(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5)

by Michelle Mankin

  “You arrogant whelp.” My dad received the message for sure. Anger rolled off of him and crashed over me like a ten foot wave. “She’ll do no such thing.” My dad’s eyes narrowed to slits and his voice lowered to that ominous level I knew always meant bad things. “This ends tonight. I’ll not have my daughter’s reputation sullied by a no account beach bum like you.”

  Linc and my dad faced off, both men drawing themselves up to their full heights. Linc was several inches taller but both men were equally incensed. I was so focused on them I barely noticed my mother. She swayed in the doorway my father had vacated a half empty glass of wine in one hand.

  “Daddy, don’t.” I grabbed for him just as he lunged for Linc. He yanked away so fast I didn’t have time to dodge it. His elbow connected with my jaw with a crack and a blinding flash. I flew backward and landed on my ass so hard I bit my tongue.

  “Simone!” My mother cried stumbling toward me.

  I tasted coppery blood in my mouth and my vision went hazy but not so hazy that I didn’t see the mask of rage that replaced the handsome features on Lincoln’s face.

  “You asshole!” He slammed his hands to my father’s chest and shoved him backward into the wall rattling the plaque with the house number. “You ever lay a hand on her again and I’ll fuckin’ end you.” Linc pinned my dad to the wall with a forearm to his windpipe. “You got that?”

  “I’m ok, Linc.” I assured him tears clogging my throat as much from the breach of trust as the physical pain.

  “You’re damn lucky that she is.” Linc turned back to my father. “I might be worthless in your eyes but that’s not the way she sees me. And her opinion is the only one that really matters.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  * * *

  Linc

  I gave her no good father one more shove to make my point. Simone wasn’t alone anymore. She had me to protect her.

  Her old man just glared at me. He got the message alright.

  I moved to Simone lifting her carefully and pulling her into me. I needed her close. I’d seen enough. Her old man was just like mine.

  Her mom remained on the ground where Simone had fallen, like some rag doll so sloshed I doubted she could stand again without help.

  “C’mon, babe.” I draped my arm around Simone’s shoulder and led her from the porch. No way was I ever letting her go back into that messed up house. She stumbled alongside me still in a haze.

  “Simone!”

  She froze, instant tension breaking her from her spell.

  “Stop right now!” The old man’s voice sounded strangled.

  Good, I thought. He deserved worse than I had given him.

  “You go off with that boy and you are completely on your own. Don’t bother coming back. I won’t be wasting any more money on you.”

  She dropped her chin to her chest. She was silent for a couple of beats. Slowly with her arms straight at her sides and her finger curled into her palms she turned to face him. “That’s ok, Daddy. I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. You’re pathetic. To raise your hand to your own daughter? How could you think that I would stay here after that?” Her voice cracked. “Mom’s right. You’ll never be satisfied. You’ll never accept me no matter how perfect I try to be. And I’m done trying.” Years of suppressed feelings expelled, she sagged backward into me and turned her gaze my way. Her eyes were still sparking with leftover ire. “Take me away from here, Linc. Please.”

  “Absolutely, gorgeous.” I tightened my arm around her slim shoulders to silently give her my support and to express how proud I was of her for standing up to him, then steered us back toward Ash and the van. She didn’t speak on the way and given recent circumstances I let her have that time to assimilate, but we were going to have to talk and make decisions soon.

  “What the hell?” Ash jumped out of the vehicle his look of concern quickly passing back and forth between her and me.

  “She’s not going back,” I explained preemptively noticing his eyes narrowing on her already darkening and swelling bruise.

  “Of course she’s not.” His expression turned as grim as my own. He helped me get Simone into the van. She had settled into an almost catatonic state since her impassioned speech.

  After we were situated, Ash rounded the hood and got back behind the wheel. He glanced at me over Simone. “Where to?”

  “Your house, I guess.” The adrenaline from watching Simone stand up to her tyrannical father was waning. The reality of the situation began to sink in on me.

  What were we going to do now? And just how was I going to take care of her?

  Short term I didn’t think my aunt and uncle would mind her staying with us. Long term required more deep thinking and neither of us were up to that tonight.

  “No.” Simone straightened in her seat moving away from me. Her voice was raspy as if she had awoken from a dream. A nightmare more likely. “Take me to Karen’s house. I’ll stay with her.”

  I didn’t like that idea. I wanted her with me. Right now and forever if she would have me.

  “My mom won’t mind the extra company.” Ash came to my rescue as he braked the van at a stop sign.

  “But I’d mind,” Simone said firmly. “I appreciate the offer, Ash. But Karen has plenty of room and I’ll think better there.”

  What the hell did that mean?

  I was still processing that statement by the time Ash pulled to the curb in front of Karen’s a two story New England style house with weathered clapboard siding. He called her on the cell while I helped Simone out of the van. My gaze remained on her as I escorted her up the walk. Hers remained straight ahead. I wanted to ask her a hundred different things but she seemed so unreachable, so distant.

  “Karen’s coming to the door,” Ash explained.

  I waved a hand over my shoulder to acknowledge that I had heard him, but inside my guts were churning. My girl looked so lost and forlorn. Damn her worthless father to hell.

