Love Songs

by Bernadette Marie

  Warner wasn’t sure when he’d eaten so much. His stomach felt as though it might burst.

  He tried to recline in the Jeep, but it was no use. He was happy in his heart and miserable in his body at the moment.

  Clara pulled up outside of The Stage and parked her Jeep. “Looks like things are slowing down tonight,” she said.

  “It is funny that this town could be so busy on a Wednesday night. If you think about it, it’s slow, but anywhere else a Wednesday night crowd would have all gone home.”

  She laughed. “You’re right.” She rested her head against her seat and looked at him. “I had a really nice time tonight. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

  “Clara, I haven’t shared my story with very many people. Most people already have an opinion of me.”

  “Well then they are stupid. How can anyone take that no good woman’s word for it?”

  “Because she’s on TV.”

  She blew out a breath. “I’m going to continue to form my own opinions.”

  He felt it coming. He needed to kiss her. He needed to be more to this woman than just the guy who showed up begging her to sing his songs. He…

  He had no time to make a move before she came across the cab and planted her lips against his.

  A groan, or maybe it was a moan, came from his throat when he realized what was happening.

  It wasn’t just a gentle brush of the lips kiss. No, this woman was planting a hot, passionate kiss on him and he was thinking too hard. How was it that he needed to remind himself to pull her to him—which he did. His mind worked over time when she pushed against him and ran her fingers in his hair, which was too long.

  No—he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about his hair.

  God, she was killing him.

  Clara couldn’t help herself. Her brothers and Randy were right—Warner Wright was just her type.

  He had a sob story, but who didn’t.

  He had eyes of blue she could drown in and sandy hair she could bury her fingers in.

  His mouth was soft and gentle, but when he’d finally started to kiss her—oh Lord, she could faint.

  It was completely understood, in her own mind at least, that she might have just screwed up everything. Warner might think she’s just out to use him, but she couldn’t stop what she was doing.

  Oh, she would stop. She wasn’t the kind of woman to let things go too far, she wasn’t ready yet.

  When she finally did pull back they were both breathless. “I couldn’t help myself,” she said. Certainly she wasn’t going to say she was sorry.

  “I had just been thinking about doing that myself.”

  She laughed at that. “Good.”

  “This changes things a bit, doesn’t it?”

  She sat back in her seat. “How about we agree that we don’t let it?”

  He nodded. “Agreed.”

  “In fact, meet me at the theater tomorrow around lunch and we’ll finish off these leftovers.”

  “You have to rehearse?”

  “I have auditions.”

  “You’re auditioning for another show?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m directing it.

  He smiled. “I think that is extremely cool.”

  Clara chuckled. “Would you like to audition?”

  “No.”

  She sighed. Oh, her heart was gone. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  He opened the door. “Maybe tomorrow you can tell me your story.”

  “My story?”

  “Yeah, I was extremely sure that your parents were married by the way they acted tonight.”

  “They are married.”

  He was smiling. “You said they were divorced.”

  Clara nodded. “I suppose that does need some clarification, huh?”

  “Tomorrow.” He stepped out of the Jeep. “Goodnight.”

  Clara watched him walk toward his beat up truck. She sure hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed if they didn’t sell his songs. He had a lot of faith in her that she didn’t have.

  Sure, she could belt out a tune and she loved the work she did in the theater. But singing had just been a love—a passion. It was never supposed to be relied on.

  She’d do her best and she only hoped her best was enough.

  Chapter Four

  Clara pulled into the driveway and put her Jeep in park. Her presence didn’t seem to bother her brother any. Christian continued to kiss his girlfriend Victoria goodbye at her car.

  She laughed as she climbed from the Jeep and reached in for the carry out bag of barbeque. Christian was happy and that meant a lot to her. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to do all she could to razz him about it.

  Victoria raised a hand in a wave as she climbed into her car and Clara walked up the front steps to the house her Aunt still owned and she now occupied.

  Christian limped toward her.

  “Why don’t you go home with her?” Clara asked as he neared her.

  “She’s a very, very good girl. We’ve been discussing our future and it seems that perhaps sleeping in the same bed just might work out for her…soon.”

  Clara laughed. “She’s in her mid-twenties and works with athletes and is a virgin?”

  Christian’s face hardened. “I didn’t say that. I said she was a very good girl. Sometimes that means changing how you think about things and taking another path.”

  Clara nodded slowly. “She’s not going to sleep with you.”

  He huffed out a breath and walked past her into the house. “You know, Mom would appreciate and approve of us waiting until we’re married.”

  “You’re getting married?”

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  That did something funny to Clara’s stomach. She followed Christian into the kitchen and touched his shoulder. “Is that why you’re having a house built and you’re sleeping in my spare room?”

  “I’m not going to be a ball player much longer. In fact, have you seen me even play in a year? No, because I’m benched and can’t even walk the freaking plates.”

  “Chris…”

  “I’m washed up and I never got the chance to even be someone.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Christian shook his head. “Listen, I don’t have business sense like Ed. I don’t have talent like you. I could play ball and now I can’t.”

