Spirited Ride (4 page)

“What exactly did you have in mind?” he asked, pulling her back into his arms and making her dance with him for a little bit longer.

“You keep all the fame and fortune you’ve amassed over the past ten years, and I keep what I’ve worked my ass off for in that same time frame… the bar and the house. We haven’t even laid eyes on each other in nearly a decade… this should be pretty cut and dried. It could be finalized in a month… maybe less,” she replied.

She didn’t have any idea that he was basically broke… but she had to know that other than a few hit songs he’d co-wrote with Tommy that he was relatively nameless to the general public.

They recognized the songs on the radio… but not that they were his heart and soul… his
creations
. Sherri was taking a pot shot at him… she knew it as well as he did.

“That’s my
Grandmother’s
house… left to
me
in her will,” he said quietly against her temple.

Again she stiffened in his arms. “Fine. Then we can sell it and split any profits but I have to warn you, the neighborhood has gone downhill since you saw it last,” she spat between her teeth as she pulled back away from him again and then out of his arms completely.

“Let me think about it… I’ll call you next week,” he said. Her eyes flashed with anger and a passion that stole his breath.

“I don’t need your
permission
to get a divorce, TJ,” she said angrily. “Never again will you convince me to do
anything
… including remaining married to your dumb ass. I’m done with that shit."

“Getting my
permission
is almost as fun as
not
getting it… if I remember correctly,” he replied.

He truly expected her to slap the stupid out of him. When she didn’t but instead shot daggers at him with her icy stare, he continued, “What? Chris not man enough to make you behave or is he too old to wear your ass out?”

As if to prove her point about being done with him, she didn’t say a word and instead stomped away leaving him standing alone on the dance floor. Then she made a point of sitting on Chris’ lap and kissing him full on the mouth just to drive it all home for TJ.
What a little liar she was
.

That quiver in her bottom lip in response to his sexually charged words gave her away every time. He affected her as badly as she did him… some ten years later.

Damn his hide.
The week since returning from Tommy and Dana’s renewal ceremony in Nashville had been pure hell and Sherri knew why.
TJ Simons.

It was as though the past decade had been more of a pause in their disastrous relationship than the end of it and the beginning of something different. He might still be in Nashville physically but he was really here… in her head, in her dreams and in her stupid heart.
Still.

Kicking the sheet back in frustration, she got out of the bed and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Maybe it was time to call Chris and make him earn the right to annoy her friends at parties.

It had been painfully obvious that the group merely tolerated Chris for her benefit at Tommy and Dana’s reception. They had gladly welcomed TJ back into the fold as though he’d never left while attempting to avoid Chris whenever possible.

In their defense, Chris did have moments that could be downright irritating, so the least he could do was make up for those annoyances in her bed.

The only problem was that sex with Chris wasn’t going to measure up to the memories of the passion found in TJ’s arms that seeing him again had drudged up and she knew it. Hence the anger and frustration that she’d been drowning in ever since leaving the state of Tennessee.

She’d been lying to herself all these years. Her right to vindication had been shot down by her own heart’s betrayal. One slow dance in the arms of her
husband
and it was as though he had awoken her from years of dreary, mediocre sex and her body was now primed, ready and starving for it.
Damn him!

The way he melted up against her as though he was the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle she needed to complete the picture. How he had effortlessly swayed along with her to the music. His brown eyes, sexy smile and mass of hair now filled every sleeping or waking thought she had and she was sick to death of it.

Even a lukewarm shower, ruthlessly raking through her hair with a comb and staring at herself in the mirror did nothing to relieve the tension in her. She was far from over TJ Simons. One evening in his presence after ten years of nothing had brutally reminded her of that fact.

The question in her mind now was… would she
ever
get over him? If ten years apart hadn’t done the trick… would anything?

TJ could drive a woman to drink for a multitude of reasons… starting with his smug reaction to her demands for a divorce and ending with the knowledge that ten years ago… that would have been enough to get her back in his bed. The only thing that had prevented it this time had been TJ himself.

Where was the man who, ten years ago, would have chased her down for walking away while he was still talking and made her sorry in the most exquisite and pleasurable way possible?

Unlike Chris, who often would agree with her just to prevent an argument, TJ never backed down from her.
Ever.
That was what was bothering her the most if she cared to admit it.

Trevor James Simons was just as sexy as he’d been the day he walked in to the bar that first time, hadn’t aged a bit nor changed physically in any way, but he was different somehow. For whatever reason that troubled her because she didn’t like it.

