Hayden's Timbre

by Thia Finn

  Thirty minutes later I shook Peri and Cash’s hand. The interview came off without a hitch, and they offered me the job on the spot.

  “I promise you’re not going to be disappointed by taking a chance on me,” I assured them.

  “We already know you’re going to be a great addition to our team at 13 Recordings,” Cash said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have another appointment with some musicians. I can only hope they’re as ready for me as you were.” He laughed as he said it. I got the feeling he didn’t hold too much faith in the people he was meeting.

  When he walked away, I turned to Peri. “I will give my one week’s notice this evening at work. Thank you so very much for this.”

  “Your welcome, Timbre, but you should also thank Hayden for all the praises he had for you. He seems to think someone hung the moon in your honor.”

  “Oh, wow. I hope he didn’t overstep his bounds. I want to get the job on my own merit even though I’m grateful for his help.”

  “Hayden wouldn’t stick his neck out if he didn’t believe in you. He’s had his fair share of women who’ve screwed him over. If he says you’re golden, you are.” He certainly had trusting friends.

  “That’s very kind of him to speak so highly of me.” I looked down somewhat embarrassed at her comment.

  “Do you have a few minutes so the two of us can talk?” she asked from the doorway of her office.

  “Sure. Is there something else I need to do?”

  “This is more of a personal matter. Come on in, please.” She shut the door behind me.

  “Did Hayden mention to you about moving into our pool house?” She sat down and pointed to the spot on her couch.

  “Yes, he did, and I truly appreciate you considering allowing me to live there, but I can find my own place.” I needed her to know that I could take care of myself.

  “So, let me tell you some things about Hayden.” Her serious tone let me know she wanted me to understand what she said. “He’s a great man, a great dad, and a great musician. We’ve come to love him like he’s a brother or an uncle to our children. He’s my husband, Ryan’s, cousin. He’s a hard worker and provides well for Crew.”

  “Yes, he talks about his son a lot. I knew right away they were close.”

  “That’s the thing. It’s part of the reason why we all want you to move into the pool house, Timbre. Hayden seems very taken with you. Having you live there will give us the chance to get to know you. It’ll also let you meet Crew on a more personal level.”

  “Oh, is there a problem with that?” Hayden never said Crew had problems.

  “No, no. Nothing like that. It’s just that Hayden’s not really dated since Crew came along. You’re the first woman he wants to try to allow into Crew’s life.”

  My mouth must have been hanging open because she laughed at me.

  “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh but it’s the truth, and I can see it’s news to you.”

  “Isn’t he around twelve or so?” I asked finding it unbelievable Hayden hadn’t had any relationships in that long of time.

  “Yes, both of our boys are. Tucker is our oldest, and they are only a few weeks apart.”

  “That’s great for cousins to be so close. Have they always been together? Hayden told me he and Crew used to live with y’all.”

  “They did, and we live close still but no longer together since Ryan and I have added two more to our brood.” She laughed and picked up a frame from her desk. The picture showed three happy kids.

  “They’re beautiful,” I told her. “Of course, it’s hard not to with parents who look like y’all do.”

  “Thank you. That’s very kind. I still find my husband as hot as he was when we met and unfortunately so do his fangirls.” She smiled when she said it, so I knew she probably wasn’t the jealous type.

  “Timbre, we would all very much like for you to move in the pool house. You’d have your own entrance and no one to bother you. Well…” she hesitated, “… except maybe the kids. My three are nosey although we don’t allow the youngest out of our sight yet. Gemma’s a handful when she’s at home. She’s pretty well-behaved when we’re out in public. The boys are always a handful. That’s Teagan in the middle… he’s seven.”

  “So, twelve, seven, and three. That’s a spread.”

  “Yeah, life on the road made it hard to plan kids, but we managed, and now I wouldn’t change it. They each had their own time with me as babies.” She got a look in her eyes as though that time was special before turning to me. “Okay, you’ll take the house then?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Do you think it’s a good idea? Living there, working here. Won’t it be too much?”

  “We’ll hardly see you during the week, and if I choose to go with AD on tour, we’ll be gone. Nanny goes with us, so you’ll have the place to yourself. Honestly, it’ll be good. We would have someone house sitting for us that way.”

  She made it seem like I would be doing her a favor by moving there when deep down I knew she was doing it for Hayden. She was good.

  “If you think it’ll be okay, I’d be happy to move there. I’m sure it’ll be a perfect place for me. I don’t need much room since I have no room at all right now. I assume Hayden told you where I lived?” My embarrassment had to be written all over my face.

  “Yes, he did. I hope it was okay with you.”

  “Sure. I mean, it’s fine. It’s just embarrassing is all.”

  “No need to feel that way. We’ve all had our share of bad luck. Maybe this will be the turning point for you. Now there’s one more thing I want to tell you.”

  I looked at her because her tone told me this was serious. I had no clue as to what she could possibly add at this point.

  “Hayden is like the little brother I never had. I love him dearly. If this relationship moves forward, and you hurt him, I will destroy you.” I knew she meant it, too.

