Spirited Ride (5 page)

The little girl was singing at the top of her lungs. Her sister Ginny sat on the floor playing the audience and cheering her on while waiting for her turn in the spotlight. Upon seeing Sherri coming through the door, Ginny gave up her chance to hit the stage and instead ran over and hugged her around the waist.

“Where’s your mama?” Sherri asked the little girl after returning her hug.

“She’s talking to Lindsey in the kitchen. It’s private so we have to stay in here and sing. Wanna watch me? It’s my turn next,” Ginny smiled and danced in place.

“I’ll listen to one song before I leave, I promise. I saw your daddy’s bike out front, is he around?” Sherri replied.

“He’s in the garage having a talk with Gretchen. She and Ben are in huge trouble this time so I wouldn’t go out there either, if I was you. You should stay here with me and Melody and listen to us sing,” Ginny tried again.

Knowing she wasn’t going to win this battle she sat down on the couch and said, “Okay, you talked me into it. Sing me a song… together,” Sherri said.

Ginny joined her sister on the top of the coffee table. Fortunately, the table, though scratched as all get out, was sturdy and low to the ground.

Soon enough they were singing so loudly Sherri couldn’t help but wonder how Dana could hear herself think, let alone carry on a conversation with someone else, whether in another room or even outside for that matter.

During their third song, Gretchen came in from the garage looking annoyed and angry and without so much as a hello, headed up the stairs to her room. A few seconds later Tommy entered the room looking equally annoyed and sat down in a chair near the couch where she sat.

When the girls finished their song, Tommy advised them they could go play out back for a little while and they took off at a run.

Tommy let out a sigh upon hearing the back screen door bang and then said, “Sorry… I’ve been home for like an hour and I already had to be the bad guy. I’ve got to say… my wife is made of much tougher stuff than I am… I couldn’t do it all day, every day. Three against one just isn’t good odds.”

Then he focused his full attention on Sherri and amongst the temporary frustration showing in his face, she could see the man was living a dream with his little family.

He’d been right to quit the band when Gretchen came along. He might not have a conventional family but it was his and he wouldn’t give them up now for anything. This was his life and he loved it… even when he had to be the bad guy.

“Wishing you had stayed behind in Nashville and given the music business a try instead? Or maybe wishing you’d followed TJ there all those years ago instead of sticking around this little town?” Sherri teased knowingly.

“Without one or all of them giving me a hard time… I’d have nothing to write or sing about… so I’m right where I’m supposed to be,” Tommy smiled in return.

“How many songs have you guys done now that actually hit the charts?” she asked casually, now that he’d given her an in for this conversation.

“Four. We haven’t had one in the past few years but the last one we did have was a real blessing. If not for you and the money from that song… I might only have two of them to give me a hard time and make me crazy rather than all three,” Tommy laughed and shook his head in obvious gratitude. “Those girls…”

“That song was pretty exceptional and as much as it would be nice if they were all hits, you still make a little bit off even the ones that don’t make it big, right?” she asked.

“Oh yeah, we get a little something when they get recorded and then royalties after that. So we make a little bit… maybe not enough to support a family of five but it definitely helps,” Tommy replied.

That’s what she thought. So why the hell was TJ living in a boarding house and working as a janitor? The money from their songs might not be enough for Tommy to support a family of five but it should be enough for a single person to live on. Unless…
was it possible that TJ had a child now?

Kids would definitely explain TJ’s situation a little better… child support could be painful when your earnings were sporadic. Feast or famine was how TJ used to describe the income stream from their music and was one of the main reasons he had said he didn’t want kids.

Perhaps he’d changed his mind on the issue over the past ten years and now was blessed with one or more children of his own. God help her but a snicker escaped at the thought. Of course she’d thought the same about Tommy at first but unbelievably he’d done an amazing job with Gretchen… with help from the guys at the shop.

“He’s going to be just fine, if that’s what all these questions are about,” Tommy said at her sudden silence.

“That’s good to hear since he owes me a divorce. Now that I know for sure where he’s at, I’m going to make sure it happens this time,” Sherri said, laughing away Tommy’s attempts to pry her thoughts and feelings from her tight grasp.

Tommy didn’t say anything more when Dana and a young woman walked into the living room together.

Lindsey looked so young, scared and alone that Sherri suddenly understood why this charity was so important to Chuck… to the whole group really. Dana being all that Sherri wasn’t…
nurturing
… had obviously taken the younger woman under her maternal wing.

“You must be Lindsey. Chuck Reynolds said you were looking for a job. If you haven’t found anything yet I could really use some help at my little bar and grill if you’re interested,” Sherri said.

