When she got on, she was met by a loud round of applause and a group of laughing men, along with Shell. Garrett sat at the booth they ate at, laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his eyes. “Poor dude, he doesn’t even realize that you just told him to fuck off and kiss your ass in your own way. God, I love you.”
To be honest, she felt semi-bad for doing that, but she was sick of being pushed around and having her private business blasted on every magazine in the world. They were allowed to have some privacy, and they were allowed to enjoy the blessings they had. “He deserved that.”
Shell agreed from where she sat. “He’s a dick. He paid off some of the people in the rehab center, not the doctors or nurses but some patients, to talk about Hannah. They told private things, and it was with a lot of damage control that we kept certain things out of the press. I hope that guy rots in hell.”
“I do too,” Hannah mumbled. “But right now, I just want to lie down.”
Nobody stopped her as she walked back to the room they had once again fashioned for she and Garrett on this particular tour bus. All she needed now was some time to decompress and maybe a good cry.
Chapter Twenty-Three
* * *
Hours later, Hannah woke up groggy and looked around. It was dark on the bus, but it was no longer moving. She wasn’t sure where they were or what was going on. Rolling over, she saw Garrett sitting next to her, his back propped against the headboard, messing around on his iPad.
“What time is it?” Her eyes were swollen because she had cried herself to sleep, but the release of emotions had felt good. She’d been holding a lot of them in for a long time. To tell someone who had made her life such a dark place what she’d thought of them was one of the most freeing moments of her life.
“Close to midnight.” He set his iPad down and scooted over so he could wrap his arms around her.
“Wow, I’ve just completely messed my sleep schedule all up.” She laughed, burrowing deep into the circle he made around her.
“I think you needed it. I think you’ve been way more tired than you’ve let on with any of us, and you crashed.” He rubbed the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. “What I don’t like is the fact the douchebag back there made you cry.”
“I don’t either.” She shook her head. “But to be honest, I’m not sure whether it was him or the situation. I felt threatened, and I didn’t like it one bit.”
“You know that I’m never gonna let anything happen to you. People will have to cross my dead body to get to you.”
She knew that, without a doubt, and she knew as the pregnancy progressed he would become even more protective of her. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, I’m strong,” she reminded him. It had taken her a long time to be strong and confident in the person she was. Falling back into old habits wouldn’t help any of them.
“I know.” He nodded. “I know you’re a strong woman and you can do anything you set your mind to, but there are certain times when jackasses like that don’t listen to you, and it takes a little muscle for them to figure out not to fuck with the Thompson family.”
She giggled. His tone was so serious, and she could tell he believed every word he said. Her heart was so full when he was around. Dread filled the pit of her stomach as she thought about what would happen when her break was over.
“Hey, you okay? Your face fell there for a second.”
“Perfectly fine.” She plastered on a bright smile for him to show she was, but the feeling that had taken root she did not like at all.
* * *
“I can’t believe you’re still awake.”
Hannah glanced over at Shell. She couldn’t believe it either. The guys had gone on in the very early morning, but because she’d completely flipped her sleep schedule by falling asleep that afternoon, she was able to watch this show from the side stage. “It’s because I slept so long. Don’t worry, I’ll be tired again in a few hours.” She laughed.
“See ya out there.” Garrett winked at her, giving her a quick kiss on her lips as the band prepared to take the stage.
“Really?” She grinned. This crowd was amazing. It was roughly two in the morning, and they were chanting “Black Friday” loudly. The crowd had been up all day, but it seemed like they were ready. Goosebumps rose on her arms. To sing in front of this crowd would be something special.
“If you’re up for it.”
She nodded, glad that she’d taken the time to get ready after she’d woken up. He pressed another kiss to her lips before running out on the stage and stepping up on the risers that were erected at the very front. This was their last European concert this summer, and she was going to take it completely in.
When Garrett stood on the riser, the crowd went wild. “Good morning!” he yelled out loudly, causing them to scream back at him.
The band started into the song, and she laughed as the crowd started jumping in time with the drum beat, singing along to the music even though there were no words. When Garrett started singing, the crowd almost buried his voice, even though he was over amps and a microphone. “Hands in the sky,” he yelled as they entered the breakdown to the first song, and she had to laugh. She had never in all her years seen a crowd this far into a set.
“Wow.” Shell shook her head. “I’m getting all kinds of fired up over here, and I’m not even on stage.”
Hannah could understand; the energy from the crowd was palpable. It was an undercurrent in the air, waking her up even more than she already was. Reaching over to the side, she grabbed the jacket she’d bought with her. She was so excited for the band that the goosebumps were making her chilly. “I’m kinda scared to go out there and mess up this flow,” she admitted.
“Nah, they’re going to go completely apeshit when you go out there. It’ll be one of your best memories ever.”
