A Second Chance at love The Rocker Girls Series (27 page)

She wrapped up her shift at eleven and
asked South if he wouldn’t mind picking her up at eleven thirty,
which he told her was fine. When she stepped out into the cool
autumn night air, she slipped her arms into her coat, pulling it
tightly around her and looking for South’s Camaro. She was looking
all over for him, and starting to get a little panicked, when she
saw lights turn on from a parking spot, coming her way. Sometimes
she wished she hadn’t given up smoking just yet.

Opening the door, she looked in and
smiled at him. “Hi, thanks for picking me up a little later. The
guys gave me a little farewell party tonight,” she told him
nicely.

“
Sure.”

He hadn’t spoken to her that much since
the whole L.A. incident. She understood about having a dream, and
why he was upset with her. So she did something she hoped he
wouldn’t be mad at her about. She had called a couple of people,
pulling some strings for South to start a music career if that’s
what he wanted.

He didn’t say anything to her as they
left the lot, which was typical now…but not the South she knew. She
thought now would be as good a time as any to tell him what she
did.

“
I wanted to ask you a
question,” she said out of the blue.

“
Yeah, about what?” he
said, looking over at her before turning back to the
road.

“
Do you really want to be
in the music industry?”

He chuckled. “Where did this come
from?”

“
Just answer my
question…please,” she sighed.

“
Yeah, I would’ve liked the
chance.”

“
What if I was to give you
one?”

“
What?”

“
Well, you see, Jimmy isn’t
the only one with connections.”

“
Ah yeah, you dated Mickey
Tamms, and made out with Tom Hunter and were married to James
Richardson. I’d say you have connections, sweetheart,” he
laughed.

“
Agh, men! That’s not what
I meant and you know it,” she grumped at him.

He laughed even harder now. “Okay, so
you have connections. What about it?”

“
I called my friend
Samantha, who owns with her boyfriend a big record label herself.
And well, I got you an audition with Billy Byou. I showed him the
YouTube video, and he liked it. His record label is smaller than
Nickels and Jimmy’s. But just because it’s smaller doesn’t mean it
isn’t better,” she told him.

They pulled into the apartment parking
lot and he didn’t say anything until he turned off the car, looking
over at her. “What are you getting at, Ad?” He squinted at her,
acting like there was a catch.

“
Well, I don’t think it’s
fair for you and Rex to miss out on your dreams because we took two
of your band members from you. So I talked to Bill and I told him
you’d need a new drummer and bass, but you guys would be big if
given the chance, so he’s willing to give you a chance,” she said,
hoping it would make him happy.

He squinted at her like he wanted to be
sure he got everything she said right in his head. “Are you telling
me you got me and Rex a record deal?”

She shrugged. “I got you the audition,
but with the way you sing and Rex plays, you guys will get yourself
the deal.” She smiled at him.

He sat back, running his hands through
his hair and letting everything sink in. “Holy shit, Ad, are you
serious!”

She chuckled now. “Yup, Bill sent me
the tickets for you guys and you leave Monday to go see
him.”

He looked over at her in shock. “But
why…”

“
Because you guys are good.
If I was still in the game I would have had Jimmy snag you up as
well. I told that to Bill, and now he’s chomping at the bit for
you, because that’s taking business way from Nickels. I have to
warn you, Bill and Sam can’t stand Nickels,” she winked.

He reached over across the seat to give
her a hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. I can’t thank you enough for
this chance. And I’m sure Rex will as well,” he told her, kissing
her cheek.

She took his face in her hands before
he pulled away, looking into his green eyes. “Listen to me, South
Parker. Fame is not all you think it is. At first you’ll love it,
you’re going to be getting laid quite a bit I predict.” She
grinned, but then her smile fell. “But it gets lonely pretty damn
fast. Picking up a groupie who only sees you as a thing, gets
lonely. Don’t lose yourself and the people you love to the
falseness of the business,” she whispered to him.

“
I know, Ad. I won’t lose
myself, I promise,” he told her, and she smiled at him.

“
I can’t blame him, you
know,” South told her quietly.

“
Can’t blame who for what?”
She smiled at his strange comment.

“
Win. I can’t blame him for
choosing you over the group. If you would’ve chosen me and not
Win…I couldn’t have left you either. I would’ve married you and
kept you all to myself as well.”

Her hands dropped from his face.
“South…I don’t… I never…knew,” she stuttered over his
confession.

“
Don’t worry about it,
sweetheart. I know you love Win, and I know he loves you too. I
just wanted you to know that I love you as well,” he said softly.
“Now come on, I need to tell Rex we still have a chance in a music
career.”

He got out, went over to her door,
opened it up for her and helped her out. Addison’s mouth was still
hanging open. “If you don’t shut that pretty little mouth of yours,
I’m going to kiss it, and just take the beatin’ that Win will give
me for touching his woman,” he told her, laughing when her mouth
clicked shut.

***

Win had just called Addison to let her
know he and Andy were boarding the plane in about ten minutes, and
he had something very special in mind when he came home that
evening. That thought made her smile and shiver at the same
time.

She hopped in Win’s truck with some
food she’d picked up for the next couple of days before they left.
She was feeling more secure now that Winston was on his way to her,
and knew that he’d never let anything hurt her.

Margie had gone out with a friend from
work today, saying goodbye over a cup of coffee. Lynn said she had
some things she wanted to get done before leaving, letting Addison
think her vague answer might be just to let Win and her have some
time alone.

Her hands were full when she made it up
the stairs to their apartment door. She put down a bag, reaching
into her purse to get her keys that seemed to be evading her at the
moment, when Tia came out of Andy’s apartment holding a basket full
of laundry in her hands.

