See Her (Turn it Up #1)

Chapter 42

42

JACK

M y girl hung in there remarkably well for the next couple of weeks of the tour. The only complaint she’s had – other than the obvious loss of privacy and meddling press – is missing our dogs and dancing. But Mayzie being Mayzie just made light of it, joking that our next bus needs to have a dance floor and doggy condo. Her goofy, outlandish humor is only one of the many things I love about her, and again, the fact that we got through one of the hardest adjustments already seems to have her relaxed and level headed about our new life ever since.

Late December sees us back home as both bands have a break in the tour. That said, the tour is expected to resume in two weeks after the holidays, and we’re expected on it. But for now, I’ve never been more stoked to just do nothing. Come and go as I please, relax with my dogs, wake up when I’m done sleeping instead of to an alarm, and have plenty of sex with my wife.

Speaking of my baby, I turn my head in her direction when I hear a disgruntled scoff beside me as we ride in the back of the Uber from the airport. She’s frowning down at her phone.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ian just texted. Apparently there’s a crowd on our front lawn. ” She waves her phone around aimlessly. “How are we supposed to go home?”

“Fuck,” I mutter, pulling my own phone out. The thought crossed my mind on the flight home, but I quickly dismissed it.“We’ll have to go to Sarah’s,” I think out loud as I bring up my sister’s contact. I’m bummed about not going to our own place, but hers is big enough that hopefully we won’t all be right on top of each other.

“I’ll see if Ian can bring the dogs over,” she murmurs back, clearly a little somber herself at the turn of events.

“Hey, are you back?” my sister demands when she picks up after only a couple of rings.

“Yeah, but we’ve run into a problem,” I breathe out. “Apparently people have found out where we live.”

“Well, you can head over here and use one of the guest rooms. You know that,” she assures me, but there’s a certain hesitation hanging onto the end of that sentence, and it makes my brows stitch together.

“You sure? Sounds like you’ve got more to say there.”

“No, it’s all good, of course, it’s just… be prepared for company when you get here. Dad’s here. And so are Mayzie’s parents.”

I feel my brows go up as I look at Mayzie who’s put her phone away and is looking at me patiently. “Your parents are at my sister’s place,” I say, moving my mouth slightly away from the mouth piece to fill her in, and her expression matches mine.

“They aren’t staying over or anything, we’ve just been…” I can picture her raising one shoulder and moving her head side to side as she tries to explain. “Getting to know each other,” she finally finishes.

I wrap up with my sister, and when I disconnect, I let out a long whoosh of a breath.

“Well, this will be interesting.” Mayzie inhales through clenched teeth with her eyebrows raised, and I nod dubiously along with her in agreement. “Well… your dad is nice and level headed, ” she points out. “Maybe he’s talked mine down a bit, and maybe Sarah and my mom have made friends. I mean, if they’re all over there…” she rambles nervously, twisting her hands in her lap.

“It will be what it will be, sweetheart,” I try to soothe while being frank at the same time. “They will all come around eventually. It just may take more time with our family than it usually does with others.”

“Hmmm…” she hums as a warm smile lifts her cheeks.

“What?”

“I like how you said our family.”

I feel a small breath escape as I consider that. I didn’t even realize I’d said it, but I definitely like the sound of it. It kind of makes this fairytale of ours more real – in the best of ways.

After rolling up to Sarah and Mike’s, we’re greeted warmly, and several pizza boxes are stacked on the counter of the main kitchen. Mayzie’s dad only looks like he wants to kill me half as much as he did the other time we’ve met. Beers and plates are passed around, and the room is filled with several subjects of chatter floating around. Some of it is stern despondency of what Mayzie and I have gotten into, getting married after not dating long. From there it bounces to encouragement and well wishing, to questions about the tour. It’s actually pretty fucking perfect. Just because every topic of conversation isn’t jovial, doesn’t mean it’s not quality family time. I know Mayzie’s dad, Jeff, is reluctant to see it that way, but he doesn’t even realize that it’s happening.

The next few days, we enjoy Sarah and Mike’s company, but for the most part, stick to the guest room, or snuggle in the smaller living room with the dogs. Alone time is just not something we get much of on the road, and while we don’t want to be rude, we want t o soak up as much as we can before the madness resumes. This means a lot of time in the bedroom, of course, but also spending time on the couch and zoning out to movies, napping, or just sitting quietly while she writes and I work on songs.

And even though we’re not at our house, oddly, it feels like home. When I bring it up, Mayzie says she’s feeling the same way. At first, she was bummed about not being at our house, but she feels over it now, and that just being together is enough. It’s like we’re home to each other.

And I’ve noticed something different about Mayzie when she’s writing. Right now, as we’re having a quiet afternoon in the living room, she doesn’t have the frustrated look of concentration she normally does when she’s copywriting. She looks relaxed, yet her fingers are typing on her laptop with rapid fire.

