After giving herself a couple of months to lick her wounds and clear her head, she took her state licensing exam. When she’d passed the exam, she’d applied at the one veterinary clinic where she’d volunteered in high school. Dr. Patterson hired her on the spot.
Dani Roberts was the first woman who’d turned Liz’s head since she’d left Therese.
Just what I need, she thought as she gazed out her office window to the tall pine trees behind their clinic. Another dark-haired, handsome woman who might be nothing but trouble.
“Dr. Springer?”
Mary’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Your next patient is here.” Mary handed Liz the chart.
Right. Work. Work is good.
Chapter 4
“You like your new vet?” Tina carried two bowlfuls of popcorn to the living room and set one of them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. She handed Dani the other. Scooping up a handful of popcorn, she plopped down next to Barb on the couch.
“She’s not my new vet. We happened to see her because Frodo’s regular vet had an emergency.” Dani had held off telling Tina until Saturday night about Dr. Liz Springer. She’d needed the remainder of the week to sort out her feelings. Barb and Tina invited Dani over to watch the latest Star Wars installment. She grabbed some popcorn and shoved it in her mouth.
“That’s two women in one week that you’ve shown an interest in. I’m not sure how to take this,” Tina said. Barb nudged her with her elbow and shook her head slightly.
“What? That thing with C.J. James? She just has a nice voice.” That, and she managed to invade my brain for weeks with that damn song of hers.
“And she’s good looking. And you got flustered talking about her,” Tina reminded her.
“I haven’t even met the woman.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t. We’ll simply sell her music at the store and let it go at that. Seeing her on the website, I have to say she looks like a heartbreaker.”
“I’m meeting her as a courtesy.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Hon, do you ever know when to keep your mouth shut?” Barb asked.
“You know you love me, darling.” Tina leaned over to kiss Barb on the cheek. “Anyway, let’s get back to this vet. In all seriousness, your face lights up when you talk about her, Dani. That’s only from one meeting. Is there a way to get to know her better? Can’t Frodo develop a hangnail or something?”
Dani laughed. “I don’t think dogs have hangnails. Nails maybe. Hangnails, no. T, you’re too much.”
“I know I joke a lot, and I give you a hard time. But I—” Tina turned to Barb. “We want to see you happy.”
“I know you do, and I love you both for it.” Dani cleared her throat. “As for the vet, maybe I’ll be lucky and see her in town sometime.”
“Maybe we can make it hap—”
Barb smacked Tina on the leg. Tina held up her hands in surrender. “Okay. I’ll shut up.”
Dani patted Tina on the knee. “You both have always looked out for me, and don’t think I don’t know that.” She grabbed some more popcorn. “Now how about seeing some Jedi kick butt?”
* * *
The CDs arrived in the store on Wednesday of the following week. Dani priced them $2.00 more than C.J.’s price. The store wouldn’t make a large profit, but that was okay as long as she was advancing music she believed in.
Dani discovered C.J.’s first opening night at Carl’s Cavern was tomorrow. She gave everyone in the clan a call to see if they’d like to go. Barb was working behind the bar, so she’d be there. Tina said of course she’d come. Monica agreed to go as well. She said Estelle had something else going on that night. Shelly was the only other one who could make it.
The bar was already turning smoky by the time Dani arrived there with Tina and Monica. They spotted Shelly at a table close to the bar.
Dani sat down in the chair facing the bar. Music from the amplifiers drifted lazily into Dani’s brain as she slowly downed her beer Barb had brought over. Through the mirror’s reflection, she observed the women at the tables behind them.
The crew started hauling out the equipment for C.J. Dani leaned over to hear something Monica had said but had a hard time with the loud bar music. The sound of someone tuning a guitar caught Dani’s attention. She turned around to see C.J. had stepped onto the stage. The women at the tables behind them glanced C.J.’s way, then chattered amongst themselves like school girls spotting the cute, new kid in class. Watching them, the line from “You’re So Vain” ran through Dani’s mind about the girls dreaming that they’d be the partner.