In her heart of hearts… she wanted that self-assured man who
could
make her behave. Vindication would have been for him to look older than her or to have gained fifty pounds or more. Having lost his spirit wasn’t something she would have wished upon him. She wasn’t that big of a bitch.

Pounding coming from her front door snapped her out of all the heavy thoughts. She quickly finished dressing and ran to the front of the house to find Chuck Reynolds outside on her doorstep.

He looked concerned and her first thought was that perhaps his wife, Meredith, had gone into labor early but then wondered why that would bring him to
her
house.

“Hey, Chuck, come on in,” she invited upon opening the door.

“Sorry to bother you so early but I don’t know who else to ask,” Chuck said, stepping inside.

“No problem… everything okay?” she asked, closing the door behind him. “Can I get you some coffee or iced tea maybe?”

“No, I’m good. I just need a favor… a big one,” Chuck replied, sitting down on her couch.

Sitting down in the recliner chair next to the couch, she said, “Sure… if I can.”

“There’s a former foster girl who graduated in May and was released out of the system. Family services helped her get a job and an apartment but the store she was working at let her go a few weeks ago and she hasn’t been able to find another job since then. I guess last week while we were in Tennessee she was evicted from her apartment. I’d like to help her but I’ve got no spots available,” Chuck sighed.

“So you want me to let her crash here until she can find something?” Sherri asked.

“That would be so great, Sherri, but that’s just part of the favor. I did say it was a big favor, didn’t I?” Chuck replied with a half-smile. “Any chance you can give her a job too? Just for a while? I’m trying to find another property in the area and some more options other than the shop for those kids who need a job but it’s been a little harder than I would have thought.”

“She’s only eighteen I would guess… so the most she could do is work in the kitchen… cooking, dishes and cleanup after closing. I can’t pay much over minimum wage until I can move Dawn behind the bar,” she said reluctantly.

“Something is better than nothing… believe me,” Chuck replied with a shake of his head. “One last favor?”

Chuck reminded Sherri of a kid who’d broken out a window playing ball and now had to make amends for his actions. As much as he and Meredith put into their charity, for him to be shy about asking for help from
anyone
in their small community, was comical to her.

“You’re pushing it but ask anyway,” she laughed.

“Can you pick her up from Tommy and Dana’s around three this afternoon?” Chuck asked. “They just got back last night and she’s helping Dana and the girls get unpacked from their trip for a little spending money.”

“You don’t ask for much, do you?” she teased. “I’ll pick her up and talk to her about the job. It’s awful convenient that I’ll be picking her up on my way to the bar… your timing couldn’t have been better.” Then seeing Chuck’s ornery grin, with a grin of her own said, “Maybe she can come with me and I can show her the ropes if she’s interested…”

“Hey! Now that is a great idea!” Chuck laughed, knowingly. Chuck’s face turned serious and thoughtful now that he’d found a place for yet another one of the many young people he’d helped out over the past few years since starting his charity and he said, “Can I get nosy for a minute?”

Sighing heavily she gave him a warning look and said, “I suppose, but within reason.”

“What’s the story with you and TJ? I mean he seems like a pretty straight up guy. I asked Lilly and she said to mind my business but…” he said with a smile and a shrug. “It’s me… Edith says I’m nosier than any woman she knows. Good thing she’s my wife or I’d be offended because I resemble that remark.”

She had to give Chuck credit. It was a rare thing for anyone to ask her about her relationship with Chris, let alone about what happened with TJ, out of fear of being verbally assaulted.

Sure, she could tell Chuck to piss off but maybe that’s why she was still caught up in all this bullshit… some ten years later. She’d never really talked about it or dealt with it and now it was back to haunt her.

Chuck wasn’t just nosy but he also often let information ‘slip’ because keeping secrets wasn’t one of his strongest characteristics either. Perhaps if the rest of the group knew the truth about what happened with TJ they’d be a little more sympathetic to her aggressive dislike of anything even remotely resembling a serious relationship.
And take her side.

“We were young and we just had different dreams, I suppose,” she began with a sigh. “I’d already bought the bar when we met. He, Tommy and Gina helped pull in a crowd with their looks and music and we were doing pretty well by the time we got married… at least
I
thought we were. Then once Gretchen came along, he saw Tommy slipping away from the band, I guess. Our marriage and what we’d worked for suddenly stopped being as important to him. Eventually I could no longer compete with his drive to become rich and famous and came home one day to find him gone,” she said, pausing to choke down the hurt and anger that still resided in her gut over the worst part.

