A Cowboy's Song

by Megan Ryder

  “It’s definitely not what I expected. I thought it would be bigger or something.” Ty studied the venue, slowly sinking into the role, feeling a bit more comfortable now that it seemed more individual, more of a one-on-one than he had expected.

  Colt sipped his beer. “Yeah. They have some small bands in here, but they tend to be all acoustic. Let the music really be the center.”

  “Which is why I only played once. I’m not known for my guitar,” Piper explained, biting her lower lip.

  So that explained why she had sequestered herself at the recording studio so much. She had been preparing for playing tonight, not just singing. On tour, she hadn’t been expected to play, only perform and sing. Now she’d have to play too. Ty knew she could do it, but she wasn’t used to doing that for a crowd.

  He reached for her hand and gripped it tightly. “You’ve got this.”

  She gave him a tight grin then stood as a woman came over to go over the schedule for the night, leaving Ty and Colt staring at each other. Colt sipped his beer and studied Ty calmly, almost like he was assessing a horse for sale.

  “What?” Ty asked, irritably, not needing Colt to ramp him up even more.

  “My sister rarely plays acoustic. I find it interesting that you have such confidence in her. I wasn’t exactly on board with this whole plan. She can do it; I have no doubt about that. But why should she put herself out for you?”

  Ty’s gaze darted around the venue, watching it fill up with people. “I happen to agree. I argued for another way. There had to be one.”

  Colt tipped back the bottle and took another drink. “There are plenty of ways. Open mic nights, auditions, smaller venues, less well known. It might take longer, but options. Here, my sister has to put herself out there, on the line, for an unknown. Why you? Are you really that good?”

  Ty half stood and grabbed Colt’s shirt, leaning in very close so only a few inches separated them. “Never insult her again. Do you understand me?”

  Piper tugged on his arm, saying something urgently under her breath, but Ty was completely focused on Colt who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “I was actually insulting you, but I find it quite interesting, and gratifying, to see you defend her.”

  Ty loosened his grip on the other man’s shirt and sank into his seat still seething over the slight. Piper pulled up a chair in between them. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Colt and Ty exchanged glances. “Nothing, lil’ bit. Just a disagreement over football. Whose team is better.” He looked at Ty. “Are you ready?”

  He shrugged. “I have a couple of songs prepared. I think you’ll like them.”

  Colt saluted him with his beer. “Give it your best shot.”

  *

  Ty toyed with the strap of his guitar, his palms sweaty and nerves shot to hell. He hadn’t been this nervous since the first time he’d played at The Rock, several years ago. Piper finished her first couple of songs, including a new song she was testing with the crowd for her album and the response was lukewarm, making his heart ache. Here she was putting herself out there and the crowd wasn’t supporting her.

  She gave him a nod and he took a deep breath and headed out onto the small stage. It was much less of a stage than he was used to, more of a raised part of the floor, with enough room for him and Piper. He could see why the band didn’t have room to set up there. The audience—about ninety people packed the place—surrounded the stage on three sides, so close he could almost touch them. It created an intimate atmosphere, more like playing in his cabin rather than at a venue. Except he didn’t know these people and they didn’t know him. Nary a friendly face in the crowd.

  He sat on the stool next to Piper and settled his guitar on his knee. She had been talking to the crowd, giving them an introduction or something, but he’d missed it as he took in the atmosphere.

  She arched her brow and murmured, “Ready?”

  He nodded and they launched into “Cold Hands, Warm Heart,” her parents’ song and clearly a crowd favorite judging by the way the people straightened and began smiling, as if having a fond memory. When they finished, the applause was loud and long, but it was Piper’s reaction that settled him. She smiled as if she had been given the best gift on Christmas morning, lighting up her whole face and body. She then gestured to the mic for him to speak.

