He knows, I am sure he does.
Why else would he be freaking out about us staying in this town?
“Jameson, we’ll travel to the studio when we have some new stuff ready. Big brother’s right, being here feels right,” Justine voices. I shoot a grin at her. She’s as determined as am I that we stay right the fuck here.
“I don’t get how you’re gonna make music history writing new pieces in this God-forsaken town,” Jameson states, clearly annoyed with us.
“Then clearly you’re the wrong manager for us,” Billie chimes in. “Don’t ya know, Jamie boy, we grew up in the sticks just like this town?” He glowers at her use of ‘Jamie’ and I hide my smirk. He’s a bit uptight, something that has gotten on my nerves more than once since he took over from Jacey.
“We managed to write some pretty fantastic tunes at home. I think we’ll do great here,” Sibley adds.
“Looks like your outnumbered, Jameson. Better figure out how to get us out of the damage you created. I better not see a dime for either of those places come out of the bank funds, otherwise, you’re fired.”
“I’ll get us out of the apartment lease, but what about the studio?” he asks.
“Keep it. We’ll be driving there to produce our work as soon as we have something ready to go,” I announce. My sisters agree with me by nodding their heads.
“Fine, consider it done,” Jameson hollers as he storms off the bus.
“He knows, doesn’t he?” Sibley asks quietly.
“I’d say so,” Billie answers.
“Yep,” Justine agrees.
“He’s fired once I have proof that he withheld that information from me,” I respond.
“Jamie boy won’t know what hit him,” Billie states gleefully. She’s never really liked him, especially seeing as he’s the one who hired her once-upon-a-time stalker. “He should’ve been fired a long time ago when Jacey told us she didn’t trust him. We should’ve listened to her then.”
“I should have listened to a lot of things she told me,” I rumble out.
6
Jacey
Little Miss Ray of Sunshine is at her finest today. “Hadley, I told you last night that we were heading out to do some grocery shopping this morning. Hop to it, little lady, Momma’s got a long list of things she needs to get done. Some cooperation would be much appreciated.”
“I’s not wanna coosperate!” She stomps her little foot. “I’s wanna stay home and plays withs Annabelle!”
“Hadley, get her dressed and she can come shopping with us,” I compromise, trying to get out the door.
I still have to get laundry done for the week, clean the house, get things together to drop off at the dry cleaners Monday morning on my way to work, plus meal prep, because this week is going to be crazy busy.
“Okays, Mommy.” She bounces excitedly on the balls of her feet. “I’ll’s make her real pretty todays.” She happily retreats to her room. I had to learn to sew doll clothes for her. It was a challenge, but it’s cheaper than purchasing them from the toy store. Those things cost a damn mint! I hear her in her bedroom informing Annabelle that they had to be on their best behavior so Momma will let her come with us on more shopping trips.
I giggle at her reprimanding her doll as I head toward the ringing doorbell. “I’m coming, I’m coming already!” I shout as the bell simultaneously rings back to back. “Someone is persistent today,” I mutter to myself. Not looking through the peephole, assuming it’s one of my neighbors, I open the door and nearly fall to my knees when I see who’s on the other side.
“W-what? How, umm . . . how did you find me? What are you doing here, Rayne?” My tongue is tripping all over itself trying to get the words out.
“I came here to meet my daughter, Jacey,” he replies as he looks over my shoulder. I immediately push him out the door and slam it shut behind me.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I play dumb. How the hell does he know about Hadley? I’ve been very careful to keep her identity hidden from the world. Fuck! It had to be . . . “Jameson told you? After he fucking told me it’d ruin your career and break up the band? Why did he work so hard to keep me away and show me pictures of your harem of women if he was just gonna tell you anyway?” I’m seething with anger.
How dare he!
Rayne
I motherfucking knew it!
“Jameson didn’t tell me diddly squat, Jacey. I hired a private investigator to find you. I’ve been looking for you since the day you left.”