C.J. set her guitar aside and strode over to their table. Before Dani could even think to react, C.J. was standing beside her.
“C.J. James.” She stuck out her hand for Dani to take. “You’re Dani Roberts, the owner of Dani’s Den of Books, right? We talked on the phone.”
“Yes.” Dani was at a loss as to how C.J. knew her.
“I asked around about you when I got into town. Joe, one of the crew, pointed you out to me just now.” C.J. motioned at Barb. “I’ll take a shot of Jack when you have time.”
“You’re very talented.” Dani took a sip of her beer as she tried to recover from C.J. James’s striking good looks. “I think your music will take off here.”
Barb came to the table with the bottle and a shot glass. She poured the shot and handed it to C.J. who downed the whiskey in one big gulp and set the glass down on the table. Tina squinted at C.J., as if trying to read her. The fact Tina had her hat turned around backwards made her appear even more skeptical.
“Another?” Barb asked, holding the bottle of Jack Daniels over C.J.’s glass expectantly.
C.J. shook her head. She turned back to Dani. “I haven’t made it to your store yet but plan to soon.”
“We’re open nine to six during the week, longer on Friday and Saturday. Depends on how I’m feeling if I’m open on Sunday.”
C.J.’s light-blue eyes captured Dani’s. “I’ll come in this week sometime. Maybe we can do lunch.”
“Sure. There are a lot of great restaurants here in town.”
“Sounds perfect.” C.J. glanced over at the women at the table behind Dani and gave them a nod. Dani watched their reactions in the mirror. I bet each one of them thinks, “she’s only looking at me.”
C.J. offered her hand again to Dani. “Good meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you, too.” This time C.J. held on a little longer and ran her index finger across Dani’s palm before letting go.
Dani followed C.J.’s progress as she stepped back onto the stage and started tuning her guitar again. Her photo on her website didn’t do her justice, if that was even possible.
Tina leaned over so only Dani could hear her. “She seems pretty slick, if you ask me.”
Dani nodded absently, still unable to take her eyes off C.J. She took a couple of big gulps of her beer until the glass was empty.
“Whoa there, missy,” Tina said. “You don’t usually down those that fast.”
“What?” Dani was a little surprised she’d finished her beer. “Oh, that. You drove, right? I think I’ll have a couple more than I normally do tonight.” She got up and headed to the bar.
“I’ll take another, Barb.”
Barb poured her a beer from the tap. She set it in front of Dani, but before Dani walked away, Barb grabbed her arm.
“Be careful, Dani,” Barb said with some concern in her voice.
“It’s okay. Tina drove over, and it’s been awhile since I drank more than two of these at a time.” Dani held up the glass.
“I’m not talking about the beer.” Barb stared pointedly at the stage then back at Dani.
Dani bit back her irritation. “Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.” She left for her seat.
C.J. finished tuning her guitars, leaned them against their stands, and went backstage. An hour later, the bar was packed
wall-to-wall with women—some standing in the back. With help from Tina, Barb hurried to find some chairs in the storage room.
Finally, Carl Griffith, the owner, walked on stage. The women hooted and hollered. He stood in front of the microphone, his bald scalp glistening with sweat in the spotlight.
“Ladies!” he shouted. “How y’all doin’?”
The women screamed in response.
“I said, ‘How y’all doin’?!” he yelled even louder.
The place shook with noise.
“We have a special treat tonight at the Cavern and for the next three weeks. C.J. James from Cincinnati is here. She’s got an amazing voice, and her expert guitar playing has been compared to Bonnie Raitt’s. Let’s give a big Francis, Georgia, welcome to C.J. James!”
Dani clapped loudly with everyone else—except for Tina. She barely clapped and dropped her hands in front of her on the table.
C.J. walked out. Still dressed in the baggy blue jeans she had on earlier, she’d changed into a blue Atlanta Braves T-shirt that looked to be about two sizes too small. And she no longer wore a bra.