Dana winked her approval at Sherri over Lindsey’s head and the young woman’s whole face lit up at the job offer. Then she said, “Yeah, that would be great! You must be Sherri. Chuck said he thought you were looking for help so this is perfect.”

“It would mostly be helping to prep food, wash dishes, and cleaning in the grill area. At least until things get switched around behind the bar and I get re-organized. I can’t afford to pay much but I have a spare bedroom that I can throw in to offset the low pay, at least until you get on your feet or find something better,” Sherri replied.

Lindsey glanced at Dana with a look of awe and respect as though Dana had just proven something to her. Then looking back at Sherri, Lindsey said, “Thank you so much… just… thank you.”

“I’m headed to the bar right now for my shift. If you’re up for it, you could start tonight,” Sherri offered. “It’ll be late by the time we close down and clean up so you might want to grab your things and just crash at my place when we’re done. You can see if you like the job and my extra bedroom and if it will work for you… at least for now.”

With a smile, Lindsey headed up the stairs to grab her bags. Soon enough they all said their goodbyes and were headed to the bar.

Lindsey was quiet during the car ride and Sherri couldn’t help but look at her with the realization that the young woman was the same age that she had been when her parents had died… leaving her alone… and responsible for Lilly.

She had survived and Lindsey would as well. Especially with a benefactor like Chuck and someone like her who’d already been there and lived to tell the story.

The club was already filling up when they made it inside. Sherri had just situated herself behind the bar ready to work when she noticed Lilly coming through the door looking for her.

Upon making eye contact, Lilly gestured for her to come over to a far corner away from the majority of the crowd. The look on her sister’s face had Sherri worried.

Stepping back out from behind the bar, she was surprised when Lilly approached her and grabbed her hand, yanking her back the hallway to the office which also acted as a storage closet.

No sooner had they made it through the doorway than Lilly turned to her and said, “TJ’s in town.”

“What do you mean, TJ’s in town?” she asked in shock.

“I mean that Bobby offered him a job at the shop and… he accepted and is back down here… right now,” Lilly said in a rush. “Bobby just told me and I came straight here to warn you… Bobby said he didn’t think TJ would actually accept the offer. He’s going to be supervising the primer painting for the bikes to free up Chuck to focus on… other things.”

“Why in the hell would my brother-in-law offer my soon to be
ex-husband
the job in the first place though?” Sherri asked in disbelief.

This was simply too hard to believe. That they would all just welcome TJ back so easily and so readily… regardless of the fact that Chuck needed the help badly right now since he had a baby on the way.

“Dickie told him to…” Lilly answered.

The little town he’d grown up in had changed since he left. TJ took a few minutes to drive around and look at some of the businesses and landmarks that made it home.
Home.

After all these years this sleepy little town was in fact still his home… more so than Nashville had ever been. Everywhere he looked was a memory. Most of them involved Sherri but he pushed those aside and focused on the ones from before his
wife
came along.

He passed the barely paved road that he, Tommy and Bobby had used as a place to party when they were in high school. At least until Edna Jackson had stepped in and forced Bobby to find something more constructive to do with his time.

Tommy had then been torn between two friends and two different interests… working at the shop with Bobby building motorcycles or creating music with TJ. However, TJ didn’t have much in common with Bobby other than the fact they were both raised by their maternal grandmothers in what was now a pretty rundown neighborhood.

When they were all growing up, this neighborhood had been a decent place to live. Kids had been safe enough to ride their bikes anywhere in a three block radius without their parents worrying too much. The houses had been inhabited by respectable working families.

Now the majority of them looked like they were uninhabited and falling down… some of them literally… complete with boards on doors and windows and signs posted declaring them condemned.

It was sad. He’d like nothing more than to stop in and visit the home of his childhood, but Sherri and Chris probably wouldn’t appreciate that too much and besides he wasn’t looking for a fight.

It concerned him that Sherri had taken up with the likes of Chris Anderson though. He, Tommy and Bobby had smoked weed a few times back in school and even in to their early twenties but had eventually outgrown that and had
never
been what one might consider a druggie.

Chris not only used drugs well beyond just pot… but had dealt the shit too. Hell, Chris had been Casey Lawrence’s supplier until he’d been busted and sent to prison for it. That alone should have been enough for Tommy to completely hate the guy.

When TJ had asked Tommy about Chris, he’d simply said the man had changed and wasn’t into that kind of stuff anymore.
Right…
To each, his own, had always been TJ’s motto as long as the shit didn’t affect him.

However, if Chris was shacking up with Sherri and still selling… it could cost him the house his Grandmother had struggled to afford and maintain… which did affect him. So he’d believe the man had changed when he saw it with his own eyes and he would be watching for it now that he was back in town.

