A Bleu Streak Christmas (13 page)
Read A Bleu Streak Christmas Online
Authors: T. I. Lowe
Chapter
Fifteen
M
ave
The
start of a new beginning goes down at midnight tonight, suckers!
Times Square is a madhouse. I feel like
a gimp with having my bodyguard push me around in a flipping wheelchair, but
Ben ordered it and what the man says goes. We’re hulled up in a lounge, and
I’ve taken up position in a leather recliner for the day as we watch the
streets below form into a human sea.
I’ve mostly kept my eyes on my doll.
Jewels needs a special gift for taking my girl shopping again. Izzy looked like
a snow princess back in Chicago, but tonight in New York, babe looks like a
rock goddess—off the shoulder black dress with several studded belts hanging
recklessly on her fine hips and killer black boots that look dangerous. Smoky
eyeshadow and glossy lips gives her an air of mysteriousness, tempting me to
work on slowly figuring out for the rest of my life—seems fitting for my
mystery-reading doll.
Problem is she looks too dang good and
all the men in the room agree, with their unwelcoming eyes zeroed in on her.
She’s not left my side, though. And when a dude does brave it to approach,
she’s quick to grab my hand. Yeah, my chest is puffed out with that. Man, I’m
in crazy-love with her. There’s no doubt that’s what this is, because I have
never felt this way before. Izzy says I march to the beat of my own drum, but
the babe altered the beat the day I met her. I never want that beat to change.
I’m restless with wanting to give her
the gift I have shoved deep in my dress pants pocket, but I’m gonna try to rein
it in until midnight.
“Thanks for my new duds,” I say close
to her ear, while tapping a beat on her hips. All that lovely hair is
half-pulled up in a mock-mohawk, and so I’m taking full advantage of all that
soft exposed skin along her neck.
She wiggles around on my lap. “You look
very handsome.” She smiles that sweet smile for me, running her fingers along
my beard stubble.
Izzy gets me. I dress with my drums in
mind and not for fashion. She’s outfitted me in a vintage tee with a zip-up
hoodie along with these kicking dress pants, instead of a dress shirt and
jacket, so that I can work my drums without anything binding me.
“These Vans are killer-cool.” We both
look down at the black slip-ons she bought me to accommodate my swollen foot
and stitches.
“It’s show time!” Tate hollers out and
we all hoot and holler back. Izzy hands me my crutches that I finally talked
Ben into letting me use to get on stage. No way was I pansying out there in a
wheelchair. The doctor fitted me with one of those removable braces, so the
stitches don’t get rubbed. Is it comfortable? Heck no! I’ll endure it, as long
as I get a pass on stage.
We’re the last act before the ball
drops and the adrenaline coursing through me can hardly be contained as I
position myself behind my drums, feeling home again. Dillon said to launch
right into the song, so get on with it. The crowd is deafening as I tap the
first beats. There are only two songs before I close it out, and it’s all I can
do not to come out of my skin. Ignoring the throb in my sore leg, I lose myself
in the beats and soar on the natural high of performing. We all join Dillon and
sing like it’s the end. The mass of bodies sway as we do so, until the last
note is played, causing that human sea to undulate wave after wave. The place
is infectious and my skin comes alive with tingles.
“Hello, New York!” Dillon shouts into
the mic, causing the fans to lose it. “Y’all ready for a New Year?”
They all shout the agreements. I hear
them, but don’t see them. My eyes are trained on my doll beside the stage. She
sees only me, too. I mouth, “I love you.” She returns it, making me feel on top
of the world.
“I know we are super stoked for the
year ahead. We got some weddings on the way and a baby and a new album!” Dillon
gives out way too much information there.
The crowd hits hysteria.
“So I’m gonna sing you one more song,
and then Mave is gonna limp out here and sing you one he personally wrote.”
They erupt again. Izzy and Jewels are
even jumping up and down by the edge of the stage. We hit it with “Crashing” as
the place rocks out with us, but it’s over in a flash, with the voice in my
earpiece telling me to move to the front.
Moments later, I’m switching spots with
Dillon with my heart pounding in my ears. I readjust the earpiece, hoping the
whooshing will calm, before the music starts. Dropping the crutches, I ease
onto the edge of the stool and take in the vastness of the crowd.
“The title of this song is “Renewal.”
My voice comes out quiet for me. I have to pause with them screaming and
clapping. “Pretty fitting for the new year. We all want new starts and chances
at new beginnings. I’ve been granted more than I deserve, and so I want to
dedicate this to the Man upstairs who blessed me with a second chance.”
After the applause settle down, Dillon
taps out the hushed beat with Max strumming the opening chords.
Bending my head towards the mic, I finally
allow the first lines I’ve held in my heart for years free. “You gave me it
all, nothing short of it all.”
The world settles around me, the
restlessness fades as I regard Izzy off to my left briefly before shutting my
eyes.
The guys carry the slow melody as I
continue, “So I owe it all to you, nothing short of it all. Tears poured out and
faded it all away. Life paused short, before stumbling past yesterday.”
The melody picks up as the guys join me
for the chorus.
“You renewed me. You allowed me to
live. Gonna hold tight to this second chance. Won’t allow it to get away. You
renewed me. You allowed me to live.”
