Crescendo

by Laurie Larsen

  His cell phone rang, which was a good reminder to put it on mute. He lifted it to read the screen. "Oh, I better get this."

  Robbie gave him an eyebrows-up look of disbelief and tapped on a pretend watch on his left wrist.

  "I know, I'll keep it quick." He turned his back. "Hey, Brent, what's up?"

  "Taking a study break. I've got a Calculus test on Monday."

  "Well, God gave you the brains of the family, so I have every confidence in you. You'll ace it."

  His brother laughed. "No pressure, huh?"

  Blake turned and glanced at his bandmates. It was time to go. "Bud, I gotta go, but is everything okay? Do you need anything?"

  "Oh, no, man, I was just calling to take my mind off absolute maximums and bounded functions."

  Blake chuckled. "Well, remember I'm in Hilton Head competing with the band. We're about to go on stage."

  "Oh shoot! I'm sorry Blake! I'm totally wrapped up in my own world. Go, and uh, break a leg. You can do it."

  Blake laughed again at the encouragement. "You sure you're okay? Don't need anything?"

  "Just a new brain. But I guess I'll have to make do with the one I got."

  "Love you, bro," Blake said, and closed his eyes as a rush of sibling love and protectiveness surged through him. On a day a dozen years ago, he'd become his little brother's protector and provider, along with Aunt Gloria. A day that changed life forever for all three of them.

  Disconnecting the call, he stepped back to his band. He made eye connect with them, one by one. He thrust a fist out, and both his buddies joined. “Ace in the Hole,” he said. Followed by all three, “Let’s let it roll.”

  They took the stage and Blake strode over to the fans, slapping hands with them, smiling and greeting them. When the guys’ instruments were miked up, they launched into their first song and immediately got wrapped up in the melody, the lyrics, the harmony, the rhythm. Music was his place to lose himself, and it never failed.

  They moved seamlessly into their second song in the same key, by a different artist, and the crowd came with them. Girls in short shorts and tight shirts danced and sang along in the crowd, and guys wearing jeans and cowboy hats drank beer and got rowdy. Their applause rose to the sky.

  “We’re Ace in the Hole from Myrtle Beach. We’re happy to be here and we hope you vote for us to win Battle of the Bands.” The enthusiastic crowd screamed. Blake went on, “We want to play a few songs in homage to one of our favorite classic country bands who is making a comeback. You know them. You love them. Frontier Fire!”

  They moved into the opening strands of their first cover. The crowd knew the words and sang along with him and Blake let his concentration waver for just a moment as he imagined someday, in the future, when he stood in front of a big crowd like this, singing his own songs, knowing that the crowd knew every single word. What an amazing experience that would be.

  They ended up doing four Frontier Fire songs in all, then moved back into this decade with another half hour of popular country music covers. When they finished their set, Blake tapped his chest and raised his hands to the air, letting the crowd know that he not only appreciated their support, but thanked the Lord for the experience as well. “We’re Ace in the Hole. Thank you, Hilton Head! We’ll be back on tonight.”

  They rushed off the stage and practically collapsed from the high. The crowd was crazy happy with them and it felt so good.

  They started the trek back to the truck to store their instruments until the next set later tonight. Haley joined them. “Great job, guys! Awesome work.”

  He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss while the guys continued on. He owed so much to her. This shift in success and popularity was all due to her. “Thank you,” he whispered and kissed her again.

  “Excuse me,” came a voice from behind him. Blake finished his leisurely kiss with Haley and then turned. A man in clean-cut clothes stood there, a canvas messenger bag strapped over his chest. He wasn’t the age of the typical audience member here, and he wasn’t dressed like one either.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Yes. My name is Randall Brown.” He reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a couple business cards, handing one to Blake and one to Haley. “You guys sounded really good out there today.”

  “Thank you very much,” Blake said. He took a peek at the card, but it didn’t give him too much of a clue as to who this guy was. “We’d appreciate your vote.” He smiled and looked at Haley.

  “I especially was impressed with your Frontier Fire set.”

  “Oh, yeah, we just added that. We’d been working on them the last few weeks and decided to debut them here.”

  “I’m the manager of Frontier Fire.”

  Blake went still and stared at the man. Had he heard right? This guy managed Frontier Fire? What was he doing in South Carolina? Blake shook his head, and regained enough awareness to say, “This is Haley Witherspoon. She’s Ace in the Hole’s manager. And my girlfriend.”

  Randall laughed and held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Haley. Look, I’m finalizing the plans for the reunion tour of the band. It will feature our new album on a five-month tour.”

  Blake nodded, hoping he looked like he was following but all that rolled through his head was, ‘What does this have to do with me?’ Fortunately, Haley was on the same page as him, and wasn’t too intimidated to ask.

  “Mr. Brown is there something we can help you with?”

  “Yes. There definitely is. I’m here ... at this festival and scheduled to attend a couple more in the south, looking for someone who can sing Frontier Fire songs as well as you can.”

  Blake blinked. “Why?”

  “I don’t know if you heard this in the news or not, but Josh Lakely suffered a serious car accident and is injured. He won’t be able to tour.”