The old house looked much the same as when he’d left. Sherri was at least maintaining the property fairly well so it didn’t look like some sort of drug house… like a couple others on the street.

He drove by Edna Jackson’s old house and was surprised at how it had changed along with the houses on either side. They were like diamonds in the rough. All three houses were immaculately maintained… freshly painted with flowers out front and a clean yard.

Tommy had told him that Edna had passed away and he couldn’t help but feel that she’d be satisfied if she could see how well the new owner of her old house was maintaining it.

Knowing if he intended to really start re-establishing his roots down here again he needed to find a place to live first, he turned his barely running car toward the only apartment complex he could remember.

He pulled in and dialed the number posted on the sign out front and asked about available units. After setting up a time to walk through one and fill out an application, he headed toward the one place he was still welcome around here… Bobby’s custom motorcycle shop.

The entire street the old gas station turned repair shop was located on had changed. He was beginning to wonder if he’d been gone longer than just ten years.

Where the station used to back up to a vacant lot of overgrown sunbaked grass, now the area had been paved and it appeared that a good sized building was being constructed on it.

The original gas station still stood but had been completely revamped. The dingy and broken siding that TJ remembered had been replaced with a painted stucco exterior complete with a large mural of a motorcycle that was probably visible from the highway.

Where the upstairs portion of the building, which had once been an apartment back in the early fifties, had been too unsafe for use back when he’d been in high school, it appeared to be functioning as offices or some such now.

Pulling in to the freshly paved and marked parking lot, TJ had to hand it to Bobby… the place had come a long way and was pretty impressive now compared to what it had been even ten years ago.

He felt a little better about accepting the job Bobby had offered him. Bobby probably legitimately did need the help and wasn’t just offering it out of pity at the menial cleaning job TJ had been working in Nashville.

After parking he headed to what was clearly marked as the entrance door right next to where the original door was, that now served as the exit. A young woman sat behind a counter just inside the door and she welcomed him as soon as he entered.

“Can you point me in the direction of Bobby Jackson?” he asked the woman.

“Mr. Jackson is in the garage right now which is currently undergoing construction. Did you have an appointment? I can call him and let him know you’re here, Mister….?” the woman prompted.

“Tell him that TJ’s here,” he replied.

A snicker escaped him at the formalities of the receptionist… if that’s what she was. Things had definitely changed… not only around town but here as well. Back in the day, this place had been a hang out as much as it was a repair shop for cars and motorcycles.

It had been just as big a magnet for women as his band had been at the bar. Bobby and Tommy had both used that to their advantage, just as he had used his musical talents… at least until he’d met Sherri.

Tommy had double dipped using both the shop and the bar to pick up more women than him and Bobby combined. Now it was like a real business… to make money. Go figure.

While the receptionist used her desk phone to inform Bobby that some crazy man was in the lobby asking for him. TJ looked around at what was now an accessory and merchandise shop.

The large building in the vacant lot behind this one must be where the custom bikes were built and any repair work was done. He felt Dickie’s presence before he even saw the man. At least that much hadn’t changed.

“Looks a little different now, don’t it?” the older man asked.

“Yes it does… good to see you, man,” he replied as he turned around.

Richard Long had been a seriously scary man to a skinny kid in high school. The man still made him a little leery, though TJ wasn’t real sure why since he was an adult now. Dickie, as he was known, looked much the same as he had back then… just with a little more grey in his hair.

TJ’s mind drifted back to a late summer afternoon when he’d been around fifteen. Bobby had decided he didn’t like Dickie telling him what to do in the shop anymore since he would own the place after he graduated high school.

Bobby had been almost eighteen at the time and the biggest in size out of all of them. Watching the older man sling a nearly two hundred pound kid around like he was a rag doll when Bobby had puffed up at him, had changed how they all viewed Dickie after that.

Looking at him now and the big grin he wore, one should have no fear of him, but somehow TJ still did even though the man must be in his mid to late fifties.

“Let me show you around. Lots of changes over the past couple of years especially. When Edna passed away she left Bobby the business and the house. He ended up selling the house and used some of the profits to help build this place into what you see now. Come on, let’s start upstairs,” Dickie said with another grin.

TJ followed the older man up a stairwell that he had never seen before since it had always been behind a padlocked door when they were younger. The upstairs was remodeled into several offices. Dickie stopped and knocked on the first door at the top of the stairwell and then turned the knob to go in. The nameplate on the door indicated it was Lilly’s office and TJ braced himself to see his sister-in-law…
ex-sister-in-law.

“Hi guys… come on in. I’ve got some paperwork for you, TJ,” she said with a smile. Grabbing a folder from a bin on her desk she handed it to him and then said, “I will need these back as soon as possible if you want paid.”