  “Oh my God!” Karen exclaimed as soon as she saw Simone’s face. Simone stepped forward and buried her face into her friend’s chest. “You poor baby,” she soothed as Simone’s body started to shake. “I hate that man.” Karen shot me a look over Simone’s shoulder and I nodded my agreement. I hated him, too. The list of haters for that asshole was growing by the minute.

  Karen pulled Simone into the house. “It’ll be ok, Linc.” She must have noticed the devastation in my eyes. I hated to leave Simone, but if this was where she needed to be tonight then I would go along. “I’ll get her to bed. She’ll call you in the morning.”

  I could see why Patch was so taken by Karen, and I was glad Simone had such a good friend. But I still lingered on the doorstep until Ash came to retrieve me.

  “Dude, let’s go home. Everyone needs some rest. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

  I nodded numbly and followed him back to the van. The outlines of the houses along the route we took through the hills of OB to Ash’s seemed to mock me. Homes filled with happy families. Something neither Simone nor I had now. And maybe never would.

  “Don’t worry so much,” Ash said after he parked the van in the driveway. I guess my trepidation was pretty transparent. “Simone loves you. It will work itself out in the end.”

  “But that’s just it, Ash. She never really said she did.” My voice was as raw as my heart admitting that. I had replayed the entire night and that omission on her part weighed heavily on my psyche.

  Ash’s gaze narrowed. “Well, you can talk to her about that when she gets up. You’ll straighten it out.” He unlatched his seatbelt and I did the same. My shoulders were bowed. My limbs felt sluggish and heavy.

  “I know this isn’t a great time.” Ash’s hands were deep in his pockets as he moved alongside me to the front door. “But I was wondering. What exactly did that Morris say to you before he handed you his business card?”

  I glanced up sharply. The performance at the Deck Bar seemed as though it had occurred a li
fetime ago. “He told me I should call him when…” I trailed off casting my mind back trying to recollect his exact words.

  “When we’ve got a couple of original tunes and a proven following beyond just the local area. That sound about right?” Ash prompted as he pulled open the door to the house.

  I nodded.

  “Mom’s not likely to be very supportive of that plan.” He frowned. “She wants me to finish another year at the junior college and you’re going off to do your thing. Bummer. I think we might’ve had a chance with you fronting us.”

  I shook my head in denial as we entered our room. We both knew the music thing was a pipe dream. He went to his bed but I went to my dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out my swim trunks.

  He raised a brow. “You going out?”

  “Yeah. I’m too wired to sleep and I think better at the beach anyway.”

  He nodded. He was a surfer, too. He didn’t need any more explanation than that.

  All the heavy worries, all the concern, everything faded into background noise once my feet finally hit the sand and my body entered the surf, the ocean raging powerfully all around me. The sun hadn’t come up yet and I had the entire beach to myself for as far as I could see. That was good. I needed to be alone on my board. Everything seemed clearer out on the waves.

  I paddled out past where the they were breaking, scooted to the back of my board, straddled it and waited getting acclimated to the current set pattern. I noticed that the waves were breaking fast and hard just like things in my life right now.

  Everything depended on me catching the perfect one and riding it all the way to the end.

  I just had to win Fiji.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  * * *

  Simone

  The lights in the guest bedroom were still out but I hadn’t slept. I lay in the bed in borrowed pajamas staring at the lace framed window until the soft light of the dawn seeped through it.

  The over the counter pain reliever Karen had given me had reduced the pain in my jaw to a bearable throb but the hurt inside my heart was still ardent.

  I couldn’t stay with Karen forever. I knew that in spite of the sleepy welcome I had received from her parents even their generous goodwill would have its limits.

  But what other options did I have?

  I could never go home. Not that it had been a real one for a long time I realized, just walls around me and a roof over my head. The ache in my jaw was a grim reminder of the true nature of dysfunction that resided there.

  I felt trapped inside my own thoughts, the sea foam walls of the bedroom a poor substitute for the real thing.

  I threw back the covers.

  I would think better at the beach.

  I got dressed in the clothes Karen had laid out for the morning. The jean shorts were a little too snug on my hips and the off the shoulder sweatshirt top was a little too tight over my chest but they would do. I was grateful to have them.

  Starting my life all over again with nothing but the clothes on my back was a daunting task but I could it if I had Lincoln by my side. Oh, and there were the funds in my savings account, if I could get to them before my father did.

  I left a note for Karen and slipped quietly from the house starting to feel better as soon as I turned the corner and headed downhill toward the pier, filling my lungs as I went with humid briny air.

  Niagra Avenue opened up onto the pier at its end and as soon as I passed through the open metal ‘Ocean Beach’ gate I saw the black spot of a lone surfer bobbing on the waves and knew it was him.

  Lincoln.

  I leaned over the rail to watch him. He was facing away from me toward the open ocean, his hands on the rails of his board, looking for the perfect wave.

  I wondered what he was thinking about out there as he waited. Was he thinking about me? Were they happy thoughts or troubled ones like mine?

  I’m not letting you go. Ever.

  Had he meant those words?

