Southern Rocker Showdown Read online

  “I was so proud of you tonight,” he said as he cuddled her in the crook of his arm. “You were amazing up there.”

  She chuckled. “Lacy was amazing.”

  “Well, yeah. But that’s the funny thing about amazing. There’s enough out there for everyone.”

  She touched his face with her hand. “You know what? I think I actually believe you.”

  “Good,” he said as he bent for a kiss. “Because I would never lie to you.”

  She dropped her eyes. She’d been doing that a lot lately. He’d make some comment about the future, or say that he trusted or loved her, and she would glance away. Did she still think she wasn’t worthy to be loved?

  He set out every day to prove her wrong.

  He turned her face back to his and kissed her again, this time with his eyes open, staring into her lovely brown eyes. She was so beautiful, like a lotus flower that had managed to bloom in muck. He slid over her until he was parting her legs with his knee. He lifted her hands above her head as he explored her thoroughly with his fingertips.

  If she wouldn’t believe his words, he’d convince her through touch. He burned for her every minute of every day. Every time he thought of her, his body responded like she was calling him home. He’d only ever felt this way once before. He couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to find it again.

  They made love slowly but passionately. He would take his time teasing her with firm thrusts and sudden slaps or pinches that made her gasp out loud. They were going to have a lot of fun exploring things together once they got a place of their own.

  They hadn’t talked much about the future beyond the show, but there were only three weeks left. They’d probably have to start coordinating logistics. Would he move from Florida to California? Or would she move to Florida to live with him?

  Odds were he’d just move to California. Sydney had already gotten endless offers to perform in movies or TV, often side-by-side with recording contract so she could continue to sing while she explored acting. This was where they needed to be to pursue her dream.

  The same was true for Lacy. He knew Jules would never move far away from her daughter or her grandson.

  Maybe they could find a big ol’ house and fill it with more extended family than they could stand. He wasn’t sure if she could still have children, they had never really talked about it. But he fantasized about having a baby with her. He could see their little bundle of joy now, a boy, obviously, since they already had girls.

  He had planned it all. Jules Abernathy was his future.

  He made sure she came before he even thought about it. She was breathless and trembling when he finally fell to her side. He kissed her breast, which sent a shiver all the way down to her toes. “What you do to me,” she said as she fanned herself. “What am I going to do with you?”

  He shrugged. “You could marry me.”

  Her eyes shot to his. “What?”

  He plopped over onto his side to look at her. “What do you say? Let’s make it three for three in Season Three. Sylvester and Liam. Lacy and Jonah. You and me. Maybe we can have a joint ceremony somewhere along the tour route. New York City, maybe. Or Hawaii. Vegas? Or is that too hokey?”

  “No,” she said with a shake of her head as she sat up.

  “No? I mean, I’ve never really seen myself getting married by Elvis but if it’s what you want…,” he started, but she cut him off.

  “No, I mean no,” she repeated, grabbing a sheet to wrap herself with before she hopped out of bed.

  He sat up and stared at her. “What are you saying? You won’t marry me?”

  “It’s not that I won’t marry you,” she said. “It’s that I can’t marry you.”

  “This isn’t the age thing again, is it? I told you that doesn’t bother me.” It was four measly years. It wasn’t like anyone was robbing the cradle.

  She shook her head as she paced back and forth across the floor. “It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it? Don’t you love me, Jules?”

  There were tears in her eyes as she faced him. “How can you even ask that?”

  “Because I’m asking you to marry me and you’re saying no. Needless to say it’s a bit of a buzzkill.”

  “I just… I just never thought I’d get married again. I thought that part of my life was over.” He waited for her to continue. “I guess I hoped it would be over,” she clarified. “I just didn’t want to get hurt again.”

  He climbed out of bed and walked over to where she stood. “I’m not going to hurt you, Jules.”

  She looked absolutely devastated. Her voice cracked when she spoke. “I know.”

  He was more confused than ever. “So what’s the problem?”

  She took a deep breath. “I’m still married.”

  He stumbled backwards, away from her. Of all the things he had expected her to say when he proposed, that didn’t even make the list. He landed on the bed with a thud. She was on the floor in front of him in a second. “It’s just that… he left and I didn’t know where he was. I could have filed for desertion I guess but it was always so much trouble and I never had any money…,” she trailed off, looking up at him helplessly.

  “I get why you’re still married,” he said. “I just don’t get why you didn’t tell me till now.”

  “I don’t know. Honestly most times I never thought about it. And then when things started happening between us, there just didn’t seem a good time to bring it up. I guess I just convinced myself this was some temporary fling while we were here together.”

  He rose from the bed and reached for his pants.

  “Don, that’s not what I meant.”

  He pivoted to face her. “Then what did you mean?”

  “I never thought you’d propose.”

  “Never thought I would propose or hoped I wouldn’t?” She didn’t know what to say. He gathered his clothes and got dressed silently. On his way out of her bedroom, he stopped at the door. “Tell me something, Jules. Do you want Lucas to come back?”

