by Claire Adams
“Let’s just get our drinks and enjoy the other singers for a little bit,” I suggested. “You are more than welcome to get on stage and sing, though. I’ll make sure and give you a standing ovation.” I winked.
The bar was already packed full of people and there were a dozen people waiting to sing according to the digital waiting list. I felt an instant sense of relief knowing that at least I’d be able to get through the first hour or so without worrying about Tyler trying to get me to sing.
We sat down at a table and ordered some food and drinks while we cuddled next to each other and listened to the singers. Not everyone was good, but everyone was having a blast, and it was fun to watch them. There were men, women, and groups of people who got up to sing. At first, almost everyone seemed a little embarrassed, but the crowd was amazing and cheered people on. By the end of their songs, people were confident and having so much fun that they didn’t want to get off the stage.
“Four more songs, then it’s our turn,” Tyler said about an hour after we arrived.
“What?” I asked in a panic.
I glanced at the digital wait list, and sure enough, there was Tyler’s name, and then my name right after him. I could hardly swallow my own saliva as the panic took over. The room got smaller, and I felt my breathing as it became harder and harder to feel like I had taken in a full breath.
“You’ll be all right. I will go first, and then you’ll see it’s going to be just fine.”
“No, I can’t go. I’m panicking. I can’t get on stage in front of everyone. I just can’t do it. There’s no way I can. I can hardly see right now I’m so scared. Tyler, I can’t.”
I babbled on for what seemed like an eternity about all the reasons I couldn’t possibly get up on the stage. But when they finally called Tyler’s name, he just smiled, kissed me on the cheek, and walked up to the stage. It was as if he didn’t have a fear in the world.
“I’m going to sing one of my favorite songs for one of my favorite girls. This is going out to Kelsi,” Tyler said as he confidently held the microphone and the song started to play.
It was AC/DC You Shook me all Night Long, and I instantly started to laugh and cry as he sang. It was our song. It was the song he used to sing when we were together in high school.
“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman I had ever seen. She had the sightless eyes, telling me no lies, knockin’ me out with those American thighs. Taking more than her share, had me fighting for air, she told me to come but I was already there,” he sang.
His words weren’t always right because he kept looking at me and not at the screen. But he was doing damn good.
“She shook me all night long,” he screamed into the microphone and pointed to me as the crowd erupted in applause.
I instantly turned bright red. Tyler was really good. He wasn’t necessarily good because of his singing, but he had a level of confidence that made his performance exciting and had everyone in the room watching him. I certainly couldn’t sing like that.
By the time Tyler had finished his song, the crowd was screaming as he ran off the stage, grabbed me, and swung me down to kiss me. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me up with him on the stage.
“What do you want to sing?” he asked as we stood there.
“I don’t.”
“Everyone’s waiting, just pick something fun. I’ll do it with you.”
I froze, totally and utterly unable to move or think of any song that I knew the words to. Or any song whatsoever. I looked at Tyler and shrugged my shoulders, and he punched a song number into the machine.
“Hi, Barbie. Want to go for a ride?” Tyler started to say into the microphone.
I looked at him and then at the screen in confusion as I tried to figure out what song he had picked. Then the words for my part came across the screen and I couldn’t help but smile. It was an old song that had been on the radio when we were in high school.
“Hi, Ken. Sure, Ken,” I said.
“Jump in,” Tyler said as he pretended to open a car door.
“I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world, Life in plastic, it’s fantastic,” I said playfully. “You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere, imagination, life is your creation,” I continued on as I followed the words to the song and got more and more into it.
“Come on, Barbie, let’s go party,” Tyler sang.
We continued back and forth having tons of fun with the song, and the crowd continued to cheer us on. It was the perfect choice for a song. I didn’t have to actually sing along, it was fun and upbeat, and Tyler was on the stage with me. I wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but I was actually having a blast singing with Tyler.
When the song was over, the crowd cheered, and Tyler helped me off of the stage and back to our seats. I couldn’t stop smiling and giggling from the excitement.
“That was so much fun!” I yelled. “Put our names on the list again.”
Tyler didn’t hesitate and quickly added us to the list again. I couldn’t believe I had just told him to do that. It was crazy; I felt electrified and full of excitement, though. Tyler had been right; I was having fun.
“It’s going to be another hour or so, I ordered some more food and drinks,” Tyler said as he slid back into our table.
“Man, that was amazing. Thanks for dragging me up there. I felt like I was going to pass out, but then I realized no one really cared if I was singing well or not and it was fun.”
“Stick with me, kid, I won’t steer you wrong,” Tyler joked.
“I wish I could have done more singing and stuff like this in high school. It sucked that we only had one show a year. How is a kid supposed to gain confidence if they are only doing it once a year?”
“Maybe you should start teaching musical theater with all your art classes,” Tyler teased.
“Maybe I should.”
