Chapter 6
“Hey sweetie! How’s Madi?” Jeanie
pulled the bath towel tighter around her. She should be getting ready, but
still had no idea what she was going to wear.
“That kid rocks,” Mac laughed. “I
took her to work with me last night.”
Pete MacNamara “Mac” was a wildly
popular deejay at a local Dallas station and worked the six to ten shift. He
and Jeanie shared a special relationship that endured years. They'd been
friends, lovers and always there for each other. Best friends, through thick
and thin. In fact, it was Mac and Megan in the delivery room when Madi was
born. He worshipped the ground Madison crawled on.
“What?”
“I took her down to the station.
The interns loved it,” he chuckled.
“Mac! I can’t believe you did
that! You better tell me Katie was with you!” Typical Mac. She wanted to be mad
at him, but they both knew that she couldn't.
“Hey, the kid’s a babe-magnet.”
Mac knew this was driving Jeanie nuts. There was no way in hell Katie, Madi's
nanny, would have let her out of her sight. Still, he was thoroughly enjoying
tormenting Jeanie.
“You’re using my child to pick up
women?”
“Hell, yeah!” Mac grinned. He
could hear Jeanie holding the receiver away from her mouth and laughing out
loud.
“Do me a favor…I don’t want to
come home and find her with a tattoo, okay?” she teased.
“Damn…”
“You’re a dumb shit, but that’s
why I love you. Okay, any calls I need to know about?” she picked up the tablet
on the night stand.
“Um, a couple. Dick called.”
“Dick? I don’t know anyone named
Dick.”
“Yeah, you do. Dick Head…the guy
from Florida.”
“Mac!” she shrieked.
“What?”
“Do you and Megan sit around and
dream up names for him?” Jeanie couldn’t help but laugh, but it really wasn’t
very funny.
“Nope…he EARNED that one baby, all
by his little Backstreet self.”
She appreciated her friends'
loyalty, but sometimes it was too much. Still, the name was sort of funny...
“Fine, fine. What did you tell him, or do I want to know?”
“Um, that his kid rocked…um…oh,
yeah, his wife is in the Bahamas.” Mac feigned memory loss. He had no use for
Kevin. At best, he tolerated him.
“Did you tell him WHY I’m here. He
probably thinks I just abandoned Madi…”
“Yeah, I told him you were doing
the damage control shoot…”
“What?”
“Oops.” Mac thought surely Megs
would have told Jeanie what was going on by now. “Never mind.”
“What? Tell me, so help me, Mac.
I...I won't let you use my daughter to pick up girls…”
“Crap. Okay, in that case. That
photographer. The one that’s doing Lindsay's pictures for the magazine…Sean.
Megan and the people in the office decided you needed a little help, that’s
all.
“Help?” Jeanie didn’t understand.
“Look, babe…I’m gonna be honest.
Before you ever met Dick, you were something of a recluse. Right, baby?”
Jeanie made a face at the phone
receiver. She hated it when he was right. “So?”
“So…there aren’t too many pictures
of you out there. And the pictures that are circulating are of you and
Dick...and usually you're following him around like a lovesick puppy. I’m
telling you straight shit. You’re my girl…I’m not telling you this to hurt
you…”
“I know…it’s okay,” she whispered.
“So, what does that have to do with Sean?”
“Okay, this is what I’m
understanding from Megs. She’s scared that people are thinking of you as “poor,
pitiful Jeanie” you know? All ashamed and hiding from the world. Meantime,
Dick's life is perfect.”
Jeanie wanted to hang up. She felt
humiliated, because that's exactly how she DID feel. She had no idea the
"world" was reading her pain so easily.
“Look, women…fans…the public needs
to see a strong, dignified woman. They need to see the real you, not some used
toy that Dick got tired of…cause, baby, that’s how you’re lookin right now. WE
know that’s not you, but the world needs to see that you’re okay.”
“But I’m not okay, Mac” she softly
cried.
“Yes, you are. You are okay.
You’re just tired. Relax and have some fun. Put yourself in this guy’s hands.
From what I see and what I hear, he’s got an incredible God-given talent.
You’ll look like a saint by time Sean Davies’ gets done with you.”
“Oh goodie, St. Jeanie…” she said
sarcastically. “Mac, is it that bad?”
“Honestly? Yeah, it’s bad. Baby,
you have an inner fire that the public needs to see. They don't want to see
someone broken or bitter. It's sad and bad news and they'll dump you. They want
a success story. They want to see people who made it...who survived. You ARE a
survivor. Look at Tina Turner…survivor. She rocks. You rock. Do it, Tex.”
“Kevin never hit me! God…how can
you compare me to her?”
“Did he hurt you?” Mac voice was
deep and gentle, but very serious.
“Yes…”
“Case closed. Do it. Okay? Let the
world know that you’re okay. You are. You just don’t realize it yet. You can do
it, Tex. You kick ass, baby...show 'em what you're made of...
~~~~~~~~~~~
A.J. and Nick checked in around
three o'clock. They shared a bungalow with a private pool that overlooked
white, pristine beaches. It was easy to find out where Lindsay and Jeanie were
staying and Lindsay's schedule from one of the staff at MTV.
They unpacked and were having
drinks out by the pool. There was no rush. A.J. had planned this night for
months.
He would talk to Lindsay. He'd say
whatever he had to say to get her back. He wasn't as "proud" as
Kevin...he wanted his woman in his life and he was willing to do whatever he
had to do to accomplish that goal.
A.J. didn't realize that Nick had
a goal of his own. He was there for one reason only and her name was Jeanie
Kirkpatrick-Richardson.