  She didn’t like when he got like this and if she kept pushing he’d fall down a pit of depression and she’d seen him do that too much in the past year. Victoria was the one person who kept him from hitting rock bottom.

  “I’m happy for the two of you. I think she’d make a wonderful wife.”

  His face softened. “I do too.”

  “I bet you’d have real cute kids too.”

  This time he smiled wide. “Her sister and Dave—our pitcher,” he said looking at her for confirmation that she did indeed know who he was talking about. “They have the damn cutest kids I’ve ever seen.”

  Clara laughed. “Christian Keller, I think you’re a goner.”

  “Yeah, I think I am.”

  Clara moved past him to the refrigerator. She made a space for the bag of barbeque and pulled out a bottle of water. She twisted off the cap as she heard footsteps moving up the back stairs toward the kitchen.

  “Hey, Tyler.”

  “Hey.” He stood before her jean clad and barefoot with no shirt. She noticed he’d gotten a new tattoo on his arm. The welts were still fresh.

  “New ink?”

  “Yeah. Kinda felt like I needed it.”

  She smiled. It was the infinity symbol that she had on her wrist and each of her brothers and Darcy had too.

  “I like it,” she said before taking another sip of her water.

  Tyler nodded as he rested against the wall, his thumbs tucked into the front pockets of his jeans.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I wasn’t there tonight to hear you sing. I was told it was amazing—as usual.”

  It had been a f
ew months, but Clara saw the unmistakable pain in Tyler’s eyes. Ed, her oldest brother, had met a woman and they were going to get married. Who would have ever thought that Ed’s fiancée was the sister Tyler had never known about?

  Clara moved toward him. “This family is too tight for you to feel pushed out. You can’t go on forever blaming your mother for giving up Darcy and not telling you about her.”

  Tyler nodded. “I know. It’s just going to take some time. I love her. I really do. She’s been nothing but genuine and straight forward with me. I’m honored to have her as my sister. But it hurts.” He shifted a look toward Christian, who must have already had this conversation with him. “I think I’m going to take some time and see the world.”

  “See the world?”

  “Yeah. Take a year off of school. See the world. Put my life into perspective and then come back, graduate, and take my seat at BBH.”

  “What does your dad think about this?”

  Tyler bit down on his lip. “He’s not crazy about the idea. But to be honest, I think Spencer has a better head for business.”

  Clara moved in and wrapped her arms around him and gave him a squeeze. “Perhaps you do need to find yourself. But don’t forget where you came from and who your family is. We all love you.”

  “If I wasn’t half Keller I don’t think I could do this and know it would be okay.”

  She knew well enough that statement was true.

  Clara stepped back. “Well, I’m beat and I have auditions tomorrow and a show on Friday. I’m heading to bed.”

  “So that guy, the one who wants you to sing his song…”

  She turned back toward Tyler. “Yeah, what about him?”

  “His mom is Patricia Little?”

  “Ex-stepmother.”

  Tyler nodded. “Is he a good guy?”

  She smiled. “The best.”

  “Good. I don’t want to come back from seeing the world and have to beat the crap out of some loser.”

  She shook her head. “Yep, I have two brothers and two cousins who would kill the first man to break my heart.”

  “You know it.”

  “I’m a lucky girl.” She gave them a wave and headed up the stairs. Something told her Warner Wright wasn’t a threat.

  Patricia Little on the other hand—what could she do to Clara if she hated Warner so much?

  Warner was restless. He’d tried to go to bed. He’d tried warm milk. Nothing was working. Clara Keller had him stirred up.

  He turned on the small lamp on the end table in his rink-a-dink apartment and sat down at his electronic piano keyboard. Warner wasn’t a bad neighbor, so he plugged in his headphones and set his fingers on the keys.

  A melody formed. He closed his eyes and played. This was Clara Keller’s melody. It fit her. It was smooth and easy, but there was an underlying contrast of sharpness to her. She didn’t take crap and she didn’t dish it out. She cared, deeply cared about people and family. And damn if she didn’t carry herself with more grace than a princess when wearing jeans and cowboy boots.

  She was tattooed, but he assumed just the one. She was brass and not mad. She was his fate.

  The notes took a sour turn at that point and he tore off the headphones.

  Record the demo.

  Sell the songs.

  Get the career he’d been working so hard for.

  That was it. The list was short and sweet. Adding feelings for a woman were not part of the plan.

  He looked at his watch. Three-fifteen in the freaking morning and he was wide awake and stirred up. Lord help him. It was going to be a long night.

  ***

  Clara was sitting on the front steps of the theater talking on her cell phone when Warner parked his truck. She must have been having quite a conversation too, because her hands were in her hair, her head was down, and she didn’t see him until he’d walked up on her.

  She gave him a nod to acknowledge him and then looked back down.

  Warner turned so it wouldn’t appear as though he were just listening in.

