The Neverending Hangover

Chapter Sixty

As winter turned into spring, a lot of things changed. I spent most of my time in Tennessee, only coming back about three days a month to visit Andy, Kendra, and Gi. Brad and I bought five acres of woods near Andy's house and he started designing our future home. We each paid half for the land and both of our names were on the title.

I bought a used magenta Jeep Wrangler with a removable hard top, and finally returned the rental car which had been costing Brad a fortune. I kept the Jeep in Tennessee and drove it around without the top on, blasting my music with my hair tucked up in a ball cap.

I hadn't seen Bre or Steve since we went to Drew's grave, but I had talked with her over the phone a couple times. She was wearing her ring and they were back to being an official couple. Brad came to me every weekend, and Rev stopped by about once a month on his way back from hauling some captured trafficker to Clint. I didn't know if Brad was still sleeping with Bre or not, and decided not to ask as he had stopped asking me about Rev.

Brad and I set a wedding date for the third Saturday in August. We had met at the end of August two years prior. Ava would be about three months old, and Gi would be ten months by then. Those two little girls were going to be seven months apart, but the way their birthdays landed, they would end up being in the same grade in school. They weren't actually related but they each were related to my Drew, and had he lived, the three of them easily would have grown up together. It hurt my heart so much to think of that sometimes, I could hardly function.

Kendra and Bre had formed a bond through their children, and ended up becoming actual friends. Bre started babysitting for them so they could go on dates. They didn't have anyone else they trusted in the area other than Brad, who was obviously gone every weekend.

Bre's baby shower was on a Saturday in March, and I couldn't bring myself to attend. I made Rafe book us a show that night and used it for my excuse but I doubted anyone was fooled by that.

We had started making some serious money at our shows, and Rafe no longer had to seek out venues for us. They started finding us instead. We had traveled to several other states to perform and made two official music videos for 'Your Loss' and 'Whiskey Kisses'. 'Your Loss' had been in the top ten country songs in the U.S. for months and even spent a couple weeks at number one. We recorded 'True to You' and released it as a single, then started performing it with a lot of positive feedback. We opened for several big name country bands, and crowds became unmanageable at times.

Rev hired a bodyguard for me without my permission. He met him through Tim, who used to work with this guy in special ops. His name is Victor, and I despise him. He is a giant asshole but Rev said that was a good thing. He's completely ripped like Rev, but with super short black hair, scruffy facial hair like Brad's, brown eyes, and way less communication skills. His specialty is kicking people.

Rev had called Brad about Victor once he made his decision, and apparently they agreed on all this together, only telling me about it once it was done. I expected Brad to throw a fit about Rev stepping on his toes, and I was frustrated with being taken out of the equation, but because I was so thankful they had discussed it without fighting, I simply let it be. Brad also asked him to install a tracker in the bracelet he had gotten me, which Rev readily did, and they even met in person at the cottage without fighting so Rev could put the software on Brad's phone and hook up the device. Later, I told Rev that was the kindest gesture I could ever imagine from him. Therefore, I now wore my bracelet all the time because it meant something different to me than it had before.

Vic hired another four guys for his team, and they were with us at every show. Rev paid Victor a monthly salary, and Brad paid the other four bodyguards per show. Vic escorted me anywhere in public in Nashville, and was basically at my beck and call.