Revived

By Christine Michelle

Gabriel “Gabe North” Northman

I left the woman I thought was the love of my life behind for my career. I had every intention of going back for her only to return to see her with someone else, raising a family. I vowed I’d never let another person into my heart after that.
Not until I discovered part of that family, she had been raising was mine. Eighteen years later, a successful music career behind me, more music still ahead and I found out I had a son. Then I almost lost him, and the angel who swooped in to save the day made me rethink my vow never to let another person in again. Maybe finding my son had softened my heart. Maybe nearly losing him taught me life was short. Either way, I knew one thing. I was going to make my angel sing for only me.

Mel:

Bitter.
Divorced.
Swore off men, because they all suck.
Struck stupid by a celebrity who liked to flirt.
Guarding my heart against the impending doom I can see coming
Some of that was a lie. I forgot to guard my heart. I never was very good at self-preservation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moonlit Dreams Publications
• Release date: Dec 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005387372

Book preview

COPYRIGHT

Moonlit Dreams Publications

www.moonlitdreams.org

Copyright © 2020 Christine M. Butler writing as Christine Michelle

Scanning, uploading, copying, and/or any distribution of this book, either electronically or otherwise without express written permission from the copyright holder, is illegal and punishable by law.

Small quotes and snippets (of less than two paragraphs) may be used for review purposes only where they do not contain information that would spoil the book for potential readers.

Help support authors you love by only purchasing legitimate copies of their work through trusted sources. Trusted source links and updated pricing can be found on the publisher’s website at

https://www.moonlitdreams.org/

Any similarities to persons, organizations, or places written about within these pages is purely coincidental, as this is a work of fiction.

Cover Design: Christine Michelle with images licensed via Adobe Stock.

Smashwords Edition

DEDICATION

For all the readers out there, who wanted an older couple to be thrown into a badass world.

Here you are.

Older rockers with messy, adult problems like the rest of us have. I hope you enjoy this one and come back for more with Wen, John, Tim, and Alex’s stories too.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Revived is a slow burn romance. If you’re looking for a quick and dirty read, this one won’t be for you. If you’re looking for a little more substance, to see an older couple work through baggage and blending a family that was already on rocky footing, and you’re willing to stick it out until they all find a little happy… then start reading.

Revived starts off with Gabe’s story, but you’ve probably seen some elements of Chapter two previously (although from another character’s perspective) if you read The Infinite Something in the TIE Series.

You’ll see a little bit of that interaction in this book as well, but the majority of that scene will take place in Chevy’s own, self-titled book that is still to come. It will be the first in the Chasing Cars Series that revolves around Chevy, his three siblings, and their mom, Kendra. I can’t wait to bring those stories to you, but for now, enjoy another glimpse of that interaction as well as the rest of Gabe’s book.

Revived is a love story on multiple fronts. It’s about the love a man for a woman, sure! This is romance, after all. But it’s also very much about a father and son, lost love, and new relationships in various forms. I hope you enjoy this trip into slightly older rock star territory and the complications that lifestyle, and being older, can bring with it.

XO,

Christine Michelle

ABOUT THE BOOK

Gabe

I left the woman I thought was the love of my life behind for my career. I had every intention of going back for her only to return to see her with someone else, raising a family. I vowed I’d never let another person into my heart after that.

Not until I discovered part of that family, she had been raising was mine. Eighteen years later, a successful music career behind me, more music still ahead and I found out I had a son. Then I almost lost him, and the angel who swooped in to save the day made me rethink my vow never to let another person in again. Maybe finding my son had softened my heart. Maybe nearly losing him taught me life was short. Either way, I knew one thing. I was going to make my angel sing for only me.

Mel

✓Bitter.

✓Divorced.

✓Swore off men, because they all suck.

✓Struck stupid by a celebrity who liked to flirt.

✓Guarding my heart against the impending doom I can see coming

Some of that was a lie. I forgot to guard my heart. I never was very good at self-preservation.

PROLOGUE

Kendra Kendrick was my future. I knew it as sure as I knew that I’d been born to play guitar, write songs, and sing my ass off. She would understand why I had to go, and would have encouraged me, if I’d had the time to talk to her first. I sat there playing my guitar on the flight that would take me out of her life for a little while. I just hoped that she knew I’d be right back on another one once the ink was dry on the contracts.

How’s the writing coming, son?

Flyin’ Away, I said to my new manager. He didn’t seem convinced until I started playing him the song that I’d been toying with since I was swept up and away from Kendra. It started off with a smooth, easy melody and I could see the doubt on his face since I was just signed to become the next best thing in rock-n-roll. I grinned just before the melody dropped off and the chorus picked up with a single line as I made Betty Lou sing right along with me as I wailed out the rest. Betty Lou was my guitar, and the reason I’d been signed. I could make her sing notes in such a way that people could have sworn a person was behind the sound instead of a guitar. It was a specialty of mine taught to me by the uncle that had left Betty Lou in my lap as a young, impressionable eight-year-old. That particular uncle hadn’t stuck around too long, but he was there just long enough to give me the gift of music. That’s all I needed.