“Really? Are you still thinking about being a teacher?” Tyler didn’t look surprised by the idea, but intrigued that I was thinking about it.
“I don’t know. I guess what I’d really like to do is have a camp where kids could do all that theater stuff. Maybe a Broadway show kind of camp where they learned dancing, singing, and theater. But of course, they also had horses to ride and all that other outdoor stuff. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
I was just sort of talking to myself as the idea came to my mind, but it was an exciting one. I’d never really taken the time to think about what I would have wanted to do with the ranch. Most of the time when I thought about taking it over, I just thought about keeping it running like my parents had been doing it. Sometimes the idea of offering more back trail riding would pop up, but I had never considered a full-on arts summer camp.
“You should do it!” Tyler said excitedly.
“Oh, you think so? Just like that, I should start a summer camp?”
“No, of course there’s more work that needs to go into it. But it seems like something you would really be good at. Maybe you could talk to the bank about switching the ranch into something like that. I could help you develop the business plan if you’d like.”
“Would it really be feasible? Do those types of camps even make money?”
“I don’t know. You’d have to do some investigating, but wouldn’t that be something exciting if you could combine all your passions into one business? I think that would be a success right away.”
“But I have to make enough money to pay the bills. There’s no use doing it if I can’t pay the bills,” I said.
“Let me tell you a little story. When I started my company, it was by accident. I had offered to help someone and I had no idea how to really go about it. But when the opportunity presented itself I didn’t walk away, I figured out how to make it work. You might have to figure out a way to monetize your business. Maybe you’ll buy the neighbor’s land that they weren’t using and raise cattle or something like that to help with the finances. But I’m confident if you find your
passion, the money will follow.”
He was confident in the way he spoke, and it made me think for a minute that he was right and I could build this dream company of mine. But then the reality of my life set in. I wasn’t a billionaire; I was a single mom with a busy life and hardly enough time to shower. I couldn’t build this huge business there just wasn’t time for it.
“Thank you, Tyler,” I said as I leaned in and kissed him. “It’s amazing to have someone in my corner like you are. Even if it never comes true, I’m so grateful you believe I could do it.”
“Hey now, it could come true. Don’t say that.”
“Tyler, I’m a 33-year-old single mother who is still living with my parents. Running a huge business like that isn’t really in my wheelhouse. I’m okay with it; I like having a fantasy. It’s just not going to be my reality.”
“Have you talked with the bank yet? Maybe there is something they can do? I bet you could get a business loan. Let me help you with your business plan, and we can go in together. I could even co-sign for you if that would help.”
“Oh, no! I’m not having my high school boyfriend co-sign a million-dollar ranch loan for me. That sounds like trouble waiting to happen.”
I knew Tyler was just trying to be nice, but there was no way I could imagine getting a loan so big, and I certainly wasn’t going to let him co-sign anything for me.
“But you’ll let me help you with a business plan?” he said with a grin.
“I guess. But don’t get your hopes up. I’m pretty sure they would want someone with a business background and a little knowledge before they just handed over a million dollars.”
“Kelsi, stop selling yourself short. You have been involved in running that ranch since you were a teenager. You’re amazing with the animals, and you know every single aspect of what needs to be done. You aren’t just some lady off the street who wants to run a ranch; you understand what’s involved in it. You are a valuable asset to that ranch, and don’t you forget it.”
“Can I just keep you around for my daily motivational speeches? You could get me up in the morning, build up my self-esteem and boost my morale while I showered. I could take on the world with that kind of speech behind me.”
“Hey, even after I go home, you call me anytime and I’ll give you all the uplifting motivation you can handle. Speaking up uplifting…” Tyler winked and motioned to his lap with his eyes.
“You seriously have an erection right now?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “We weren’t even talking about sex.”
“Big Tyler has a mind of his own.” He laughed.
We didn’t stick around long enough to sing another song and instead ended up in the back seat of his car and parked at Lookout Point. It was still the high school hang out for kids who wanted to make out without their family finding out. It was a good thing all the windows were so steamed up because we were definitely the oldest couple at the Point.
“You know, technically we could be some of these kids’ parents.” I laughed as we watched a young couple climb into the back of their beaten up old truck.
“No way. I’m not going to believe that. Now, where was I?” he said as his lips went back to kissing my neck.
“I love the way your lips feel on my skin,” I said softly as his fingers pulled my t-shirt up and over my head.
“I do, too.”
“I love the way your hands feel on my skin, too.”
“Me too,” he said with a sly smile as he looked up at me and kissed down my naked chest. “I also like the way my lips feel when I kiss every inch of you.”
“Oh, every inch?”
“Yes, every single inch.”
“Are you sure we should be doing this in your car out here?” I laughed. “It feels a little silly.”
“We aren’t old,” he playfully demanded. “This is what people do when they both live at home with their parents and know the motel manager by name.”
