Spirited Ride (2 page)

In comparison his younger brother, Ben, who was twelve, seemed to be having 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.

Gran, as she was lovingly referred to by anyone who knew her, had been the tie that binds. If she took you into her fold, you became family instantly. It was hard to believe she’d been gone for more than two years… even now her presence could be felt.

She was an angel came down to earth to look after anyone and everyone who came across her path. It was a shame she’d only been on loan from God because she was missed terribly… especially at times like this.

Edna’s brand of wisdom covered every life event you could think of and then some. She always knew what to say and how to put things into perspective in such a way that even if you didn’t believe it at the time, eventually you came to see that she’d been right all along.

The entire town had seemed to shut down for the older woman’s funeral. There hadn’t been a dry eye to be found at the graveside service when little Gretchen had played her guitar and sang an old hymn from Edna’s personal church hymnal.

Forcing the lump in her throat back down into her stomach from the memory, Sherri stepped forward in the line and watched as Greg and Carla congratulated the little family.

Sherri had to choke down a laugh. Tommy was dressed like a rancher complete with jeans, cowboy boots, oversized belt buckle and a hat. Dana wore a matching cowgirl style dress along with matching boots and hat.

Where Tommy looked completely out of place and like the fashion police might have been chasing him for years, Dana actually looked the part. Payback was a bitch or so Chuck had told Tommy when he’d beaten him at a card game and therefore won the right to both plan and pay for this event.

“Are you sure you guys don’t mind taking the girls over to the reception hall when we get done here?” Dana asked her while accepting the hug Sherri offered when she finally made it to the happy couple.

“Not a bit. Ride off into the sunset with your
cowboy
… we can handle the girls until you get back,” Sherri replied with a smile.

“Oh… comedic relief. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Tommy said sarcastically as she moved down the line and gave him a hug as well.

“Daddy… can we start singing now that Aunt Sherri’s through the line. We don’t know the rest of these people that well and Melody and Ginny might start getting bored…” Gretchen whispered loudly after stepping up closer to Sherri.

“Yeah, go on and get your things… but no running,” Tommy replied. The three little girls walked quickly toward a side door until they thought they were out of sight and then forgot the no running rule in their excitement.

Sherri followed Chris back to their seats and sat down on the hard wooden bench. She watched as the rest of the group made their way back to their own seats.

Memories of parties, cookouts, motorcycle rides, weddings and even Gran’s funeral assailed Sherri as she watched each couple make it to their seat. The entire group was like a force field of crazy family love that radiated out to all the other guests in attendance as well.

Soon enough Gretchen came back with her sisters in tow. She carried a small six string, acoustic guitar, while her sister Melody carried a toy tambourine. Little Ginny followed the other two onto the stage and stood next to her sisters. Gretchen adjusted her guitar strap around her neck and tuned her instrument as they waited for Tommy to go and get his guitar.

Forcing the burn of tears back down her throat at the thought that the person they were performing for wasn’t even in the audience, Sherri watched the little girls. Gretchen had insisted on doing this as a tribute to Gran since she was who had started Gretchen’s interest in music rather than Tommy.

It was the one thing Gran hadn’t achieved in her lifetime… hearing the girls and Tommy sing in this revered place. Once their father made it on to the stage with a small amp and his bass guitar, the little group warmed up their voices and instruments.

Watching the children sing along with their dad was by far one of the cutest things Sherri could remember seeing in a long time. Glancing over, Sherri could see Dana dabbing at the tears of pride and remembrance that were making tracks down her cheeks. The girls were pretty talented for their ages.

Even if they had been really bad, the looks on the guest’s faces would have said otherwise. Approval, pride and encouragement met each one of them when they looked out from the stage.

Only little Melody didn’t look around the audience for approval. Instead she stared upward into the balcony seats of the auditorium. Melody was always singing and humming, even as an infant, so for her to be nervous was unusual.