Ten years later, this chance was all I needed, and once we got these tracks down, I’d be able to go back for Kendra so we could live out that happily ever after that we’d been dreaming about. Her family said I was from the wrong side of the tracks according to her family, but I was going to do right by my woman. This was my chance. It was also the only way I’d ever be able to prove that I was enough for her.

At least that’s what I thought at the time, which I guess, is why they say hindsight is a bitch. Turns out, it was all a colossal fucking mistake.

1 – A SON

19 years later

My mom was gone, and I was still trying to wrap my head around that when I got back to my hometown near Atlanta, Georgia. What the hell was I supposed to do with this news? It wasn’t like she was ever the super supportive motherly type. She made sure I lived through my childhood and not much else. Still, I felt the need to come back and see to everything myself. It wasn’t even that it was expected of me. I’d managed to keep my mother out of the limelight once my career took off. That happened only by paying her off so that she would stay in the shadows and keep my pathetic life story from gaining any unwanted attention. Most of the people in my life knew about the relationship we had, so no one truly expected me to be here to bury her. Still, I strived to be a better person.

My manager was one of those snakes who was more a cautionary tale of how not to live one’s life. He was no better than the barely present mother I’d had and was pissed that any time was shaved off my schedule to see the last piece of my family on this Earth. That was the reason I was here. Ultimately, I needed to prove to myself that life hadn’t tainted me so much that my humanity was gone down the drain along with everyone else’s.

Fuck.

My stomach twisted just knowing that this was the town where my heart had been broken, the love of my life lost, and now the town where I was about to bury my mother. I wondered if I’d see her, if she had a family now, if she was happy. Maybe she would hate me. I left her messages, but she moved on so quickly from me that it didn’t seem like those messages would have mattered whether she got them or not. For years, I had debated on whether or not it was a good idea to try to contact her again. I even went so far as to hire a private investigator. Couldn’t ever bring myself to read the file though. I didn’t want to be tortured with the knowledge that she was happily with another man.

Kendra Kendrick was on my mind more than my dead mother. That said something. She had been my first love. My first damn everything. Then I took off for Los Angeles to score my big record deal, and when I returned, she had already moved on. My heart though--, it never had moved past that first love or the betrayal that stung so hard.

With all that turmoil still rolling around in my head nineteen goddamn years later, you could probably imagine my surprise when none other than Kendra Kendrick was standing there in front of my mother’s grave when I showed up to pay my last respects. Her blond hair lifted at the tips as the wind kissed it ever so gently. She was still a tiny thing, only a couple inches above five feet, and while she had been graced with more womanly curves, she was still slender and fit too. It was like God had decided to further perfect the epitome of perfection. When she turned away after placing flowers on my mother’s grave, her eyes widened immediately in surprise.

Gabe?

None other. My voice sounded a whole lot surer of myself than I felt.

Her hand rose to her lips, as if feeling the ghost of my kiss there from so long ago. Then her breath caught in a little hiccup before she dropped her eyes, bowed her head, and sighed deeply. The weight of the world was in that sigh.

What are you doing here? I asked, effectively bringing her attention back up to me.

I could ask you the same. Thought you were never coming back after you ran off to LA without a word, she said quietly, though each word was laced with a touch of venom.

Without a word? I laughed, but there was no humor to be found in the stilted noise. Sweetheart, I left word that I’d be back in a couple of weeks. Hell, I was back – for you – and guess what I found? Kendra didn’t bother answering, she just slid a puzzled expression my way. Found out you were on a date. Moved on already. Came back a few months later and saw you with the same man rubbing your full belly.

She made a tisking sound and that didn’t quite match the horrified look on her face. You expect me to believe that you never got my messages? That you were here, and you never spoke to me? You just saw me with some guy and assumed things?

"I didn’t assume, sweetheart. Your father told me. She told me," I shoved an accusatory finger toward my mother’s grave as I spoke.

They lied to you then, just like your piece of shit manager must have. She shook her head. I thought you just didn’t care. All this time, her head bowed again, only this time her shoulders began to shake. They really must have hated the thought of us together, huh?

What are you talking about?

That boy you said that you saw me with? Yes, my parents tried to set me up with him. I explained to him that I was waiting on you and he was okay with playing pretend so that my parents wouldn’t suspect anything. My father told me that he hooked you up with a record deal to get you out of town, and that you took it and ran. I never believed you would take it without coming back for me though.

I told you, I did come back. Twice.

