by LuAnn McLane
When she disappears into the back bedroom I slide into a seat and stare out the window without really seeing the landscape pass by. It suddenly occurs to me that no one really knows where I’m at, but then again I can’t think of anybody who is expecting me anywhere today anyhow. It’s kind of a bummer that no one is really going to miss me, but I don’t want to ruin my adventure by dwelling on anything crappy. For a moment I consider calling Jamie Lee but I don’t want the crew to overhear my conversation, so I decide to wait until later when I know I’ll be bursting with news to share. It might be her honeymoon but she’d want to know about my little . . . okay big adventure.
Wow . . . I woke up this morning just like any other morning and yet somehow I ended up on Tammy Turner’s tour bus doing her hair. I suppose it goes to show that you just don’t know what life’s going to throw at you, so you had better be ready.
Well, I’m ready!
I think . . .
7
Ready or Not
Rushing into the Country Music Channel studios with only thirty minutes to spare has me a nervous wreck but Tammy and her entourage are perfectly at ease with the situation. With my heavy duffel bag hefted over my shoulder and my short-legged stride I’m struggling to keep up. My flip-flops slap against the hard marble floor and when I start to breath rather hard, Boone, the bald bodyguard says, “Here, gimme that.”
“Oh, thanks!” My big bag looks amazingly small in his clutches but when I look up to give him a grateful smile he’s got his I’m-a-badass-bodyguard expression going on, so I only get a sharp nod in return. I get the feeling that he’s a big teddy bear beneath the I-could-crush-you-like-a-twig exterior . . . but if I were a dude I wouldn’t want to cross him. Boone takes his job very seriously. We’re hurrying way too fast for me to take it all in, but the chrome, glass, and lush green plants remind me that I’m not in Kansas anymore. Although I managed to change from my tattered shorts into my jeans, I wish I were wearing something more professional. At Sam’s insistence I’m still wearing my WHATEVER T-shirt and now I wish I were in my skirt and blouse.
“Right this way!” A no-nonsense receptionist leads us to a waiting room that she calls the green room even though the walls are painted a soft yellow. I don’t have time to ponder this because Tammy and I are whisked down the hallway for her hair and makeup session.
“Hey, Tammy!” says a perky woman with a warm smile. She looks to be thirty-something but her skin is so flawless that it’s hard to tell. She gestures toward a tall director’s chair surrounded by a three-way mirror illuminated by large round bulbs. “Have a seat.”
“Make me pretty, Carrie,” Tammy says with a wink.
“You’re already pretty.”
“Then make me gorgeous.”
“She’s not a miracle worker,” Lilly comments dryly as she enters the room.
When Tammy flips Lilly the bird, Carrie merely laughs, so I suppose she knows them all well. “Guess you came in to get some much-needed pointers,” Tammy tosses back.
“Actually, I did,” Lilly admits, and then turns to me. “Carrie is an amazing makeup artist. I learn something new every time we come here.”
“Where’s Sam?” Tammy asks.
Lilly rolls her eyes. “Curled up on the sofa in the green room, fast asleep.”
“Wow, who did your hair?” Carrie asks Tammy as she starts applying brown eyeliner.
My heart starts beating hard when I wonder if she means wow in a good way. Tammy jabs her thumb in my direction. “Oh, I forgot to introduce you to Macy McCoy. She came to my rescue when I had a bit of a hair emergency.”
Lilly snickers. “Yeah, I’d say so.”
Tammy pauses to pull a face at Lilly. “Cindy, my regular stylist who goes on the road with me, went into labor. Without her around I cheated and washed my hair with regular shampoo. Low and behold my extensions started slipping off and well, let’s just say I was quite a sight.”
“Oh my!” Carrie makes a tsk-tsk noise with her tongue. “Doesn’t sound pretty.” She looks over at me. “Hi Macy. Nice to meet you. Love, love, love the cut you gave Tammy. Fun and flirty! The flipped-out ends are too cute. What salon do you work for?” she asks as she turns back to her task.
“Um . . . the Cut and Curl in Hootertown.” I nibble on the inside of my lip, waiting for her reaction.
“Oh, what a quaint little town.” She snaps her fingers and says, “Y’all had an amazing football team last year. I remember reading about some hotshot coach who turned the program around.” She flicks me a glance. “What was his name? Luke something or other?”
