Passionate Wishes

by Barbra Campbell

  “I thought getting this far in the contest would be enough to make mom proud of me,” Hailey said as we entered Melody’s house.

  My heart stung that she was worried about making her mom proud. “She’s a crapshoot. You have a lot of explaining to do. Is this part of the online contest ya mentioned a couple of months ago?”

  “Yes. Melody said I should enter but you wouldn’t sign the form.”

  “I said we needed to talk about it more?” I glared at Hailey who glared back. I shifted my gaze to Melody who was watching silently. If she wanted to meddle in parenting, she needed to see the side that sucked.

  Melody’s expression showed true regret. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. Hailey, did you forge his signature?”

  Hailey crossed her arms and turned to me first. “When you say we need to talk, it usually means no.”

  “It means I’m not convinced and ya have a chance to win me over, but ya never brought it up again. And I’m with Melody, how did you get my signature?”

  Melody flopped into a chair and covered her face with her hands before wringing them in her lap. “I’m sorry. I thought you wouldn’t let me, I waited until the last day. I was going to ask but a storm was coming and you had to get the horses in…I handed you a folded paper and said it was a school field trip. You signed without reading it.”

  I remembered the day. I addressed Melody as I stood. “Guess you’re off the hook. We’ll head home.”

  Melody reached out fruitlessly. “I can’t believe you tricked your dad, Hailey. But Brandt, let me explain what it means for her to have gotten this far.”

  “A little late for explanations.” I opened the door. “Hailey, walk back to the school to get your truck and head straight home.”

  I left the door open so Hailey would know I wasn't tolerating a delay. Another troubled departure and the same neighbor was outside watching. How did people deal with so much idle time?

  Arriving home a few minutes before Hailey gave me a chance to get my head straight. It was times like these I wished I had a spouse to collaborate with. Trish was useless in that department. When Hailey was a baby, Trish told me she didn’t have a mothering bone in her body. She needed to make a difference in the world and left for New York. She put herself through law school and worked at some big firm as a lawyer.

  If only she’d been as devoted to making things right with her daughter as with making things right with the world. She couldn’t see the irony.

  That left me on my own. Melody had looked as shocked as I’d felt about Hailey’s deception. If I hadn’t alienated Melody, we might have caught on to Hailey’s game sooner.

  Hailey slammed the door as she entered the house and stormed straight to her room. A reminder we shouldn’t talk about this until we both had a chance to cool off.

  Dinner wasn’t enough to pull her out of her room even though I’d gone to the store and gotten frozen pizza along with the rest of the groceries we needed. I gave her another hour to get her case ready and meet me in the living room.

  The details had pretty much been divulged earlier, but Hailey’s remorse touched me. Her curled posture and soft voice were beyond her normal ‘got caught’ frustration.

  “I’m really sorry, Dad. I’ve never wanted anything this bad.”

  “Bad enough to stay with your mom? Was that the plan? I should have known something was up when you arranged a visit to see her. It didn’t make sense that you fought the Christmas visit and suddenly wanted to go again in June. How were you going to get her to take you to the contest?”

  “I thought she might realize I was serious, and that I was talented. Maybe she’d take me. But if she wouldn’t, I figured it’s New York, I could hop on the bus and take myself.”

  I sat on the couch next to Hailey and put an arm around her. Casting my fears about her venturing through New York alone, I had to address the bigger issue. “I looked up the Teen Voices contest. You’re right. It is a really big deal. I still have to figure out what to do about your dishonesty, but I can’t even begin to explain how proud I am of you. The semi-finals? How’d you get this good?”

  “You always told me to work hard for what I want because good things don’t come easy. How did you remember the name of the contest?” She snuggled in. All the piss and vinegar in that girl couldn’t take away how happy she made me.

  “I talked to Melody.”

  “Don’t be mad at her, she didn’t know I tricked you.”

  I had a lot to figure out. Hailey made a compelling case for finishing the contest since scholarship money was on the line, and making it to the finals garnered recognition from prestigious schools. “Let’s talk about this more tomorrow.”

  “Are you going to let me go?”

  “Most likely.”

  “Thank you, Dad. I can’t wait to tell Melody.” Hailey hugged me, and I knew someday she’d make a heck of a life for herself. Or maybe she already was.

  Hailey wasn’t the only one who couldn’t wait to talk to Melody. I had an idea to run past her. After all, none of this would have happened without her guidance. “Hailey, I haven’t made a decision, but since you’re good at keeping secrets, don’t tell her I might be getting soft. I’m going to talk to her tomorrow. It’s late.”

  Hailey rolled her eyes. “Talk to her soon. She’ll explain how big of a deal this is.” She kissed me on the cheek then ran to the piano and the sounds of her standard vocal warm-up filled the house.

  Sleep was impossible as every thought went back to Melody. In the time we’d had together, she’d become my lover. My best friend. Hailey’s mentor. The person we both wanted to talk to. And the one who was spending her vacation back in the city she wanted to live in.