Yeah, but you didn’t talk to me. I really needed you to talk to me. That swollen belly you saw me with? Tears ran unchecked down her face. I didn’t say anything. Guess you didn’t bother to think about the math on how far along I might be, and when you left, huh?

I stepped back, completely flabbergasted. Are you trying to tell me you were carrying my kid?

She nodded her head. That’s exactly what I’m saying. She glanced back at my mother’s grave. Makes me want to rip those flowers right back out of the ground. I told her. She even met him when he was a baby, but she told me it was too hard to be involved when it’s not what you wanted.

Are you serious?

She knew. I have a picture of her holding him. She reached into her pocket and pulled the picture out. I guess she had brought it as some sort of memory to share at the graveside of the woman so vile that she kept my own son from me.

I held the picture, my mother holding a little baby swaddled in a blue blanket with tiny little guitars all over it. My stomach rolled and it felt as though the Earth was spinning out from underneath me. I crouched down, tucking my head as close to my knees as I could get, before looking back up at the woman who just rocked my entire fucking world off its axis. You mean to tell me that I’m a father to a kid I never knew about? How the hell does something like that happen?

She sighed again, shrugged her shoulders and came over to sit in front of me on the grass blanketing another poor soul’s grave. I tried, she said, just above a whisper. I told your mom. I even snooped through my dad’s stuff and finally found the name of your manager. I sent him a message. He was none too kind in his response about gold digging whores, paternity tests, and the like. When I explained I had no trouble with you taking a paternity test, but that I had my own money and didn’t need anything from you except for you to know, he told me that you didn’t want a kid or a woman holding you back from the big time. Said he passed along the word, and that’s what you had for him.

You believed I’d ever say something like that?

I never believed you’d leave without me. We had a plan, and then one day you weren’t there anymore. She cocked her head to the side, using the tree just behind me to keep the sun from blinding her as she studied me. Her blond hair, slightly curly now, seemed to glow with a halo effect from the sun’s rays that snuck around the tree’s edges and lit her hair with golden fire. It was a sight to see as I answered her with the only words that rang true in that moment.

Fair enough, I guess, but Kendra, I was always coming back for you.

Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have let my parents, or some stupid boy they forced on me, push you away then. She glared at me a moment. He was gay by the way. That’s why it didn’t bother him that I was in love with someone else and waiting for him. Waiting for you.

We sat in silence, both of us absorbing the cluster fuck our younger selves had made of our lives. Ken, I called to her and her eyes shifted toward me. The tears pooling in those same sapphire blue eyes I used to be unable to look away from would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Yeah?

We have a kid together? I still couldn’t wrap my head around that shit.

We do.

Does he know about me? Does he think…

She was shaking her head vehemently before I could finish. I told him he would have to wait until he turned 18, and that it was for his own good. That’s all I’ve ever told him.

Because you thought I’d reject him?

She shrugged. I hoped you wouldn’t, but in all honesty, everyone in your life told me that was exactly what you had done.

I glared over at the plot where my mother had been laid to rest. My fist clenched and my teeth gnashed together, mind in a red haze, I tried to process the betrayal. Then the knowledge that I missed out on my son’s entire childhood kicked in. Then the tears started, and I sobbed, right there in the middle of the cemetery. Not one tear was for the mother I’d lost. It was all for the baby, the toddler, the boy, and the teenager that I’d never get to know. He was a damn adult now, had to be.

When I was finally able to pull myself together, Kendra was rubbing soothing circles on my back. I hadn’t even realized she had moved until then. I’m so sorry, Gabe. I didn’t realize. I would have tried harder if I’d…

Don’t. This was a fuck up we all had a part in, and the two of us were played for the fools we were back then. I’d like to meet him though.

Of course, she said softly. I’d like to be able to prepare him for that meeting first. Kendra hesitated in whatever it was she seemed to want to say. This is going to be big for him. I realize it will for you too, but he’s my son. I don’t want him blindly walking into something so life-altering.

Kendra, you don’t have to explain. I get it.

So, how do you want to do this? Give me your phone number, or do you want to just arrange to meet at a certain place and time? I, um, Kendra glanced back over at the patch of newly-lain sod over the spot where my mother was buried. Maybe it can wait a while. This isn’t the best timing.

Wait a while? She flinched at my harsh tone. Her reaction reminded me that none of this was her fault, that other people had stepped in and created this mess for us. I think 18 years is plenty of waiting, and I’m certainly not waiting longer for someone who hid him from me all this time. Fuck her!

She was your mom.

She was barely that, even before I found out that she kept my child a secret all this time. I turned my back on her grave. I spoke to her once a month, like clockwork. At first, I was checking to make sure she’d be okay with me gone. Then it was to make sure she got her hush money and didn’t attempt to make up sob stories to sell to the press. Once a month for nineteen years, and not once did she ever mention him to me.

What a mess our parents made for us, huh? Didn’t matter which side of town we lived in. They both messed up equally.

