Southern Rocker Showdown Read online

  Southern Rocker Showdown

  By

  Ginger Voight

  © 2014 by Ginger Voight

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  Chapter One

  Lacy Abernathy had always been told, “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.” She thought that she knew what that meant, especially after all the sacrifices that she had made in pursuit of her dream. She had risked her heart, she had been left abandoned; she had been fired and discarded more times than she could count.

  California, though, was a whole new ballgame.

  She made the live shows of the newest season of Fierce, the hot singing show that promised to make superstars out of just about anybody. If someone had the talent and the attitude of a superstar, they could shatter the pop music mold and create their own path to success their own unique way.

  The record contract dangling at the finish line was enticing enough, even if the idea of singing in front of millions of judgmental viewers each week nearly made her projectile vomit everything she had eaten since she was two. It wasn’t that she had stage fright. She’d been singing in front of crowds since she was twelve years old. It was knowing that everything was riding on each performance, to make it break it, kill or be killed, to crawl beaten and broken across the finish line at the end, depending solely on the acceptance and support of the viewing public week after week.

  For Lacy, who was covered in tattoos, with gauged ears and endless piercings, and a bad attitude where she’d rather kick ass than kiss it, winning admirers had always been a tricky proposition at best.

  She quickly learned that it was only the tip of the iceberg in this new world, which came with complications she never could have expected. Complications that threatened to put her face to face with everything she’d been running from since she was a kid.

  After a four-year absence, she faced living in a house with her child’s father, who had left her pregnant and alone at eighteen, who had never claimed Cody as his own so that he wouldn’t have to pay any money for his care. If that wasn’t enough, she was also going to live side by side with the second man to claim her heart, a good ol’ southern boy right from the farm, who had made her feel like the only woman in the world time and time again. Despite their whirlwind romance, he still sided with the rich family who had used her and scorned her, essentially making her rocky road to success much, much harder than it had to be, while these same people paved his road with gold.

  Topped off for good measure she had to watch him reconnect with his previous girlfriend, a beautiful, sweet, southern girl who was anything that any guy would ever want… everything Lacy herself never cared to be.

  As complicated and convoluted all that was it paled in comparison to leaving her son for the foreseeable future. The finale for Fierce wasn’t until the end of May. That meant the better she did, the longer she’d have to spend away from her precious baby boy, which seemed unthinkable to her. If things went well, she’d live apart from him for months on end. If things didn’t go well, she still had to say goodbye for a week.

  She couldn’t imagine living without him even one day.

  And the crux of it was that she wanted to do well. She needed to do well. Even if she didn’t get that contract, she knew she could sock away all the money she was getting paid to perform on the show, which was a helluva lot more than she was paid to scrub toilets in Orange County, her “safe” throwaway job with a steady, if meager, income.

  There was also a tour to consider, providing she made the Top 12 finalists. That was another six-month gig, but it came with a six-figure payday that could solve most of their problems.

  So she made the sacrifice begrudgingly. She didn’t want to miss even one moment of Cody’s young life. He was only four, so each and every day brought a new discovery into who he was as his own little person. She kept telling herself that all they needed was one year and they could be set. That meant more to her than any title or trophy.

  It was also worth living with a bunch of people she would really rather never see again.

  She would deal with it like she always did. Her lofty dreams came with a hefty price tag, something she had known since she was fourteen years old. She had mentally prepared herself for every bump in the road, facing them all head-on with her shoulders squared and a steely Mama-bear look in her dark brown eyes.

  In the end, though, her biggest obstacle was with the producers themselves, who insisted that they include her single motherhood in her introductory package for the audience. She sat across from media mogul Graham Baxter in his office high above downtown Los Angeles, glaring at both Graham and Shannon McKenna, the other producer of the show, ready to dig her heels in over one concession she was never going to make. Ever. “I told you from the start that Cody isn’t part of the deal.”

  Shannon adopted a gentler approach. “I understand your concerns…,” she began, but Lacy cut her off.

  “I don’t think you do.” In fact, she knew damned well they didn’t. She hadn’t unraveled Cody’s tangled paternity with her producers because, frankly, it was none of their business. They had no idea that one of her fellow contestants was the deadbeat dad who left her when she needed him the most.

  And if Lacy had it her way, they never would. The inner workings of her life were not fodder for water-cooler discussions.

  “Lacy,” Graham said as he leaned across his desk. “These packages allow America to get to know you not only as a performer, but also as a person. They root for your journey. And no one this season has the kind of story you do.”

  Wanna bet, she thought with a smirk

  “You’re one of the strongest competitors we’ve had on Fierce. You have a soulful voice full of pain. If you share your story with the viewers, they’re going to see how authentic you are. And for many, they’re going to see themselves in you. You can’t put a price on that kind of connection.”

  “That’s funny coming from the people that are paying me to perform.”

