by Mary May
“Lonnie, are you married?” she asked without any prelude later that week. They were alone looking over headshots that she had done the previous day. Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he set the pictures down on the table.
“Now where did that come from?” he asked.
Shrugging her shoulders, she feigned indifference. “I overheard some girls talking about Linda. I couldn’t remember you ever saying that you were married, and you don’t wear a ring, so I was just wondering.”
Nodding his head, he leaned against the desk. “I see. Well, to answer your question, I am married. But I’m sad to say that it’s not a happy union. It hasn’t been for a very long time. Linda no longer has any interest in the music business and doesn’t understand my passion for it.”
He looked so sad that Sherrilyn walked over and hugged him. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t imagine being with someone who didn’t share my love for music. But surely you have other things in common, right? I mean, what attracted you to start with?” When he cocked his head and grinned, she knew what he meant without him saying it. Blushing, she looked away.
“Well, my granny used to tell me that a pretty face or a handsome body is a poor reason to marry someone. Looks fade, so you better marry what’s on the inside because in the end that’s what lasts.”
Chuckling, he nodded his head. “Granny was very wise, but unfortunately I heard those words of wisdom a little too late. If I had it all to do over again, I would know better what to look for. I would look for someone who was beautiful both inside and out. I would find that special person that shared my passions. I would tell her how precious she was to me and I would never let her go.” He was now standing over Sherrilyn looking intently into her eyes.
Feeling uncertain and really uncomfortable with the direction the conversation seemed to be going, Sherrilyn was grateful when a knock sounded at the door. She slipped out when one of the musicians asked to speak with Lonnie.
A few weeks later she was on the phone with her dad. If she didn’t call him at least once a week, he worried himself sick.
“Is he treating you right, Sherry? He hasn’t tried anything with you, has he?” Crossing her fingers behind her back, she tried to assure him all was well.
“Of course not, daddy. He has been a perfect gentleman. He said that my album would be released by Christmas! Isn’t that wonderful? How is Devon? I bet he is growing, isn’t he?” She breathed a sigh of relief when her dad went with the change of conversation. After speaking to him for a few more minutes, she said goodbye and hung up the phone.
“You know, it’s bad manners to lie to your dad.” Lonnie slipped his arms around her waist as he nibbled her neck. Turning in his arms, she shook her head, biting on her bottom lip, a sure sign of her nervousness.
“I know. I hate lying to him, but it seems like that’s all I do anymore. He wouldn’t understand about us. He would be on the next plane flying to come get me and drag me home if he knew. I will tell him when the time is right. I will make him understand.”
After Lonnie had left that evening, Sherrilyn tried to understand how she had gotten all wrapped up in the affair with him. It went against everything she believed in, and the fact that he was married weighed heavily on her heart. It didn’t matter that he had assured her his marriage was all but over. The fact was, it was still valid. But all he had to do was pull her into his arms and all rational thought went straight out the window. The only thing she knew to do was hope that the marriage was dissolved before her dad found out about them.
Six months later…
“Sherry! Did you gargle with broken glass this morning? You haven’t hit a correct note all day! Why are you wasting my time?”
Swallowing her drink of lemon water, Sherrilyn sighed, “I’m sorry, Lonnie. I’m trying. I really am. I will get it this time. I promise.” Clearing her throat, she waited for them to start the music again. Once more she was cut off by Lonnie’s angry outburst. This time he stormed into the sound booth and yanked her up onto her tiptoes by the arm.
“Do you think I’m made of money? Do you think all this studio equipment and musicians come cheap? Every time you have to start over it costs me hundreds of dollars. Can you sing this song or do I get someone else in here to do it?”
With tears filling her eyes, she looked up at his angry face in shock. “I can do it. I promise. Please don’t be angry at me.”
He increased the pressure on her arm until she whimpered. “Don’t make me come back in here.” Her face burning with hurt and humiliation, she refused to look at the others who had witnessed it.
Sitting in the bathtub that night, she rubbed at the deep bruises his fingers had left. In the nine months that she had been in Nashville, she had never seen him so angry. Of course, he had apologized all the way home. Vowing he would never lay a hand on her again, he explained that he was under so much pressure from the studio and he needed her new album to do even better than her last one. When he broke down and cried, she held him.
Tagin knew Lonnie was bad news. He had sensed it from the very beginning. The minute that he had grabbed Sherrilyn, Tagin had gone on the defense. He placed his body between them, but fortunately Sherrilyn had managed to calm him down before things could escalate. Then he had the displeasure of listening to him excuse his behavior by claiming it was all stress. Of course Sherrilyn, being the soft-hearted person she was, had felt sorry for him, holding him in her arms while he cried. Grinding his teeth, he paced her bedroom while she soaked in the tub. He prayed for the young girl to wise up and go home. No career was worth putting herself in danger, and he had a feeling they were just starting to see Lonnie Foster’s true colors.
“Hey, babe, can you come here for minute?” Sherrilyn walked into Lonnie’s home office to find him sitting behind the desk with a devious smile on his face.