  “Assured Distraction is his family here in Austin. His mom lives back in East Texas. We all love him like our own. We all look out for each other, and Chandler and I will take you out if you hurt that boy. You understand what I’m saying?”

  “Uh, sure. Y’all have strong ties to each other, like enough to kill someone over.”

  “That’s right, but if he loves you, we’ll love you, and you’ll be a part of the band family, too.”

  “Oh, we’re nowhere near in love, Peri. We’ve only been on one real date.” I looked away thinking about our parking lot adventure together. “It’s hard to have a real relationship when you live where I do, and he has his son to put first.”

  “I hope you always feel that way about Crew. He comes first for all of us.”

  “As it should be.” I nodded my head at her.

  “I think we’re going to all get along perfectly. Wait until you meet the rest of the gang. Lola, Gunner’s wife, Chandler, and then there’s Carter and Halo. It’s all a great story we’ll have to tell you sometime.” We stood, and I made my way to her door.

  “Thank you for everything, Peri. You don’t know how much I appreciate all you’re doing for me.”

  “Make no mistake, I’m doing this for my big guys because I love them. I hope that I will learn to love you as well.” Her comments weren’t a threat, but I knew she would always be on their side about the relationship, which was okay with me. I wanted to become part of their family in some capacity, even if Hayden and I didn’t work out.

  “I’ll move in on my first off days. Is that’s okay?” I asked.

  “That’s great if Hayden lets you wait that long.” She smiled, and I turned to leave wondering where I might be sleeping tonight if he had his way.

  I walked into The Bar and looked around for Timbre. Ford stood behind the bar with a mug under the tap drawing a beer.

  “Making that for me?” I asked him as I sat on the stool.

  “Sure, dude. Where have you been? Haven’t seen you here in a while now.” He slid the cold mug across to me.”

  “Oh, you know. Fa
mily shit, work, the usual things that take up my life.” The wheat flavor lit up my taste buds.

  “The rest of AD came in a couple of nights ago. Figured with Timbre being here you’d show up, too.”

  “I wanted to be, but a band came in needing my help for their recording, so I’ve been fucking around with their music.”

  “You know tonight’s her last night, right?” Of course, I knew it. She doesn’t make too many moves now that I don’t already know about.

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m here. Came to get a paper signed so I can get her shit from where she’s now living.” I wanted her out tonight.

  “Oh yeah? She’s moving in with you?” He looked at me with a strange look.

  “No, she’s moving in with Peri and Ryan. I’m just taking her stuff for her, so she doesn’t have to stay one more fucking night at the shelter.” I hated she’d spent the last four nights there but couldn’t do much about it when I was at work all the time. I barely saw Crew this week either. I wanted to remedy both of those things.

  “Peri and Ryan, wow, she’s moving to the big time then.” I saw him look at her with maybe a note of jealousy in his voice.

  “Yeah, they have an empty place right now and want her to live in it for when AD leaves on tour.” Not that it was any of his business where she lived.

  “Well, I’m sure she’ll be well taken care of now. That’s good. She seems like she needs someone to take care of her. I tried to help her out, giving her a job and all but nothing on the scale you guys can do.” I didn’t like the way he said all of this. Did he want her for himself, and I had gotten in the way?

  “Is that right? I’m glad you were able to give her a job when she needed it. She’s going to be working in an office now, so she’ll make money and can maybe go back to school. She wants to eventually put that fucking degree to use.”

  “Yeah, that’s what she said when she turned in her notice, which was nice. Hell, usually waitresses just don’t show back up. She at least had the courtesy to give me time to find a new worker. She’s training her tonight.” He nodded out into the crowd, and I watched a young woman following Timbre around.

  I sipped my beer as he waited on someone at the bar. Timbre’s movements were graceful as she maneuvered through the crowd of mostly men. I hated watching her work here. Fucking drunk men would hit on her all damn night. She’d laugh their shit off, but I knew she hated the way they looked and spoke to her. She’d told me more than once.

  Timbre made her way to the bar and gave her order to Ford before coming to stand next to me so I could get her into my arms for a brief hug. She never liked any PDA between us in the bar afraid the other men would get an idea that hugs were okay.

  “Hey, I went by and got a form to pick up your stuff from the shelter.” I unfolded the paper.

  “What? Why would you need that? I was going to move it tomorrow.”

  “Because, babe, I don’t want you sleeping in that place one more night. I’ll get your shit and pick you up after work. You don’t have too much do you?”

  “Well, no. But I’ll take care of it tomorrow. I don’t want you to have to do that.” She looked me directly in the eyes, and I knew she was going to put up a fight over this.

  “I’m doing it, Timbre. You’re not going back there if I have to forge your name on this fucking paper. Let someone else have the damn cot tonight. You’re sleeping in a real bed.”

  “Hayden. I can take care of myself. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Hell, I know I don’t have to. I want to. You are done with that place, Timbre.” I stood towering over her and realized I was bullying her to get my way, but the thought of her staying there one more night killed me.

  She stretched to her full height, which I guessed was about five, five and stuck her pointed finger to my chest. “Don’t think for one damn minute you’re going to take over my life, Hayden. I will not be bullied,” she said poking me with each word in her last sentence.

