Love Songs

by Bernadette Marie

  “Keeps costs down.”

  “I see.” Warner looked down at his phone as it buzzed in his hand.

  Signed! I love you and we’re going to be big!

  He smiled as Jeremy looked over at him.

  “Text from the wife?”

  Warner nodded. “Yep, seems as though she just signed to tour with Savannah.”

  “Ya don’t say?” Jeremy smiled.

  “You might have given me some warning so I wouldn’t look like an ass in that interview,” Warner said.

  “C’mon. It’s all about reaction.”

  At that moment, Warner’s reaction was to punch this guy in the gut. But that’s what they wanted. They wanted to see how far this guy would go before he’d break like his father did. Well he had news for Nashville and the world—he wasn’t going down like that. And they weren’t going to pull his wife down either.

  He thought about the tattoo on her wrist. The word “family” in the infinity symbol. They were family now and a family stood together and fought together. Well, he’d be damned if the need for good TV was based on him falling to pieces. Patricia Little could have all the bad press she wanted. He wasn’t interested. What he was interested in was getting his music out there and it seemed as though Clara was doing just that.

  They wanted good TV? They would get it. Only not once was he going to say the woman’s name aloud. He was going to write and perform and let Clara carry his music to the masses. She had ten show dates, he had ten episodes. In the end they’d still have each other. After all he was a Keller now, as she’d told him, and Kellers stuck together.

  Oh, Jeremy Smith thought he’d get some dirt because he too despised Patricia Little. Patty was going to work any angle she could to show the world Warner now could fail on TV and in anything he did. But they were going to be disappointed. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were going to ride this to the top.

  Warner walked into the studio where the others from the show had been waiting. Kill ‘em with kindness, he thought and gave everyone a big smile. “Let’s get this show on the road. I got a wife with a touring contract to get home to.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was nearly seven o’clock before Warner made it home. The only person there was Christian. He’d really hoped to have a few moments to talk to his wife, but she hadn’t answered his call on the drive home or any of his texts in the past hour.

  So much had happened in one day and it wasn’t until he was alone in his truck, with the radio off, and nothing but the sound of traffic on the street that he realized all of this was too coincidental.

  Three weeks ago he was being told he had no talent. Jordan Farr had given him a little hope and then Warner found him at Patty’s house. Now Patty owned part of the record label most likely to ever sign him. He gets a gig to play in front of someone, whom he now knew was Savannah. Suddenly he’s signed to do ten episodes of some TV reality show and his wife, who only sang backup to him and Randy, except for once when she sang his song, now was going to tour with Savannah. None of this made sense and at the same time, wasn’t it what they wanted?

  Warner pushed open the back door and Christian was at the kitchen table. He looked up at him.

  “Hey.”

  Warner shut the door. “Hey.”

  “Clara’s not with you?”

  He set his keys on the counter. “No. She’s got something going on.”

  Christian nodded his head. “Was just hoping to talk to her. I need her opinion.”

  “Anything I can help with?”

  Christian winced, thought Warner wasn’t sure he knew he had, but then he nodded. “Maybe. You’ve been through this already.” Christian pushed a small box to the middle of the table. “What do you think?”

  Warner walked over to the box. It was a ring box. He opened it slowly revealing the biggest solitaire he’d ever seen, and he knew Patricia Little’s taste in fine jewelry.

  “Please don’t let my wife see this. I can’t afford one of these.”

  Christian laughed a nervous laugh. “It’s nice, huh?”

  “Gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, I’m hoping it’ll do the trick. I’m going to ask Tori to marry me.”

  Warner smiled. “Trust me. If she loves you the ring will be only the icing on the cake, not the reason.”

  “I know. I know. It’s just,” he let out a breath, “I’m nervous.”

  Warner knew what he meant. He’d been nervous too, but it worked out to his benefit. He was married to Clara and even though they were still learning about each other, he couldn’t imagine that years of waiting would have made it any better.

  “When are you going to ask her?”

  Christian bit down on his lip. “I don’t know exactly. I keep thinking I want to plan it all out, every moment of the night. But then I keep thinking spontaneous is better, right?”

  “It worked for me.”

  “Yeah.” Christian picked up the ring and looked it over. “Maybe that’ll be best. Spontaneous.”

  “You’ll know when it’s right.”

  Christian looked up at him. “What made you do it? I mean why marry someone when you’ve only met them? Aren’t you worried the Kellers are crazy and now you’re caught up in it?”

  That made Warner laugh hard. “Are you kidding me? My mother left when I was ten because she was tired of being a mom. My dad committed suicide after his wife ran off on him and she went on to ruin the career of the OX and has spent the rest of the time trying to ruin me, although I don’t know why. My grandmother disliked me as much as my mother did and she shipped me off to Vegas to live with some aunt for a while. I’m thinking any crazy in this family is welcomed.”

  “Damn. I thought getting injured and losing my career was bad.”

  “Don’t think I’m looking for sympathy. Not everyone has a family like yours. Even though your parents had a hard time you were still taken care of.”