“What are you working on?” I ask, setting down my guitar. She looks up from her screen, sitting curled up on the end of the couch. She’s in a fuzzy grey sweater with black leggings underneath. We’ve never been together in the winter, and I think she looks beautiful like this.

“Uh, I’ve been keeping a journal during this whole thing, with the band finally getting discovered, this new life, being on the road… Now I’m throwing it together in sort of an article. I’m hoping it gets some good attention, and maybe it can be a blog, or even… a book? Maybe… I don’t know.” She shrugs, giving me a coy smile.

“Really?” I ask, and she nods. “Baby, that’s incredible.”I get excited at this possibility.

Something needs to happen for her. So far in our marriage, the focus has been completely on me and the band’s success. I want there to be more give and take, supporting each other, not just her supporting me. I want us both to have success and that sense of pride that comes with your accomplishments. I get up and walk over to her as she pulls the computer off her lap and sets it on the coffee table.She stretches out, welcoming me to lie down on top of her. “Seriously, I think that’s amazing,” I say, g iving her a kiss.

“Thank you,” she says quietly. She’s so happy and at ease right now, and I hate to say it, but I can’t wait for this tour to be completely over so we can have more of this.“I’ll do anything I can to help with that.”

“What do you think you’re going to call it?”

“I was thinking, Rock Life as a Rock Wife,” she answers. “Rock Life has kind of a double meaning, you know?”

“That’s perfect,” I say, shaking my head in amazement. Seriously, I’m amazed. She amazes me every day.

Mayzie

I’m laughing my ass off, my body is charged and glowing with endorphins as Annie and I bust our way through MMMBop. We’re completely unsupervised at Dance It Out, letting our bodies do what they will to the poppy beat. All the tension from the tour is finally being released from my body, dissipating like particles in the air around me.

“Shit, I’ve got to get going,” she mutters breathlessly as she looks at the clock. “I have to get out to Mason, and there’s supposed to be more snow coming,” she reports, opening her arms for a goodbye hug. I close in and snuggle her as we will probably be back on tour before she comes back from spending the holidays with her family.

“Drive safe.”

“You’ll be okay?” she asks, backing away towards her bag.

“Yeah, Jack will be back to pick me up soon,” I nod. “I’m just going to have a nice little cool down.”

“Okay,” she winks, slinging her bag on her shoulder before exiting the studio.

After taking a slug of my water, I switch my music over to some rock ballads and return to the center of the studio to fall into a slower pace, easing myself back down. I move around the room in sweeps and glides, jumping slightly when Jack pushes the studio door open. His phone in his hand, he struts in with a sneaky smile on his face.

“Good phone call?” I ask, standing.

“I talked to George and he pulled a few strings. The dogs are coming with us when we go back on tour.”

“Stop it!” I say, crossing my arms in disbelief.

“We have two bunks on our bus that aren’t being used, and if it comes down to it, he and Erin have plenty of room on theirs, and they’re good with it. George spoke to the tour managers, so it’s a go.”

“Oh my gosh, that is so amazing!” I clasp my hands together in excitement. I can’t believe he did this. “Oh, that is going to make that last month so much easier.”

“I know. I can’t wait either.” He pockets his phone as he nods and looks around the studio, for what, I don’t know.

“You okay?” I ask, tilting my head and taking a couple steps in his direction.

“Yeah,” he nods, but the look in his eyes is a far-off one. “I just thought of something…” he trails off in a murmur before walking over to the light switch on the wall, lowering the lights to a dim glow.

“What are you up to?” I say, playing coy and trying to keep the tremble out of my voice.

“I never gave you a first dance.” He quirks a serious eyebrow at me as he struts over to where my phone rests atop one of the speakers.

“Baby, it’s okay. It’s not like we had a reception to do that at.”

“No excuse,” he says, scrolling through my music app until I see a hint of approval relax his features. The opening chords of All That You Are drift through the studio, and I feel that spot deep inside my chest grow warm. I love that this is the part of him that I get. His fans see him go nuts on stage, but I get to see how romantic he can be. I stand there like a giddy teenager as he slowly paces towards me, the look of all things sensual romance in his eyes, and I drop my head back in a giggle when he gives me the Johnny Castle finger crook. His strong, calloused hands glide down my arms before taking hold of my wrists, to wrap behind his neck.

“I’m sorry, baby, but I never learned anything other than the junior high sway and shuffle,” he says, wrapping his arms around me.

“That’s all I need,” I say, putting my arms around his neck and resting my head on his chest, letting him sway us back and forth, getting lost in the beautiful moment of our first dance.We keep holding each other and moving as the song turns into another slow one, and Jack gets experimental with some turns and dips.When a more upbeat song comes on, we start to let loose and play. He chases me while I dance around him, and I show him a couple of lifts and turns. Christmas is around the corner, and I couldn’t ask for a better gift than tonight, than this time.