  Graham sighed. He knew going into this that Lacy was a hard nut to crack. She was determined to do things her way. She was tired of bending. He understood that, but he had warned Vanni, one of her strongest supporters, her obstinacy could sink her chances with an unforgiving audience. They needed to know her story to understand her attitude, which was prickly at best. “A scar without a story is just a scar, Lacy.”

  Her eyebrow arched. She was covered in more than twenty tattoos, each one etched into her skin every single time someone tried to force her to do anything against her will. Every single one was a reminder of how much had been taken from her. She knew more about being scarred than he could ever dream.

  “Cody’s off limits,” she reiterated.

  It was the one area she absolutely, positively could not budge.

  Graham and Shannon let her go without much of a fight. She had a busy week ahead of her, and they certainly weren’t getting anywhere. She was over it by the time she reached the elevator. She had too much to do. She had to move into the house,
which promised to be a Herculean test of her will. Then she had to begin rehearsals for the live show, getting to know the crew and the band, as she tried to find another blasted cover song to endear her to the viewing audience.

  With all these concessions she already had to make, she absolutely couldn’t give an inch when it came to her son. She knew it to be true when she got back to her mother’s apartment, where boxes waited to be moved.

  “Mama!” Cody exclaimed as he ran to where she stood. She swooped him into her arms and kissed him loudly on the cheek.

  “Are you almost ready to move, Mr. Man?” she asked and he nodded wildly.

  Part of her compensation package included free housing for her family, in a corporately owned complex near the studio. She had fought that too, thinking it would risk Cody’s privacy. But they had promised her that the complex was gated and secure, and it was a lot nicer, safer place for her mother to stay while she cared for Cody full-time than their small apartment in Anaheim.

  Since the Fierce production team famously operated like a family, there were all the amenities to care for family included in the deal, such as childcare and tutoring services located on the premises. This allowed family from all over the country to maintain a regular schedule while supporting those they loved on the show. Their only Fierce duties included showing up for live performances and providing interviews for the weekly packages. Because Cody was only four, he wasn’t required to attend the live tapings, since the age limit for the audience was ten and over anyway. So a sitter would watch Cody while Jules faithfully attended tapings as Lacy’s cheering section of one.

  On this the producers would not budge. They needed someone showing her support. Without backstory, it was the only way to soften her edges. Showing someone else loved her gave the audience permission to love her as well.

  This wasn’t especially welcome news for Jules, who had never encouraged Lacy’s lofty music dream in any way, shape or form. In a way, Lacy hoped that her mother would eventually come around and see that she could make a decent living with her music. Maybe if she saw how hard she worked and how well she sang, she’d drop her doom-and-gloom negativity.

  Jules Abernathy had never even seen her daughter perform, simply because she hadn’t wanted to support Lacy’s crazy pipe dream. Success was hard-won and never guaranteed. Though Lacy never quite understood it, she had only wanted better for her. She had only discouraged the music because she felt it was a dead end… she’d seen it first hand with her own failed career, her mother’s dashed musical dream, and … most notably… her ex’s failed attempt as a rock star.

  Yet, despite how hard she had campaigned against Lacy’s pursuit of music, things were changing in a big way for all of them all because her daughter could really sing. Jules still wished that Lacy didn’t get her hopes up. Most TV talent contestants enjoyed a brief, shining moment in the sun before shrinking back into obscurity.

  Her success was no more guaranteed now than it had been when she was singing in dirty, no-name bars in Texas.

  Lacy seemed to know that, too. She only packed one suitcase to take with her to the mansion. It included a week’s worth of clothes and a tiny stuffed frog to remind her of her son.

  “All ready?” her mother asked as she walked from the tiny kitchen that had been emptied of what meager belongings they had brought with them from Austin.

  Lacy nodded as she squeezed Cody tight. “The car will be here in a few minutes.” She kissed her son on the top of his head. His dark hair tickled her nose, which made her smile even though she was fighting so hard not to cry.

  Her mother softened as she watched her. She touched her arm, a rare show of affection from the hardened older woman. “You probably won’t believe this, but I hope you do well.” She didn’t add that it was because the more money she made, the better off they would be when the bright TV lights faded. Instead she offered an even rarer smile to mask what she didn’t want to say.

  “Thanks, Mama,” Lacy said before impulsively hugging her, clutching both her mother and her son tightly. She didn’t know how she was going to make it without either of them. She held onto them every second she could before the car arrived. She gave Cody one last powerful hug goodbye before tearfully telling him to be a good boy for his grandma. “I’ll see you in a week,” she promised, even though she had no idea how she was going to pull off something like that under the bright lights of cameras and scrutiny. She’d just have to find a way, and that was all. She turned to her mom. “Thanks, Mama. For everything.”

  Jules nodded. Then, softer, she added, “Please be careful.”

  Lacy had already confided that Tony Paul was a contestant on the show. She knew her mother would have never forgiven her if she had been blindsided by that information. At first Jules wanted Lacy to back out of the competition, accusing Graham and the producers of Fierce for manipulating all of them to drum up ratings with their melodrama. But Lacy assured her that they had no idea that Tony Paul was Cody’s father. She wasn’t about to tell them, and she was one-hundred-percent sure that Tony Paul wouldn’t risk his rep to spill the beans either.