Dani’s gaze drifted to C.J.’s full breasts. Her nipples pushed tight against the T-shirt material. Some of the women let out wolf whistles.
“Hey, everybody.” C.J.’s voice was even huskier. “What are you guys looking at in the front tables here?” she asked with a sly grin, shading her eyes from the spotlight. “You like my T-shirt?”
The women screamed even louder.
“Even though I’m from Cincy, I wore this T-shirt just for you.”
More whistles rose up from the crowd.
C.J. strummed her guitar a few times. “I’m not sure how many of you know my music.”
Some in the audience applauded.
“Really? That many?” C.J. said, grinning. The place erupted in laughter. “I’ll play mostly my new stuff tonight, but I have some oldies, too.” She started expertly picking her twelve-string acoustic guitar. “This is the first song I ever wrote, and appropriately, it’s about my first love.”
It was a slow, sad song. One that had Dani feeling C.J.’s pain—that is until she realized C.J. was talking about her first guitar:
I knew it wouldn’t last ’cause I couldn’t caress your neck like I used to.
And when your strings broke with my lightest touch,
I knew we were through.
Through... through... through.
C.J. flashed her dimples, and her eyes danced mischievously as she sang. Although the song was a play on words, C.J. still put a lot into it. The women clapped appreciatively when she was done.
“You like that?” She switched guitars and placed a glass pill bottle on her left middle finger. Definitely like Bonnie, Dani thought. “How about some blues?”
“Yeah!” one woman yelled out.
“Alrighty then.” Sliding her finger expertly over the bridge of the guitar, she picked out a tune. Dani recognized it—a song from C.J.’s website she couldn’t get out of her head. It was a big hit with the crowd.
C.J. slowed it down again and sang about meeting someone new:
I saw in your eyes what you wanted.
And what you wanted was me.
So come over here, let me love you.
Let me set your spirits free.
Yeah, let me set your spirits free.
C.J. held onto the last note.
Dani was lost in the song. Her head spun from the alcohol she downed a little too fast. It was also spinning from the voice of the woman on the stage. She felt like she was in a trance. C.J. seemed to look right at her. Or was it simply Dani’s imagination? Wasn’t she just laughing about other women doing that?
C.J. sang a few more songs before taking a break. The lights flicked on in the bar.
“She’s good,” Monica said. Her words were slurred. Dani hadn’t noticed how much Monica had been drinking, but she was on to mixed drinks. Dani was glad that Monica rode to Carl’s with Dani and Tina. Neither Dani nor Monica needed to be driving.
Shelly spoke up. “She definitely has a fantastic voice and stage presence.”
Tina quietly sipped her beer, saying nothing.
Suddenly, Dani felt a hand on her shoulder. It lightly slid down her back, causing Dani to shiver. She looked up to see C.J. beside her.
“Hi again. Do you mind if I get a chair and join you between sets?”
“N-no. I don’t mind.”
C.J. grabbed a chair from a nearby table and flipped it around to straddle it. She motioned again at Barb for a drink. Barb brought over a shot glass, poured a drink for C.J., and left the bottle of Jack Daniels on the table.
C.J. addressed the other women. “Hey, everyone. Are you enjoying the music so far tonight?”
Shelly and Monica nodded and smiled.
C.J. downed her whiskey and poured herself another. The alcohol didn’t seem to have much of an effect. She glanced at Tina and smiled, but Tina didn’t smile back.
“Dani, why don’t you introduce us?” C.J. said while still staring at Tina.
“These are my friends Monica White, Shelly Martin, and Tina Dewey.”
“Nice to meet all of you,” C.J. said.
“You, too,” Monica and Shelly chimed in. With her arms crossed in front of her, Tina acknowledged C.J. with a nod.
C.J. leaned forward so only Dani could hear her. As she did, she slid her leg closer to press it against Dani’s. “We talked about lunch. How about tomorrow?”
“I don’t think I have anything going on.” Dani’s stomach did a couple of flip-flops, and her leg warmed next to C.J.’s.