  He cleared his throat. “Good evening, Bluebird Cafe, and thank you for hosting us tonight. By now, some of you may have heard about a little song we’ve done called ‘Ruined Plans Aren’t Always a Bad Thing.’ This was originally written for my brother and his wife on their wedding day, but I think it speaks to all of us. We all have plans and things we want to do with our lives and sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way we expect or think we want. But sometimes, it works out even better.”

  He strummed the opening chords and they sang the song, effortlessly blending voices and chords together until the end, the final words echoing into the cafe. The silence, when they were done, was almost deafening, then the applause started, people standing and clapping, and Ty swore he saw a couple of people wiping a few tears from their eyes.

  Piper stood and gave a little bow. Once the cheering died down, she spoke. “I’ll let Ty entertain you with a few songs then I’ll be back.”

  She gave Ty an encouraging squeeze on his shoulder then walked off stage and sat with her brother. Ty took a deep breath and launched into one of Colt’s top-selling songs. It was a risk, but Piper had suggested it, saying he brought something a little deeper, a little rawer to the song and she wanted her brother to hear it. Judging by the way Colt leaned forward, his brow furrowing, he was stunned by Ty’s voice and interpretation of his song. And the crowd loved it, along with the two other songs he played from other artists.

  Then Ty diverted from the agreed-upon script.

  “Earlier today, I found an old song I wrote years ago. I decided to give it a shot tonight and see what you all think about it. Please forgive me if I’m a bit rusty with it, okay?”

  Everyone laughed politely. After all, this was the place where songwriters often went to test their material and sometimes it wasn’t quite ready. So, the audience was prepared for that. Piper, however, wasn’t.

  He closed his eyes for a long moment and said a soft prayer, waiting for peace to come over him. Keeping his eyes closed, he started to play, the chords a little rusty, the words coming from somewhere deep in his memory, a place he thought he had buried long ago, so deep he was convinced he had forgotten them, never to find them again. But somehow, they came back to him easily. He sang then, for his parents who never had the chance to hear the song, for his sister who used to sit on his bed and listen to him practice, and for his lost childhood.

  When he finished, he opened his eyes, surprised to find his cheeks wet and his vision impaired by water. Piper had waited until he finished and came up on stage. He stood and embraced her, holding her tight, not caring who saw them.

  “That was the song, wasn’t it? The one you wrote when you were twelve,” she whispered in his ear, squeezing his waist tightly.

  He nodded against her hair, breathing in her clean, fresh scent, letting her anchor him in the present, so the past wouldn’t swamp him, pull him back under in his grief.

  “I wish you had told me you were going to play that.”

  “I didn’t know until this moment.” He exhaled shakily and let her go, facing the crowd, still clapping for him, though they probably had no idea what a momentous occasion that was.

  She let him go and smiled, her own eyes a bit watery. “How the hell am I supposed to sing after that?”

  *

  Piper waved to the driver who dropped them off at her house and followed Ty inside. He set both guitars down just inside the entrance, around the corner in the dining room, then he turned, his eyes glinting in the dim light they had left on. Piper opened her mouth, but before she could speak, he lifted her against the wall, kissing her deeply, almost frantically, his hands cupping her ass,
holding her against him. Piper met his lips, wrapping her legs around his waist, and buried her fingers in his hair to pull him closer, holding him in place.

  She had missed this connection, worried they were growing apart even though they had been in Nashville under a week, but the stress of her real life was already pulling them apart.

  While they spent each night together, the intimacy hadn’t been there and she had wondered if he had used her for her Nashville links, a suggestion her family had floated to her more than once that week. Colt was the only one who had refrained, instead preferring to watch and make his own assessment. She had no doubt she’d hear from him in the next day or so after the Cafe appearance that evening.

  Ty slid his hands under her shirt and pulled it over her head to toss it aside, leaving her bare except for a pink lacy bra. He lifted his head to study her in the light that filtered in from the distant streetlight. “Goddamn, baby. I love your lingerie. Sexiest fucking things I’ve ever seen.”