  “He can’t hurt me anymore, Mama,” Lacy promised. Tony Paul had done his worst. Now that she knew what he really was, he’d never fool her again.

  Jules nodded but she wasn’t convinced. She knew from experience what kind of lure sweet-talking musicians had. She never wanted Lacy to be stuck in some loveless marriage with another poser, even if it did come with a Hollis mansion and Hollis money.

  But in Jules’s mind, Lacy was no better off with Jonah Riley, who was just as dirt-poor as they were. He was just as likely as Lacy to fail the competition and return to his old life, tail tucked neatly between his legs, with no fancy future as some rock star. He was a farmer, he’d always be a farmer, and like Lacy would ever be happy, slopping hogs and keeping chickens on some spit of land somewhere.

  She sighed as she watched Lacy duck inside the dark limousine. Her life had not worked out the way Jules had hoped twenty-four years before, when she had held her for the first time. The years had been so hard on both of them, with no real guarantee it was going to get any better. Why couldn’t love be easier?

  Both she and Cody waved goodbye to Lacy long after she had disappeared from sight. Then Jules took Cody inside so she could finish packing.

  The limo glided gracefully along the steep, secluded street that wound into the Hollywood Hills. Tony Paul Hollis glanced out of the window with disinterest at the fancy houses that surrounded him. He’d grown up in a house similar to these, so they failed to impress him as anything out of the ordinary. This was where he belonged; he knew it better than anyone. Even his mansion in Costa Rica made these multi-million dollar homes look like hovels. He’d already clocked considerable time in an infinity pool, overlooking the Pacific, drinking margaritas by the gallon, frying in the tropical sun, and surrounded by a throng of adoring females.

  He expected nothing less from his sojourn to Los Angeles.

  Sure it had come a bit after his prime. He’d gotten soft over the last few years, he couldn’t deny it. He blamed the margaritas and all-you-could-eat buffets at his father’s luxury resort. Tony Paul had anything he wanted any time he wanted. There was a wealth of indulgences to enjoy from food and booze to any girl he could woo every minute of every day. And indulge them he did, with nary a regret or concern.

  He had learned his lesson well from his little “accident” with Lacy. He went to the doctor within a month of her announcement that they were pregnant and he was the dad. He got a vasectomy at the grand ol’ age of twenty-four. He knew he never wanted kids. His little oopsie had finally convinced his mother he was serious about it.

  Let the rest of the Hollis boys fill her home with grandchildren. Tony Paul only wanted to make music. That was true when he was sixteen. That was true all these years later as thirty loomed ahead like an oncoming train.

  Granted, things had been a little bumpier the last couple of years, bringing his ow
n limitations more fully into focus. Thanks to his voracious appetite for wine and women, his performances had suffered. He showed up drunk to work every day, late and unkempt. Once he realized he had to do very little to get into the pants of every beautiful girl on the beach, he stopped trying.

  He was a king on that island thanks to his last name, and he lived life well because of it.

  Unfortunately his father Ty quickly lost his patience with the shenanigans. Guests at the resort complained about Tony Paul’s lackluster performances. People in the crew complained about his unprofessionalism. Ty finally put his foot down that Tony Paul come back to the States and grow up once and for all, and this time his mother Gay couldn’t protect him.

  He’d squandered his last opportunity.

  Worse than that, he was no longer a hot commodity for Jasper Carrington, whose label was full of only the hottest and sexiest stars.

  But Gay Hollis had one last ace up her sleeve. Graham Baxter offered another path to success, notoriously making superstars out of the undesirables. Tony Paul was certain that if they could make a superstar out of that fat chick, Jordi Hemphill, they could do wonders for his career.

  He wouldn’t even have to change. No more killing himself at the gym to lose a pound or two a week, no living off of lettuce and steering clear of his favorite vices.

  No, with Fierce he could have it all. The promise was right there in the name. He could live the life of a rock god without conforming to some narrow-minded notion of what made a star. All he had to do was make millions of viewers believe what he already knew was true.

  Piece of cake.

  So he had to slum it in L.A. for a few months. It was worth it. Besides, the house that Fierce built wasn’t too bad. Thanks to the success of the show, the new estate, covering an acre located on a hilltop, had eight bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms and over twenty-thousand square feet of living space. There were two living rooms, a media room, a bar, a gourmet kitchen that was completely staffed, a fully functioning studio, where contestants could record their weekly covers to be released in conjunction with the show. The game room featured standup arcade games, two big-screen TVs and three different game consoles with dozens of games, just so they could take the occasional break from the chaos of filming the show. The largest of the two workout rooms included three treadmills, four stationary bikes, two elliptical trainers and two weight lifting stations. The other had Pilates balls and yoga mats. The patio was built for entertaining. It featured a full bar, a barbecue and an infinity pool that looked over the cliff’s edge toward the Los Angeles skyline and the Pacific Ocean beyond it.