Chapter 31
ANGEL
Afew nights later, I tugged on sleep shorts before sliding into the cool sheets.
Roxy sat propped against the pillows, smoothing face cream over her cheeks.
I moved in behind her, my torso to her back and gliding my palm down to rest on her bump, cradling her close.
When I nuzzled Roxy’s neck with a growl, she laughed.
‘You’re such a sucker for me.’
‘Mhmmm, along with adoring my woman, I’ve fallen hard for the unhurried rhythm of Leiper’s Fork. The rustic lifestyle is hooking me,’ I muttered, pressing a kiss into her temple. ‘What do you think about doing a massive glow-up on this place and making it ours?’
Roxy paused as joy arced across her face, and her smile widened.
‘Are you for real? You want to live out here?’
‘Dead serious, Rox. This house is heaven, and if you and your mum are OK with it, we could renovate it into our forever haven.’
Roxy twisted to study my face. ‘Angel, it’s a massive project. The whole house needs a major overhaul.’
‘I have the capital, and I’m ready to run herd on it,’ I said, my jaw tightening with certainty.
‘Think about it. It’s acreage, a lake, and tons of space for our kids to run around.
We’re also only a thirty-minute sprint down the highway from Nashville whenever the band needs me in the studio, or you have a gallery opening. It’s the ultimate setup.’
‘It would be amazing for the baby,’ she murmured, her gaze drifting to the window.
‘Franklin is right down the road,’ I added, my fingers tracing the soft cotton of her tank top. ‘The schools out here are top-tier for the kid. Williamson County doesn’t mess around with education, and the local medical center is world-class.’
Roxy leaned back onto my shoulder, a sigh escaping her.
‘This place could be heaven, Angel, to raise a family.’
‘Exactly. We’d need to buy Elsa’s share, though. Think she’d be up for it?’
‘We can ask. Speaking of, Mum called earlier,’ Roxy said, a sudden smirk playing on her lips. ‘She filed the divorce paperwork today, and she’s packing her bags for Europe next month. She’s spending the winter in Florence to clear her head. She deserves every single bit of it.’
‘Good for her,’ I rasped, capturing Roxy’s mouth in a slow, deep kiss flavored with caramel and vanilla from the ice cream we had for dessert. ‘But right now, I only care about the one woman and baby in this room and creating a beautiful life, wifey.’
Elsa agreed to the sale of her portion of Hazelwood, and I settled with her for over and above the going rate.
As Roxy’s belly grew, I locked in a construction crew to take on the renovations.
I wanted to be in by the time our baby was born, so I paid top dollar to move fast.
We moved back to my house in Nashville while the farmhouse was being upgraded.
The contractors gutted the bedrooms, added ensuites to each, extended the central living space to frame the horizon, and redid the kitchen.
We also put in a natural saltwater pool.
I brought in landscapers to plant acres of wild lavender and weeping willows and built a timber pergola right on the lake’s edge, where we could drink, eat, and play by the lake at sunset.
During the chaos of the renovations, Roxy crushed her professional goals.
She dropped her Capri Caper art collection alongside a series titled Slayed Soul, pulling rave reviews from the elite culture critics.
With my home front secured and my head straight, I rejoined the guys in the studio, laying down riffs as we started the tracking for the next Six Sinners record.
Roxy and I moved in with three weeks to go before our baby was due.
Our renovated house stood finished, a masterpiece of timber and glass set in a serene lakefront backdrop.
Inside, the design leaned into modern luxury mixed with organic textures.
We layered the expansive living spaces in creams and brushed golds, with oak flooring.
We loved the massive vaulted ceilings and kept them as-is.
Matte-black metal fixtures accented the clean lines of the kitchen, where a solid-quartz island sat ready for family gatherings.
Taking pride of place was the trio of hand-painted ceramic salt, oil-and-vinegar canisters we bought in Anacapri on our fated honeymoon.
My new music studio occupied the north wing, soundproofed, with reclaimed barn-wood walls and loaded with top-tier mixing boards and my guitar racks.
Roxy’s art space sat next to the courtyard, flooded with natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows and stocked with fresh canvases.
We spent two whole days finishing the baby’s nursery, painting the surfaces a calming blend of dove gray and cream.
Roxy and I decorated the space with a plush wool rug, floating bookshelves, and hand-carved wooden forest animals.
After we moved from my Nashville house, I added it to my exclusive rentals portfolio, so the place would host industry executives and visiting VIPs to Nashville.
We moved into Tabitha’s Farm and nested, building the baby’s crib with much hilarity as I misread the instructions and installed the side panels upside down twice.
Roxy sat on a floor cushion, laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach while I cursed the tiny Allen keys.
Back from Florence, Elsa proved to be super helpful during those final weeks.
She came over often, kicking her heels off the second she crossed the threshold and rolling up her sleeves to get to work.
She helped her daughter pack away stacks of cloth nappies, organize the changing table, and check off a list of baby gear.
She’d found and bought a stunning modern four-bedroom apartment in Downtown Nashville with wraparound views of the city.
My respect for my mum-in-law grew daily as she handled her new freedom with such grace.
As for Reese, all his sins soon came to light.
One evening, Roxy and I sat on our lounge, the hearth crackling as the news channel flashed a graphic of Reese in handcuffs.
The newsreader shifted papers, his face tightening.
‘A massive class-action suit is pending in the Circuit Court against the specific financial institutions that enabled and prolonged Mr. Rosedale’s operations,’ a news anchor reported.
‘The complaint alleges these banks ignored glaring red flags, failed to verify physical collateral, and processed transactions that allowed Rosedale to keep paying older backers with fresh cash. For many families who invested their life savings, retirement funds, and family business capital, the collapse was catastrophic. The class action seeks to recover those massive losses from the firms whose conduct made the scheme possible.’
The sheer scale of the devastation hit me, and I mulled on it.
‘I’m thinking of channeling some of The Sanctuary’s resources to help fix this, Rox,’ I murmured, turning to face my wife.
The charity was funded by proceeds from our Six Sinners’ sales and helped those in need across Nashville.
‘What do you think of launching a relief fund to provide resources to those who lost everything due to Reese’s greed?’
Roxy tilted her head at me, with a soft smile.
‘You’re a beautiful man, Angel; I always knew it. As for the idea, yes, I like it; let’s do it.’