Take Me As I Am (29 page)

Jo opened the door quietly, knowing that her parents would already be in bed since it was after ten and they went to work early. For her, sleep wasn’t an option. Her body was on fire. It was very similar to the adrenaline rush she always had after a performance but much more pleasurable. Maybe if she waited another twenty minutes, she could call Thea to make sure it wasn’t all in her imagination. Yeah, she could do that and would.

She extracted a cold beer from the refrigerator and after removing the top, drank heavily from the bottle. “Thea. Wow. Thea.” The name alone evoked all manner of emotions within her.

She said we can share a room. Don’t we always? But it’s separate beds. Does it mean what I think it does? My God.

Her mind was doing loops in every imaginable way while she was leaning against the breakfast table, grinning. As she did, the giddiness within her bubbled up and grew with such intensity that she was sure her cheeks would split wide open. She was kinda glad that no one else was up because she probably looked goofy. God, this was stupid. She wasn’t a teenager. She was a grown woman with too many relationships behind her ever to think love would be part of her life. Yet, here she was, totally besotted and absolutely, irrevocably in love with Thea. That name again. She knew if she said the name a thousand times—no a million—it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough.

After throwing the empty bottle in the recycle bin, she looked at her watch. Fifteen minutes. Thea would be back at the hotel now. Taking another cold beer, she went to her room, sat down on the bed, dialed the direct line to Thea’s rooms, and pressed the speaker button. Several rings later the night clerk answered the phone.

“Is Ms. Danvers available?”

“Who’s calling?”

She wasn’t happy about giving out her name, but realized that the guy was only doing his job. “Joanna Lackerly.”

“Thank you, Ms. Lackerly, Ms. Danvers is with her mother at the moment. Do you want me to have her call you back?”

For a few moments, Jo wanted that desperately. “No. No, that’s okay. I’ll catch her tomorrow. Please just let her know I called. Goodnight.” She pressed the off switch on the phone and threw it on the bed.

“Thea has arrived home safely and that’s the most important thing. Tomorrow we will embark on another journey together. I can’t believe I’m saying that, and what it means.” Jo picked up her guitar that she’d left on her bed and gently strummed a few notes. Before she knew it, she was writing a song. A song for Thea.

Chapter Thirty

Belinda Orkney watched her boss pace in his office. She could see his tall gait indistinctly through the frosted glass. Any minute he’d be asking her to do something on his behalf. Yep...here it comes.

The door to Jack’s office opened and out stepped the man, a frown on his face as he homed in on his PA. “Belinda, the press blurb that came through yesterday, don’t send it to Jo or Thea...especially Thea. I’ll deal with it when they come back to Nashville.”

Belinda looked at the man in consternation. “Jack, I already sent it out last night. Thought you’d want that since the review was fantastic.”

“Can we retrieve them?”

“Sorry, they were sent by courier and are probably already there by now. Want me to call them and find out?”

“God, no. Let’s see if we have any fall out, shall we? I’ll have a brandy with my coffee.” The man walked away, shutting the door behind him with a thud.

Belinda wondered about the brandy. It was, after all, only eight in the morning. Something big must be going on
.
Her hand strayed to the folder on her desk that she was ready to file and she gave it a second glance. The review was excellent and said they expected greater things from the two women who had performed a duet. Although praising Tandy because she won the awards technically, Jo had a glowing mention. Clearly the critic wanted to hear more from her on both the song writing and singing fronts.

Her eyes strayed to the photos, several of Tandy and the awards. A couple of others of the singers together singing and as she flicked through the ones left, she didn’t see anything odd. Then she saw it and whistled softly. Now she knew why Jack was worried. She’d missed that one last night when she’d sent the packs to the two women. There, in a tight clinch indulging in a passionate kiss were unmistakably Jo and Tandy. From what she could see, both women appeared to be enjoying the kiss for all it was worth. She closed her eyes for a fraction of second realizing what Jack was worried about. Country music and lesbians rarely mixed. “I wonder if Thea knows Jo likes women.” Jack’s words echoed in her ears, ‘Especially Thea’.

Belinda’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit!”

†

A tender smile crossed her lips as Thea thought of Jo who had apologized for not seeing her for breakfast. Her grandmother had fallen in the yard earlier that morning and she was on her way there with her mom in tow.

The indications were that although severely shaken, her grandmother hadn’t broken anything. They were going to check on her to see for themselves, even if the stubborn woman didn’t want them there. She’d noticed many of Joanna’s traits in her grandmother and that was probably why they got on so well. Both were confident in what they wanted and how to go about getting it.