  “I have shows all weekend. It’s closing weekend,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m going to squeeze that in…Yeah, I know it’s great. I didn’t ask for this did I?” She blew out a breath. “I know…I know. Okay, I’ll talk to him and I’ll get back to you.”

  Warner turned around as Clara stood, the phone still pressed to her ear. “Randy, I’ll make it work. Just book it and I’ll be there.”

  With her final words she pushed the end button to finish the phone call.

  “Sorry,” she said on a sigh and then took a step toward him.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” His breath was thick in his lungs as she neared him. “Everything okay?”

  “Never better, actually. We’ll talk about it later.” She stepped up to him and pressed a kiss to his lips.

  He hadn’t expected that. He’d convinced himself that the kiss they’d shared the night before was a fluke.

  Clara pulled back, but left her body leaned into him. “I got done with auditions early. Let’s go get something to eat.”

  The urge to push the strand of stray hair from her eyes won over his better judgment. “I thought we were having leftovers.”

  She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “It seems as though I forgot to put a huge sign on it that said not to eat it. My brother and cousin finished it off after I went to bed last night.”

  “You live with your brother and cousin?”

  She leaned back and gazed at him. “C’mon, hot dogs at Frank’s and I’ll tell you about my parents, the rotating house, and the phone call.”

  She nipped his lips one more time with a kiss.

  “Let me get my things.” She turned and went back inside.

  Warner let the intimacy settle in his gut. Something was heavy on her mind and it had to do with Randy. But she still wanted to be with him and that made the situation lighter. This wasn’t what he’d bargained for when he chased her down three days ago. But the comfort he felt when he was around her was worth the crash that he knew was coming.

  The door to the theater opened again and Clara walked down the steps, her sunglasses shielding her dark brown eyes. “Why don’t you drive?”

  “Are you sure? Your Jeep is much nicer than my truck.”

  She interlaced her arm through his. “I’m sure.”

  “And where am I headed?” he asked as he pulled open the creaky door to his truck.

  “Riverside Building. I thought it would be fun to see if Ed and Darcy would like to have lunch with us.”

  “They both work in the building?”

  She smiled. “Yes. I have a lot of family that works in the building.”

  He nodded and walked around the front of the truck then climbed in next to her.

  “What does Darcy do there?”

  “She is Ed’s assistant.”

  He started the truck and eased out onto the street. “So, you were going to tell me about your parents.”

  “Did you stay up all night wondering about that?”

  He cleared his throat. Well, he’d been up all night thinking about her, but he wasn’t going to share that information.

  “You said parents, rotating house, and phone call. Your choice in which order you start your story.”

  She grinned and cranked down the window. Clara sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “God it’s a pretty day today.”

  “A bit too hot don’t you think?”

  “Nah. It’ll only be a few months and we’ll be complaining that it’s too cold.”

  He chuckled as he turned at the light. “True enough. Okay, so talk.”

  She turned toward him and pulled her legs up under her on the bench seat.

  “My parents are high school sweethearts. They married young and started a family. My mom put my dad through college to get his teaching degrees. Somewhere between working two jobs, having three kids, and my dad taking a long time to secure a really good job, their
marriage broke apart and they got divorced.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Six.”

  He cringed. “That’s pretty little.”

  She nodded. “I can’t say I knew too much about it. One day Dad moved out, but he was always around.” She smiled. “To tell you the truth I think we saw him more when he didn’t live with us.”

  Clara readjusted her legs. “Mom remarried soon after their divorce was final. She married my dad’s best friend.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yep. But he was a good guy. Perhaps a little lonely considering he married his best friend’s ex-wife and then had an affair and left my mom when he got his mistress pregnant.”

  Warner laughed aloud. “Oh, you do have some drama in your life.”

  “That would sound like it.” She chuckled. “Anyway, Matt, my step-dad, eventually left my mom, married this other woman and I think they have four kids now.”

  “Wow, that’s a lot.”

  She let out a sigh. “I don’t think so.” Then she turned her head to him. “Do you really think so?”

  He felt the heat crawl up the back of his neck. Was she really asking his opinion on family size? What did he know about family dynamics? “Any kids are a lot.”

  Her shoulders dropped and the curve of her lips turned downward. Oh, he’d messed up that answer.

  “Anyway,” she waved her hand through the air as if to reject his answer. “Matt left the day before Mom found out she had breast cancer.”

  “That’s insensitive.”

  Her smile was back. “You’d think, but no one knew about this. She didn’t tell anyone. In fact, she decided to go through a double mastectomy alone, that way no one would worry about her.”

  Warner shifted his glance to her and then back to the road. “That’s not some little in and out surgery.”

  “I know, right?” Clara adjusted in the seat again. “She was out of sorts. That’s all I can say. But, my Uncle Curtis was on call at the hospital that day and he saw her being wheeled into surgery. He called Dad and he was by her side the moment she woke up. It was the beginning of our happily ever after as a family.”

  “So they got back together that day and she beat cancer?” he asked as he headed toward the huge building that graced the Nashville skyline.