“From what I’ve seen and heard, you didn’t look too damn hard, Rayne. You moved on like I was yesterday’s news. Why don’t you do us both a favor and keep on living your life and leave me to live my own? This isn’t going to play out the way you want it to. Get out of here and don’t come back.” She attempts to open the door, but I grab hold of Jacey and slam her up against the exterior of the front porch. I encase her with my arms before leaning down into her face.
Her fragrance engulfs my senses and I feel my body react as it always has.
“You may think you want me to leave, but I’m not going until I see and meet my daughter. Hear me, Jacey? You will not keep me from her any longer than you already have. As her father, I have fucking rights. Don’t make me force your hand here,” I state with venom laced on my tongue.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she questions, eyes as wide as saucers. Yeah, she knows exactly what I mean. If she won’t willingly give me access to my daughter, we’ll see what the courts have to say. “Don’t do this, Rayne.”
“Only if you make me, Jace. I won’t be kept away from her. Introduce me, now.”
“W-we were fixing to leave and run some errands. Come back later this afternoon.” She tries to make excuses.
Ain’t fucking happening.
“Now, Jacey. Or my next stop will be to call my lawyer. Your choice.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a choice, Rayne!”
“Take it however you want.” I look down at my watch then up at her. “Time’s ticking away here. Make up your mind.”
“Fuck, Rayne. At least give me an hour or two to explain who you are and why you’re coming into her life now. Please, I’m pleading with you here to be a tad bit understanding.”
She’s lost her damn marbles. There’s no way in hell I’m giving her time to run. She needs to face the bed she’s made and explain to both of us why she’s kept me from Hadley.
“Nope, I’d love to hear what you say to her. Let me in, Jacey.”
“Goddamn, you always were a stubborn old mule, Rayne. Fine, come in, but don’t say a word to her until I’m done. Otherwise, we’ll let our lawyers speak . . . and Rayne, I have enough information on you to make this drag out for years. Think on that before you make any rash declarations or decisions.”
“Do not threaten me, Jacey. I’ll take her away from you permanently if you continue to test me here. Courts frown upon mothers keeping children from their fathers. My lawyer is already set up and ready to go. We’re gonna seek sole custody if you don’t let me spend time with her. And Jacey, I mean when and where I say. You may believe you have the upper hand here, but in this instance, you have no idea what all I have on you.”
“You wouldn’t dare take a daughter from her mother! You were raised better than that, Rayne.”
“No more than you would take a daughter from her father.” I only answer the first part. The second, well, she shot that through the window the second she withheld my child from me. It’s a no-holds barred situation . . . of her own making.
She closes her eyes before muttering our old saying to each other, “Touché. Won’t you come in?” I don’t answer her as I back away and motion for her to open the door. Jacey hesitates for a minute and I begin to worry she’s changed her mind. Then she shakes off whatever thoughts she was having and opens the door.
As soon as we walk in, the most beautiful sight, other than Jacey, comes bouncing into the room. “Momma! I cants find
Annabelle’s jacket!” My breath stalls in my chest as I take in my daughter. She’s so fucking beautiful that my chest aches with longing at all I’ve missed. “Who’s dat?” She points her finger in my direction.
“Come sit with us in the living room, Hadley. Momma has someone very special for you to meet.” Hadley nods her head once and clasps her doll firmly in her embrace as she heads toward the living room. She looks over her shoulder and her eyes stay firmly planted on me.
It feels like this little angel is looking straight through me, as if she can see all my faults and bad decisions.
I can already tell this wisp of a little girl is going to change my life forever.
Jacey
I watch with rapt attention as Hadley takes in her father.
Of course, she has no clue that’s who he is to her, and I worry about the way she’ll react to the upcoming news of her parentage.
Will she hate me?
Blame me?
If she does, it’s my own damn fault. She’s never, not once, asked me about her daddy, and I’ve counted my lucky stars up to this point that she hadn’t.