“What is that smile all about?” she asked as he pulled her into his lap. He handed her a large manila envelope. “What’s this?”
“Open it,” he said, still smiling at her.
Unfolding the brass tab, she pulled out some legal-looking paperwork. It took her a minute to understand what she was reading. “These are your divorce papers! You didn’t tell me that you had even filed!”
Squeezing her tighter, he kissed her shoulder.
“I know. Forgive me for being sneaky but I didn’t want to upset you if Linda fought me on it.”
“So did she?”
He shook his head. “Not too much. I left her with a pretty fat bank account so she wasn’t too upset.” He shifted her so she was fully facing him. “Now I have something to ask you.” Placing his palm on the back of her neck, he pulled her closer.
“Marry me, Sherry. Make me the happiest man on the planet and say you will be my wife. I know I’m a few years older than you, but I promise you will never want for anything. Please say yes?”
Feeling her breath catch in her throat, Sherrilyn stared at him, unable to say anything. Finally, she nodded. “Yes! I will marry you!”
Sherrilyn’s wedding to Lonnie Foster was going to be a grand affair. Everyone who was anyone in Nashville was invited. More than a thousand invitations were sent out and the largest church in the city was booked. Sherrilyn’s wedding dress was made by a top designer and weighed more than she did. But it was beautiful. A full-length gown with a full skirt, it had a princess cut neckline. She thought she was going to have to fire the designer who kept insisting she needed to lower the already too low neckline.
“But darling, you will look simply ravishing!” he insisted in a really bad English accent.
Placing her fists on her hips, she stared him down. “Darling, I will look like a blasted hoochie mama in this thing! My daddy will be here! Now you either raise this neckline by about a foot or I will cover it with a sweatshirt. I swear I will!” Finally realizing that she meant business, they came to an agreeable compromise.
The only thing harder than trying to convince Ramone that her dress was too low was trying t
o convince her daddy that she should get married at all! He was beyond furious and threatened to beat the tar out of Lonnie for taking advantage of an innocent young girl. It took her the better part of two days on the phone and a trip back home to convince him that the wedding was taking place with or without him. Finally, he said he would agree and walk her down the aisle, but only if she came home first.
Pulling up into the front yard of her house again felt so strange. She had been gone a little over a year, but it seemed longer. She could quickly see the vast improvements that her dad had been able to make since she had paid off the mortgage like she promised she would do. The pickup he had picked her up in wasn’t brand new, but it was really nice, and it was all her dad would allow her to buy. It had barely come to a stop before she had jumped out, racing across the lawn and up the front porch steps to pull Devon into her arms. “Oh, I have missed you so much! Let me look at you! Oh my gosh, you’re getting so tall!”
The now eight-year-old Devon was only a few inches shorter than his sister. He hugged her briefly. “Why have you been gone so long? How come you couldn’t home sooner?” The accusation in his blue eyes tore at her heart. Truth was, Lonnie kept her so busy she barely had time to sleep, much less travel back to Texas for a visit. If she hadn’t insisted on this trip, it wouldn’t have happened. It took some major sweet-talking on her part and refusing to come to the wedding on her dad’s part to make him relent.
“I’m sorry, Sugar. I know it’s been a long time. I promise I will make it up to you, ok? Just wait until you see what I brought you!” Digging through her suitcase she found the remote-controlled 4x4 truck. Devon’s eyes lit up when he saw the toy. Grabbing it with both hands, he took off out into the yard to try it out.
“You know he has really missed you.” Her dad stepped up onto the porch with the rest of her bags.
“I have missed him, too! I have missed both of you.” She chuckled as Devon sent the truck spinning around the yard.
“You know for someone who is doing so well you would think we would see her more than once a year.” Sherrilyn cringed at the tone in her dad’s voice. Turning around, she leaned against the porch post.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I wish I had a better explanation other than being really busy, but I don’t.”
“That’s not an explanation, Sherry Rose. That’s an excuse and a pitiful one at that.” Smiling, she knelt down in front of the rocking chair where he was sitting.
“Hey, I’m here now! Please don’t be angry with me, Daddy. Let’s enjoy our time together.” Sighing deeply, Doug ran his fingers through his hair. Sherrilyn noticed his temple area was getting pretty gray.
“Sherry, I won’t lie. My first instinct is to hog-tie you and not let you return to Nashville. I admit I don’t know much about the man you want to marry, but something about him makes me uneasy. First off, why would he want to marry someone so much younger than him and why would you want to marry someone his age? You know he isn’t much younger than I am. He isn’t forcing this on you, is he?”
“Of course he isn’t! He is only thirty-two and I am going on twenty. So it’s not that huge of an age gap.” Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to find the words to explain her relationship with Lonnie to her dad but came up at a loss. “Listen, I can’t explain it. We just fell in love, Daddy. Sometimes love doesn’t make sense, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s right either.” Raising his hand, he cut her off. “Listen, I know you are of age and I really can’t stop you if this is what you want. But I am asking that while you’re here and away from any influences, please think about it. No harm in taking a second look at things. If you still want to marry him when you leave, then I will respect your wishes.”