  Had my insecurities forced me to push her away? I wanted someone close to share every good and bad moment with, but the first time she'd disagreed with me, I'd shut her out. How could I show Hailey the give and take of a relationship if it was my way or the highway? I had work to do.

  I wasn't going to wake everyone up to reveal my epiphany, but one relationship was salvageable, mine and Hailey's. It was the most important. If her mother attended the contest, great, but I was sure as hell going to be by Hailey's side. My brain hadn't quite processed how talented my little girl was, or that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She'd gone from star shower singer to local sweetheart who always got offered the chance to sing the National Anthem at events, to a national contest semi-finalist.

  I remembered the day she’d tossed a coin in the wishing well and told me she was going to be a star. In standard Hailey fashion, she’d added a song, Hall of Fame. A ten-year-old belting out the line about being King Kong and banging on her chest had everyone in earshot laughing, but she’d been onto something.

  The darkness of my bedroom also tossed my own words back at me in Hailey’s voice from our chat: ‘work hard for what you want because good things don’t come easy’.

  I’d worked hard for everything in my life. Why not work hard for Melody? I’d heard the kids respected her and admittedly the choir sounded better than ever. It wouldn’t have mattered except it increased the likelihood the school would extend her contract. Insider gossip from Betty told me the regular choir teacher had decided not to return. How would I know if Melody was willing to stay if I didn’t ask? And how would she know I wanted her to if I didn’t tell her.

  Completely unable to contain myself, I sent her a 3 a.m. text: We need to talk.

  Chapter 8

  Melody

  Parenting wasn’t for the faint of heart.

  Brandt was hard on Hailey, but after she roped me into one of her stunts, I had more respect for the difficulties he faced.

  I was torn. Hailey needed to go to the competition. She’d earned her spot, but she’d created her own mess. If she hadn’t tricked her dad, she might not have gotten her application in. This was beyond normal teenage misbehaving, but it was an incredible opportunity that she found a way to make real.

  Leaving the
city where I’d gotten mixed up with a fast crowd, I’d needed to clear my head and get my life in order. Too many opportunities to get in trouble. Ironically, Hopeful, Colorado embraced me and I brought trouble to them in the strangest way.

  Brandt understood I didn’t know about Hailey’s scam, but it had to eliminate any chance of resolving the relationship he’d already seemed to write off. I hoped he could at least reconcile with Hailey. I’d found a sub for my gigs, skipped my flight, and struggled to give them time to sort things out before I called.

  That equated to tossing and turning in my bed worrying how much trouble I’d created. Being involved with the two of them and the high school students had opened my eyes to entirely different goals in life. The reward of nurturing kids exceeded the money and applause I got form gigs. It nurtured something deep inside of me.

  My feelings for him would stay on the back burner. This was all about Hailey. No amount of good intentions could remedy how I’d stepped on his toes as a parent knowingly and unknowingly.

  When morning came around, I had a message from Brandt saying we needed to talk. He’d sent it in the middle of the night. A flicker of excitement raced through me. He was thinking of me at such a late hour, but he was probably agonizing over whether to send Hailey to New York.

  I texted back asking him when and where. No response.

  A text from Hailey popped up: Dad might let me go.

  Wonderful news, but I wanted to ask her if he hated me. Putting her in the middle of our mess wasn’t right. Me: Yay! I decided to stay in town so we can do your lessons in person. Off to the grocery store since I’ll be around for the week.

  Hailey responded with a bunch of smiley face emojis.

  I showered, dressed, made a list, and trudged to the store.

  Only one month before Hurricane Melody would leave the once peaceful town of Hopeful, Colorado. I would do my best to lay low. I would respect Brandt’s decision on Hailey even if I didn’t understand it. She was his responsibility. It didn’t matter if she followed closer in my footsteps than his. At a comparable age, I wouldn’t have progressed as far as she had in the competition. Maybe that was it. Was I trying to live through Hailey? I’d done great on my own, but she was a step ahead and I had a hard time containing my excitement.

  I chose Betty's line at the grocery store, curious what the daily scoop was. Her gossip made me smile even though I'd surely been her topic with other customers. Grocery shopping wouldn't be near as fun without her insight when I moved back to the city.

  She smiled at me, slid my shopping bag to the bagging area, then grabbed the telephone that was attached to the store intercom.

  I finished unloading my cart.

  "Relationship cleanup, checkout lane two." Her voice carried over the loudspeaker.

  I glanced up. Had I heard her correctly? I watched as she set the phone in the cradle and punched in a produce code for my lettuce like nothing unusual happened.

  “Betty?” My heart was racing. Had she already heard I was disrupting families? Fanning the flames of Hailey’s dreams, something people in a small town might not understand.

  She smiled at me. “Yes, dear?”

  “Did you call for relationship cleanup?”

  “I did.” She scooted the lettuce to the bagging area and set my apples on the scale.

  “It’s a lot more fun when you gossip about other people.”

  “It’s not gossip. Brandt told me to page him when you got in line.”

  My body tensed. I scanned the store and saw Brandt approaching from the café area, his expression serious. I turned back to Betty, trying to figure out if there was any way I could hurry her up? I reached for my bag to start loading everything, but Brandt’s hand wrapped around mine.