“Your Luke, Macy?” Tammy asks with a gasp.
“The Panther’s football coach is your BF?” Carrie asks while smoothing blush across Tammy’s cheekbones with a big, fat brush. “I heard rumors that Vandy is after him.”
“He’s my best friend’s brother. Not my BF.”
“Hmmm . . . I seem to remember from his picture that he’s quite the hottie,” Carrie comments. “You lucky girl!”
“Yeah, he is,” I admit in a small voice. “But he’s just a friend. Luke’s a legend in Hootertown. Way outta my league. I’m sure I never even cross his mind, you know, like that.”
“Whoa now, back up a minute,” Lilly chimes in. “Did you just say that you’re not good enough for some guy?”
Well . . . ,” I begin, but don’t know what to say. “Not exactly, but come on, you know what I mean.”
“Watch out,” Tammy warns. “You just got Lilly’s panties in a twist.”
“Not exactly, huh?” Lilly angles her spiky head at me. “Please tell me that you don’t really believe that some guy no matter who he is could be out of your league.”
“Yeah, come on, Macy,” Carrie says. “You’re a cutie-pie. What gives?”
“Nothin’.” I lick my lips for a second. “He’s just, you know . . . Luke,” I finish lamely.
“And what are you, chopped liver?” Lilly demands.
“Ew,” Carrie says. “Chopped liver is gross.”
“Exactly!” Lilly slaps her thigh.
“Stop badgering the girl,” Tammy protests, “and let her touch up my hair.”
Glad to have something to do, I unzip my duffel bag and locate my comb and hair spray. My phone that I tossed in there startles me when it rings. I’m about to let it go but Tammy says, “Hey, go ahead and answer it. I don’t want anybody to think you’ve gotten kidnapped.”
“Ohmigod,” I tell them as I pick up the phone. “It’s Luke!”
“Answer it!” they demand in unison.
I stare at the phone for a second, then flip it open. “Hey,” I say in a soft, shaky voice. I’m fully aware that all eyes are on me.
“How you doin’?” Luke asks.
“Okay.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Say listen, I know you declined but I’d like to stop over and pick you up for dinner.”
My heart beats faster. Maybe he cares more than I thought?
“Mama’s been after me to get you over here.”
“Oh . . . she has?” Okay, now my heart plummets. When will I ever learn?
“Yeah, and you know how she gets when she doesn’t get her way. You don’t want to put me through that, do you?” he says in a teasing tone. “Come on and say yes.”
“Well, sorry but I’m, um, in Nashville.” I glance over at Tammy who grins.
“Nashville? What for?”
“Well . . . I’m styling Tammy Turner’s hair before her interview on Country Music Minutes.”
Luke pauses and then says, “You’re joking, right? You don’t really expect me to tell Mama that, do you?”
“No, really, I’m in the Country Music Channel studio right now.”
“Hand over the phone,” Tammy says, and wags her fingers at me. When I hesitate Lilly pries the phone from my fingers and tosses it to Tammy. Carrie puts a hand over her mouth and looks at me with big eyes.
“Hey Luke. Tammy Turner, here. How’s it goin’?” She p
auses while he answers. “Good . . . good. Heard you’re a helluva football coach.” She pauses again. “Well the best of luck with this next season. I’d love to come to Hootertown and sing the national anthem if you’ll have me.” She grins and then winks at me. “No, I’m serious.”
Lilly leans over and whispers in my ear. “She’s not kiddin’. When she says something like that she means it.”
I swallow and wonder again if I’m going to wake up here any second and be really pissed that this is all a doggone dream.
“Listen, Luke, I have a bit of a problem and I hope you might be able to help me out,” Tammy says.
I glance at Lilly but she just shrugs. We all wait with bated breath to hear what she’s up to.
“Macy was kind enough to hop on my tour bus and help me out.” She pauses while he answers and then grins over at me. “So she’s always helpful like that, huh? Not surprising. Anyway, I’m in a bit of a pickle. See, since she came on the bus, I have no way of gettin’ her back to Hootertown. Do you think you could be a sweetie and come here and get her?”
I gasp and shake my head at Tammy. Lilly giggles and Carrie mouths, Shut up at me.
“You could? Awesome! I owe ya one.”
