True for You(54)

I grab the mic from pig girl and shout, “Drinks on the house, for everyone, courtesy of Downward Spiral!” I punch my fist into the air.

The roar is deafening. Drummer boy drops his sticks, and the bassist runs a hand over his face, “Not again,” he mumbles.

Jumping off the stage, I tear off my t-shirt and throw it into the crowd. After paying my tab, I grab my original shirt from the back. Then I text my driver and leave the bar to wait out front.

Cameron joins me outside.

“I wasn’t trying to take your girl,” he says.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t trying not to either.”

A taxi stops at the curb, and Cameron opens the door. “Treat her well, Jackson. Girls like her only come around once in a blue moon, and you’ve had it happen twice. I’m pretty sure you won’t be so lucky a third time.”

I tip up my chin. “Safe flight home.”

Cameron shakes his head. “Later.”

I shut the door and smack the top of the cab twice.

My phone buzzes. It’s a text from Violet. It takes off, merging into traffic.

Still coming tomorrow?

“Shit.” I need to go to Bliss, but I owe it to Violet to be there for her. After all we’ve been through, after all the times I wasn’t there for her, this is the least I can do.

Yeah, taking first flight out.

Thank you, Jackson. It means a lot.

Glancing at my phone, I note the time. “Son of a bitch.” I have to be at the airport in less than an hour. Since I don’t have use of the Morgan jet anymore, I had to book a commercial flight, and I have a layover in Wisconsin.

My driver shows up, parking beside the curb. I don’t bother to wait for him to open my door.

“Home, sir?”

“Airport.”

As soon as the car lurches into traffic, I’m dialing my home number, wishing like hell I’d bought Bliss a cell phone. I hit my forehead with the heel of my hand a couple of times. She doesn’t answer, and it goes to voice mail.

“Hey baby do—er… Bliss. I have to catch a plane to Charlotte and the only available flight has a long ass layover in Wisconsin. So, I can’t come home right now and tell you… what you want to hear.” I let my head fall back. Yeah, that’s what she wants, a guy only saying I love you, because she wants to hear it.

“Anyway, I’ll call you again when I get through security.”

I hang up the phone, and in no time at all, I’m at the airport, in the line for a first class ticket, and then through security. I call Bliss again, but she still doesn’t answer.

So I try again and again, hoping against hope that she’s sleeping, in the shower, or just mad at me and won’t answer the phone. I start to panic and call my driver, like I should’ve done in the first place.

He answers on the second ring. “Did Bliss make it home okay?” I ask, heart hammering in my chest.

“Yes sir,” he replies and I almost double over in relief. “I saw her up myself.”

“Thanks. While I’m gone, please take her wherever she wants to go.” I press END. Despite knowing she’s safe, my brain is screaming at me to go to her. I take a step away from the Gate..

“Sir, you need to board.”

I rub the heel of my hand into my forehead. I’d made a promise to be there for Violet, and if I get this behind me, then Bliss and I can move forward. It’s for the best, really.

Or so I assure myself.

With a heavy heart, I hand my ticket to the flight attendant and board the plane.



Chapter Twenty-Six



Jackson

There are only a handful of people at the memorial. I’m standing beside Violet, wearing a dark suit I thankfully had the presence of mind to purchase at the Armani store in the Charlotte airport.

The ceremony is short. There’s no body, just a tiny gravestone with a name and date.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I named the baby,” Violet says. She slips her hand into mine, and it’s just the two of us standing there.

Noah—the name we’d picked out, when we feeling good about our future. Violet was sure we’d have a little boy first. I didn’t care. I just took comfort in the fact that she would be mine forever.

My eyes tear up, and I sniff. My throat closes up, and there’s a lump the size of Tennessee in my chest. “I don’t mind.” My voice cracks. “It’s a great name. I think Noah would have been beautiful, like you, and made us happy. He would have had a little guitar to play, and we would have loved him.”

Violet lays her head against my shoulder. “It’s okay, Jackson. He’s in Heaven, healthy and happy. One day we’ll see him again, and he’ll forgive me for what I did.”