Love You Moore Read online

  “Billy, I hope this brings back fond memories and we can add new ones together, I Love you, Abby.”

  Billy had said “Oh thanks,” closed the cover and tossed the book aside. “Now time for my real present” and he pushed Abby down into the seat and got on top of her. This brought a tear to Abby’s eye but she wiped it away hopefully before Jimmy noticed.

  “That sounds like a great gift.” Jimmy said and reached out to put his hand on hers noticing that she had suddenly become a bit sad, “something like that would be special for years.”

  “Yeah well I am not sure where it is now” she said softly, “doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “What else interests you?” he asked quickly trying to move away from the sore subject of her ex-boyfriend.

  “I like just hanging out with my friends mostly, Holly, she is my best friend, we are together just about every day, I like going to the craft stores, buying supplies for scrapbooking, I really am a paper hoarder.” She said confidently and then giggled.

  He liked her laugh, he thought her eyes turned so bright when she laughed. He really did think she was very pretty. Her friend Holly was a looker, but Abby was a different kind of pretty, the kind of pretty that he preferred.

  “So what brought you here, are you applying here for next year?” he inquired.

  “I don’t know” she said honestly, “I am not sure what I am doing after graduation, I suppose I ought to really start thinking about it though.

  “Well, what are your dreams, where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15 years?” he asked very parental.

  Abby giggled again,

  “I don’t know,” she did have a dream that she went to any time things were bad between her and Billy or if the memories of the accident came to haunt her. Did she want to share them with him? She didn’t even tell Billy of these thoughts. Why not she thought, she may never see Jimmy again so what did it really matter.

  “Someday,” she said very quietly, “I would like to live in a log cabin on a large piece of land, very private. I want to have a lake and be surrounded by mountains. I have to have fields of wildflowers. I want to watch my kids play as I am sitting on my back porch. I want to have someone that loves me as much as I love them beside me on that back porch.” She was barely audible at that point.

  They both sat quietly for a moment, Abby afraid to look up and see his face. Would he looking at her as if she was this pathetic girl and regretting talking to her in the first place? He still had his hand on hers so maybe that was a good thing. She looked up at him and he was looking at her with the tenderest expression she had ever seen. She didn’t want to break the silence and ruin the moment but didn’t want it to turn awkward either.

  “What about you?” she finally asked. “Tell me about you.”

  “Ah where to begin?” and he shifted his hand so now he was more holding it than just covering it.

  “I moved from a small town in Mississippi, to LA when I graduated High School in. I had written a few musical scores for the school plays and musicals and they seem to be well received. My teachers said I had a rare talent and I needed to nurture it. So, I thought I would try my hand at writing for the big boys in Hollywood. I had sent a few demos out to the movie studios and record execs while I was still in school. I didn’t hear anything but I kept sending out songs. That April right before Graduation, six months after I had started sending out the demos, I got a call from an exec at Paramount, they were producing a movie and their current composer and director were having creative differences and decided to part ways, leaving them without someone to develop a score for the movie. He said he had just been listening to my CD and figured he had nothing to lose and decided to give me a call. So I borrowed the airfare from my parents and headed out to LA and I have been there ever since.” He ended with a smile.

  “That’s pretty cool” Abby said to him, “what other movies have you worked on?” really interested, she liked listening to him talk, he had a soothing voice.

  “I have worked on a few, I don’t have a mutually exclusive contract to any one studio so when I heard a new movie was in production and I thought I could make some good music for it, I would send out my demos and resume. After awhile I got a pretty good reputation and word of mouth helped me get a few gigs. One of the directors I had worked with, was talking to a friend of his who just happen to be recording an new album and was told by his label that he needed one last song and was just running on empty. He couldn’t get anything down on paper that he thought would be a hit. So, this director gave him my name. I got call, met with the artist, listened to a couple of his songs he already had, to get a feel of how the album flowed. I grabbed a pen and paper and just started writing. Within two days he has his last song. It soon became number one on the charts and after that I was getting calls just about every day from Pop Princesses to Country Crooners. And thus a career was born.” He ended.

  “Well, why did you decide to start singing yourself, not that I am complaining” she teased “but I was just what made you come out from behind the scenes right out in to the spotlight?”

  “I didn’t need too, I was very happy behind the scenes as a writer but when you put your heart and soul into a song and the person recording the song, thinks she can take a ballad, which she asked for by the way and turn it into a fast beat that took all the feeling out of the melody, I just decided I was going to write them and have them sung the way I wanted. I still write for my friends if they need a song in a pinch, but I don’t just write for anyone anymore. I write for myself.” Jimmy exclaimed.

  “Good for you.” Abby professed and repeating what Cliff had said earlier, “Why not get a taste of the glory yourself, being the one out there having everyone screaming to hear a song that you wrote and putting your face to the music”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” he laughed, “and it’s not even for the money as performer. There is pretty good money in writing and I made my fair share of it, invested a bunch in high interest mutual funds, some stocks that did fairly well. I also invested in some real estate, I’m a silent partner in a few clubs and restaurants, which always gets you the best tables by the way,” he winked at Abby and she blushed a bit. He was still holding her hand, it felt very natural.