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, okay. I get it. You want to sleep one more night with the lady beside you that snores all fucking night and the one above you’re scared is going to fall through killing you in your sleep.” She had complained about both of these ladies in texts she sent me earlier this week.

  I could see her relenting. “When you put it that way, maybe I do want to leave.”

  “I knew you’d see it my way.” I smiled as I said it and picked her up hugging her to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I wanted to kiss her badly but decided to wait.

  “Put me down. Men are watching you do this, you know?”

  “Don’t give a shit. You’re done here in an hour. How many will be brave enough to pick you up in an hour?” I slid her slowly down my body standing her on her own two feet when what I wanted to do was pull her legs around my waist and back her up to the wall to have my way with her.

  “I don’t want to find out,” she said with a low husky sound in her voice. Our last close contact had been too long ago, and I knew she felt it, too.

  I leaned down and gave her a small kiss then let her go completely. I could easily become carried away and now was not the time.

  “I’ll be back when you get off tonight to pick you up,” I whispered in her ear, then turned and walked to the door. I didn’t look back because I wanted her badly right at that moment. Taking her in the bathroom wasn’t completely off the table but it needed to be.

  I pulled into the house driveway. I’d told Peri and Ryan earlier we would be moving her in tonight. Crew was staying here tonight, and with any luck at all, I’d be too. He didn’t need to know that, though. He’d think I came from home since the driveways to both houses were shared.

  “All of your shit fit in the back seat of the truck, so we can probably get them in one haul.” I opened my door, and she looked over the seat into the back.

  “Yeah, I think so.” I knew by the look on her face when she said it something was wrong

  I walked around to her side and pulled her out of the truck and into my arms. “What’s the matter, babe?”

  She wrapped her arms around my waist laying her cheek on my chest. “I can’t believe I’m down to so few items that they all fit in here. When I came here, I had a houseful of stuff that I’d worked hard to buy. Now, I barely have the clothes on my back.”

  “That’s going to change now. Damn girl, you’ll have room to buy whatever you need or want.” I hated for her to feel like this, but I understood. I came to Austin with a suitcase and a guitar. If it hadn’t been for Ryan, the same person helping Timbre out now, I’d have been living in the same shape as her. “Babe, we’ve all been there. Hell, Ryan did the same thing for me. Gave me a place to sleep, an apartment to live in and helped me get a job. That’s what family does for each other.”

  “But I’m not family, Hayden. They’re only doing this because of you.”

  “You don’t know that. If the circumstances were different and you applied for the job and got it, you might still be living here.”

  “I guess.” She took a deep breath and let me go. “Come on, I’m dying to see the place.”

  I’d been inside the pool house many times. Hell, I’d fucked some women a few times here because I couldn’t take them in the main house with me. Peri would have my head bringing a strange woman in her home for some wild sex. That shit might fly on the band bus but not in her home.

  Timbre opened the door, and I flipped on the switch beside her. “Holy shit. This is their pool house?”

  “Yeah. Nice place, huh? I don’t know who they were expecting to live here. A few musicians have stayed a week or two. Hell, one stayed six months, but I don’t think she ever planned for who would live here. She’s like that, though, always accommodating. You’ll learn to love her. She’s a great person.”

  “Did you and Crew live here, too?” She continued looking around the living area, which was flanked by an island and a great little kitchen.

  “No, we lived in the house. The
y had it built with two master areas, so we both had our own sections. At the time, the setup met our needs, but eventually Crew and I wanted our own house.”

  “Yeah, she said once they started having kids, you and Crew wanted out of the chaos.” I started laughing.

  “That’s not completely true. They didn’t need Crew and me underfoot with all of those babies running around. I made enough money to have my own damn house anyway. We arranged things so we could all be around to take care of the boys.”

  She walked to the bedroom and opened the door. The beautiful four-poster bed sat in the cathedral-ceiling room. Beams cut across the space making it look like something in a ski village or an old English castle.

  “Wow. It’s gorgeous.” She stood in the middle of the room with her hand on one post looking around at the furnishings. “This place is unbelievable.”

  “Peri wanted a cottage like you’d see in Europe. Ryan wouldn’t let her do it in the house, so she did it here.”

  “I’ll feel like a princess living in this. It’s so beautiful. I never dreamed of living in something this nice.”

  I knew the overwhelming feeling. When they started building the house, I let them do it however they wanted even though I helped pay for some of it. She built a house like none I’d ever seen. When I got ready to move, they bought me out, and I used that money to build my house. Peri helped me, but I didn’t do half the shit she wanted me to do. Crew and I didn’t need all that stuff she thought made it perfect.

  “So let’s get your stuff in here since it’s mostly clothing. We can unpack it and make you feel at home.”

  “No, no, no. I’ll take care of it. I have all day tomorrow. Don’t you need to get home to Crew?”

  “He’s staying in his room in the big house tonight since I planned to pick you up from work. I don’t have any place I have to be.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

  “Oh, uh. Okay.” I heard the hesitancy in her voice.

  “Do you want me to go? I mean, damn, I know you worked and all, but I hoped we could spend some alone time together tonight.” This wasn’t looking anything like I’d imagined for the night.