimmy,” she whispered into the phone.
Nickels started yelling at her. “Is he there, Addison? Addison…”
Jimmy came in back of her, his body touching her backside he was standing so close, taking the phone from her hand. “Nickels, just leave us the fuck alone so we can work this shit out!” he growled. Addison could hear Nickels calling Jimmy’s name before he hung up on him.
“You look good, baby girl. You’ve lost too much weight though, I always like my girl with some meat on her,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She tried to wiggle out from under his grip but he was too strong for her.
“Look, I’m not by myself, Jimmy. People are going to see you here. Why don’t you just go home and let us get on with our lives?” she said, still struggling to get out from under him.
He turned her around in his arms, taking hold of her. She looked up into the face of the man she once loved more than her own life, to see a complete stranger. His face was beyond angry, he was furious. Nickels was right, it looked like it had been days since he slept, and she could smell the strong alcohol coming off him.
“It was bad enough I had to deal with that jackass Mickey telling me how good you feel when he’s inside you, then his ass tells me how you’re going to have his fucking kid!” Her feet were barely touching the floor as he held her by her arms, lifting her up higher the angrier he got. “Then some wanna-be rock star tells me, ME, Addison, that I need to sign the fucking divorce papers so he can marry you?!” he seethed, shaking her as he spoke.
“I didn’t know about that, Jimmy,” she told him, still trying to break free.
“Then Mindy comes home without you, only to tell Dax that you’re in love with this stupid fucker. YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH HIM?” His eyes squinted down at her. “You are MY WIFE!”
He set her down roughly. She stood still, afraid to say a word, not knowing how he might react. He pushed her up against the wall. “What happened to ‘till death do us part,’ Addison?” he growled. And her body tensed, thinking this was it, he was going to finally put her in the grave.
“I know Tia’s down in the laundry room, so I think we need to find a quieter place to talk,” he told her, starting to drag her down the hall.
“No, Jimmy! You need to stop this, Nickels is on his way right now, he can’t always clean up your messes.” She wondered if she screamed, would that save her or make him kill her more quickly.
“Nickels? He’s the one who tore us apart! He’s the one who started all of this shit!” he yelled.
Her fear turned to anger as he said the same old shit! Never owning up to his mistakes, never admitting what he did to their relationship. Always passing the blame on to others. It was always someone else’s fault.
“No, that was you! You’re the one who destroyed our marriage, you’re the one who slept with all those women! You could’ve stopped screwing around with Crystal. You chose, Jimmy, and it sure in hell wasn’t me. You’re the one who did this to yourself!” she screamed at him.
His hand went across her face, splitting her lip as she tumbled back, getting blood on the linoleum floor. “Nickels said that you’d never find out. I just wanted to see, Ad. I just wanted a taste of something I wasn’t supposed to have. That’s all. Nickels said ‘why not have a little fun,’ so I did.” His hands ran through his hair as he tried to explain to her once again his reasoning.
She wiped the blood off her mouth with her arm before she spoke again. “You chose. No matter what Nickels told you, you knew if I found out I’d be hurt, it could destroy our marriage. But you didn’t care, all you cared about what was you wanted!” she hissed.
“You sent me divorce papers!”
“I gave you another chance! But you didn’t stop, you didn’t stop screwing around. That’s all that I wanted from you. I wanted you to be sorry for what you did to me!” she yelled.
He took her by the arms again, banging her into the wall. She screeched as his grip cut into her arms. “But I came back to you! I always come back to you! You’re the one I love, no matter who I fuck, I told you that I loved you, baby girl!”
She was tired of having the same old argument with the rock god. Like she was so lucky he wanted her. This time she was going to tell him off, no matter what the cost. “Great, Jimmy, you came back to me. As you can see by my face, I’m so damn lucky to have you!” she snarled.
He pushed her against the wall again, this time with enough force that her head smacked into it. “You are lucky! I want only you! I want to be married to you! I can have any woman I want in this whole fucking world, but I want you!” he yelled at her.
She never thought she could feel so much anger at this man, but right now she hated him. “Well, I don’t want you, Jimmy! I don’t want your lying, cheating, whoring ass anymore!” she screamed at him.
She saw his drunk, stoned eyes lose control, and she knew what was coming, she’d seen that look before. She only had a second before his fist met her face, and she wondered if she’d live through this one.
***
The flight from Nashville to Cleveland wasn’t that long, a little over three hours. But it felt like eternity because all Win wanted was to get home to Addison. The night before in the motel room, he just about kicked Andy out so Addison could talk dirty to him on his cell. That woman and her voice drove him crazy!
A Second Chance at love The Rocker Girls Series Page 19