  “No! How can you even ask me that?”

  “Because you haven’t let him go,” he answered simply. “And I can’t be with you until you do.” He disappeared down the darkened hallway.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lights spilled onto the stage, where four contestants stood holding hands as they waited for the results. The audience collectively held their breath as Dom wrung every last bit of juice out of her dramatic pause. Finally she spoke into the microphone. “Leaving us to night in fourth place is Mr. Jonah Riley.”

  Tears sprang immediately into Lacy’s eyes as she heard the words. Until they were spoken, she had no idea how much she had dreaded them. Immediately she flung herself into his arms, sobbing softly as she held on for dear life.

  There were tears in his eyes as well. He couldn’t believe he’d have to live without her for two whole weeks. It seemed like a lifetime. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear, where only she could hear.

  She tried to say it back but she couldn’t. Her voice was strangled. She was still sobbing a big ol’ ugly cry when he hugged Dom and Sydney. Then he turned to Tony Paul. He held out a hand. Tony reached forward and pulled him into a hug.

  They had gone through the wringer together, and they knew that the future held even more adventures for them all co-parenting Cody. They should have been enemies, they were once enemies, but somehow, someway, they had become friends.

  Everyone headed back to the mansion for one last celebration. After the following week, they’d be finale-bound, all going their separate ways so that the final two standing could prepare for an epic showdown.

  Vi and Leah were as devastated as Lacy was. Jonah found himself tasked with cheering them up. He wasn’t worried about coming in fourth. His future was bright, and it was a future he could have never predicted a mere year ago. He had the best mother and sister anyone could ever ask for. He was doing what he loved, engaged to the most amazing girl on the planet, and about to
become a step-father to a ridiculously awesome little boy.

  His future was golden.

  Lacy still plastered herself to his side the whole night. When the guests had to leave, she didn’t want to let him go. When he went to fetch his suitcase, she cornered him in the bedroom for one last scorching kiss. He was smiling as he pulled away. “Well, that ought to hold me over for the next couple of weeks.”

  She scoffed. “I’ll see you next week. Keep the bed warm.”

  He shook his head as he lifted her up into his arms. “Nah. You’re going to make it all the way to the finale, baby. You’re going to win this thing.”

  As nice as his words were, she wasn’t even sure that was what she wanted anymore. She never wanted to be famous. She just wanted to make a good living making her own music. She didn’t have to win to do that.

  Besides, if Tony Paul won, that money would go to Cody anyway. It wasn’t like she needed to win to support him. Thanks to her investing Tony Paul’s check in a savings bond, Cody was already a millionaire. She’d never have to worry about his future again. He’d never have to live in another trailer. He’d never have to scramble to survive.

  Everything she had wanted to accomplish in the last five months, she had, which included having a chart-topping single.

  All she wanted to do now was marry her prince charming and start her long-overdue happily ever after. She had a new dream now. Making it to the finale only delayed it.

  “Well, do me a favor anyway. I put twenty bucks on you to win, so, you kind of have to.”

  She giggled. “I’ll do my best,” she promised.

  He kissed her one last time before he picked up his bag and went back downstairs.

  That night she stayed in Jonah’s room, mostly because she could still smell his cologne on his sheets. She remembered all the times they had spent there together. This wasn’t the flash-and-burn firework kind of affair like what she had with Tony Paul. It wasn’t even the contentious battle of the sexes that she had experienced with Jonah in Austin.

  This was a love affair, a friendship and family rolled all in one. And she missed him so badly her she thought her heart might actually break.

  When Graham sent for her the following morning, she was really in no mood. What could she have possibly done wrong now? Did she show too much emotion when Jonah was eliminated? Had she “let the cat out of the bag” that she wasn’t interested in getting back together with Tony Paul like John and Joan Q. Public wanted?

  No, it was much worse than that.

  She sat across from Graham and waited for the bad news. When he swung the computer monitor around, she thought she might swallow her tongue. PING was at it again, with the most unexpected headline ever.

  REALITY TV DARLING’S LONG LOST DAD WANTS TO REUNITE JUST IN TIME FOR FINALE!

  “Graham, I’m sorry. I had no idea,” she started but he held up a hand. He still felt bad about his outburst the last time she was in his office. His wife, Maggie, had torn him a new one. “I know it’s not your fault. We rolled the dice by talking about him in your interviews. Guess we brought it up too many times and conjured him from the dead.”

  “What do I do?”

  His eyes were direct. “What do you want to do?”

  She didn’t know what to say. For years she had longed for Lucas Abernathy to come back into her life and explain why he left, why he chose music over her, when music had never loved him back. Now it just complicated everything. She had just got everything sorted with Tony Paul and the Hollises. She didn’t need any more ghostly resurrections throwing her for a loop.

  And my mother, she thought to herself with an inward groan. Jules had just started over with someone new, someone who wanted to be there, who wanted to love her, wanted to stay. It made Lacy’s blood run cold to recall all those nights where her parents fought like cats and dogs, until her father turned on the charm to smooth things over.