Lilly pokes me in the ribs. I start to sputter but Carrie shushes me with her index finger to her lips.
“Okay, how soon can you leave? Great. I’ll be here at the studio for about an hour. Then we’re all gonna grab a bite to eat at Jack’s Bar-B-Que. Yeah, the one on Broadway next to The Stage. I think we’ll be upstairs on the patio out back overlooking the Ryman.” She pauses. “I know. Me too. I almost never visit Nashville without stopping there. Thanks, Luke.”
“Tammy!” I hold my hand out for the phone but Tammy flips it shut, guessing that I might try to talk Luke out of coming here, and of course she’s right.
“You can thank me later,” she says with a grin.
I shake my head. “What have you just done?”
“Sorry for gettin’ all up in your business.” She gives me a small shrug and doesn’t look at all sorry. “Can’t help myself.”
A young guy with a clipboard pokes his head into the room. “Five minutes, Ms. Turner.”
“Oh!” I hurry over to fluff and spray her hair.
“You mad at me?” Tammy asks. At first I think she’s teasing but her brown eyes appear serious. “Should I have kept my nose out of your love life?”
“I don’t have a love life. Luke is doing this as a friend.”
“Didn’t he just ask you to dinner or something?” Carrie asks.
“Yes, but because his mama put him up to it,” I say as I mist Tammy’s hair and then play with her bangs a bit.
Lilly purses her lips. “Maybe not. Maybe he was using his mama as an excuse to sway you to come.”
“No way . . .” I shake my head. “I mean why wouldn’t he come right out and say that he wants me there?”
“Well . . . ,” Tammy says slowly, “you’ve never let Luke know how you feel about him, have you?”
“No,” I admit in a small voice.
“Then he might be just as hesitant to let you know too, Macy. Love is a two-way street.”
“Oh my God—could that be the title for the new CD?” Lilly asks.
Tammy grins. “Love is a two-way street?”
“Yeah!” Lilly says with an enthusiastic nod.
While pursing her glossy lips Tammy nods slowly as if pondering the title. “Yeah, I think it could work.” She grins at me. “Macy, I think I really do need to kidnap you from Hootertown.”
“I think you’re right,” Lilly agrees.
While I know that they’re teasing—at least I think they’re teasing—the thought that I could be a part of this world is exciting. The funny thing is that I already feel as if these women are my friends, and I barely know them. We just seem to click.
“We’re ready for you,” the young man says as he enters the room to escort Tammy to the studio.
“I can’t wait to meet your Luke,” Tammy says over her shoulder as she exits the room.
“He’s not my Luke!” I tell her, but she just waves her hand at me.
“You’re blushin’,” Lilly observes, and gives my shoulder a little shove. “If you really like this guy, then go for it, Macy.”
“Yeah,” Carrie chimes in, and then gestures toward her chair. “Want me to do your makeup?”
“Really?”
Carrie pats the chair. “Get your tush over here.”
When I stand there dumbfounded that a professional makeup artist is going to hook me up, Lilly gives my shoulder another little shove. “Go on, Macy. This is going to be fun. Just wait, you’ll knock Luke’s socks off.”
I smile but her statement sobers me a little.
“What?” Lilly asks with a frown. “Did Luke say somethin’ to upset you that you’re not tellin’ us?”
I shrug. “No . . .”
“Spill,” Lilly prompts.
“Well, I’m tellin’ ya that he only asked me over for his mama’s sake. It’s a regular Sunday thing for me to go over for fried chicken after church but with Jamie Lee on her honeymoon I felt a bit awkward, even though Daisy is like a mother to me.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Carrie comments as she looks at my face with a critical eye. “I think Lilly might have hit the nail on the head.”
I breathe in deeply and then sigh. “He asked me only because his mother badgered him into it. Not because he wanted me to be there. See, I’ve got to get over this crush I have on him. He’ll always be a friend and nothing more. It’s not healthy. I’ve got to move on with my life.”
Lilly comes closer and angles her head at me. “You don’t know that, Macy. Why don’t you just not think of it going one way or another and just let the chips fall where they may?”
“Lilly has a point,” Carrie agrees as she tilts my head up to blend my eye shadow. “Don’t overanalyze, and let things come naturally.”
“I’m telling you guys, I’m so not his type.”