Following the little girl’s gaze, Sherri glanced back in time to catch a flash of someone exiting a doorway. Apparently their allotted time in the building was almost at an end.

Turning back around, she watched as Melody fell in line with her sisters and began singing one of Dickie’s favorite songs. After finishing several more songs the little group began to disband.

“I need to get the girls’ things and get them loaded into the van. You go on and ride with the group. I’ll follow Carla and her boys to the reception hall once we get everything cleaned up here. I’m taking Little Three as well so Lilly can ride with Bobby,” she said to Chris while standing and grabbing her purse.

Little Three was a nickname Chuck had given Lilly and Bobby’s son, Bobby Jr. Being the third Bobby Jackson made it confusing for the little boy when someone would say his name. Chuck had referenced the fact that he was the littlest of the three Bobby Jacksons, so the nickname Little Three had stuck.

Chris would ride his motorcycle along with Tommy and the others who had made the trip up on their bikes for the wedding. Sherri would chauffeur Tommy’s girls and Little Three to the reception hall in Dana’s van. Carla, her boys and Meredith would follow them in her car.

First they needed to round up all the kids, pack the wedding stuff in the vehicles and make sure the place was cleaned up. Without a second thought, Chris headed off to find his idols, Bobby, Tommy, Chuck and Dickie.

“Gretchen, help your sisters pack up all the instruments and carry them to that side door we came in. Once we have everything gathered up and we’ve cleaned up the place, we’ll load everything into the cars all at once. I don’t want you kids running around outside until we’re all ready to go… there is a lot of traffic around here,” she said.

“Matt and I can load stuff in the van and car,” Ben Johnson offered. Eying the bruiser of a kid a revelation occurred to Sherri. Lifting, carrying and walking might burn off some of the boy’s obvious extra energy. These kids weren’t used to having to deal with a lot of people or traffic in their small community though.

“I’ll help and keep an eye on him,” Matt Johnson offered, upon seeing the look of concern on Sherri’s face.

“Okay, just be very careful,” she replied.

“If you wait just a second, I can help too,” Gretchen offered the Johnson boys.

“You watch all the little kids, Gretchen. Loading the car is our job because we’re bigger and stronger,” Ben said.

“You’re not my boss,” Gretchen replied angrily.

“No, but I am… and Ben’s right. He and Matt can load the car without any more help. The biggest help you can be right now is to watch your sisters and Little Three and help them all get their things packed up and ready to go,” she replied to Gretchen, ending the argument between the kids before it really got bad.

Gretchen huffed off with all the smaller kids following behind her as though she were the Pied Piper. Ben and Matt began taking down the small table that had been set up near the entrance door for people to sign the couple’s guest book. She could still hear people talking outside and decided to go find Dana and get all her things packed and ready to be loaded into the van.

As she headed down a hallway leading behind the stage, she heard Tommy say, “Oh my God, man! What are you doing here?”

Then a voice that used to whisper things to her in the throes of passion that would make her whole body completely come apart replied, “Part time gig… to make ends meet.”

TJ Simons was here?
Right now?
Sherri hadn’t even talked to him in almost as long as it had been since she’d seen him. Her footsteps slowed as she neared the adjacent hallway where she could hear them talking.

She listened to the sounds of Tommy hugging TJ and smacking him affectionately on the back.

“We need to catch up. If you have time when you get off work here, Dana and I would love it if you could come by the reception hall,” Tommy offered.
Oh hell no. Please say no.

“Absolutely… I’ll be there. It might take me an hour because I’ve got to make sure things are clean and locked up here first, but count me in,” TJ’s voice crawled up Sherri’s arms in the form of chicken skin and settled as warmth on the back of her neck.

Perhaps if TJ knew she’d be at the reception too he’d change his mind. Squaring her shoulders and standing a little taller and straighter, she turned down the hallway where she could hear him and Tommy talking. In an instant she was thrown back in time.