  Blake gasped and so did Haley. She looked as shocked as he did. The lead singer of the band injured right before a five-month tour, and unable to perform. It was a disaster.

  “Our choices were to cancel the tour, or to find a replacement lead singer. Our investors prefer the latter. But only if we can find a good fit. Someone who knows the songs, can represent them well, and sounds like Josh when he sings. I think I found him. You.”

  Blake’s heart flipped and started beating so fast he felt the pounding in his head. Dizziness came over him and he ardently tried not to faint from the shock.

  Haley said, “You want Blake to be the lead singer of Frontier Fire during your five-month reunion tour across the country.”

  Blake was glad she’d summarized because he wasn’t sure his brain was working properly.

  “That’s right, and I’d be happy to discuss contract terms with you.”

  “Yes, we need to do that, and I might bring in our band attorney to review the terms as well.”

  “No problem at all, but we need to move this thing forward. The tour starts in a month, and if you decline the offer, I need to keep looking.”

  Blake emerged from his fog. “No!” Haley and Randall both stared at him. “No, we don’t want to decline. Ace in the Hole will be glad to go on tour with you.”

  Haley looked at him, her mouth open, no words coming out. Randall said, “Hold on. What? We don’t want your whole band. We just want you. The rest of Frontier Fire is on board.”

  Haley turned to face him, resting her hands on his shirt. “They just want you to sing, Blake. They don’t need Robbie or Jake.”

  He glanced from Haley to Randall and back to Haley. “Well, then that’s not going to work. We’re a band. We either do it together, or we don’t do it.”

  Chapter Six

  HALEY’S WORLD WAS SPINNING. She stood on solid ground and yet she felt like she would fall.

  Blake had received a big-time, once-in-a-lifetime offer to front a bigtime band with thousands of followers and he turned it down? Did he know how many small-time singers got an opportunity like this one? Not many! Hardly any! For him to turn it down wi
thout a reasonable consideration period, was crazy. He’d regret it later if he let Randall Brown walk away, she was positive.

  “Okay,” she said, striving to be the voice of reason, “let’s hold on here a minute. Blake, why don’t you go get some water and sit in the air conditioning for a while. Let me talk contract terms with Mr. Brown and see what they’re even talking about with this offer. Then you and I can talk later.”

  She hoped the glare she was pointing in his direction would supplement her message. It must have, because he agreed. “Okay. I’ll leave this to you then. But no decisions till we talk again.”

  “You got it.” She managed a hopeful smile. She reached for his hand and squeezed it, hoping her pride in him was transmitted through. Regardless of what they decided about the Frontier Fire offer, they still had a final set to perform before knowing if they would win Battle of the Bands.

  Blake walked away, and Haley watched him, then turned to Mr. Brown. “Please don’t take that personally. Blake would be an awesome fit for your tour. And I think he’d be really interested in doing it. It’s just that he doesn’t see himself as a solo artist. He’s very loyal to their threesome. They’ve been together a long time.”

  “I understand. He’s the best fit I’ve found in almost a week of searching. I’d hate to leave him behind and have to keep looking, but I will do that if we can’t come to an agreement.” He pulled a contract out of his bag. They found a picnic table nearby, and they both sat to review it. Randall took out a pen and used it to point out the key contract points.

  It pretty much covered everything. Rehearsal timing and location, transportation of the tour, accommodations, payment. The compensation terms were split down by earnings for the tour, the album and residuals from merchandise sold. Haley tried to hold back a gasp and keep her tongue from lolling. These people meant business. These numbers were high.

  “Please keep in mind that when Josh recovers, he will return as lead singer of the band, and Blake will move on. But we don’t see Josh doing that in time to complete this tour.”

  Haley nodded, and her mind raced with opportunities for Blake to move on from this tour. This was going to be so good for his future career. This was a dream come true for any musician. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

  She just had to convince him to take advantage of it.

  “Are there any questions I can answer for you?” Randall asked.

  “It’s very straightforward and I don’t think I have any questions.”

  Randall turned his wrist and looked at his shiny gold wristwatch. “It is now five pm on Saturday. This offer is good until five pm on Sunday. I need your answer before then.”

  Haley wished she could give her answer right now, “Yes! Yes! Heck yes!” But it didn’t work that way. She wasn’t the one with the talent to stand up there on stage and lead the band in vocals. She wasn’t the one who’d have to walk away from Ace in the Hole when they had a summer full of great gigs scheduled, that she’d scheduled for them. She needed to talk to Blake.

  But man, she would be completely heartbroken if he turned this down.

  “Let’s exchange cell phone numbers. I’ll be back in touch with you before five tomorrow.”

  BLAKE FOUND HIMSELF wandering to the beach. He sat to pull his boots off, then rolled up the legs of his jeans. He let the cool, soft sand envelop his feet and he made his way down to the rolling surf. Hilton Head had one of the most beautiful beaches he’d seen. The beach had always been his place to soak in God’s beauty and run things through his mind. Maybe the beach would work its magic now.

  Sing lead for Frontier Fire? Him? On their national tour? How on earth was this his life now? He had moved so quickly from Uber driver doing a few local gigs every week, to potentially headlining with a major country band. He had Haley to thank for that. Her hard work had transformed the band.