Lilly arches one delicate eyebrow. “He’s still single, isn’t he?”
“Well then, he hasn’t found his type yet.”
“Yes . . . but Luke likes . . . arm candy.”
Carrie gives me a slow smile. “Kinda like this?” She steps away from the mirror so that I can see my reflection.
I put my hand to my chest. “Oh my. My eyes are so blue. And wow, I have cheekbones.”
Carrie laughs softly. “Yeah, you do. What do you think of the lip gloss?”
I rub my peach-tinted lips together. “I love it. It’s so soft and feminine.”
“And complements your hair color,” observes Lilly.
“Here, take this.” Carrie hands me the silver tube. “I get samples all the time. I’ll write down the cosmetics I used so you can duplicate this look at home. Since you’re a cosmetologist you know all about bone structure and colors. You won’t have any problem recreating this look.”
“So, still think you’re not hot enough for Luke?” Lilly asks with a little head bop.
I shrug. “He’s a hard body and I need to take off a good twenty pounds.”
“Macy, you’ve got some curves . . . so what?” Lilly says with a more pronounced head bop. “Play up whatcha got, girlfriend.”
“Lilly’s right, you know,” Carrie chimes in. “I do makeup for lots of famous country stars. Yeah, you’ve got your Shanias and Carrie Underwoods but there are plenty of stars who are incredibly sexy and yet not built like twigs. You’re a gorgeous girl, Macy. You just have to learn to believe in yourself. Lilly’s right. Play up whatcha got.”
When she gives me a high five I slap her hand hard, as though I’m buying into all of this. But the fact of the matter is, now that it’s sinking in that Luke is driving all the way here to Nashville to pick me up, I’m nervous as hell. I need to call him and let him know that he really doesn’t have to do this.
“Oh no you don’t!” Lilly says with a hard shake of her head.
“What?” I ask while innocently blinking my eyes.
“You’re thinking about calling Luke off,” Lilly says in a matter-of-fact tone that I feel the need to dispute.
“Nuh-uh.”
Lilly arches one knowing eyebrow.
“Okay, how’d you know?”
“By the expression on your face and the fact that you were eyeballing your phone with longing.”
“Okay . . . guilty,” I admit with a groan. “But you know what?”
“What?” they ask in unison.
“If only I felt as if Luke were doing this for me and not somebody else, then I’d have a whole new attitude about the situation,” I tell them, but then put my hands to my cheeks.
“What?” they ask again.
“I can’t believe I’m tellin’ you all of this.”
Tilting her head, Carrie leans on the back of the chair and looks at me in the mirror. “You know, I firmly believe that things happen for a reason. Events, people you meet.” She pauses for a moment as if waiting for me to roll my eyes or tell her she’s full of baloney.
I glance over at Lilly, thinking that she might make a snide comment, but she gives me a small shrug and says, “Having Carrie do your makeup is like having her read your palm.”
“Oh, shush,” Carrie says with a wave of her hand. I get the feeling that Lilly is only half teasing, making me wonder if Carrie is going to give me a pearl of wisdom that I’ll need to latch on to. I know, I’m probably desperate . . . reaching for something, anything, but I wait with bated breath to hear what she’s about to tell me.
While playing with my hair she says, “I’ve lived near Nashville all of my life and I still love to go to the Honky-Tonk Highway and watch the wannabes. Since I’ve been doing this job for nearly ten years I’ve seen the difference between those who make it and those who never will.”
I’m wondering what this has to do with me since I can’t sing worth a lick, but I nod my head.
Lilly pipes in, “I can tell ya the difference. Hard work and luck . . . not necessarily in that order.”
Carrie purses her lips. “Mmmm . . . yeah, not to mention talent. But what it really boils down to is believin’ in yourself.” She taps her chest. “You have to know yourself from the inside out before achieving success. Just think of Toby Keith or Reba McEntire. Sure, they have talent out the wazoo.” Carrie pauses and holds up her index finger. “But so do a whole lot of others. It’s the inner confidence of knowing just who you are and what you’re all about that makes the difference. Reba is sexy as hell at fifty and is still tryin’ new and exciting things like Broadway and clothing lines when she wouldn’t have to lift a finger for the rest of her life. Toby said to hell with it all and started his own record label and starred in his own movie.”