Lilly was a hard one for him to figure. Her prim and proper appearance and behavior were such a contradiction to her sister’s behavior that it was hard to believe she and Sherri were even related sometimes. Other than resembling each other a great deal, they weren’t much alike.

Where TJ now wondered what Lilly really thought about him working for her husband, he knew if it were Sherri behind the desk he’d have no doubts about what she really thought and would probably be in a corner licking his wounds.

After taking the folder from Lilly, he followed Dickie down the hallway to another office. Opening the door, he was met by Meredith Reynolds, Chuck’s wife, whom he’d met at Tommy and Dana’s reception.

Looking around the room, it appeared as though he stood in an art studio of sorts, as easels, paintbrushes and jars of colored water were spread throughout the room.

“This is Chuck’s studio. He paints and produces mockups of designs for bikes in here… amongst other things. He does the paint work on the bikes with more intricate designs at a premium but also works with some of our interns, teaching them painting and detailing as a trade skill. Needless to say, that keeps him pretty busy and, as you can tell, Meredith here is soon going to need his assistance a little more,” Dickie said, smiling at the pretty woman.

“That’s where you come in. I know you did body work, including painting, right out of high school. So it won’t be like starting from scratch like it is with the interns. Also since they tend to come and go… we need someone permanent to instruct and teach them the ropes. That will free up Chuck for whatever Meredith has in mind for him and for some of his other painting responsibilities. Just wanted to show you where you can find him most of the time if you should need him,” Dickie finished.

Meredith shook her head at Dickie and then said, “Not at the moment… I have no idea where he’s at but if I had to guess, I would say out in the garage. Bobby called a few minutes ago and he started laughing and took off out the door.”

Dickie also started laughing and then said, “No worries… we’ll find him.”

Back out in the hallway, Dickie pointed out Bobby’s office door but didn’t take him inside since it was obvious he wasn’t in there.

Then Dickie pointed at a door with hand drawn pictures taped to the outside of it and said, “For when the kids visit and can’t be outside. It’s like a playroom or place for the kids to take a nap, or watch movies… whatever they want to do.”

“Meredith wants to turn it into a company sponsored child care center for employees, interns, and possibly customers who are working on financing a bike with her,” Dickie finished.

“This place is pretty amazing, considering it used to be unusable and unsafe to even be up here,” he replied.

Then he followed Dickie back downstairs past the receptionist and displays of clothing, merchandise and other accessories and through a doorway which should have led to the garage bay.

The area had been converted into a parts store of sorts and a couple of young guys were behind a long counter helping customers find specialized motorcycle parts.

“My wife, Becca, helped Bobby patent a few specialty parts several years ago. Now any custom designed parts that he comes up with are patented, trademarked and sold exclusively through the shop. This and the accessory stuff out front have become almost as lucrative as the bikes themselves,” Dickie laughed.

“Speaking of which… there’s a legal agreement in that packet of papers that Lilly gave you that you’ll need to read over and sign. Becca handles the legal side of things for the shop and that agreement just says you agree that anything created here at the shop, whether by you or someone else, is the property of the shop and you won’t sell it to one of Bobby’s competitors,”Dickie said with a smile.

A small light bulb turned on inside TJ’s head. The attorney that Tommy had recommended to him when he’d had questions about the song they’d sold that hit the charts had been named Becca. Was it possible that Dickie had married a lawyer?
Interesting.

He tried to read the man’s features and what the look on his face meant but couldn’t. So instead he followed him outside and across a larger parking lot toward the building still under construction.

As they neared the larger structure, TJ could hear laughter and shouting filtering out from one of the open garage bays as though a competition of sorts was occurring. The older man’s pace picked up as if he was wanting in on the action as well.

TJ managed to keep up and upon entering the open bay his eyes were drawn to the big blonde kid who’d been loading things into Tommy’s van after the renewal wedding ceremony in Nashville. He was arm wrestling a man… and winning by the looks of things.

“Which one of you clowns is going to keep an eye out for Carla? I just walked in with no warning… what if it had been her instead? If she catches wind of this… you’ll
all
be in worse trouble than Gretchen ever thought about,” Dickie advised the group of men who were crowded around the two arm wrestling contestants.

“I truly worry about you sometimes, Sanders. Carla’s got your number on speed dial and all we ever hear is ‘yes, honey’ this and ‘yes, dear’ that. Pull on your big girl panties and just tell her that boys compete… on and off the football field,” Bobby said with a laugh to a blonde haired man standing near the boy who had just won the match.

“Who’s next,” the kid asked with a self-satisfied grin on his face.