  We needed to talk, but at home, not in public, and definitely not in front of Betty.

  “Melody.” His voice was low, desperate, and unraveling my willpower.

  Beyond Hailey, I wanted to convince him to give us another chance. I wanted to stay in Colorado and be a part of his world, disagree over things, but talk it out and move on. I wanted to explore the bond we’d shared because I didn’t think I could ever find anyone else to connect with the way we had. But could he see my way of thinking?

  I was afraid to talk for fear of him telling me he wasn’t letting Hailey go.

  My eyes went to Betty. She’d stopped scanning my groceries and shifted her gaze between me and Brandt. She winked at him. Shit. Another shopper had stepped into line inadvertently trapping me.

  Brandt lifted my hand, cupping it in both of his. I hadn't pulled away from his touch. I'd missed it. Missed everything we'd had, but it was coming to an end and I saw no point in stirring up something ill-fated.

  Sensing I wasn’t the only one with something bigger in mind, I asked, “What are you up to, Betty?”

  “Little Brandty’s a good boy. He had a gleam in his eye when he asked me for help, it reminded me of the time he wanted to ask the Springer girl to be his girlfriend. When was that? Second grade?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I can’t believe you remember.”

  “She wasn’t the one for you, but you were adorable—"

  Brandt cut her off. “I’ll take it from here.”

  “All right,” Betty said then directed her attention to the customer behind me. “You might want to go to another lane. This could take a minute. Or not if she’s smart.”

  She wasn’t one for subtlety but I doubted she’d heard our whole story.

  “You’re right.” Brandt’s voice drew me back to him holding my hand, the touch I deeply loved despite our differences.

  “About what?”

  “I bought tickets to take Hailey to the contest.”

  I pulled my hand away and fussed over my groceries to cover my desire to hug him. We’d only barely gotten back on speaking terms, not ready to breach the public affection threshold. “Thank you for hearing her out. I hope she makes it to the finals.”

  “You’ll be the first to know.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  He reached to his back pocket and extended a paper. “Because you’ll be there.”

  “What?” I stopped bagging and took the paper. A plane ticket.

  “We’re all going,” he said.

  Impulse took over and I wrapped him in a hug.

  He was stunned for a moment then embraced me.

  “Did you get me one?” Betty asked.

  “Sorry, Betty. I figured you needed to stay here to keep the town under control.”

  “I suppose. What would any of you do without me?”

  Brandt held me against his broad chest, the place I felt most at home. The place a school teacher should not be with a student’s parent. I pushed away and took a deep breath.

  “Thank you.” I held up the ticket. Would it be innocent redemption for my public display of affection?

  Brandt bagged my groceries. “I won’t be any use to her if she has a singing question. Might as well bring you along.”

  “Two hotel rooms,” Betty said.

  Brandt winked at her and his grin gave me hope there was something left between the two of us other than his daughter.

  Chapter 9

  Brandt

  Spring break meant calving season so I spent all of my time assessing how close the cows were to giving birth, assisting the complicated births, and warming calves in the cab of my truck on the chillier days and nights.

  Hailey helped with the calves, as always, in addition to having a big report due the first day back, and other small assignments. Plus, she was doing extra work around the house to make up for her dishonesty.

  In the extra time she had, Melody gave her tons of instruction. I asked multiple times if Hailey was taking up too much time, but Melody swore she loved every minute of it.

  My problem was there was no time for me to hang out with Melody other than our brief initial conversation about the logistics of getting Hailey prepared for the contest.

 
; I’d promised myself to speak to her honestly about all of my feelings, but it was possible I’d made a few excuses not to pour my heart out. Excuses were easy to find when you were run ragged all hours of the day and night. And when you feared rejection.

  Spring break ended and I’d continued to let fear paralyze me. Time was wasting. Letting Melody believe Hailey was our only connection was the easy route. Risking my heart was less appealing. I played a million scenarios through my mind. Every time, my words about good things not coming easily haunted me.

  Having fulfilled the consequences for her misbehavior, Hailey stayed after school for a baseball game with friends, keeping her occupied for a while. Most of the town would be there.

  I texted Melody and found out the principal had asked her to stay after school. Wanting to surprise her, I waited in her office.

  Her meeting went on far too long for my liking and the confines of her tiny office would drive me nuts if I had to spend much time there. The main choir room was much larger, but I liked being in her space where I could smell her perfume.

  It was her space, something I hadn’t spent much time in.

  She had framed pictures with friends from her city life and I wondered which of the guys had been boyfriends and which were platonic. Guys had their arms around her in every picture, as did the girls. They were young and carefree, the way I’d been in my twenties. But having a kid expanded the gap to more than a number of years.

  Was it wrong to ask her to stay? Wrong to rope her into a relationship that came with bigger life issues than booking the next gig and taking care of herself?

  Second-guessing myself, I resolved not to ask that much of her. She'd done wonders for Hailey and they had already talked about continuing lessons through video chats once Melody left. That allowed Melody to have her life back while still helping Hailey even after the contest.