  But this opportunity didn’t include the band. It was just for him. It didn’t seem right, to abandon Ace in the Hole just when they were hitting their stride and finding success. He wanted to be a part of that. He didn’t want to leave them alone and go hang out with someone else’s band. Ace in the Hole was his band. Robbie and Jake were his guys, his brothers, his best friends. He couldn’t do this to them.

  On the other hand, it was temporary. Would Robbie and Jake want to take some time off from the schedule while he was gone? Cancel the gigs and try to reschedule them when he returned? Knowing them, the answer to that question would be a flat ... no.

  And what about his family responsibilities? He knew Aunt Gloria was capable of managing the household chores alone, but what about when Brent needed something? Transportation, money, advice or just an open ear? To his very core, Blake hated leaving her with all the work, all the tasks. His brother was his number one priority, and had been for a long time. He would go to the ends of the earth to protect his brother. How would he do that if he was gone?

  He needed some guidance. He needed Haley’s guidance, but also God’s. He tried to let God help him with the major decisions in his life, and this one was the biggest decision he’d ever been faced with. So while he continued walking, he closed his eyes and thought silently, Help me. Guide me. Let me know your will for me. He put the sentiments on repeat, letting them run over and over again in his head. No big voice came bombarding out of the sky. No decision became the clear choice for him. He didn’t think God had answered him, but he felt confident that He would, eventually.

  He turned and walked back. He needed to find Haley.

  He found her at the beach entrance near the festival. She smiled her beautiful, happy smile when she saw him and he suddenly felt better, calmer. Her smile always made him feel that way. They would handle this together. No reason to feel distressed about it.

  He went right to her, clutched her arm and put his face beside hers. His nose rested against her hair and he breathed in her scent.

  “We need to talk,” she said.

  “Yep.”

  They walked together, and Haley led him back to the hotel. “I don’t want Jake and Robbie to know about this yet. Can we keep this confidential from them?”

  Blake considered. “Yep.” If he decided to pass, there was no need to even tell the guys.

  She led him to a small conference room inside the Business Center of the hotel. They sat at a table, and she laid out a multi-page contract in front of him. “I want to go over these terms with you, and I want you to keep an open mind before you decide. But Blake, whatever you decide to do, I want you to know ... I support you.”

  He gazed at her. It meant a lot. She talked through each and every contract point, explaining what was being asked of him, what time commitment it would require, and finally what compensation he would receive.

  “What?” he blurted, reached for the contract and pulled it closer. “Seriously?”

  “Yes.” She couldn’t say it without bursting into a big smile. “Seriously.”

  He blinked but the number didn’t change. It was the largest amount of compensation he’d ever seen, and even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d see. He pushed back moisture that had formed in his eyes and focused on the number.

  This was big. This was huge. This was monumental for his music career.

  “How can I turn this down?”

  Haley beamed but didn’t respond. She was letting him work through it in his own mind.

  “I can’t imagine.” He turned the paper over so that big number wasn’t staring at him, rattling his brain. He closed his eyes, then opened them again. “It’s a great opportunity, no doubt. But what about Ace in the Hole?”

  “I want you to consider this as two different things. The first thing is, is this a good opportunity for you? Is this something that you want to do? Is this something that will help you in your music career? Make a decision just based on that. Then, if you decide to do it, the second thing is, what about Ace in the Hole?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know if
I can separate the two. Ace in the Hole is my band. We are Ace in the Hole. If I leave them to pursue this on my own, I’d be abandoning them. And that doesn’t feel right to me. Especially when you’ve got us on a pinnacle of our own.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Maybe if I stuck with Ace in the Hole, we’d have our own successful ride soon.”

  Haley said, “Not like this. Not this soon. Frontier Fire is an established band. They’ve got hundreds of thousands of fans who will be coming to the concerts. Ace in the Hole might get there someday. But not this summer.”

  Blake flung back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair.

  “Think about it this way. What if every single one of those Frontier Fire fans finds out about Ace in the Hole? What if they like you so much that when this gig is over, they seek out Ace in the Hole performances? What if half of them do? What if a quarter of them do? It’s still a ton of people.”

  Blake let that thought run through his mind. “So, you’re saying, me doing this could be a good way to drive fans to Ace in the Hole.”

  “Could be. I could talk to Randall about allowing a wee bit of Ace in the Hole promotion during the Frontier Fire tour. Maybe sell your CD at the merch table?”

  “That might help sell the idea to Jake and Robbie.” He looked up at Haley. She’d said she’d support him whatever he decided to do. But it seemed clear to him that she wanted him to do this. Who knows, maybe he was crazy for even considering turning it down. Who did he think he was, walking away from such a great opportunity? Maybe Robbie and Jake would want him to do it, would encourage him to do it. He just didn’t know.

  “Haley, do you pray?” He felt comfortable with Haley. Comfortable enough to ask this question which he had never asked of anyone in his life. When she said, “Sure I do,” he relaxed and held his hands out to her. They gripped hands, bowed heads and closed eyes. “Lord, please guide us in this important decision. Help us to know your will and make it clear to us. Amen.”