That was until the past night. A warm sensual feeling began flooding her body at the kisses she’d enjoyed in Joanna’s arms. So much so that she had to shake away the increasingly salacious thoughts or she would be unable to function.

Thea walked toward her old desk and flipped through the mail picking up an envelope that had arrived by courier from Trigon Records. It was the review of the awards ceremony. She and Joanna had talked briefly about the event but hadn’t gone in depth. She expected that they would talk about it when they went away for a few days. At least she would have a heads up on what the critics thought. She knew her friend wouldn’t tell her much since she had no conceit in that area. Not like Tandy who was so full of herself and her talent.

She ripped open the strip and photos along with a description of them landed on the desk. She picked up the blurb and glanced down at the first photos. They made her smile. She saw Joanna trying desperately not to be bored sitting at the table. Reading the leaflet, she grinned at the praise, especially the part about Joanna’s contribution. The critic obviously admired Jo and with good reason.

The glow began again as she drifted into a sensual haze at the image of Joanna. Her fingers picked up the photos and flicked through them until finding the ones with Joanna in them. Her eyes caught on one that taken with Joanna and Tandy, presumably during the duet. She could see it in her expression that Joanna was happy as she strummed the guitar. Another when she was singing, when Joanna was involved in her music it spoke volumes as nothing else could about the woman and the real love of her life. Hard to compete with she knew, but she wasn’t in there to compete with it. She was there to share it and watch her friend rise to the heady heights of success she deserved. The phone rang and the photos discarded on her desk and forgotten.

“Hi.” Thea’s breath caught in her mouth when she heard Joanna’s husky voice.

“Hi, yourself, how’s your Gran?”

There was a deep chuckle. “You know Gran, she’s fine. A little shaken and Mom actually stood up to her for a change. It was awesome.”

“I bet it was. How are you today?”

“Good, what about you?” Thea heard her voice dropping into a sexy drawl.

“Great, I just opened the pack from Trigon and you had some great reviews. Some of the pictures aren’t bad either.”

“We can look at them together later. Can you be ready to leave by lunchtime?”

Thea smiled stupidly as she hugged her phone closer. This was ridiculous. She felt like a teenager. “Yes, what do I need to pack?”

“We’re going to a cabin in the hills. It’s still reasonable weather, but you’ll need a jacket for the evening. Do you like hiking?”

“Oh, yeah, I love it.” Maybe she was being a little too enthusiastic. Hiking wasn’t a pastime she’d ever really indulged in before. However, for Joanna, she’d climb Mount Everest if the woman asked her.

“Great, I’ll pick you up at noon. Be ready.”

“I’ll be ready. I hope you are.” Thea heard the sexy laughter at the other end. Oh yeah, was she ready.

“See you later. Thea, I love you.” The phone went dead before Thea was able to collect her scattered thoughts. All other things became lost in the tornado her mind had churned up at the words.

Joanna loved her.

The door opened and Karen popped her head around the door, “Have you time to speak with the contractor?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be right out.” She picked up the discarded photos, slipped them back into the envelope, and dropped them onto the pile on her desk.

†

Their meeting at noon had been an anti-climax to the feeling they had both been experiencing during the morning in anticipation of the trip. As Jo arrived to collect Thea, she’d become embroiled in signing autographs for a few of the guys who were working on the renovations at the hotel. Thea had looked on with a smug expression on her face.

Jo finally extricated herself from the enthusiastic contractors, giving them a brilliant smile of farewell as she finally climbed into the four-wheel drive vehicle she’d rented for the trip, and with an apologetic grin, drove away from the hotel. For the next hour, while they fought the flow of traffic, they remained in a companionable silence until Jo turned to Thea and gave her a warm smile.

“I’m looking forward to this break, Thea. It seems like ages since we spent any time alone together.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Where are we going, anyway?”

Jo winked, wagged her finger, and then chuckled. “If you don’t mind, I thought you deserved a surprise.”

“Not at all. Do you want me to drive? How long will it take?”

Smiling warmly at the offer, Jo shook her head. “No, you drive me around enough. I thought I’d show you another of my skills. I can drive. Oh, it’ll take around five hours, maybe six if I get lost.”

†

“Tell me about the party you went to after the awards,” Thea said.

“Not much to tell really. It was loud and people were obnoxious,” Jo said tentatively.

“Tandy must be riding on cloud nine at the moment with all those accolades,” Thea said.