The past decade had brought slight crow’s feet to the corner of her eyes, aches and pains she couldn’t explain and an extra twenty pounds. Amazingly and unfairly they hadn’t touched TJ Simons in the slightest. He looked exactly the same as he had the day she met him…
exactly
the same. Disgustingly he didn’t look a day over twenty five.
Where was Karma in all this?

Seeing Tommy’s gaze refocus on her, TJ slowly turned to see what he was looking at. Her imagination must be running wild because she could almost hear his breath catch… right along with her own.

“Where’s your lovely wife?” Sherri asked Tommy, stopping right next to him.

Sherri’s scent hit him long before the husky, scratchiness of her voice did. The woman had a unique scent that was all the sex appeal she needed to get a man and it changed dependent on her mood.

That combined with a voice that rather than sounding like a heavy smoker sounded like she was in the throes of an orgasm…
raspy
…
sexy
. Sherri Simons. His wife…
ex-wife
. God, she looked even better now than when they’d been together.

Standing with one hand on her hip she was obviously trying to pretend she either didn’t recognize him or that she didn’t care. Instead her full focus was on Tommy.

“She was trying to find
you
… might try looking in the girl’s dressing room,” Tommy replied, pointing down the hall from where they all stood before glancing at him to judge his reaction to Sherri’s presence.

“I think everyone’s waiting on you outside. You both need to go on out, get pelted with bird seed, and then head on over to the reception hall. Carla and I will take care of cleaning up and be along shortly,” Sherri said to Tommy. “I’ll find her and send her to meet you at the side door.
Now
go
.”

Then for the first time since being assaulted with the live version of his biggest regret in life, rather than just the recordings of her that his mind played back from time to time, Sherri looked him in the eye. She steadily closed the distance between them until she stood in his personal space and then said, “Excuse me.”

His heart was going to beat out of his chest. TJ forced himself to step back and allow her room to pass by him. He could actually
feel
her energy as it leapt from her body to where he stood dumbfounded.

All that insolence and vigor in her that had captivated him years ago seemed to multiply tenfold as she walked past him, never breaking eye contact until she was well past. As bad as things had become between them back then, he’d never broken all that spirit in her and she continued to sass him even now with nothing more than a steady gaze… and God help him it still excited the hell out of him all these years later.

The only thing that ever rivaled playing a set of music to a pumped up crowd had been making love to Sherri. They’d spent the majority of their first year of marriage consummating it… and that was after a full year of dating and living together which had been spent in her bed mostly.

Her body was a thing of beauty. The fact that she met his appetites head on with no fear and equal parts enjoyment and enthusiasm only brought vivid images of her to his mind. Making Sherri ask him for sexual pleasure could never be duplicated with another woman.

Upon running into Tommy in the hallway his first thought had been of Sherri. Then to see her in all her wicked and hostile glory mere moments later, left him all shaken up. So much so that he missed hearing his boss calling him until the man stood in the hallway as well.

“Simons! Are you working today or…?” Mr. Morten, his boss, asked with a sarcastic frown.

“Yeah… sorry. Balcony’s already cleared, cleaned and locked up and I’m heading to the lower level and stage area now,” he replied. Then looking at Tommy he said, “Congratulations again and I’ll catch you later.”

Tommy slapped him on the shoulder and headed down the hallway toward the door that Sherri had ordered him to wait at. TJ made his way past Mr. Morten and headed back down the hallway as well, toward the stage door and far away from Sherri’s burning eyes and hot blooded energy.

He should have thought it through before accepting Tommy’s invite to the reception… no matter how good it would be to see familiar, friendly faces after all these years on his own.

An angry Sherri could make a person’s life heaven and hell all at the same time. Some sick and perverse part of him remembered those times with fondness now instead of youthful frustration.

To feel that strongly again… he’d almost forgotten what it was like to be so pumped full of passion…
of life
… that it spilled out and forced you to do its bidding.