“Gina told me, he took off for Nashville with some woman from the bar when she refused to pack up and go with him as the band’s lead singer. She tried to assure me that it was just a phase he was going through and that he’d be back in a few days. When he didn’t return after a couple of weeks, she even took it upon herself to go looking for him and returned empty handed. Apparently he replaced her as the lead singer for the band, and me as his lover… all with the same woman,” she finished, unable to even look at Chuck.

After a few minutes of silence while Chuck absorbed what she’d told him, he finally cleared his throat and said, “If it’s any consolation, from what I can tell that shit didn’t work out well for him. Of the two of you, I’d say you definitely came out ahead in the end. It makes me thankful for Meredith though… I can only imagine how much that must have hurt.”

“It sure doesn’t feel like I came out ahead, especially after seeing him last week,” she laughed sardonically. “He still looks like he’s twenty five and I now look like I could be his mother. You’d think of the two of us, he’s the one who should have aged ungracefully.”

“Pfff… aged ungracefully… You’re not even close there. You look like you’re my age… so stop with that shit,” Chuck replied with a smile. “Not to mention that even if he hasn’t received a visit from Father Time yet, you’ve got a business, a decent house and the respect of a whole community. He, on the other hand, lives in a rent a room boarding house… like a step up from being a hobo really… and drives a full blown piece of shit. So if that skank of a woman is still sharing his bed… she might need to step up and consider another job besides singing in his band… since that doesn’t look like too lucrative a profession.”

When Sherri only laughed at his response, he continued, “I’m serious! I picked him up and dropped him off the morning after the reception. I saw the extent of his
fame and fortune
and I promise you made out better in the end. Swear to God.”

The look on Chuck’s face let her know that even though he was trying to lighten the mood, he was also serious in what he said. Once again Sherri wondered about the changes to the proud, self-assured TJ Simons that she’d married to the one they’d left behind in Nashville last week.

He deserved what he got though… had it coming even… so she wasn’t sure why it didn’t feel as good as she thought it would when she’d lain awake night after night, all those years ago, nursing a broken heart.

“Listen, thanks for doing this for me and for a former foster kid. Her name is Lindsey by the way and we’re both grateful. If you need any money for food or clothes or whatever for her, just let me or Meredith know. I’ve got to run,” Chuck said, standing to leave.

After hugging her goodbye, Chuck took off on his motorcycle and left Sherri to return to her disturbing thoughts.

Unknowingly, Chuck had done nothing more than provide her additional fuel to feed her growing fascination with a heartache that refused to heal, as well as her inability to leave the past behind. Why the hell would TJ be living in a boarding house?

They were still married so he couldn’t have remarried someone else and then divorced again… losing the money he made from his songs in a settlement. That would have made his venture as a janitor at the auditorium in Nashville a little more understandable. Was he saving his money for something? Just being frugal?

In an effort to take her mind off TJ and things that were really none of her business anymore anyway, she did something she normally avoided.
Cleaning.
She scrubbed the bathroom with a brutality made for a fighting ring and when that didn’t wear her out, she moved on to the kitchen.

After finishing that and knowing she should save some of her energy, since she was closing the bar later, she finally flopped down on the couch for a break. As if on cue, her mind immediately returned to TJ.

“What? Chris not man enough to make you behave or is he too old to wear your ass out?”

Sighing at the effect those words had on her… even a whole week later… Sherri decided to head over to Tommy and Dana’s early to meet her new houseguest and employee.

Prior to her sister marrying into the rowdy bunch of guys who worked at Bobby’s Custom Chop Shop, Sherri had been content to just lay low. Except for the occasional party she rarely participated in much of anything back then.

Some five years later though, she’d somehow got sucked into the tightknit group of biker friends and was always involved in something… sometimes more reluctantly than others.

Hell, she even donated cookies, clothes and other household items to the annual charity auction at Carla Sanders’ church with the proceeds benefitting several charities, including Chuck and Meredith’s foundation.

She was a far cry from the sweet and happy homemaker that Carla was… but still. Now she would be hosting a teenaged girl in her home and giving her a job to boot simply because a friend had asked her to. This should fulfill her good will quota for the entire year.

Maybe TJ wasn’t the only one who’d changed. Where was the spiteful girl willing to spit in the face of loneliness and who willingly faced life’s hurdles all by herself?

Now when things went wrong, whether she wanted anyone to know and be involved or not, they were. Sometimes the group was like a tribe of nosy busy-bodies… with Chuck as their fearless leader… and she loved them all for it.

Letting herself in the front door of Tommy and Dana’s house, having long ago been told she was family and to just come on in, she found Melody standing on top of the scratched up coffee table in the living room.