  At the boat he had mentioned the future, too.

  But was he ready to face it with me in tow?

  A wave rose behind him and he turned the nose of his board toward the beach paddling hard to gain momentum, hopping into his riding stance and trimming the wave with his hand. He was so fluid he seemed to become a part of it.

  I scooted back from the rail when his ride brought him close to the pier. I didn’t want him to see me and feel pressured to come out any more than I wanted him to give up his ambitions just because of my predicament.

  “Simone.”

  I whirled around hand to my throat. “Ash, you scared me. I didn’t hear you come up.”

  “Sorry. I could tell you were deep in your thoughts.” He raised his chin in Linc’s direction. “He’s pretty hard to take your eyes off?”

  I nodded.

  “You ok?” He sounded concerned and his brow creased as he studied me. “You look like you didn’t get any sleep.”

  “I didn’t,” I admitted. I had a lot on my mind. I shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal. But it was actually colossal. My entire focus was Lincoln now and his was centered on that board.

  “He didn’t, either.” He moved to look over the rail and I followed. Linc was paddling back out to his original position again. “He came straight here after we dropped you off.”

  “But that was hours ago. It was still dark.”

  “Mostly, yeah. He’s very determined about you and about Fiji.” Linc charged another wave, popping up immediately and Ash took my arm pulling me further back from the rail and both of us out of sight. “He’s gonna be out here a lot longer I’m certain.” He rubbed my arms. “You’re shivering. Why don’t you come with me? I was on my way over to Patch’s house. The band’s gonna practice early before Patch has to go into work. We’ll grab some churros on the way. You can listen to our new set. Tell us what you think with your educated ear.”

  “I mostly know show tunes so I don’t really know that I’ll be much help.” I glanced back over my shoulder. I just wanted to watch Lincoln. I could watch him surf all day.

  “Simone,” Ash called squeezing my arms to get my attention. I refocused on him “Leave him be. He’s not going anywhere. You can see him when he comes out. Yeah?”

  • • •

  Linc

  My muscles burned with exhaustion by the time I called it quits. Back to the house, I stowed my board and gear and hopped into the shower. I was happy with what I had accomplished surfing today and was at peace with the decision I had come to out there. But I was admittedly worried about what Simone’s answer might be. She had defended me, sure, but I knew that she could do so much better than an unemployed surfer who had gotten her kicked out of her own house.

  I saw Ash’s note when I went to the dresser. I pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a grey and black Volcom emblazoned t-shirt. I traced her name on the paper with my finger. Thoughts and emotions made my chest tight. I loved her. I knew I would never love anyone more. She was it for me, but was I the one for her?

  Eager to see her, adrenaline propelled my rubbery legs forward. I headed downhill along Bacon until I got to Patch’s street then turned right and trudged uphill to the small cottage he shared with only his dad. The windows were thrown open and I heard her voice as soon as I reached the oleander lined walk.

  It wasn’t a song I recognized and Ash was fumbling to establish a beat to support her lyrics but she sounded absolutely perfect.

  When I entered I registered the darkening purple bruise marring her jaw right away. She was standing too close to Ash for my liking with her hand on his shoulder but her eyes lit up the moment she saw me. I waved to Ramon and Patch who had a handful of tools laid out on the worn couch and were working on the sound equipment in the corner of the living room. I also acknowledged Ash with a chin lift but my focus was mostly on her.

  I watched relief transform to something more guarded as she held my gaze, not the look of love that I hoped to see.

  Had I been wrong a
bout us?

  No. I gave myself an internal shake remembering our night together and all that we had shared. I was just mentally and physically exhausted. She had to be too, for sure.

  “Babe,” I called. “I missed you. Come here.”

  Maybe I was overanalyzing things. Her eyes even had a little sparkle as she moved around Ash’s drum kit and launched herself into my open arms. I folded her to my chest, held her tightly and breathed her in wishing she could be mine forever and wishing we didn’t have an audience so I could have her right that moment.

  “I missed you too, Linc. I saw you at the beach but Ash said it would be better if I waited here.”

  “Oh he did, did he?” I lifted a brow and glanced at my cousin over her shoulder.

  Still on his stool behind his drums he rolled his eyes. “It’s three in the afternoon, Linc.”

  Shit. I hadn’t realized it was that late. The waves had been so good and I had desperately needed the practice. Placing wasn’t an option anymore. The real money and endorsements went mostly to the few at the top of the sport. I had to win Fiji outright. Not just for myself but for both of us now.

  “Ash is right.” I eased back so I could look at her instead of at the smug expression on my cousin’s face. “Did you eat lunch yet?”

  She shook her head, her silky hair brushing over the tops of my hands.

  “Then come with me. I’ll take care of you.” My words were for her but for Ash also, a thinly veiled warning as my gaze hit his and I steered her toward the door. I appreciated him looking out for her but she was my girl not his.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  * * *

  Simone

  I sat across the kitchen table from Linc at his aunt and uncle’s house and tried to swallow a bite of the turkey sandwich he had made for me, finding it difficult because my mouth was so dry. I was worried. More than I had been when I had left Karen’s house this morning. He seemed so out of sorts.