Now, Rayne is forcing my hand, and my daughter will soon learn that I’ve kept one of the most important people in her life from her. “Hadley, come sit on Mommy's lap.” I pat my legs once I’m firmly sitting on the couch. She scampers my way, never removing her eyes from Rayne. She’s always been a bit intuitive for her young age, and she knows that something big is about to take place.
She climbs up on me, then turns, positioning herself to where she’s able to keep eye contact with him. She shyly waves at him as she leans her body back into mine. A small smile forms on Rayne’s face as he timidly waves back at our baby girl.
“Hi, Hadley,” he finally clears his throat and says.
“Hi,” she responds, her voice low to where you can barely understand her. “I’s Hadley, and I’s is two,” she informs him, holding up two fingers.
“I’m Hadley and I’m two years old,” I correct her.
“Shes always does that,” Hadley states irritated.
Rayne chuckles at her words.
“Don’t worry, Hadley. She always used to do that with me too. Only thing is, she was usually right.”
“I knows it.” My daughter dramatically sighs. “Who’s you?” I know this is the beginning of her interrogation of Rayne.
“My name is Rayne Wilde.”
Her eyes grow wide as she takes in his last name. “Mines last name is Wilde too!” Her excitement takes hold as she bounces on my lap. “Momma’s isn’t.”
“Momma’s isn’t what?” Rayne asks her.
“Wilde! Momma’s lastest name. Hers is Mon-mont . . .” she always has a hard time pronouncing my last name.
“Mont-gomery.” I separate it into two words in order to make it easier for her to say.
“Yeah, that’s is it,” she proclaims proudly, as if she’s the one who stated it correctly.
“Honey,” I begin, “the reason you and Rayne have the same last name is because he’s your daddy.”
“I’s has a daddy? I’s never had one of those befores.” She looks up at me, as if I’ve just opened the sky to let all the stars shine through.
7
Rayne
“Can I gives him a hug?” I hear my daughter attempt to quietly ask her mother.
“Of course, you can, baby girl,” I answer instead of giving her mother the chance to. “My arms will always be open and ready for a hug from my special girl.” I feel mist begin to form in my eyes as she whips her head in my direction. “I don’t bite, Hadley, I swear.” I hold up my hand as she begins to giggle.
“People’s don’t bite, only doggies,” she says as her giggles form into full-blown laughter.
I smile as the melodic tone leaves her mouth. It’s music to my ears, a tune I never knew was missing from my life until this very moment. Hadley slowly wiggles down off her mother’s lap. Once her feet hit the floor, she looks back at her mom. Jacey nods, encouraging Hadley to come see me. My arms feel empty as they await that, what feels like forever ago, promised hug. I have to tamp down the urge to run over, grab her, and scoop her into my arms, to never let her go.
Hadley hesitantly walks in my direction. It seems to take forever before she’s standing directly in front of me. She lowers her doll into the chair next to me, then opens her arms wide for me to pick her up. My hands begin to shake violently as they reach under her armpits to bring her closer to me. Once she’s eye level with me, she graces me with an earth-shattering smile as her arms wrap around my neck. She’s so tiny in my large arms that I fear that I’ll break her if I squeeze too hard.
“Hi, Daddy,” she says as she buries her face into my neck.
“Hi, beautiful girl.” With tears clogged in my throat, I just manage to get the words out. I look over at Jacey and notice tears gliding down her cheeks. Thank you, I mouth to her before my eyes close. I get lost in the loving embrace of my two-year-old. My eyes snap open as her name begins running through my mind. The meaning suddenly hits me like a battering ram. “You named her after my mother and grandmother?” I ask Jacey. My mother’s name is Nicole Joy Wilde, and my grandmother’s name was Hadley Emerson Staton-Wilde. I’m not sure why neither I nor my sisters put two and two together when we were engrossed in reviewing her information.
“Yes. I wanted her to have a piece of her father’s history in her name.” Those words are my undoing and I bawl into my girl’s shoulder as it sinks in. She knew how important those two women were, and are, in my life. She gave me a dynamic gift, even if I didn’t know about it.