  Christian nodded. “Yeah, even when Mom was married to Matt things were good.”

  “Not many kids get their wish that their parents get back together.”

  “True. I know this sounds bad, but sometimes I think the best thing to happen to us all was Mom’s cancer.”

  “It brought you all together.”

  Christian looked at the ring again and began to laugh. “I remember coming home from school and you could hear laughing from the bathroom. And there was Mom with her head shaved and she was shaving Dad’s head.”

  Warner smiled. “That’s commitment.”

  “Oh, his fiancée was mad. But he did it to comfort Mom. Then Ed sat down and shaved his head too.”

  “What about you?”

  The smile left Christian’s face. “Nah, I was too scared back then. I was afraid of everything, especially losing Mom. Clara and I ran the opposite direction when he offered to shave our heads.”

  That made Warner laugh again. Just the image in his head of the two of them turning tail.

  Christian took the ring out of the box and rolled it between his fingers. “There are nights I lie awake wishing I’d joined them. I was selfish not to.”

  “You can’t regret it.”

  “I know. But think about it, if it happened now, both Clara and I would be first in line.”

  Warner widened his stare at his brother-in-law. “Damn, she totally would too.”

  Christian laughed. “I know, right?”

  The back door opened and Clara walked in looking more than a little frazzled.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Warner said as he walked to her and pulled her into him tightly.

  “Hey.” She set her keys next to his on the counter and dropped her purse on the floor. “What are you boys doing?”

  “Christian was asking for fashion advice,” Warner grinned.

  “Fashion advice? Are you over the basketball shorts and T-shirt stage?”

  “Ha, ha very funny,” Christian stood and walked toward her. “This guy’s opinion on this was exactly what I needed. But I’ll show you
too.”

  He opened the box in his hand and showed her the ring.

  Clara cupped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, Chris, it’s beautiful.”

  “It is, isn’t it?”

  “You’re going to ask her? You’re really going to do this?”

  “I didn’t expect my little sister to beat me to the altar.” He winked at her when she gave him an irritated sister look. “I’m ready. I have the house. I have the ring. I almost have all the time in the world since I’m not going to play next year.”

  “She’s a lucky girl.”

  “I know.”

  Clara laughed and slapped Christian on the arm. “I’m lucky too. Tori and Darcy for sisters. I won the lottery.”

  “I’ll tell her you said that.” He ran his hand over his unshaven chin. “I guess I’d better go get a shower. She’s having me over for dinner with her parents. Her sister and Dave will be there with their kids. I guess if the mood hits me I’ll ask her to marry me. If I’m scared to death I’ll come home with this ring.”

  Clara moved in and hugged her brother. “You deserve this. Don’t back out.”

  “I’ll let you know how it goes.” He gave them both a nod and left the kitchen.

  Clara dropped her shoulders and turned to Warner. “Long day, huh?”

  “Sure was,” he said pulling her to him. “Congratulations.”

  “To you too.”

  “So what is she like? Savannah. I hear she’s the biggest country diva we have.”

  Clara laughed as she rested her hands on her husband’s chest. “I’m not even sure she’s country. One minute she’s Shania Twain and the next she’s Lady GaGa.”

  He laughed at that. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

  Clara turned and walked toward the table. She didn’t sit down, but stood behind a chair with her hands on the back. “But why me? None of this makes sense.”

  “Because this is how the industry works.”

  “No. Not like this.” She pulled her hair through her hands and let it fall. “I found out she did hear me when I played with Randy. The night I sang your song.”

  “That makes me feel better about it.”

  “But other than on stage, I’m backup. C’mon you’re not going to sign someone who spent the last two month singing West Side Story.”

  “But they did.”

  “And they want me to sing your songs.”

  He smiled. “That was the point right? You’d sing my songs and we’d sell them?”

  “Right, but,” she gritted her teeth, “it still doesn’t make sense.”

  Warner walked to her and put his hands on her hips, making her turn toward him. “Somewhere, someone is trying to see what kind of trouble we can get into. We’ve only fueled the fire by running off and getting married. The odds are against us.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Warner pulled out his phone and clicked on the browser. He enlarged the screen. “I did some digging at the stoplight on my way home.”

  He handed her the phone.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. Our Savannah is signed by Jordan Farr.”

  “Master Records.”

  “Patricia Little’s newest financial gain.”

  She handed him the phone back. “I don’t understand any of this. Why does a woman who left your father and you after two years still hold this grudge?”

  Warner stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair. He turned and looked out the window.

  “Warner,” she said with her voice quivering.

  “Clara, everything in my life has been ugly until you came along. You know that? Everything.”

  “Warner, what is it you’re not telling me?”

  He paced the kitchen floor and Clara’s heart began to race. What secrets did he have? Who was this man she’d married?

  Warner paced some more and Clara finally stepped in front of him. “You are hiding something from me. Now spill it or get the hell out of my house.”

  He stopped pacing and she could see the vein at his temple pulse.

  “You’re like everyone else, huh? Warner needs a moment and you turn on him?”