  “I’m not doing the college circuit for the money or self exposure really, I just like getting out there and getting my songs heard. I take what profits we make from doing these concerts, give the crew, Mikey and Ben their share and I donate my portion back to the college for help in funding the Arts. I want the kids that have that desire to be performers, writers or whatever the ability and the place to grow their talents.”

  Abby thought that was the most selfless thing she had ever heard of. Did she find that one in a million guy? This had to be too good to be true she feared.

  Abby yawned, it had to be way past midnight by now. She looked at the clock, 3:00am. Whoa.

  “Are you tired? Do you want me to take you back to the dorm now?” he asked, disappointed.

  “No I’m fine” she stated “I don’t want to go.” This put a wide smile on his face.

  “Do you at least want to call Holly to tell her you are still alive and that I haven’t kidnapped you and sold you into slavery?” He kidded.

  “Yeah I will call to see if she made it back with Cliff ok.”

  He noticed she tended to be more concerned with others than herself, which made him feel a bit bad that she always put herself last. If she were to let him, he would make her feel like she was top priority all the time.

  She hung up her cell phone.

  “She’s good, she was just getting ready to call me in fact, to see if I were ready to be picked up.” She paused for a minute, “I told her not to wait up, that she should go to bed and I would be fine here.” Then she looked at him with a harried expression “unless you are tired and want me to go, I’m sorry I didn’t even think, you must be exhausted, I can call her back” and opened her phone to call Holly back.

  H
e grabbed her phone,

  “No, I don’t want you to leave either, I like talking to you, it’s…nice”

  He pulled her to him so she was leaning her back to his chest and slinked down back onto the couch. Her head rested on his shoulder and he now had both of her hands in his.

  “He smells good” She smells good” they both thought to themselves simultaneously.

  “So what are you doing tomorrow?” he asked

  “I think heading home.” Abby said a little bummed she would only have a few more hours with him. Should she have these strong feelings for him …this soon after meeting him? She has always heard of love at first sight but never in a million years, thought she would experience it.

  “Do you have to get back for school?” He asked disappointment in his tone.

  “No, Monday’s Columbus Day, schools closed.” Abby replied

  “Oh,” he said with a little more excitement in his voice, “So are you obligated other places?”

  “Not really, No” Abby said now curious where this was going.

  “Well…I was thinking,” he started, “We don’t have to be at our next gig until next Friday night at the University of New Hampshire, it’s not that far away so they boys and I were just going to hang out in Bangor for a day or two before we headed out, you could stay with us too if you wanted.” He said sheepishly and they catching the unintended implied implication said,

  “Holly too of course, totally innocent.” Holding up his right hand, as if taking an oath.

  Abby laughed, he’s nervous she observed, why is he so nervous, he’s the hot rock star, I’m just a nobody she thought to herself.

  “I would have to check with Holly, I don’t think she has anything going on either and I can’t really see her passing up and opportunity to go shopping. I warn you though, if you do intend to keep Holly in Bangor for any length of time, there is going to be a trip the Bangor Mall.” Abby said with 100% assurance.

  It would be nice to spend more time with him. Abby, feeling a bit more daring snuggled in a little closer and a little more comfortable. He wrapped his arms around her and they were now more laying down on the couch than sitting. Abby could absolutely fall asleep in this position. How could she be this comfortable with a complete stranger? Well they weren’t really strangers anymore. She had opened up to him and told him more about herself in these last few hours than she had in the year she dated Billy.

  Abby closed her eyes, she thought just for a few minutes, but when she opened them again and looked at her watch it was 8:00 a.m.. She bolted up into a sitting position. Jimmy stirred awake and looked around trying to get his bearings. Abby noticed the way he had been sleeping, stuck in the same position all night with her laying on him. “Oh he is going to be so stiff and sore this morning and it’s my entire fault, nice going Abby. Idiot.” Abby said to herself.

  “I am so sorry, you must be so uncomfortable.” Abby looked at him with pity and regret.

  “Not at all, I actually slept better on this couch than I have on that bus. Maybe it was the company?” he smiled and reached out to her, “how did you sleep?”

  Abby thought for a minute,

  “Really well too actually,” instantly Abby realized how she must look right now, messed up hair, running eye make-up, “God please do not let there be dried drool on my face.” She prayed silently. Abby jumped up, embarrassment now creeping through her whole body, ran over to the dressing mirror and leaned in. Looking in the mirror, Abby sighed with relief, no drool. Her hair wasn’t that bad, she hadn’t been tossing and turning all night so even though there were a few matted pieces, it wasn’t that bad. Her eyes did have a bit of her eye make-up smeared off to the side but that could quickly be resolved by wiping it away with one of the tissues from a box on the dressing table. She straightened up and looked over at Jimmy who was smiling at her. He thought she looked absolutely beautiful. Abby felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She checked the number, it was Holly. She spoke to her for a few minutes and then closed her phone.