For a split second, Jo wondered if Thea knew anything about what had happened at the party afterward
.
No way. It hadn’t gotten on Facebook since that was the first place she’d checked. Nor had it been on Instagram. For a change and with a bit of luck, no one saw the kiss. As a precaution, she had purposely gone to the nearest newsstand and looked at all the music and entertainment press. Anything, in fact, that had any reference to the award ceremony. Frank, who ran the stand, was about to strangle her for messing up his merchandise, but she’d known him all her life. She had bought her first comic from him when she was five years old. Anyway, she’d given him a handsome bonus for the privilege. “Yeah, I guess. Didn’t really see much of her afterward.”

“Didn’t Jack make you spend time together so everyone could admire his two protégés?”

“You know Jack too well. Does he know that you can read his mind? He’d be even more worried when you discuss my next contract.” Jo smiled as she negotiated a steep bend taking them toward the mountain ranges and the cabin she’d arranged for them.

“We shall keep that a secret between the two of us, I think. Can’t have Jack getting the upper hand, can I? Remember, I do have your interests to look after.”

“Oh, I know that and let me tell you, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank God that you are the one to look after my interests. Thank you, Thea.”

†

An hour and a half later, they pulled up outside a beautifully restored log cabin. It had a wonderful deck that looked out onto the lake, which was teeming with various bird life and glorious vegetation.

“Oh, Joanna, it’s beautiful.” Thea breathed. She opened her door, jumping out of the vehicle stumbling, but not enough to fall.

Although Jo did smile indulgently at Thea’s enthusiasm, she climbed out slowly, collecting their possessions. This was an excellent place to begin what she hoped would be the start of a wonderful new phase of their partnership for the rest of their lives.

“You like it?” Jo grinned.

Being suddenly engulfed in a suffocating hug gave her the answer she wanted. “I guess you do. I’m glad.” Jo drank in the wondrous feelings of having Thea held tightly in her arms. It was so very right.

“I love you, Joanna. When I think you can’t surprise me anymore, you do just that.” Thea turned glittering eyes to Jo.

“I love you, too, Thea.” Their whispered words floated between them as they continued to gaze deeply into one another’s eyes.

Lips hovered a fraction of an inch away from the kiss that they both wanted badly, but just as they were about to meet, they heard a clearing of a voice from the side of their vehicle.

“Sorry to disturb you, youngun’s. I wanted to check that you have everything before I go?” A man of about fifty with a grizzled face covered in a brown beard with streaks of gray running through it looked at them.

Jo suddenly became protective of Thea and moved in front of her. “Who are you?”

The older man gave her long stare and pulled at his whiskers for a few seconds before he nodded. “You, Lackerly?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Chandler. We talked on the phone. This is my cabin.”

“Hi. Sorry. I wasn’t sure if anyone would be here to greet us.” Jo walked down the steps toward the man and held her hand out.

“No problem. I’ve set up the logs for the fire and if you don’t want that, there is the modern heater on the wall.”

From his tone, Jo surmised he preferred the traditional means of heat. “Great, thanks.” She smiled at the man then turned back to Thea, who was peering inside the cabin.

“My goodness, Joanna, you should see this place.” Thea had her hands cupped together as she peered into the window.

Jo chuckled. “Looks like your cabin pleased her and that’s the main thing.”

The man gave her an odd look before smiling slowly. “Yep, seems that way. My number is on the refrigerator if you get into any difficulties. I can be here within the hour.” He turned and left as silently as he’d arrived.

“Thanks,” Jo replied. She stepped up on the porch and opened the door. Thea quickly joined her. It had all the traditional adornments, but just as equally, modern conveniences to make it as luxuriously easy a weekend as anyone could want. That was exactly what Jo wanted. There were definitely better things to do with their time if they were lucky.

“Joanna, we have everything we could possibly want here. It’s marvelous,” Thea enthused as she opened the fridge. “There’s champagne. Wow.”

Jo stood beside Thea and peered inside, grinning at the thought of sharing champagne with her love. Not that she needed the intoxication. Being this close to Thea was making her feel drunk. Her nose picked up the faint traces of perfume as she rested her chin on Thea’s shoulder. “Is it too early to open that?”

Thea turned so they were facing one another. Mesmerized once more by their closeness, Jo wasn’t surprised when Thea reached up and kissed her. She lit up like a candle as their lips tangled together.

For the next few minutes they indulged in the wonder of the moment before Jo pulled away, resting her head on Thea’s forehead. “I love you, Thea. I need you to know that.”

A beautiful smile was initially her answer as they indulged in another long hot, passionate kiss, “I love you, Joanna. I always have, from the first moment I saw you.”