Going to the wedding reception was probably a bad idea, but he was damn well going and not just to congratulate Tommy and catch up with some of his hometown friends.

He was going to poke all that smoldering fire in Sherri with a short stick to see if it would flare up into a burning inferno like it used to… he could still remember her like that all these years later. It might scorch him in the process but it would be worth the risk of being burnt all over again.

As he worked on sweeping the aisle ways, checking each row of chairs for trash or lost belongings, his attention was focused on the occupants of the hallway and those people outside cheering and congratulating one of his oldest friends.

If he hadn’t come to Nashville a decade ago, he’d probably be outside cheering along with them right now. However, he’d also still be wondering if he could make it as a musician and wouldn’t now have his name attached to several songs. He might not have performed the songs himself but he’d either put lyrics to a melody or a melody to lyrics and they’d hit the charts.

Even back then he, Tommy and Gina had a good thing going but life had led them all in different directions. While he didn’t miss Gina so much, since singers came and went and she didn’t have a unique enough sound anyway, he did miss Tommy.
And Sherri.

If Casey Lawrence hadn’t rolled into town and done a real number on Tommy, they might very well have been a musical duo worthy of awards and a place in the hall of fame.

He couldn’t fault his longtime friend for having done right by his kids though, especially since Tommy had never really been bitten by the stardom bug anyway. At least not like TJ had.

Seeing the sheer joy on his friend’s face in the hallway earlier made him wonder if perhaps Tommy had made the better life choices of the two of them… in more ways than one.

After finishing cleanup of the lower level of the auditorium and the stage, he locked up and then walked back to the hallway to check the backstage rooms the wedding party had used.

As he rounded a corner into one of the rooms he was gifted with the site of his
wife
bent over stuffing flowers and other items into a box. The overly aggressive way she jammed the items into the container let him know that she was bothered by something… more than likely his presence here today. A slow grin started and before he could stop himself he leaned against the doorframe so he could better enjoy the show.

She whispered angrily to herself and he could occasionally make out a curse word or two but couldn’t really hear the extent of her reflections. Ten years ago he would have simply ordered her to tell him what she was so angry about.

That would have been followed by her refusal to tell him, which would then have led to him convincing her to confess her issues in return for sexual favors and that would’ve ultimately ended a few days later with both of them sated like nothing he had experienced since. Those were just erotic games though, played between two young people who had no sense about what real life was like.

“I guess as the
janitor
here… you can mop this up?” Sherri’s voice and condescending words cut through his mindless fantasies. She’d caught him staring and that seemed to have made her even angrier.

His gaze followed her outstretched arm and pointing index finger to the small spill on the floor that looked to be cola or juice of some sort. He ignored her attempts to goad him into being offended even though at one time that would have been just another sensual game between the two of them.

Insulting him now no longer was an attempt to rile him up and turn him on… now it was simply an angry woman attempting to draw blood.

“Leave it… I have to sweep and mop up in here anyways,” he replied.

Surprise and something like disappointment reflected in her eyes before she said, “Fine. This is the last of everything from both of the rooms we used. I’ll just load this stuff up in my car and then we’ll all be out of here so you can finish cleaning up.”

“Need any help?” he asked.

This small chit chat between them was getting annoying. After ten years of nothing… no talking, no seeing each other, no tasting each other… it felt like there was so much to say and yet nothing left to say either.

In the past it wouldn’t have even taken this many words to get to the heart…
or heat
… of the matter. Now it was awkward niceties that were ridiculous coming from the two of them.

“As good as you are at packing up and taking off… I’ve got this,” she replied dryly, hefting the box up into her arms and walking toward where he stood in the doorway.
There she was… the Sherri he knew so well... so intimately.