“Very true, I guess old man Henry would have quite the story to tell everyone if we showed up at the motel for a couple of hours of fun.”
“I’m fine with him telling any story at all. Do you want to go?” Tyler said full of anticipation.
“No, ew, that place is disgusting.” I laughed. “I’d rather stay here in your BMW.”
“Yeah, my leather needs some breaking in.”
“It actually does,” I said as my hands slid up and down the pristine material. “Is this new?”
“Yep, I got it when I arrived in town. I didn’t want to drive a rental the whole time, and I’ll give this to my sister when I leave.”
“After a good cleaning,” I teased as he pulled my pants down and threw them toward the front of the car.
“I’m going to rock your world,” Tyler said as he sunk down between my thighs and started to lick me.
For a moment, I was afraid someone would see what was going on in our car, but then I realized they were all just as busy as we were and couldn’t have cared less if our car was rocking. Which it did start rocking soon enough when I climbed onto Tyler’s lap and he thrust inside of me.
My hands held onto the back of the car, and I could see out the back window as two cars left the Point and one more pulled in. I didn’t know if they could see me or not, but the pleasure that I felt made me not care. I tucked my mouth near Tyler’s neck as we moved together in totally harmony until we both burst with excitement.
It was as if we had been making love for years and years. Our bodies both knew what made the other happy and we hardly had to talk at all throughout the process. I moved one way, and he followed. He pressed hard, and I pressed against him. There was a real connection between the two of us. Stronger than anything I had had with him while we were in high school.
Chapter Seventeen
Tyler
“I’m going to visit Dad this morning; do you two want to come?” I yelled from the kitchen toward my mother and sister who were at the dining room table.
“I’ll be up later this morning; I have a hair appointment,” my mother said.
“I can’t come until tonight,” Maryanne added.
It was a relief that neither of them was coming; I really did want to spend some alone with my father. Even if he couldn’t talk, even if I did all the talking and he only lay there sleeping, I had so much I wanted to ask him about.
Up until recently, my life had gone on with no real goal for an end result. I just put all my time and effort into running my business and figured things would work out the way they were supposed to. I worked hard, had money, and plenty of women to keep me busy. But there wasn’t an end date for my work and women. I hadn’t decided to give up that lifestyle or pick a different lifestyle until I came home.
Now I was spending all of my time with Kelsi. I was thinking about things that actually made me happy and making plans for ideas that would keep making me happy. It wasn’t like me at all, and I needed someone to listen to me and tell me if I was crazy. I could talk to my mother; I knew she loved me and would tell me what I wanted to hear. But my father, he was good at telling me what I needed to hear. I was going to miss that so much.
When I arrived at the hospice house, it was eerily quiet throughout the main room. The large family who had been gathering there on my previous visits was gone; my stomach sunk. There was only one reason that family wouldn’t be at the hospice house, and it had to be that their loved one had passed away.
“It’s quiet in here,” I said to the nurse as I walked by.
“Yes,” she responded with tears in her eyes.
I couldn’t bring myself to say any more, and I went straight to my father’s room. He was asleep, but his nurse was changing the towels out and putting fresh medical supplies in the drawers.
“You must be an angel,” I said to her. “So much sadness. How do you deal with it all the time?”
“I don’t think of it as sadness. I think about how much good I bring to people’s lives at the end. God gave me a gift of being able to deal
with death; not many people can handle it on a daily basis. It’s my responsibility to give these people the best days they can possibly have. But even I can get sad when a little one dies.”
“A little one?”
“Yes, we had a young three-year-old boy with cancer who passed away last night. It’s always hardest when the young ones die.”
“Three,” I said as I started to tear up. “Oh, my God, that’s horrible.”
“You never know when your time is up,” my father said softly as he started to wake up. “Now, doesn’t it seem like a gift that I got to be here on earth for 68 years?”
“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit; just holler if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” my father and I both said at the same time.
“I saw that little boy's family in the sitting room every time I have come. There were so many of them. That is really sad,” I said as tears formed.
The tears were for that little boy and his family but also for me and my father. I had spent so much time taking for granted how precious my family was. I left them and only saw them a couple times a year when I could have seen them every week if I really wanted to.
“His name was Cole,” my father said. “He was too far gone by the time he arrived here, so I never got to talk to him. But I sat next to him late one night and told him I’d see him soon when we could both run and play together.”
“Oh, Dad, don’t say that.”
“Come on now, it’s the truth, and we are lucky enough to know it’s coming so we can say a proper goodbye.”
“Dad,” I said as I started to cry and fell into his arms. “I’m not ready. I need you. I’m not all that good at life yet; I need your advice and your love. I need you around.”
“I’ll always be with you; just close your eyes and ask for me. I’ll come down to you from wherever I am and give you the guidance you need.”
“If only it were that simple,” I said as I tried not to let my crying turn into ugly sobbing.