The band quickly went through four songs, which was half of their set because they only had a little over an hour. The lights went down, and she heard Garrett’s voice talking to the crowd. He was telling them he couldn’t believe how pumped up they were.
“France, I have a question for ya.”
The screams from the crowd were so loud it made the stage move under their feet.
“Do you want to meet my beautiful wife?”
Harmony had to put her fingers in her ears to block out the noise before she put in-ear monitors in.
“My God, make sure he keeps hold of you, the force of their voices will knock you slick over.” Shell laughed.
Hannah had to agree.
“C’mon, babe, they’re ready for you.” Garrett smiled at her as she carefully made her way out onto the stage.
As Shell said, they went completely crazy, screaming so loudly and pushing so much energy forth that she really did almost fall down. He reached out to grab her. “I’ve never seen people this excited at two a.m.” She laughed.
“They’re fucking insane,” he admitted before putting his microphone back up to his mouth.
“We’re gonna slow it down just a little for you. Is that okay?”
Jared brought them a couple of chairs. He reached over, handing Garrett his, and then set Hannah’s down before holding it as she climbed on. Once she was situated, he had a seat onhis own and grabbed his acoustic guitar, strumming it.
“Always the gentleman.” She smiled over at him, talking into the microphone.
“Somebody’s got to be.” He looked pointedly at Garrett.
It’d become a running joke since the first time she’d sung with them that Jared made sure she had what she needed on stage. The crowds all loved it, and Garrett took it in stride.
Taking off his sunglasses, Garrett slipped them in the neckline of his shirt, and again the crowd went wild. The only time he took the glasses off was if he was going to sing with her. Sometimes he wanted to look into her eyes and really feel the music. Since this was their last concert on the European leg, he wanted that tonight more than anything.
�
�You ready, love?” He grinned over at her.
“As I’ll ever be.”
He and Jared started into the song, her voice singing clearly over them. Again the crowd sang along, drowning them out for the most part. Emotional didn’t even begin to cover the way she was feeling as she looked into her husband’s eyes and sang the lyrics to the love song she’d written for him. Not even cognizant of it, her hand went to her stomach as she sang, only realizing it when he stopped singing and reached over, putting his own over hers. The crowd roared its approval, and flashes were seen from every side of the amphitheater.
As they finished, he reached over and kissed her softly on the lips. “Love you.”
She smiled up at him, tears shining in her eyes. “Love you too.”
And she did, more than she ever thought possible. She wanted to thank him for giving her this experience, but the words just couldn’t be pressed between the tightness in her throat. Instead, she hugged Jared and then her husband before waving at the crowd and going off-stage.
“I took a ton of pictures and video for you,” Shell told her, wiping her yes. “That was beautiful.”
It had been. One of the most beautiful experiences of her life.
Chapter Twenty-Four
* * *
Late August
Garrett sighed as he kicked his long legs out in front of him and stretched. He was beginning to get tired, and it was getting harder to hide it. They’d been on the road for eight full months, and they had three more to go before they were done with this touring cycle. Instead of getting any time off, he was trying desperately to keep up with the questions being thrown at him by one of the two radio deejays.
“How’s Harmony doing?”
It was time to get his head back in the game. “She’s amazing.” He smiled over at them.
“The pregnancy treating her well?”
Garrett took a moment to consider how to answer that. He didn’t want these people all up in his business, but he could appreciate that lots of fans were interested. “It’s gotten a lot better. You know she’s about to hit the fifth month and things are changing. She was so sick for the first little bit that I wasn’t sure she’d ever get to enjoy it, but that’s started to change.”
“Yeah.” The deejay nodded. “I read somewhere that she had a severe case of morning sickness.”
“She did,” Garrett confirmed, thinking back to those few days when she’d been in the hospital and he’d had to continue on with the tour. “We had to make some decisions I didn’t like making back then.”
“Like what?” the female deejay asked.
He could tell by the look on her face that she smelled a story, but he’d already stepped in it, so he figured he might as well continue. “When she was in the hospital, I wanted to stay with her. I wanted to be there every step of the way. She was so sick, it was scary. She couldn’t stop puking, and the longer she went, we could tell, the more dehydrated she was getting.”
The male deejay interrupted. “When my wife was pregnant she had morning sickness too, but it usually ended around noon. Then she could go about her daily life. I could never understand how she did it though.” He shook his head. “When I’m hungover, I puke just twice and I’m done for the day. It’s so tiring.”
“Right?” Garrett nodded. “And here she was doing it for hours upon hours, and she didn’t want anybody to worry about her.” He rolled his eyes. “She was so upset she had to go to the hospital in the first place, and then they told her she was going to have to stay. I got upset because I wanted to cancel the next few shows and stay with her, but she didn’t want that. Then the a-hole tabloids got hold of it and tried to make it something it wasn’t.”
“It’s hard making things work as a married couple sometimes.” The male deejay groaned in sympathy. “I totally get it dude.”
