Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) (3 page)

January 2015

“W
hose bright idea was it to schedule upstate New York in January?” Jared complained as the band and Hannah sat in the front of their bus, breaths held as they traveled along roads that were growing more dangerous by the minute.

No one else dared to utter a word as their driver, Bones, navigated them through the snow coming down at an alarming rate. Roads had turned to shit well over an hour ago, but they all knew they were close to their destination.

Hannah grabbed hold of Garrett’s hand, threading their fingers through one another’s. At least if they were going to die, they’d be together, she reasoned. Normally, she didn’t tour in January, and this was precisely why.

“Let’s go sit in the back.” Garrett turned her towards the lounge area with a strong arm around her shoulders as he felt her shake slightly. “There’s no need for us to be up here, making Bones nervous,” he joked. It was strained, even to his own ears.

“This makes
me
nervous,” she told him, having a seat on the couch, her back to his front.

He knew it did. He could feel it in the tense set of her shoulders, in the slight shake of her hand, and the almost imperceptible chatter of her teeth. “You’re going to be fine, we’re going to be fine,” he assured her, grabbing the throw they kept on the couch and covering their bodies with it. A soft whine was heard coming out from under the couch and they spotted Havock, who had become a tour dog this time.

“I’ve never seen snow like this.” She shook her head.

Neither had he, as evidenced by how he’d reacted to the small amount that Nashville had gotten over their holiday break. Patting the couch, he got the dog up there with them, and cradled them both in his arms.

“Bones is great at what he does. I have a feeling he’s driven in this kind of weather up a mountain before.”

She appreciated that he was joking with her, trying to get her mind off the very real danger they faced. Roads that were quickly becoming snow and ice covered, with the amount of weight their bus carried, could be catastrophic. “I know.” She rubbed his arm as he held it tightly against her stomach.

Opening his mouth to speak, he quickly shut it as he felt the side of the bus turn, and he closed his eyes, praying they weren’t about to tip over. In less than a minute it was over and they were at a complete stop. Loud clapping came from the front and the two of them disentangled themselves to go make sure everyone was in one piece.

“Fuckin’ amazing driving,” Jared clapped Bones on the back, breathing normally again for the first time in hours.

As Hannah made her way through the galley kitchen, she saw the sign that indicated they’d made their way into the Hilton parking lot—exactly where they were supposed to be for the night. “We made it!” She squealed, throwing her arms around Garrett, latching on with her legs when he lifted her up.

“We sure did, thank fuck.”

Everyone was shaky as they grabbed coats, suitcases, and whatever else they needed while Rick, Black Friday’s manager, went to secure their room reservations and to make sure it was okay for Havock to be with them. A couple of times, he’d had to stay on the bus, but he was comfortable wherever. As Garrett dropped Hannah back on the ground, she looked back up at Bones, who still sat with his hands at ten and two on the steering wheel. His gaze was pinned outside the tour bus, onto the whiteness of the parking lot.

“Hey, Bones,” she whispered as she walked up beside him. “You did great and we made it, you can let go of the steering wheel now.”

He breathed deeply and then turned to look at her. “We did make it, didn’t we?”

She took his hands off the steering wheel, and leaned in hugging him around the neck, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Yes, and I definitely think you should get up outta that seat, go find your room, and call your wife to let her know that you’re okay.”

Dazed, he did exactly what she said as he grabbed his jacket and walked off the bus.

Behind her, she could feel Garrett. “Poor guy. That frayed our nerves, you know he needs a drink and a cigarette right now,” he spoke softly as he helped her put her jacket on.

“I need a cigarette and I’ve never smoked one in my life,” she told him as she wrapped a scarf around her neck and grabbed the suitcase he’d brought up for her. Making sure that her boots were on securely, she walked to the exit and stepped down, dragging her suitcase along with her. As soon as she got out of the cover of the vehicle, the wind hit her hard, almost knocking her over, as she tried to keep her balance.

“I got it,” Garrett yelled to be heard, as he took her suitcase. “You make a run for it.”

And run for it she did, she slipped once, but kept upright by bracing herself against the side of a car. It felt like an hour before she made her way to the lobby of the hotel, Rick holding his hands out to haul her in. Once she was safely there, she looked back at the guys struggling, only Garrett was making headway and she knew that was because of his height and strength.

“If he didn’t have my suitcase along with his, he’d already be in here,” she worried, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

Rick agreed. “Yeah, but when you put a ring on it, it makes you kind of love stupid. Trust me, he doesn’t care, he’d take a bullet for you.”

That was something she definitely hoped he would never have to do.

*     *     *

“I have to say, my favorite nights so far are when we stay on the bus, because I like being cramped with you, but there is something to be said for a nice bathtub,” Hannah sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom, steam billowing out behind her.

He had to agree, there was something that he loved about being on the bus with her, but he also loved having her all to himself. “Are you hungry?”

“What did you have in mind?” She asked, towel drying her hair before having a seat on the bed.

Garrett sat across from her, weighing their options as he looked in the informational booklet the hotel had given them. “Looks like they have a restaurant that’s open for about another hour, there’s a bar, or we could do room service,” he looked over, grinning at her as he said the room service option.