  She flushed, pleased that her impromptu shopping trip that afternoon hadn’t been wasted. “Just try not to tear this one, okay?”

  He grinned wolfishly at her. “That all depends on how fast you can get out of it.”

  She glanced at the door and the windows all along the lower level of her house. “I’m not into giving the neighbors a show. Upstairs.” She pushed at him to let her down, but he only shifted her weight a little and headed for the stairs a few steps away. “Ty! You can’t carry me upstairs!”

  “I’ve carried heavier sacks of grain and calves. Now shut it.” He slapped her lightly on her ass and continued his steady climb to the second floor and her bedroom.

  He laid her on her bed and quickly stripped while she shimmied out of her jeans, revealing the matching panties. His eyes darkened and, when she went to pull them off, he stopped her. He stood between her legs, a beam of light falling through the skylight to highlight her body. When he didn’t move for several long moments, she squirmed, a little uncomfortable under his regard.

  “Ty…”

  “You’re so beautiful, do you know that? But beyond that, so amazing.” He came down over her, gently caging her body on the bed so he faced her. He traced her lips with a finger, gently, lightly. “You are so generous, kind and giving of yourself. I’ve watched you all week, doing for everyone, including me, and you humble me. I see you, Piper. I see your heart.”

  Tears prickled her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to clear them. No one had ever seen through to her core like this Montana cowboy. Sure, they had only spent a couple of weeks together and most people would scoff at the idea that anyone could commit that quickly, but he said it best. He saw her. He knew who she was, deep down; he saw through everything to the real Piper. She was falling for him, or maybe she had already fallen for him. Either way, she was in this for the long haul. Judging by the intense look in his eyes, and the slight panic as the realization set in with him, he knew it too.

  She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her, determined to ease the tension. “And I see you, Ty Evans. Now get down here and show me some real cowboy lovin’.”

  “With pleasure, darlin’.” And he proceeded to love her so thoroughly that she worried her neighbors might call the rent-a-cops who guarded their development. Too bad her lingerie didn’t survive.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Ty padded down the hard wood stairs, feeling on top of the world. The only way he’d feel better is if Piper would have been there when he’d woken up and not a note telling him she had to run to her parents’. The sun was well into the sky, so he had slept a good part of the morning, something he hadn’t done since he was a kid. He headed for the kitchen for some coffee and froze.

  “I thought you cowboys were up at dawn or something.” Colt’s drawl interrupted Ty’s pleasant morning reverie from the sitting area just off the dining area and kitchen.

  Piper’s brother was spread out on the love seat, flipping through some papers, and sipping a large cup of coffee. Ty changed direction and walked over and scanned the scene. “Make yourself at home, why don’t you.”

  “I usually do. There’s a full pot of coffee on. That chicory stuff Piper likes. And some pastries for breakfast.”

  Ty’s stomach rumbled so he decided to deal with the pissing contest later and grab food and coffee, especially the chicory coffee he’d gotten addicted to in Montana. By the time he came back, he was braced for the big brother, what-are-your-intentions talk and was expecting Colt to have moved to get into a more dominant position. But the other man hadn’t moved much, which actually was pretty brilliant, proving he was more at home in her house than Ty was. Bastard.

  “You’d better clean this up before Piper comes home. She hates a mess,” Ty commented.

  Colt grinned. “Yeah. This would drive her batshit crazy. It’s kind of why I do it. The prerogative of being a big brother.” He leaned back on the couch, stretching one arm out on the back of the couch and bending an ankle over his knee. The very image of a relaxed, confident big brother. “Interesting playlist last night. Were you trying to piss us off by selecting our songs or show us that you could do them better?”

  Ty calmly sipped his coffee, which could have been brewed from cow piss from all he tasted of it, while he frantically tried to figure out how the hell to recover from whatever faux pas he had made with Piper’s family. He considered a variety of options, discarding all of them as being bullshit, and finally settled on the truth.