You still talk to yours?

Kendra offered up a distant look. My parents were gone before Chevy turned a year old.

"Chevy?

That’s his name, she told me as a sweet smile bloomed on her face bringing with it a blush that reddened her cheeks.

You didn’t, I laughed out loud, the sound ragged and ravaged by the crying I’d just done.

Her shoulders rocked up and down. You loved that car. I figured, she stopped and sighed. I don’t know, I gave him a piece of you that I wasn’t sure he would ever have otherwise. I chuckled at the thought that this woman, who I had been so in love with, had raised my son all alone for nineteen years and she named him after my prized possession back then. A goddamn, shit-condition, Chevy Camaro.

Chevy though?

Would you rather a son named Camaro?

No, I laughed. I guess not. I thought about it a moment and then without thinking, I tested my son’s name on my lips. Chevy Northman. It was only a whisper, but Kendra’s gasp shifted my attention quickly. The sadness in her eyes was palpable.

It’s Chevy Kendrick.

You named him after my car, but wouldn’t give him my last name?

You weren’t there, and your mom, um…

Spit it out, Ken.

They required the father sign off on the birth certificate, or that I had a DNA test done previously, in order to put your name on the birth certificate. He could change it, she mentioned, but then dashed my hopes all over again. Only if he wanted to, though.

I took a moment to breathe in and blow the frustration I was feeling back out. None of this was her fault. If I hadn’t taken that stupid opportunity her father taunted me with, then I would have been around for my kid. My dreams of becoming a famous musician would have probably died, but there was a part of me – most of me – that knew that was the far better option. Fame wasn’t everything I had always dreamed of. It was actually a damn lonely existence. You know what? I finally managed to say. Her eyes were misted over again with unshed tears as I came to terms with the reality I was now facing. It’s probably for the best. This way the press had no reason to come snooping into his life and turning everything into a circus.

Yeah, she replied with a weak smile, taking my words for what they were. You should know, she said as I watched her fidget and wring her hands together nervously. That was odd, because Kendra – the girl I once knew – never got nervous. He’s a musician too.

I couldn’t contain the grin that spread across my face even if I wanted to. Yeah? Does he play an instrument?

Several. Actually, he can pick up anything and play it. He’s a musical genius, but he favors the guitar and sings too.

Does he write? I asked as pride filled me to the fucking brim inside to know that my son was following in my footsteps even though I wasn’t around to influence him.

He does. Gabe, I don’t know how he’s going to take this news.

Dread filled me with her words, pushing back the pride that had filled me up moments ago. Why is that?

Kendra chewed on her full bottom lip before looking me in the eye again and giving me a sheepish grin. He’s a huge fan, she explained. I didn’t tell him about you, but I always made sure he had you in his life. I played your music for him all the time, and…

I didn’t need to hear anything else. She had done right by me and by my son with what she was given, and I couldn’t thank her enough for that. I leaned over and picked her up into my arms, wrapping her in a hug that was probably a tad too tight. Thank you for being there for him, and for giving him that part of me.

You wanna put my woman down and move the fuck back? A giant of a man growled down at me as he moved from behind a tree nearby. I’m sure he wasn’t simply lurking there. He just happened to walk up from that direction. It was then, when I glanced past him, that I saw the motorcycle I’d passed when I came in. He had been sitting on it alone then. Apparently, he’d been giving Kendra time to come pay her last respects to a woman who never deserved them. I gently set Kendra back down on the grass beside me.

It’s not like that, she quickly explained to her man while rolling her eyes at him. He just got excited when I told him about Chevy and his music.

Yeah? The man asked. He must have stood about six feet, three inches tall but was built like he owned his own gym. Long, dark brown hair fell down his back in a tight braid and there was a braided beard hanging to mid-chest to match. The man looked every bit the badass he was trying to show me he was. Where the fuck was he when Chev was first learning any of it? His nearly black eyes were narrowed on me with menace dripping from every fucking pore. He was obviously a biker. If the Harley hadn’t clued me in, the leather vest shit he was wearing sure did. He was a member of a motorcycle club. Suddenly, I was a little more concerned about what kind of life my son had been living. I shook it off as Kendra corrected him.

He didn’t know.

What? The man asked. The disbelief was loud and clear in that one word.

She lied, Kendra told him while pointing to my mother’s grave. "The manager lied. My parents lied to him when he came back for me. It’s a big mess, Josh, and Chevy is the one who

Reviews for Revived

[rkaye · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Gabe was too much of a loser for me to like or take seriously. Mel should have gone with her gut and flicked him off to find a good, decent man.

[Sharon Moehlmann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After a series of events of miscommunication and not owning up to doing things better, those past mistakes almost take away something bigger and better. Reviving each other is what Mel & Gabe end up doing. A must read. And can’t wait to read more.