  “Holly is all for staying another day, she is calling her parents to confirm it’s ok. I should call mine too to make sure they are ok with it.”

  It wasn’t too early to call them on a Sunday morning, her mom usually woke up about this time to make a big Sunday breakfast for the family. She spoke briefly with her mom, telling her all about the concert and her college experience. Abby felt bad leaving out the part where she had spent the night but that was more of a conversation she wanted to have in person. After speaking with both her mother and father and getting the o.k. to stay one more day, Abby hung up the phone and turned back to Jimmy. She had noticed that he had run his hands through his hair in an attempt to groom himself while she was preoccupied. He had also walked over to the mirror to make sure nothing major needed attending too. This made Abby smile. That he cared how he looked to her, Billy could crawl out of bed, put on the same clothes from the day before, throw on a baseball cap and run out the door to pick her up. She realized though, that she needed to stop making comparisons between Billy and Jimmy. She needed to just accept how Billy was and move on and not look back on the past. Was Jimmy her future now?

  * * * * *

  Chapter 5

  They had all met up for breakfast at the Bear’s Den. They talked about what they wanted to do that day. Of course Holly said she wanted to go to the mall. Abby shot Jimmy an “I told you so” look and they both laughed.

  “What do you boys want to do today?” Holly asked. Cliff said he had to work on a paper and wasn’t going to be able to join them at the mall as heartbreaking as that was for him and gave Holly a friendly nudge. Mikey and Ben said they didn’t mind going wherever Holly wanted to go. Abby noticed they looked at Holly a lot, they were smitten with her. Why wouldn’t they be she was gorgeous. Abby also had an uneasy feeling Jimmy would soon also notice Holly’s beauty far exceeded her own and then, would more than likely want to spend his time with her and not Abby. However, Jimmy paid no extra attention to Holly. He made sure Abby wasn’t too tired from being up all night and was ok with being on the go all day. She assured him she was fine. Dave said he needed to stay and use the office the school offered to him. There were some loose ends he needed to tie up for the rest of the tour. They got up to leave the Bear’s Den, Holly hugged Cliff and said she would see him later, Dave walked back to the auditorium where his temporary office was and the rest of them headed to the parking lot where Abby’s car was.

  “We can all go in my Jeep if you want. It does seat five.” Abby offered.

  Jimmy didn’t like the idea of her having to drive them around all day after not getting a lot of sleep last night.

  “Why don’t we just take the bus?” Jimmy replied. “It seats like 12 people comfortably and no one has to play chauffeur for the day, well except Ken, our bus driver.”

  He placed a call to Ken to make sure the bus was ready to go. “All set.” He said after hanging up.

  “Alright, back to the bus.” Mikey stated and we followed him and Ben back to the bus.

  When they reached the bus a few moments later, Jimmy stopped the girls from getting on the bus first.

  “Um… let me go in first to check things out before you get on, you know five guys alone on a bus things can get a bit untidy.”

  Abby had remembered what the boys locker room had smelled like one time when Billy pulled her in there because he thought it would be awesome to “do it” in the boys room. It was not a pleasant memory. She was hoping the scents were not similar. Jimmy came back out, “ok ready to go.” He said and reached out his hand to help Abby up the steps.

  “What a gentleman.” Holly stated and smacked Abby on the butt as Abby climbed the steps.

  The girls laughed. Abby did not miss the underlying tone that Holly was pointing out how Billy was far from a gentleman. She would have to speak to her about not continuing to compare the two.

  Ben and Mikey quickly fought to be the next one on the bus to see who could be
the one to help Holly up the steps. Jimmy laughed at the sight and reached out his hand to Holly.

  “May I?” he asked and helped her onto the bus.

  “Thank you,” she said looking at the two men who were still arguing and rolled her eyes.

  Holly knew she was pretty but she never used her looks to get what she wanted. She was very modest. She knew boys paid her extra attention hoping to get something out of it, but she didn’t feed into it and let it go to her head. One more thing Abby loved about her friend.

  They all loaded onto the bus and headed into Bangor. They made their first stop the mall. It was just opening up and there weren’t many people there. They spent a few hours following Holly from store to store. Mikey wondered aloud at one point,

  “How can one person shop for so long and not really buy anything?” half amazed, half annoyed.

  “He has obviously never shopped with a woman before.” Abby said jokingly as she and Jimmy followed to keep up and holding hands, which again was something Billy never did, “STOP IT!” she yelled to herself. “Stop making comparisons, what is wrong with you?”

  They stopped at the Food Court to grab some lunch and to give Mikey and Ben a rest. Shopping was a sporting event to Holly and Mikey and Ben were sadly out of shape.

  “Ok so we have visited about every shop in this place,” Abby said to Holly while they were all eating, “have you got your fix under control?”