  She had never been able to say no to him. Where did that leave Don?

  “I don’t know,” she finally said. She didn’t have time for all this silliness. She had a show to perform.

  “It’s up to you,” Graham told her. “You can see him or not. He can be part of the show or not. It’s your call.”

  “Thanks,” she said sarcastically. She was really kind of hoping he’d intervene and tell Lucas to get lost.

  She texted Jonah on the way back to the house. She wanted them to provide all the comfort her mother would need when the news finally filtered back to her. She knows, he texted back. Mama’s in with her right now.

  Is she okay? Lacy asked.

  As well as could be expected, he replied.

  Where’s Don?

  M.I.A., he was quick to answer. Do you have time to stop by today?

  I’ll make time, she promised.

  She tapped on the glass to get the driver’s attention, before telling him about their change of plans. She was at her mom’s place within the hour. She found her mother lying in bed, her head resting on Vi’s lap, while Clementine Pomeroy fussed around in the closet looking for someone cheerful for her to wear.

  “Don’t bother,” Jules mumbled. “I’m never leaving the house again.”

  Lacy nodded to both Clementine and Vi, who left them alone. Lacy sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. That’s just the way things are. Nothing stays good forever.”

  “Nothing stays bad forever, either,” Lacy pointed out.

  Jules offered a half-hearted nod. “What are you going to do?”

  “Graham left it up to me. I can extend the olive branch or not.”

  “What do you want to do?” Jules amended.

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I guess I kind of wanted to talk it over with you. If you tell me not to see him, I won’t.”

  Jules pulled herself up. “I can’t tell you that, Lacy. For better or worse, he’s still your father. I mean look at Tony Paul and Cody. I was totally wrong about that situation. You’re the only one who had faith it might work out.”

  Lacy laughed. “I had no faith it would work out whatsoever,” she said. “I just hoped it would.”

  “And now?”

  “I guess I hope it will still work out, whatever that means. Whether you and Lucas can make amends, or you kick him in the nuts and marry Don.”

  She thought it was a pretty good joke, but her mother simply groaned and dragged herself out of bed. “I won’t be marrying Don.”

  “Why not?”

  She faced her daughter. The confession was no easier the second time she made it. “Because I’m still married to your father, Lacy.”

  Lacy’s jaw fell open. “What?”

  Jules shrugged it away. “I know it was stupid. I just never thought it would be an issue. I assumed he was gone for good and there would never be anyone else. As it turns out, I was wrong on both counts.”

  Lacy stood, joining her mother at the window. “Do you love him?”

  “Which ‘him’?”

  “You tell me.”

  “I don’t love your dad anymore. I got over that fairly quickly. You were still a baby. I held on because that’s what I thought I should do. If he hadn’t have put you in harm’s way, I probably would have let him stay.”

  “And Don?”

  “I love Don,” she admitted at last. She hadn’t wanted to, but ever since he had left her bedroom a week before, she felt like she was missing a limb. “But he says it’s over, so.”

  Lacy’s heart broke for her mother. After all she had been through, she deserved to be happy. She took her into her arms. “We’ll figure it out,” she promised.

  By the time she got back into the car, she texted Graham. Let him come to the show.

  They were going to fix this thing before it fractured permanently.

  The rest of the week she was a nervous wreck. She had a song picked for the week, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her dad. She hadn’t seen h
im in more than ten years. There was a lot she wanted to say. There’s a lot she wanted to know.

  Mostly she just wanted to free herself and her mother from all the ghosts in their past. They’d lived with them long enough.

  That week each contestant sang twice, one new song and one favorite performance from the season. Lacy decided to revisit “The Living Years.” She wasn’t sure if she could keep it together if she actually saw his face in the crowd, but if she pulled it off, she would consider it a personal triumph of mind over matter.

  As it turned out, Lucas opted to avoid the bright lights of the show and meet with her privately that Friday afternoon. She spotted him from the other side of the room, walking haltingly toward where she rehearsed on stage. She sucked in a breath as he got closer. His brown hair had receded from his once handsome face, which was now gaunt and wrinkled, making him look years older than what he was. His dark eyes were tinged yellow, as was his skin. Her heart began to pound as she processed this information and what it could mean.

  She knew instantly it wasn’t good.

  “Hi, baby girl,” he said softly once he was within earshot.

  “Hello, Lucas,” she said coolly. As pitiful as he looked, she wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. He didn’t get to disappear for ten years and show up sick just to avoid the ass-chewing.

  He nodded as he looked down. He hadn’t expected it to be easy.

  She walked down the steps to see him face to face. He motioned to the seats, so they both sat. “You look beautiful,” he said.

  “You look sick,” she replied.

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Cirrhosis,” he answered in a flat voice. “I loved the booze but it didn’t love me.”

  She nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she offered, and she was pretty sure she meant it.