“You have no idea,” I say, not able to get the rest of the words out.
“I think I do,” she whispers.
And she would.
After all, she was a key player in my life growing up. She knows all the good and bad things that have transpired in my life. “How long will you be in town for, Rayne?”
“As long as I can.” I have no definitive plans at this time. My only recourse is to get to know my family.
I once knew Jacey well, but I have a feeling a lot has changed since we parted ways.
I want to know the mother side of her, not the girl who used to spend endless summer nights in the backyard with me.
Jacey
I spent the day feeling like a bystander, and interloper whose only mission is to watch as the father and daughter bond. Rayne and Hadley clicked instantaneously, it’s as if they’d never spent a day away from each other. He helped her dress and then re-dress Annabelle several times; the doll has an outfit for every occasion. I still have the blisters on my fingers from the last one I painstakingly made. The two of them watched all her favorite Disney movies, and she gave him multiple tours of the house as something new entered her brain.
I’m in the kitchen stirring a pot of boiling noodles because Hadley requested and insisted that her daddy gets to eat her favorite dinner with her. So, here I am, making Chicken Alfredo and homemade garlic bread. Lost in thought, I don’t hear Rayne enter the room.
“My sisters have been texting me all day. They’re anxious to meet their niece. When do you think we could set that up?” I look at the portions I’m making and calculate if there’d be enough to serve them too.
“They could come have dinner with us if they’d like,” I answer him.
I’ve missed those girls, and whereas I’m excited to see them, I’m also scared shitless. Justine and Sibley won’t be hard to get through to, but Billie, she’s going to make me jump through hurdles of tangled ropes. Rayne pulls out his phone and his fingers begin to type away. Suddenly, I’m wishing I’d put this reunion off for another day . . . maybe a year or two further down the road. But knowing those Wilde girls the way I do; they’d never let that stand. They are three of the most hardheaded women I’ve ever known. When they want something, nothing and nobody is going to stand in their way.
“The girls will be here in fifteen,” he announces, not giving me another glance as he
leaves. My eyes lift up from the boiling water and watch him as he leaves. He still has the power to make me go weak at the knees.
This is not a good thing.
“Fucking wonderful.” I sigh as I pull out another loaf of bread. “Let the party begin.” I’m so lost in what I’m doing that time manages to fly by. The doorbell ringing catches me off guard as I strain the noodles of their water and I jump from the shock of the noise. Hot water splashes everywhere and the singe of my skin has tears immediately forming in my eyes. “Shit,” I hiss. Throwing open the freezer door, I stick the entire length of my arm inside. The pain radiating from the burn has me dancing as I try to will the painful sensation away.
“Oh look, a grown woman doing the pee-pee dance,” Billie states in a tone that has my back stiffening ramrod straight. Oh, yay, the attacks are already beginning before the hellos get said.
Wonderful.
“Billie, I see you still have that delightful sense of humor.” I bring my arm out of the freezer and slam the door shut. The sound bounces around the room, echoing off the walls in my small kitchen. “So, are we going to have it out right here and now? Or do you think we could wait until my daughter isn’t within ear’s reach of us?”
“Oh, don’t fret, Jacey dear, you and I will be having a little chat. But, unlike you, I will always put my niece’s best interests first. You may have temporarily won the battle, Jace, but we, well, we’ll win the damn war.”
With that said, she turns around on the heels of her feet and proceeds to stomp away from me. I see I’ve already been judged before I even get a chance to state my case.
I hope she never finds herself in my shoes.
Matters of the heart don’t matter.
What’s important, well, it’s securing your child’s future. I couldn’t let my hurt feelings get in the way of what I felt was best for her. If I’ve lost my pseudo-family in the process . . . well, it is what it is. But Hadley, she’s irreplaceable and too damn young to make pertinent decisions for the future or herself.
Uninhibited : Savage Wilde Page 4