“I hated that part of it, because you don’t want to be the douche that leaves your wife in a hospital room, hooked up to a million different things to go rock a stage, ya know? But we live different lives than most people, and we do what we gotta do. She’s good now. It’s like she’s a whole new person.”
The female deejay laughed. “You’ve got to be relieved though.”
“I am. It was one of the most helpless feelings of my life. All I could do was sit there and hold her hair back while she prayed to the porcelain gods.” He smiled.
“I’ve got to say, and I hope you’re not offended by this, but you never struck me as the type of guy who’d be happily married and all of that. You have to admit, you had a reputation that preceded you.”
What she said was fair, and a little embarrassing if he were being honest. He kicked his legs out in front of him again, adjusting his seat on the stool. “You know, I never thought I was either, but she and I met at the perfect time in my life. I was irritated with the same ole, same ole to be honest. I’d seen her before and always thought she was a gorgeous woman. The night we met, stars seriously aligned.” He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from his throat.
“Aww, ladies, he’s blushing a little.”
“I never, ever believed the notion that when love happens, you know it. Well, I’m here to say that’s true. Almost as soon as I had an introduction to her, I knew.”
“Right, dude,” the male deejay agreed. “Same here. Some dudes eff around forever, and then some dudes know they’ve got a great thing and hang onto it.”
“Yeah, I mean as soon as I had the introduction and took her out on a date, I knew I wasn’t letting her go. It might seem fast to a lot of people—we’d only been together a few months when we got married, but we’ve been married for a year now. Things aren’t always easy, but they’re worth working out when they’re not.”
“And that right there, guys, is what I want.” The female deejay slammed her hand down on the desk. “Somebody who wants to work through the shit when it hits the fan.”
“Then you aren’t meeting the right guys, for real,” Garrett told her, raising an eyebrow in her direction.
* * *
“That was really sweet, what you said about me on the radio.”
Garrett grinned over at Hannah. They were in the backstage area of the arena where they were playing for the night. At the moment, he wasn’t even sure where here was. He’d have to find out before he went on stage. They sat closely together on a leather couch, Hannah resting her hands on her stomach. It had appeared out of nowhere in the past few days. She’d had a bump for a while, but now, it was very noticeable in the T-shirt she wore.
“Only true things.” He grinned down at her, adjusting his glasses on his face.
“It’s been forever since you wore your glasses. I forgot how smart and sophisticated you look.” She smiled up at him, pressing a kiss to his stubble-covered jaw.
He yawned, leaning his head back against the couch as she slung an arm around her neck and adjusted so they were comfortable. “My eyes are really tired today for some reason.”
“You’ve been going at this for a few months, Garrett. You’re gonna be tired.” She grabbed his hand and stroked the palm.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes when she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes wide, urgency in his voice.
“Feel this.” Her eyes were as wide as his as she pulled his hand over to her stomach. “Can you feel that?”
He concentrated for a few minutes, trying to feel what she did, and then he did. His face broke out in a huge grin. “Holy shit.”
“Right? I’ve felt a little here and there the past week or so, but that’s obvious movement now.” She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
“Holy shit,” he repeated. “It’s real.”
“It most definitely is, and in a few days we find out if this is a girl or a boy.”
They had a few days off at the beginning of September, and while she and Garrett would be going back to Nashville in order to have a doctor’s appointment and find out what the gender of thei
r baby would be, the rest of the group would be going to California. It was just one of the many ways all the members of the band were adjusting to their brand-new normal.
Chapter Twenty-Five
* * *
September
Shell stood at the counter in Jared’s California home, still unable to believe she was there. Many times in their relationship she’d wondered if they would ever make it to this point. He’d finally invited her home. She still wasn’t sure what that meant, but she would take it.
“This view is amazing.” She breathed deeply as she took a drink from the water bottle that sat in front of her.
They had done their customary run and were both trying to cool off.
Jared rotated his neck and shrugged his shoulders to loosen the muscles and gazed at her. “It is pretty amazing. I just never noticed it before.”
She wasn’t accustomed to things like that coming out of his mouth. When they were around the other members of the band, he was tight-lipped. Here, he seemed to have found his comfort zone. It made her blush.
“Thanks.” She grinned up at him and cleared her throat. “So do you want some breakfast?”
He did, but he wanted to take her out more. “Yeah, let’s go get something. We won’t have many more days like this off, and later on we’ll all be sitting in front of our computers waiting to see if we’re going to have a niece or a nephew.”
They were all excited for the gender announcement, but Hannah’s appointment was very late in the afternoon, so they would have to keep themselves preoccupied until then.
“Sounds good.” She nodded. “Give me thirty minutes to take a shower and change?”
“I’ll meet you down here.”
* * *
“This is so pretty.” She looked on in awe at the main strip as they walked towards the restaurants.
Full Circle (Rockin' Country Book 3) Page 12