Stepping aside so she could pass by he said, “If you insist… unlike a lot of people these days, I’m all about helping or at least encouraging other people. Being self-centered and only looking out for your own interests isn’t very becoming… at least that’s what I’ve found. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“In most cases that’s true. However, don’t worry about me… I’ve got someone waiting on me at the banquet hall. He’s
always
there for me when I
need
him. You might remember him… Chris Anderson?” she replied. “Anyway… I’ll see you and your
date
… or significant other…
whomever
… at the reception.”

With that she started down the hallway, not even bothering to look back or wait for him to respond. She knew damn well he wasn’t gay and unfortunately he didn’t have a steady girlfriend at the moment.

At least no one that compared to Sherri that he could flaunt in front of her in an effort to get a reaction. She on the other hand, had replaced him with an ex-convict… or so the rumors had claimed back then.

Against his better instincts he felt jealousy rise up in him… and concern. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been with a few women over the past decade and he wasn’t stupid enough to think she hadn’t been with other men.

Somehow seeing her again and being smacked across the face with the idea of another man in her bed threatened to make him lose the control he’d worked ten years for and chase after her just like he would have in his twenties.

Demanding answers from her… verbal or carnal answers… either one. Things hadn’t changed much between them… she could still make him crazy in an instant.

Had she kept her smart mouth shut, he might have been able to talk himself into just going back home and skipping the reception invitation. Whatever weird competition or need to one up each other that still existed between them had reared its ugly head.

That feeling in his gut was all it took and he knew damn well he’d go home just long enough to grab a quick shower and change and then he’d be right there… letting her rub his nose in the fact that she was sleeping with another man.

Sleeping with some faceless, nameless man hundreds of miles away… in another state… was one thing. Doing so in the same town he resided in… with someone he actually knew… was another.
Damn her!
Age had brought a calm, melancholy acceptance of his lot in life so he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so wound up.
Not since Sherri.

He recognized that he was hurrying through cleaning and locking up the auditorium because his mind was now full of images of his…
of Sherri
… with Chris Anderson of all people.

What the hell was Sherri doing with a known dealer? Was she just saying that shit to get under his skin or was she seriously putting the bar… and even worse… his childhood home… his
grandmother’s
house
at risk?

Entering the boarding room he rented just a few blocks away from the auditorium and locking the door behind him, he quickly found a change of clothes and shed the ones he wore on his way to the shower. Twenty minutes later he sat in his piece of shit car that refused to start and cussed out loud.

This was some higher power trying to tell him to just let this go… let her have the last word this time. He’d chosen this life and she’d chosen hers. It was what it was… and chasing phantom feelings wouldn’t change that.

As broke as he was right now, he wouldn’t change his situation. Especially not now. Not after having seen Tommy, his wife Dana and their little family today.

Tommy’s middle daughter, Melody, had stared up at where TJ watched in the balcony as she’d sang with her sisters… as though she’d known somehow. Her angelic gaze seemed to indicate that someone had told her why he was reduced to working as a janitor.

That was impossible though because
no one
knew that he had given Tommy all the royalty money from their last hit song, instead of splitting the profits like they normally did for songs they collaborated on. The little girl’s medical bills meant Tommy needed the money even worse than TJ did.

Without the money to pay off the medical bills, the adoption process for Tommy’s youngest daughter would never have gone through. The attorney that Tommy had recommended to TJ had told him as much.

While Tommy had thought TJ’s search for a local Florida attorney was to finally start divorce proceedings with Sherri, he’d instead postponed the inevitable yet again. TJ had merely taken advantage of yet another excuse not to end things between himself and his
wife
. That had been nearly five years ago now.

So yeah, he might appear to be a loser to some… and maybe he was… but that was his business.

Unfortunately, being broke meant nursing along a broken down car that should have seen a junkyard years ago. Sighing, he took out his cell phone. Dialing Tommy’s phone he was surprised when Sherri’s younger sister, Lilly, answered.

Lilly was Tommy and Bobby’s age… a couple years older than him but she’d always been nice to him… at least she had been before he’d left her sister to chase a dream.