“Where’s your store?” C.J. asked.
“The corner of Main and Third. About six blocks from here.”
Dani felt C.J.’s hand on her knee and had to keep from jumping. She hadn’t even noticed that C.J. had dropped it below the table.
“Twelve-thirty okay with you, Dani?”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect.” C.J. stood, poured herself one more shot of whiskey, and downed it. She gave a mock salute to all the women at the table. “Hope you enjoy the rest of the show.”
When she walked away, Dani felt relief. Her pounding heart slowed down to its normal rate. She glanced over at Tina who was giving her a look. Shelly and Monica got up to go to the bathroom.
After they did, Tina scooted her chair closer to Dani’s. “You okay?”
“I think so.”
“Do we need to go?” Tina asked, infusing the question with hope.
“I’d like to hear the rest of her show.”
“I noticed you slowed down on your beer there.” Tina nodded at Dani’s full glass.
Dani hadn’t realized it, but once C.J. started her show, all of Dani’s attention was on the stage and nothing else. “I guess I did.”
C.J. came back onto the stage, and the houselights dimmed again. She played for another hour. A standing ovation greeted her when she finished. She waved her hand to the crowd before leaving the stage.
Shelly said her goodbyes. Tina, Dani, and Monica started for the parking lot. Tina and Dani steadied Monica between them as they walked to the car. They helped her into the backseat and slid into the front.
They drove awhile in silence before Monica spoke up. “You guys are the best,” she said, slurring her words again. She sat up and leaned her elbows on each of their bucket seats. “You really are.”
Dani smelled the alcohol on her breath “You’re the best, too, Monica.”
They pulled up to Monica’s house first. Dani noticed that Estelle’s car wasn’t in the driveway. She shot a glance over at Tina whose jaw tightened. They both got out to help Monica to her front door. Tina took the keys from her swaying hand and pushed the key into the lock.
“Do you need us to get you to bed?” Tina asked as they helped Monica inside.
Monica shook her head hard. “Nope. I’m fine.” As the words left her mouth, she stumbled over a stool and fell onto the floor. Dani and Tina rushed to her and
lifted her to her feet. They led her back to her bedroom and helped her into bed. They removed her shoes and clothes except her underwear. Tina pulled the covers up. Monica’s eyes filled with tears.
“You both really are the best,” she repeated.
Right at that moment, seeing Monica’s vulnerability, a surge of anger shot through Dani’s body. She really wanted to hurt Estelle.
Tina leaned over and kissed Monica’s forehead. Dani did the same.
“Remember we’re here if you need to talk,” Tina said in a gentle voice.
“I love you guys.” Monica rolled over onto her side and quickly passed out. Dani scooted over the wastebasket and set it beside the bed in case she felt sick during the night.
They didn’t talk as they walked out to the car and drove away. They were almost to Dani’s house when Tina spoke. “I’m offering the same to you, Dani,” she said softly.
Dani looked at her in confusion.
Tina pulled into Dani’s drive. “I’m always here if you need to talk.”
Dani hesitated before answering. “I know, T.” She patted Tina’s leg before she got out. She leaned back into the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you then.”
Dani shut the door and headed into her house with images of the night racing through her mind. She still saw the sadness that seemed to pour from Monica’s eyes. And then there were C.J.’s playful, light-blue eyes that caused Dani’s heart to flutter.
Tina’s voice echoed in her head as she let Frodo out back. Heartbreaker.
Chapter 5
“Oh. My. God. This singer at the Cavern was so hot last night,” Liz overheard Mary tell another technician at the vet clinic. “Damn, Rita. The woman had sex oozing from her pores. I’m surprised she didn’t melt down in a big ol’ puddle of it right there on stage.” Liz glanced up from her paperwork. Between a gap in the charts on the bookshelf to her left, she watched as Mary fanned her face. “I sure as hell was about to from where I sat in the front.”
More Than a Song Page 4