  “They’re great songs and popular where I come from. The duet I hadn’t done until Piper came to Granite Junction, but your song, well, it’s one of the most requested.”

  Colt grunted then a grin spread across his face. “I was just messing with you. You did a great job with it. I wouldn’t have done it like that, quite so gritty and raw. I suspect my sister pushed you to sing it, maybe as a way to tweak me a little.”

  Ty smirked. “Maybe a little. But Piper loves you and respects you.”

  “Oh hell yeah. I know that. She’s half the reason I’m where I am. She helps find the right songs, the right sound. She’s magic in the booth. I often wondered why she didn’t go into producing, to be honest. Or even talent scouting. She’s got the most amazing ear for talent.”

  Ty leaned forward. “I get the sense she thinks she has to perform, like you guys. But she hates it.”

  Colt eyed him, a little suspiciously. “What makes you think you know my sister better than I do?”

  “Maybe because I talk to her? I watch her and see how she is. When she landed in Montana, she was exhausted, held together by sheer will and nerves. Performing doesn’t amp her up. It drains her and having the negative reviews didn’t help.”

  Colt shrugged. “We all have bombs. It’s part of the job. I watched her last night. She was doing great with the crowd. In fact, she reminded me of our parents with you.”

  Ty grabbed his phone and pulled up a video from her tour. “Does this look like a woman who’s enjoying herself on stage?”

  Colt studied the video for several long minutes until it ended then wordlessly handed it back. “She was having an off night.”

  Ty only arched his brow. “Maybe. But I don’t think so.”

  Colt sighed and dropped his leg to the floor. “Look, if you’re going to be a country musician, you need to understand that this is all part of the life. We perform even when we don’t feel like it. We act a certain way because that’s what we do. We have people who depend on us for their livelihood, not to mention our own. We rise and fall depending on how our albums sell, our tours perform, and our fans like us. There’s constant pressure. We may have an off day, but we suck it up and go back out there and do it all again. You need to decide if this is what you want and decide soon because this is Piper’s life. She’s all in. If you want to be with her, you need to decide that.”

  Ty studied the other man for a long moment, the weight of the whole moment pressing down on him. “You’re not going to warn me away? Give me the big
brother speech?”

  Colt gave him a wry grin. “Nah, my sister can take care of herself. And you’re not a dick like the last one. If you were, I would have already taken care of you. No, I think you’re a decent guy, Ty. And my sister cares about you. That doesn’t mean I won’t rip your guts out and go fishing with them if you hurt her, though.”

  Ty nodded. “Noted.”

  Colt stood. “Okay, well, Piper has stuff to do today. Since neither of us golf, I thought maybe we’d go see a ball game. It’s minor league but one hell of a reason to drink beer and have fun. You in?”

  *

  Sunday was typically a lazy day for Piper, her one day off from her obligations when she wasn’t on the road. She often spent the morning in bed, then hanging around the house catching up on television, her reading and maybe doing a little gardening outside or sitting on her deck watching the river wind past. She couldn’t remember the last time she actually did any of that, which is why she hired a landscaper, per her homeowner’s association agreement, and her lawn furniture was brand new, and not very comfortable, she was discovering as she tried to settle in the oversized cushions on the chaise longue. What the hell had she been thinking buying these ridiculously poufy things? Oh yeah, they looked good, kind of like one of those magazine layouts, giving the illusion of comfort, of rest, of beauty. Only right now, they trapped her in place, like quicksand, so she couldn’t escape the inquisition from her mother and father.

  Ty and Colt seemed to have bonded after spending Saturday together. What was supposed to have been a casual conversation to get Ty on board with the way the music industry worked had morphed into an all-day male bonding at 6th and Peabody where they made the rounds at the moonshine tasting, brewery, and the food stations. By the time they had Ubered home, they were pretty well soused and on their way to being best buds. So much for a romantic Saturday night. Her brother snoring in the spare bedroom and Ty in their bed. At least she caught up on her reading, not that she really wanted to.