We repeat it before I steal another
glance at Izzy. She’s wiping her eyes along with Jewels. The next verses I sing
through a tight throat.
“This second chance undeserved, but gonna
take it and own it. Goodbyes had to be said, ghosts buried away with so much
dread. Somehow, life kept going well past yesterday.”
I float away on the chorus and bridge
and don’t return until the music quietens and the crowd breaks out to deafening
levels. The band surrounds me and hoists me up like I’m some champ. I’m not.
God is the champ. Dude rescued me and I won’t be squandering this second
chance.
They deposit me right where I want to
be, by my doll. The crowd starts shouting the countdown to midnight as I gather
her in my arms.
“Izzy, midnight has always been a
special time with this group. How about we make this one ours?”
“What do you mean?” she shouts over the
noise.
“Marry me.” I pull the ring out and
present it to her.
“Mave! We’ve not even dated!” Her
pretty brown eyes are wide with shock.
“Baby, I’ll date you all you want after
the wedding. I’m not playing around. I know what I want. I want you!” She
allows me to slip the ring on her finger. Jewels found just what I wanted—a
delicate ring for my delicate doll.
“Ten, nine, eight…”
“But my momma?” Her eyes scan around,
looking for a clear answer.
“I asked her permission and she said for
me not to take no for an answer. Say yes!”
I see the twinkle in her eyes. “This is
crazy, but yes!”
Positioning all the weight on my good
leg, I pick my doll up and kiss her as the crowd shouts, “Two, one, Happy New
Year!”
We kiss well past that, surrounded by
my Bleu Streak family and raining confetti. Although we are in the midst of
madness, all calms inside me. It clicks all in place—Izzy was my Christmas
gift. A gift I don’t plan on ever taking for granted.
It’s been one epic Bleu Streak
Christmas!
The end…
Another
Bleu Streak Christmas
Georgia
is being stubborn this Christmas and is holding the temperatures steady in the
seventies. The Bleu Streak family could care less, though. They have way too
much to celebrate. Gathered in the King’s lake house, the group settles in to
hand out their gifts of love.
“I love it. Thanks, Logan,” Jewels
says, as she studies the painting of the lake. “Logan, you’re a true artist.”
She reaches over and offers him a hug. “Hands down, I got the best gift this
year.”
“Nah-ah. I did,” Max says as he holds
up Mona’s hand sparkling from the diamond ring she just accepted.
“My husband hasn’t opened his yet, so
hold your horses!” Izzy says with giddiness evident. She hands him a card.
Maverick King has absolutely no
patience, so those two made it official within a month of Izzy accepting his
proposal. His addiction to her has only heightened with time, and she’s
absolutely smitten by her handsome drummer.
Mave opens it and studies the card
curiously—tilting it in all sorts of directions. He stares over at his wife as
a grin curves the edges of his lips.
“Twins?”
“Yep.” She grins back as the room
erupts in cheers.
“How ya like me now, suckers? I’m so
manly, I made two babies! Yeah!”
Mave swoops his wife up and dances
around the Christmas tree with the rest of his Bleu Streak family joining in.
The people in that cozy den have figured it all out—life is a gift, celebrate
it, and don’t forget to enjoy it. Laughing along the way is a must and thanking
God for it is even greater.
And that is another epic Bleu Streak
Christmas!
Merry Christmas to my awesome readers. God Bless! ~T.I. Lowe
A Bleu Streak Christmas Playlist
“Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley
“Find Your Wings” by Mark Harris
“I lived” by OneRepublic
“Brother” by Need to Breathe
“Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison
“Hallelujah” by Cloverton
“Like a River Runs” by Bleachers
See where this Bleu Streak group began…
Goodbyes
and Second Chances
Some mistakes
create accidental blessings.
Jillian
(Jewels) Whitman lives with her mistakes and tries to move past the biggest one
of her life - Dillon Bleu - Rocker and once best friend.
After saying goodbye to the lakeside trailer park of his youth, Dillon sets out
to make something of himself only to discover all he needs is his Jewels. After
hitting it big in the music industry, Dillon heads back to ask for a second
chance.
Only... Nothing is ever as easy as it seems...
A southern tale of rags to riches where a man's worth is ultimately found in
his heart.
Acknowledgements
Merry Christmas to my
awe-inspiring readers. Praying you all have a blessed year!
My Lowe Family for putting up
with my daydreaming. Love you all.
My beta readers—Sally Anderson, Kim Byrd, Trina
Cooke, Christina Coryell, and Jennifer Strickland. Thanks for having this ole
girl’s back. Your input and support are beyond appreciated.
My heavenly Father, you get all
the credit for these stories. Thank you for allowing me to share you and your
incredible love through these stories.
About the Author
T.I. Lowe is the bestselling author
of Lulu’s Café, Goodbyes and Second Chances, Coming Home Again, and Julia’s
Journey. She calls Coastal South Carolina home. Her closest neighbors are a
bunch of nosy chickens, ponies, and goats. The loves of her life goes by the
names Bernie, Nathan, and Lydia. Her days are spent daydreaming new stories to
share with her readers and spending time with those loves of her life. And life
sure is good!
Next up will be the release of A
Discovery of Hope in early 2016.
She would love to hear from you!
website:
tilowe.com or find her on Facebook
If you enjoyed this novel, then check out these other books
by T.I. Lowe:
