Right Reasons: Timing is Everything Series, #3

By Lexy Timms

SOMETIMES WE DO THE WRONG THING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS…

 

Sam
With the secret of his child from an ex-girlfriend finally out, Sam feels like things are going to fall into place soon. Rae gets it and doesn't hate him for hiding it.

Now, if he can only get through one last show before the band implodes. Everyone's tired, everyone's dealing with their own issues, and Sam is being bugged about a burgeoning solo career by his well-meaning, but pitbull-like manager.

 

When things don't seem to settle with Rae's past like he thought they had, their relationship—even their safety—is in danger.

 

Can Sam keep Rae and Owen protected and keep his band together long enough for one last hurrah?

 

Rae

Rae thought she was going to be okay as Sam left to do one last show. Then she saw Trevor.

 

With Trevor stalking her and her new rekindled relationship with Sam delicately being held together, Rae is caught between trying to keep herself safe and not blowing everything.

 

A road trip fraught with danger and a whirlwind of new and endearing acquaintances await her, along with the promise of a dream life, but will it all be dashed by the ghost of her worst mistake?

 

Timing is Everything Series

• Right Time
• Right Place
• Right Reasons

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dark Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Mar 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201630522

Lexy Timms

"Love should be something that lasts forever, not is lost forever."  Visit USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, LEXY TIMMS https://www.facebook.com/SavingForever *Please feel free to connect with me and share your comments. I love connecting with my readers.* Sign up for news and updates and freebies - I like spoiling my readers! http://eepurl.com/9i0vD website: www.lexytimms.com Dealing in Antique Jewelry and hanging out with her awesome hubby and three kids, Lexy Timms loves writing in her free time.  MANAGING THE BOSSES is a bestselling 10-part series dipping into the lives of Alex Reid and Jamie Connors. Can a secretary really fall for her billionaire boss?

Book preview

Timing is Everything Series

A picture containing text, book, blackboard Description automatically generated

Right Time

Right Place

Right Reasons

Find Lexy Timms:

Lexy Timms Logo black aqua

LEXY TIMMS NEWSLETTER:

https://www.lexytimms.com/newsletter

Lexy Timms Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/LexyTimmsAuthor

Lexy Timms Website:

http://www.lexytimms.com

The Boss Box Set BOOKBUB Small1

Want to read more...

For FREE?

Sign up for Lexy Timms’ newsletter

And she’ll send you updates on new releases, ARC copies of books and a whole lotta fun!

Sign up for news and updates!

https://www.lexytimms.com/newsletter

Right Reasons Blurb

A person and person kissing Description automatically generated with low confidence

SOMETIMES WE DO THE WRONG THING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS...

Sam

With the secret of his child from an ex-girlfriend finally out, Sam feels like things are going to fall into place soon. Rae gets it and doesn’t hate him for hiding it.

Now, if he can only get through one last show before the band implodes. Everyone’s tired, everyone’s dealing with their own issues, and Sam is being bugged about a burgeoning solo career by his well-meaning, but pitbull-like manager.

When things don’t seem to settle with Rae’s past like he thought they had, their relationship—even their safety—is in danger.

Can Sam keep Rae and Owen protected and keep his band together long enough for one last hurrah?

Rae

Rae thought she was going to be okay as Sam left to do one last show. Then she saw Trevor.

With Trevor stalking her and her new rekindled relationship with Sam delicately being held together, Rae is caught between trying to keep herself safe and not blowing everything.

A road trip fraught with danger and a whirlwind of new and endearing acquaintances await her, along with the promise of a dream life, but will it all be dashed by the ghost of her worst mistake?

Text Description automatically generated

Contents

Timing is Everything Series

Find Lexy Timms:

Right Reasons Blurb

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Epilogue

Timing is Everything Series

Find Lexy Timms:

FREE READS?

More by Lexy Timms:

A person and person kissing Description automatically generated with medium confidence

Chapter One

Rae

I HAD TO HAVE BEEN seeing things. I was so upset, so sad, and with adrenaline dumping out of my system from being so mad and then finding out that I was wrong to be so that my brain just jumped onto the next crazy thing and cemented it as real so I could regain some of that energy I had when I showed up at the bus.

That had to be it.

If I kept telling myself that over and over, I might be able to make it true.

As it was, I was desperately trying to get air into my lungs as I slammed the door of my car shut and hit the power lock. I jammed the key in the ignition and turned the car on, revving to life on the side street and pulling out, desperate to get anywhere but there. I just needed to make sure I wasn’t being followed.

I drove a few blocks and pulled into a parking lot, turning the car around so I could see the one entrance and exit and watch for anyone coming in.

Amy. I needed to call Amy. I yanked the phone out of my pocket and pulled up her contact quickly, hitting the call button and putting the phone on the cradle on the windshield as the ringing sound came through the speakers in the car.

Rae? Amy’s voice filled the cabin, and the relief of hearing it instantly made tears well up and fall down my cheeks.

Amy, thank goodness.

Rae? What’s wrong?

I... I don’t know, I said. It sounds so stupid.

What? What happened? Rae, where are you? Are you safe?

I’m fine, I said. I’m in the parking lot where the McDonald’s used to be. But that’s the thing. I thought I was being followed. Amy, I thought I saw Trevor.

You saw Trevor? Where?

Near the bus where Sam was leaving town. I came to confront him about everything, and I just...

Slow down, Amy said. Are you sure you’re safe? Do you need me to come to you?

No. My hands were still shaking, but I felt like I was getting better control of my faculties. I think I can drive to you. Can you just stay on the line though, while I drive?

Sure. Just keep telling me what happened. You were going to confront Sam...

I recounted everything that happened between us as I drove back to our apartments, and when I parked the car, she was standing outside of her door waiting on me. I shut the phone off and stuffed it in my pocket as I walked somewhat sheepishly over. I was embarrassed at how scared I had been, but Amy was holding out her arms and took me in for a hug as soon as I got to her, pulling me inside and shutting the door behind me.

I’m sorry, I said. I just got so freaked-out. I didn’t mean to wake you up.

It’s fine, she said. Really. I passed out on the couch watching TV and needed to get up and get this makeup off anyway.

She smiled, and I felt my heart tug at how great she was. I could always depend on Amy, both to jump to my defense or to make me smile.

Well, I appreciate it, I said, flopping down on the couch. I’ve just been so upset all day, it seems like.

Girl, I feel you. I’m missing Terry something fierce right now.

So, is that official? I asked. You two being back together?

Oh yeah, she said, grinning. She sat down in the easy chair and curled up so one leg was under her and the other curled into her chest upright with her arms sitting on top of her knee. It was a position she sat in anytime she wanted to gossip.

Yeah?

She nodded, biting her bottom lip and grinning madly.

He asked me if I wanted to try again, and I said I would, but under one condition: if I could stay in Santa Rosa. I have a life here and a career, and you and I don’t want to give all that up and fly all over hell and back with him on the off chance it might work. It didn’t work the last time we tried that, and I didn’t want to do it again.

And he agreed to that? I asked.

She nodded again.

Not only agreed but said he wanted the same thing, at least for a little while. To get off the road and stay here with me, she said. We are going to figure all the logistics out when he gets back from LA.

Sam and I pretty much did the same thing, I said, a short laugh bubbling up for the first time since the terror of seeing Trevor. Or thinking I saw Trevor.

I was going to ask.

Well, I mean, it’s pretty much the same in that we are going to wait and see what happens after LA. I don’t really relish the idea of going on the road either. It was so nice, Amy. It really felt like something was different. Something that really meant something for our future was happening. And then I thought I saw Trevor.

Amy shook her head.

It doesn’t make sense, she said. You said you were sure you saw him? Like, a hundred percent positive?

No, I said. I can’t say that. I can’t even say I saw a real person. I was just so freaked-out, Amy, I don’t know what I saw.

Maybe it was nothing, she said. I’d think that was more likely, actually. Trevor freaked you out with those dumb text messages, but clearly, he knows almost nothing since Sam explained all that to you. He’s just a sociopath who wants to make sure he has some control in your life, even if he isn’t in it on an everyday basis. Don’t give him the satisfaction.

I just don’t want everything to get ruined. I jumped to conclusions so fast about Sam. What if I jump to conclusions here too? I don’t know what to do.

Why don’t we look him up? Amy asked.

Trevor?

Yeah. Why not? Have you looked him up in a while on social media?

No, I said. I blocked him. I didn’t want to see his stupid face.

Well, you might have blocked him, but I didn’t. I was never his friend online anyway. Let me look him up, she said.

Amy reached beside her chair and pulled out the trusty laptop she often used at the store. It was tiny and white and covered in stickers that she seemingly collected at random. Hello Kitty was next to a death metal band, which was overlayed on top of Homer Simpson. I gave up trying to understand it long ago and just marveled at how the screen could continue to stand up straight with that many layered stickers on the back.

I don’t know if he has any social media, I said. The last I recall, he said Facebook was for old people and Instagram was for whores.

Lovely, Amy said. Charming man you hitched up with for a while there.

Tell me about it.

Let’s see, she said, there are a few people with his name, but if I localize it... here we go. That’s him.

She turned the laptop so I could see it. Sure enough, a picture of Trevor, sitting against his precious Ferrari and flashing a smile I once found attractive, was in the profile.

That’s him, I said. When was his last post?

She turned the laptop back around to her and scrolled for a moment.

I don’t know, actually, she said. He hasn’t posted in a hot minute. His friends, on the other hand...

What do you mean?

Well, it looks like his buddies have been reaching out to find him, and no one has heard from him in months. There’s this one guy, Chad, who is making a public plea to anyone who knows where he is. Apparently, he took off with Chad’s car. Weird—I would think he would call the police.

Over a car? No way, I said. Not if they thought they knew who did it. And it was one of ‘them.’ They wouldn’t want the shame of being seen making a police report.

Well, then this is awfully strange, she said, turning the laptop back around to me.

I read it a couple of times, trying to process what I was seeing.

Why would someone be asking Trevor if he needed a place to stay still? I asked.

Right? Amy said. His family is loaded. He is loaded. Why would he need anyone to stay with?

Look up his parents, I said suddenly.

Amy turned it back to her and typed quickly.

Nothing on here, she said.

Try just googling them.

She nodded and typed some more, and then her eyes went wide, and she stopped cold.

Holy shit, she said. "Holy shit."

What? What did you find out?

His dad, she said. He was convicted of embezzlement. Like, big-time. Sentenced to three to six years in prison.

Holy shit.

That’s what I said, Amy laughed.

His mother might have had a heart attack right then, I said. She was such a strict woman. She wouldn’t be able to bear the humiliation.

I’d put money on her having left the country, Amy said. A woman like that would know how to survive.

This explains so much. His disappearance would be because he might be on the run. Trevor’s father was grooming him to take over the business. What if Trevor is wanted by the feds?

But why would he show up and bother anyone here? Amy asked. It doesn’t make any sense. If he’s got so much on his plate with the feds, I would think his ex-girlfriend from a few years ago would be the last thing on his mind.

You don’t understand, I said. I was a very hard sell for his mother. I was from the Shacks. He worked on her for a while. Us being together was supposed to be his Pygmalion. He was ‘rescuing’ me from the dregs of society and bringing me into wealth and opulence. His mother got infatuated with the idea and thought it gave her son some direction and patted him on the back about it all the time.

In front of you? Amy asked, horrified.

Yes, I said. I told you he was horrible to me in ways that seemed nice. That was one of them. He would take me out and talk constantly about how much money things cost and how it was nothing to him to spend it, and how it must be crazy for me to see that much money being spent on something silly like dinner.

Ugh, she said, closing her laptop. Look, I don’t think you should be alone tonight, and frankly, I don’t want to be alone either. Why don’t you stay here tonight with me. Like old times.

I nodded, the warm feeling in my heart overriding the fear and shock of the evening a little.

I would love that, I said. I should go back over to my place and get some pajamas and my toothbrush.

No need, she said. You still have clothes in my closet, and I have a pack of unopened toothbrushes in my medicine cabinet. Not that any of that matters. She stood up and stretched. Because right now, the only thing in the world that I want is a giant bowl of ice cream and some dumbass TV.

I could go for that myself, I said.

Slowly, I began to relax as we ate far too much chocolate and eventually passed out in the living room, the flashing of the television marathoning a series about aliens building the pyramids the only light in the room.

Chapter Two

Sam

SITTING BACK AND CLOSING my eyes as the bus drove away from Rae was one of the hardest things I had ever done, but it was the only thing I could do. She couldn’t just throw everything away and jump on with me, and I couldn’t miss what was probably going to be the last performance of Hyde Street Sound. If I watched her as we drove away, I would have likely told the driver to stop so I could run out dramatically and wrap her up one more time.

Then I would repeat that process until the sun rose.

No, it was better this way. Just closing my eyes, lying back in the seat, and letting the rocking of the bus and the dim blue lights that ran along the cabin lull me into a calm. If I counted to a hundred slowly, by the time I opened them, I would be so far away that it would be real. I would be on the road to LA.

I exhaled slowly as my mind ticked the numbers away. I tried not to let the sound of the bus stopping at a light stop me or make me itch to open my eyes. I needed to stay focused.

When I hit a hundred, I opened my eyes and looked out of the window. The entrance ramp for the highway was there, and the sign pointing the way to LA beckoned us back home. Or at least where my house was.

I wanted to go to sleep, to nap until we got there, but I couldn’t get my mind to calm down. Every time I closed my eyes again, I just saw her face. I needed something to distract me, to keep my mind occupied for a while.

Leaning forward, I grabbed the controller and hit the middle button, turning the video game system on. The last game I had been playing popped up, and I exited out, looking for something a bit more engaging of my mind to play. Something where I could lose myself and all my own worries and hang-ups and just focus on keeping some dude alive against zombies or fighting wizards or something.

Tooling around through the menu screens, I eventually tried to play a couple of games and quit them only a few minutes in. None of them seemed to interest me. Usually, my fallback at that point was retro games, games I had played since I was a kid. But as soon as I turned one on, the immediate memory of playing them at the foot of the couch while Rae sat behind me came to the forefront of my mind.

Not helpful.

Sighing, I turned off the system completely. Nothing was going to make me feel better until I had Rae in my arms again. Nothing was going to console me until I heard her voice. Nothing was going to make me feel less restless until I could reach out and touch her, to strum my fingers down her arm.

Strumming. Now there was an idea. I glanced over to where my acoustic sat in its case, tied with ratchet clamps to the side of the bus. It made it so that I could open the case and get it out, but the case itself never moved. Since I used an electric onstage, it often sat on the bus while I performed, only ever seeing the light of day when I would pull it out to clean it and strum it for a bit daily. It was always in tune. It was always clean.

It had been so long since I got it out and played. Often, the grind and haze of the road had made me creatively bankrupt. I only wanted to ride the wave, the ebb and flow of the performance and then the crash afterward. I didn’t have it in me to write, not for a long while. It had been Mark’s favorite aspect of the band, and I lamented how I had seemingly taken it away from him with our schedule.

There had been so many days in the back of this bus or ones much, much smaller, where Chris, Terry, Phil, and Mark would sit with me, and we would create. From nothing, a song would be born. It