“Stop,” she giggled. “We’ve only been on the tour for two weeks.”

He got up, stalking towards her. “Yeah, but my friends do a very good job at cockblocking me. They love you and it’s cutting into my time.”

Garrett’s gripes made her smile, but the fact of the matter was, when she had stepped foot on the bus, she’d never been more nervous in her life. She’d performed in front of crowds of tens of thousands and not been as nervous as she was with Garrett’s friends. It was one thing to be excited about touring when she knew she would be with her husband, but she had also been aware of the dynamic he had with the other members of the band. They didn’t have to like her, but it was important that they did. In the two weeks they had all been together, she had found something to do with each of them.

Jared and she enjoyed doing puzzles together, which surprised her like nothing else could have. In the moments they spent together, she saw exactly what Shell saw in her boyfriend, and she could see just how much he did love Shell. He might have a hard time saying the words, but every time he spoke of her, his eyes shown brightly against the scruff he liked to sport on his face.

With Brad, she had found that they both loved to watch criminal investigation and dramatic shows. Give them Amazon Prime or Netflix and they were marathoning either Law and Order (whichever unit struck their fancy) or Sons of Anarchy. In him, she had the person who also loved to yell at the TV and who didn’t mind to lie on the back couch with her, sharing a blanket, but never making it seem like more than a sibling relationship. Sometimes Garrett joined them, but most of the time, he stayed in the part of the bus that had been fashioned into a small bedroom for the newlywed couple. There he had his video games and a quiet place to write when the mood struck him. It was all a balancing act, one they were succeeding in making work.

Nightmare, aka Christopher, was the only one she wasn’t very close to, but he was the smartest of the group and was working towards a master’s degree. He had told her more than once that when drumming was over for him, he wanted something to fall back on. She respected him for that, and generally left him alone because she knew he was usually studying.

“We can do room service, if you want to, but what are they gonna do?”

“You’re a bleeding heart, you know that?” He gifted her with a grin that tugged the edges of his lips and put his dimples on full display.

She grinned back at him. “They’ve welcomed me onto the bus with open arms. They could have made it difficult or awkward for me, and they haven’t. They haven’t even mentioned the bunks we took away so that there could be a bedroom for the two of us,” she pointed out.

“Fine, I’ll call them and see what’s going on tonight.”

Reaching up, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. I just can’t think of them sitting around doing nothing while we get to enjoy each other’s company.”

“Well, you better get used to it, because I plan on enjoying your company every chance I get, seeing as how you’re my personal groupie.”

Hearing him call her a groupie took her mind back to a night on the balcony at his house in California. “Hmm, maybe we’ll have to explore that,” her tone was breathless.

“Yeah, we definitely will,” he cleared his throat, “and I do mean at every available opportunity.”

*  *  *

H
annah stood at the window of the restaurant and took a picture of the swirling snow outside. Never in her life had she seen as much snow, and she’d definitely never seen it drift before. In her head, she wondered if they would even be able to have a concert tomorrow night. Quickly she posted it up on her social media account and then fired off a text to Shell.

It’s freezing here tonight and it’s snowing like crazy! Wish you were here! How’s school?

Their opposing schedules made talking difficult, and to be honest, Hannah hadn’t wanted to infringe on Jared’s time with his girlfriend. Shell’s time was going to be spent studying and doing a few things for their business, even though the Harmony machine was on a break, Shell would be as busy as ever.

Fucking hard! Who knew I’d have to take Gen Ed again?? I feel like an idiot! Awww, I wish I was there with all of you!

Sometimes when they texted, Hannah wanted to ask her friend if she would change her mind and come on tour with them. It was selfish, but they would all love to have Shell with them. Hannah knew though, that it had to be Shell’s decision. If it wasn’t, she would never know what she wanted to do with her life.

We wish you were here too….I’m hoping to get Garrett to take me for a snowy walk if this stuff ever calms down. The bus ride was interesting, and I thought for a minute that we might die, but YAY we lived! :)

They talked for a few more minutes before Shell had to go and Hannah made her way back to the table.

“You’re in luck, they just brought the food,” Garrett told her as he got up to let her in their side of the booth.

“Good, I’m starving.” Her stomach picked that moment to growl, proving that she wasn’t lying.

The group ate in silence for a few moments, all of them obviously hungry and, it appeared, a little shell-shocked from their driving experience. Finally, Jared broke the silence. “How’s Shell?”

Hannah tilted her head to the side and regarded him with eyes of a woman in love. He was sad and missing his lady; she wondered if this was what Garrett had looked like when they were apart. “She’s good. Tired and freaking out that she has to take General Ed classes again.”

“Seriously?” Brad asked, shoving a bite of steak in his mouth. “General Ed?”

“Yeah, and I know for a fact she sucks at math. There is cause for her to be concerned,” she laughed.

“General Ed is no joke,” Chris nodded. “It’s why I’m in my thirties and still working on a Master’s. It took me forever to get my head out of my ass and realize that being a drummer in a rock band, while totally fucking awesome, didn’t completely fulfill me the way being a student to life does.”