“
I didn’t lock it, Ad. I
was just over at Andy’s to get his laundry,” she told her sister,
kissing her cheek.

“
Are you washing everything
he owns, Tia?” Addison laughed, then saw the new romance novel on
top of the pile. For some strange reason Tia loved the sound of
washers and dryers when she read, she said it was her white noise
to help her get lost in the books.

She smiled and started down
the stairs. “Okay, then I’ll see you in a couple hours when you’re
done with the
book
,” Ad laughed.

“
Yup, and not even then cuz
Andy and Win will be back, and you’ll be busy yourself,” Tia told
her, sticking out her tongue at her big sister.

Ad chuckled as she opened the door,
walked inside and into the kitchen. She put both bags down when her
phone rang in her pocket. She reached back, pulled it out and
noticed it was a 323 area code. Her palms started to sweat and
panic raced through her body as her finger swiped the phone.
“Hello.”

“
Addison. Thank God I got
ahold of you. Where are you at right now?” Nickels’ voice came
through her cell.

“
Nickels, why are you
calling me?” she asked, with a bad feeling in her gut.

“
I’m sorry, Ad, but Dax
talked Mindy into coming home. Which I’m sure you already figured
out, but when Mindy showed up without you and Jimmy saw her… Dax
told him you were coming home. That you were just getting loose
ends tied up,” he told her.

She heard the phone being passed, and
Dax’s voice now came on. “Ad, Jimmy has gone off the deep end. We
thought if we got you to come home maybe he would get himself
clean, and he did for about a month. Then when he saw Mindy, she
told him you weren’t coming home and it would be best for everyone
if he just moved on…” Nickels grabbed the phone, muttering
something to Dax about, Jimmy was the least of their concerns right
now.

“
Why are you telling me
this, Nickels? What’s really going on?” she whispered.

“
Addie, I don’t think Jimmy
is in his right mind right now. I think he needs help, and I think
he’s on his way to come and get you.”

“
Oh Lord,” she whispered,
leaning against the table.

“
Look, Addie, when he knew
you weren’t coming home, he went on a binge of drugs and booze for
a little over a week now. Jones thought he was trying to kill
himself. But yesterday he was supposed to be at the recording
studio, he never showed up, and we couldn’t find him. We all
thought the worst…but Dax called the airport and found out he took
his jet to Cleveland yesterday.”

She could feel her body shaking from
the adrenaline running through her. “Addie, I want you to get your
things and get the hell out of there. Dax and I will be there in an
hour.”

Her mind was wandering, putting things
together. “Tia’s in the laundry room…”

“
Then grab Tia and just go.
He loves you, but he hasn’t been thinking straight for a long time
now. We should have stopped him from hurting you. We’re going to
get him and get him some help, sweetheart. Then you’ll be safe. I’m
sorry for what I…”

“
Hang up the phone,
Addison,” a deep voice commanded her. She stiffened at the sound,
closing her eyes, not wanting to believe this could be happening
right now.

“
Jimmy,” she whispered into
the phone.

Nickels started yelling at
her. “Is he there, Addison?
Addison
…”

Jimmy came in back of her, his body
touching her backside he was standing so close, taking the phone
from her hand. “Nickels, just leave us the fuck alone so we can
work this shit out!” he growled. Addison could hear Nickels calling
Jimmy’s name before he hung up on him.

“
You look good, baby girl.
You’ve lost too much weight though, I always like my girl with some
meat on her,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She
tried to wiggle out from under his grip but he was too strong for
her.

“
Look, I’m not by myself,
Jimmy. People are going to see you here. Why don’t you just go home
and let us get on with our lives?” she said, still struggling to
get out from under him.

He turned her around in his arms,
taking hold of her. She looked up into the face of the man she once
loved more than her own life, to see a complete stranger. His face
was beyond angry, he was furious. Nickels was right, it looked like
it had been days since he slept, and she could smell the strong
alcohol coming off him.

“
It was bad enough I had to
deal with that jackass Mickey telling me how good you feel when
he’s inside you, then his ass tells me how you’re going to have his
fucking kid!” Her feet were barely touching the floor as he held
her by her arms, lifting her up higher the angrier he got. “Then
some wanna-be rock star tells me,
ME,
Addison, that I need to sign the
fucking divorce papers so he can marry you?!” he seethed, shaking
her as he spoke.

“
I didn’t know about that,
Jimmy,” she told him, still trying to break free.

“
Then Mindy comes home
without you, only to tell Dax that you’re in love with this stupid
fucker.
YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH
HIM?
” His eyes squinted down at her. “You
are
MY WIFE!
”

He set her down roughly. She stood
still, afraid to say a word, not knowing how he might react. He
pushed her up against the wall. “What happened to ‘till death do us
part,’ Addison?” he growled. And her body tensed, thinking this was
it, he was going to finally put her in the grave.

“
I know Tia’s down in the
laundry room, so I think we need to find a quieter place to talk,”
he told her, starting to drag her down the hall.

“
No, Jimmy! You need to
stop this, Nickels is on his way right now, he can’t always clean
up your messes.” She wondered if she screamed, would that save her
or make him kill her more quickly.

“
Nickels? He’s the one who
tore us apart! He’s the one who started all of this shit!” he
yelled.

Her fear turned to anger as he said the
same old shit! Never owning up to his mistakes, never admitting
what he did to their relationship. Always passing the blame on to
others. It was always someone else’s fault.

“
No, that was you! You’re
the one who destroyed our marriage, you’re the one who slept with
all those women! You could’ve stopped screwing around with Crystal.
You chose, Jimmy, and it sure in hell wasn’t me. You’re the one who
did this to yourself!” she screamed at him.