Sherrilyn kissed his whiskered cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”
The next few days flew by. Sherrilyn enjoyed being home so much that she extended her stay another week. She was lying across her bed talking with Susan when she heard a pounding at the front door.
“Who on earth is beating your door down?” Susan asked with a concerned look on her face.
“I have no idea, but they better have a good reason for it!” Swinging open the door, she was all prepared to give whoever was standing on the other side a piece of her mind, but that thought fled when she looked into Lonnie’s smiling face.
“Hey, stranger. I thought you had forgotten your way home.” Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her for a long minute.
Fanning her face from the effect of Lonnie’s greeting, she laughed, “No…I haven’t forgotten my way home. I promise. I just had a lot of catching up to do. Did you know I was in Nashville for over a year?”
“I guess time flies when you’re having fun, huh?” He looked behind her then smiled at Susan, “Hey, there. You must be the best friend I have heard so much about. It’s nice to meet you.” He charmed Susan with ease and within minutes had her laughing at his jokes. Later that evening when her dad got home from work, he used that same charm. Before long Doug was smiling and seemed to be enjoying his company. Devon warmed to him when he took him outside to play with his new truck. Watching her brother and her soon-to-be husband playing in the yard, Sherrilyn felt as if her life was truly coming together.
“So where are you staying tonight, Lonnie?” Sherrilyn’s dad asked after dinner.
“I’ve got a hotel room in Beaumont. I didn’t think you would be comfortable with me staying here before we were married.” He then grinned at the older man. “I just can’t wait to call you Dad.” Sherrilyn snorted at the look on her dad’s face.
“Tell you what, let’s just leave it at Doug, if you don’t mind.”
Lonnie chuckled then nodded in agreement before continuing. “I was hoping to sweet talk our girl into cutting her vacation just a couple of days short. I have some news that just might do the trick.” Looking at her in expectation, he didn’t have to wait long for her response.
“What news? What?” She sat on the arm of his chair and shook his shoulders.
“I think someone might have gotten an invitation to sing at the Opry.”
Sherrilyn felt the smile slide off her face in shock. Staring at Lonnie, she asked him to repeat what he had just said.
“You received an invitation to sing at the Grand Ole Opry,” he repeated.
“But…how? I just barely have gotten my toes wet in the music industry. How have they even heard of me? I’ve released one record…my songs haven’t even hit the top ten yet…I just don’t understand.” Picking up a magazine, Lonnie started fanning her face that had lost all color.
“Sherry! This is a good thing! I thought you would be happy.”
Grabbing the magazine from him, she held it in her lap. “I am happy! I’m just so surprised! And sick…why do I feel so sick?” Jumping up, she raced to the bathroom where she tossed her cookies…literally.
Once she returned back to Nashville, everything was once more happening at the speed of light. Wedding plans, appearances, studio work, she was kept running from daylight to dark and beyond. Lonnie had been an absolute angel and treated her like a princess. Of course, the other girls talked about her at the studio, but Sherrilyn just smiled and tried to remember her manners. Lonnie had tried on numerous occasions to convince her to move in with him, but she wouldn’t. She knew it really didn’t matter in God’s eyes; she was sinning anyway, but for whatever reason, she refused to cross the line of living together. Lonnie had never even stayed the night. She always wanted him to leave before dawn. It irritated him, she could tell, but he always left.
The night that she was scheduled to sing at the Grand Ole Opry was both the most exciting and the worst night of her life thus far. Her nerves were about to totally take her over.
“Baby, just breathe! You are going to be great.” Lonnie tried to calm her but it wasn’t working. Looking at him with panic in her eyes she asked if anyone had ever canceled.
He stopped patting her back and turned her around to face h
im. “You are not canceling. Once you get out there, you will be just fine. If it makes you feel any better, everyone is really nervous the first time they perform here. If you weren’t at least a little bit nervous, I would be concerned. I heard that some even threw up before going out.
Looking at him in horror, Sherrilyn sat down on the couch, holding her hand over her tummy that was already churning. “That’s not helpful, Lonnie…not at all.”
Kneeling in front of her, he took her hands. “Sherry Lane, listen to me. Have I ever let you do anything that you were not ready for? I want you to close your eyes.” After she closed them, he spoke once more. “Picture the stage you are about to walk out onto. Picture the band behind you ready to play your song. Picture the people smiling up at you from the front rows. What are they waiting for you to do?”
“They are waiting for me to sing,” she answered.
“Do you sing?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Then sing, Sherrilyn. Sing like your mama taught you to. Don’t worry about perfection tonight. I want you to give these people the gift of hearing you. Sing from your heart.”
Opening her eyes, she wiped the tears from her face. “Ok.”
After the night was over, Sherrilyn had never felt so happy. The crowd clapped and clapped, making her feel so loved. Lonnie smiled at her from stage right giving her the thumbs up. When she walked off stage, he pulled her into a tight bear hug, lifting her feet off the ground. “What did I tell you? I knew they would love you! Next time you won’t be so nervous.”