  “I don’t do secrets.”

  “And I don’t do bullying.”

  Clara stepped up closer to him. “I’m not bullying you. I’m trying to get my answer. My husband is hiding something from me.”

  “He’s not hiding it,” he said and his voice softened. “He just doesn’t know how to tell you.”

  Her heart rate kicked up even harder.

  “You’re scaring me.”

  He turned toward her, but he took a step back from her and not closer to her.

  “Patty had a daughter. She was two years older than me.” He turned and placed his hands on the counter top and bowed his head. “Patty never had much to do with her. I only met her a few times while she was even married to my dad.” He sucked in a long, deep breath and let it out. “She hated Patty as much as I did.”

  Clara felt her stomach twist. She didn’t want to hear about another woman. She didn’t want to know anything about Warner loving someone else, but she felt it coming. Why else would he mention her?

  “When I was about fourteen I had decided that I was already too good for school and the day was better drinking behind the gym shed. I was usually drunk and passed out by the time my grandma got home. Drinking led to pot. Pot led to…”

  Clara couldn’t help but gasp and Warner turned his head.

  “You want me to stop?”

  She shook her head, urging him to continue, but she wasn’t sure she wanted him to.

  He turned and backed against the counter shoving his hands into his front pockets.

  “I was at this party one night and my buddy brought this girl with him. I was trashed and she made me look sober. I didn’t recognize her, Clara.” He looked up at her. “It was Mindy and I had no idea.”

  “Mindy? Patricia Little’s daughter?”

  “Yeah.” He stepped away from the counter and walked to the table where he stood as she had earlier with his hands on the back of the chair. “We both ended up sleeping the night off on the guy’s couch. She knew who I was right away. She acted like I was the long lost piece of her life.”

  Clara watched him search for the rest of his story. She wanted to stop him from continuing. It already hurt too much to find out who he really was.

  “You and Mindy?”

  “Me and Mindy.” He pulled the chair out and sat down. He clasped his hands on lap and hung his head. “When Patty and my grandma found out we were—well you know—Grandma shipped me off to Vegas to live with my aunt.”

  “You were so young.”

  “I was. Seems so long ago.” He sat up and pressed his back to the chair. “Anyway, sending a kid to the cesspool of Vegas when he already has a drinking problem and a drug addiction isn’t the smartest thing. But I was there for the next year or so. I made some friends. I was even in a band.” He laughed. “They’d sneak me into bars because I wasn’t old enough to be in the bar I was playing in.”

  “How old were they?”

  “Old enough.”

  Clara realized her own hands shook as he continued his story, so she tucked them behind her.

  “Anyway, I was just another low life on the streets of Vegas. My aunt usually didn’t know where I was or care. Then one day Mindy walks through the door. It was like my salvation. There was my woman.”

  Clara thought she was going to be ill.

  “She’d hitched a ride when she found out where I was. She was almost eighteen now. The guy she’d hitched a ride from had driven her for a few rounds in the back seat.”

  “Oh, Warner. That’s horrible.”

  “This was life, Clara. This was the norm. We didn’t have this perfect protected life you did.”

  “And you’re holding that against me?”

  “No, but it sounds like you’re holding it against me.”

  He was right. She wouldn’t have married him if
she thought he was bad for her. But she certainly hadn’t expected this.

  “Mindy and I fell right back into our routine. Then she started collecting men. I was just who she ran back to when she had used them up to get what she wanted. I was young, but I had feelings. I didn’t want to just be her guy for sex or the connection for her drugs.”

  “Warner, this is killing me.” Clara walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

  “Let me finish and then I’ll go.”

  “You’ll go?”

  “You can’t even hear the rest of my story without walking away from me. Clara, this is the way it works in my life. People find out who I was and they walk. I’m prepared for you to do the same.”

  “I’m not like everyone else.”

  “Then prove it and sit down and listen to me.”

  Clara felt as though he’d kicked her in the gut. And worse, she deserved his anger.

  She sat down on the couch and looked up at him.

  “Anyway, I decided I needed to stop the drinking and the drugs. I was much too young to be having a woman in my bed when I woke up, especially one who was continually trashed. So I stopped doing drugs and eventually stopped drinking. I saved up enough money for a bus ticket to Nashville and one night I told her I was going home.”

  “She didn’t want to come with you?”

  “No. Her kind of life was right there. She threw the biggest fit I’d ever seen a woman throw, and mind you I was there when her mother threw some serious fits. But she got a few punches in on me. Blacked my eye and bloodied my nose. She even cracked a rib. I got on the bus and she went back to whatever guy she’d been with the night before and…”

  He shook his head, swallowed hard, and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Well they tied on the worst concoction of coke and booze ever. But I don’t think that was all.”

  Warner walked toward the front window and looked out over the street. “Patty found out I was back in town and she came after me with a vengeance. She wanted to know where her daughter was and I told her. Looked her right in the eye, with my black one that Mindy had given me, and told her that her daughter was turning tricks in Vegas for drugs and booze.”

  “What did she say to that?”