Holding Out For A Hero (The Five Sisters Series) (10 page)

A couple of days before their first concert, which was to be at a theater in Seattle as a dry run,
The Five Sisters
band started media interviews to get the word out about their new tour.  Lots of the questions centered around Lauren and her condition.  She talked about how lucky she was to survive, and how thankful she was to God and to the person who saved her for her life now.  She tried to downplay the entire incident, since it seemed like a long time ago now, and she didn’t want to cause any more issues for Mike.  She showed her scar on her forehead; it had healed quite nicely, as well as the side of her head. 

She still had twinges of times when she didn’t know something or forgot what was supposed to happen, but the night of the first concert went without a hitch!  The girls in the band were so happy to have an uneventful night—that seemed to be a good start to their tour.  Lauren did well, and her voice held out beautifully.  She seemed to be in a great place in the spotlight and enjoyed it.  It was truly like she played a part when she walked onto the stage.  And the song dedicated to Mike was a hit – the crowd sang along with her and understood on the surface that she was thankful for her hero.

Since it was a local concert, they had some after parties to go to and then they all got to sleep in their own beds for the night.  Lauren returned to her house at 3 am and walked up to her bedroom.  When she opened the door, she was shocked at what she saw.

Bryan, lying stark naked in her bed, was waiting for her to return.  “Lauren baby, I know you and I have been fighting, but let’s make up.”  Lauren was too tired to fight with him.  “Um, I have not spoken to you much since I have been back for two weeks and you think that’s a fight?  We are over.  I remember that you’re the reason I was driving on that back road in the middle of nowhere when I had the wreck!”

Bryan got up and walked over to Lauren is all his naked glory.  All Lauren could think about was how Mike had looked while naked in the shower the first time they made love.  She suppressed a giggle, as Bryan stood before her and presented himself as a peace offering, she supposed. 

“Lauren, forget that guy in Montana, you have me here, and I am very good at keeping a woman happy.”

Lauren shook her head and walked past him.  “Get dressed and go home.”

Shocked and angry, he put on his clothes and left while she stood and looked out her window at the Seattle night sky. 

Once she heard the door close, she turned and strode over to her phone.  Surely she could call Mike and he would answer at this time of the night, just because of the element of surprise!  As she dialed the number, her hands got a little shaky, and then her nerve faltered as the voicemail message came on again, but she said “Mike, I love you.  I want to be with you, and nobody else but you.  I am sending you a ticket for one of our concerts, and I hope you will come and see us.  I miss you.”

When she hung up, she undressed and got into bed.  The bed never felt lonelier than when she thought about her time in Montana.  She allowed herself to cry—bawl, actually—and curled up into the fetal position as she fell asleep.  She didn’t want the hollow life of a rock star singer; she wanted the happy home life she had with Mike.  Why didn’t he see that it was fate that brought them together?

In the morning, Lauren thought about what tickets to send to Mike, and she decided to get him a ticket for the concert they were doing in Denver in a couple of weeks.  That way if the mail had to get forwarded or he was doing mission work like he said he was going to do, it would have time to get to him.  At least, she hoped it would.

They had concerts planned for the next couple of weeks in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and then Denver.  They knew their concerts were not the biggest news, but they were getting more recognition and respect for being a great band.  They drew crowds of about 5000 people, and those fans were loyal.  Some of them, Lauren recognized at multiple places, almost like groupies. 

They did most of their concerts on weekend nights, just to draw bigger crowds. Plus, it gave them a chance to go home and relax a little during the week.   The concerts were bigger this year just because of the news about her, she supposed, had caused everyone to hear about
The Five Sisters
. 

So every night they had a concert, Lauren sang her heart out for the band, because she was back to feeling like they were a family.  She had forgiven Shea for what she did, and she had most of her memory back to know how she felt about them before and just how much they had been through together.   And Lauren sang her heart out for Mike, even if he couldn’t hear her, because she believed he would be there in Denver.

As the night of the Denver concert approached, Lauren was nervous.  What if he didn’t show up?  She would be crushed.  He could come, but she also knew that he had stayed away for this long, so why did she believe he
would
come?  Either way, she would do what she normally did—sing like she owned the place!

The night of the concert in Denver was perfect.  The crowds had been growing and growing over the past couple of weeks, and Lauren was sure that Mike would be here.  She felt like he knew that they were meant to be together, and it was not good for them to stay apart.

When she thought about how much had changed in her life over the past month, she really had become a new person.  She lost her memory and became that new person, and even though most of her memory was back, she still maintained the down-to-earth person she had been when she’d woken up in Mike's cabin.  She understood that he had lost his wife recently but she also felt that their relationship had grown after he had grieved her infidelity.  She was not sure, but it seemed like fate had stepped in and brought them together. 

She got on stage, and said her usual welcome and introduced them.  She looked into the crowd and could not see Mike in the seats that she had given him.  Her heart sank.  She started singing and forgot about how much she wanted him to be there and be with her.  She sang for an hour, then after the second costume change, she walked out onto the stage and looked for him again to see if he had shown up late.  No such luck.  And he wasn't in her dressing room either, during the costume changes. 

So, as the concert started to wind down, she sang her song to her hero, Mike, and this time she had tears of sadness.  Even though the crowd thought they were joyful tears, she could not hide her broken heart.  Her voice cracked a little as she sang out, "I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night."  But, being the strong woman that she was, she continued and made it through. 

A couple of encores later, Lauren had to admit it had been a great concert.  They were gaining fans and people loved their music.  What else could she ask for? She had her health and well-being and was the lead singer of a popular girls band?  What the heck, she knew what she wanted, she wanted it all!

She walked to her dressing room, and made a mental list of the things she was going to do for the next couple of days.  She closed the door, and started to get undressed.  When she heard the door open, and she stopped taking her clothes off and yelled "Just a minute!" 

From behind her, she heard a voice that sounded like music to her ears. "I thought you might need some help getting those off."

She turned around to see Mike standing there in the door, and he closed it behind him and locked it.  She smiled and said, "I sure could!" 

Mike was as gorgeous to her as ever; he had grown a beard and mustache in the last month to look more rugged.  He had on boots and jeans, with a flannel shirt to complete the mountain man look.  She ran to him, hugging and kissing him.  He grabbed her tightly and kissed her thoroughly, then reached behind her back and finished unzipping her dress. 

"Go ahead and get into more comfortable clothes, Lauren.  We have some talking to do before we go any further," Mike told her.

She hurried behind the screen in her room, suddenly self-conscious, and put on comfortable jeans and a black t-shirt, as Mike made himself at home on her couch.  When she came out, he patted the seat next to him.  He grasped her hands and said, "Lauren Stone, you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen, and if you are crazy enough to be waiting for me, I don't know why I am fighting it." 

Lauren smiled at him and whispered "That is what I thought, because I do love you." as she felt tears coming to her eyes.

Mike, still holding her hands, slid off the couch and knelt before her.  She saw him digging in his pocket and pull out a little blue box.  He opened the box, revealing a huge, sparkling diamond ring.

"Lauren, I have loved you ever since you woke up in my home, and I can't live without you.  I have tried to for a month, and it's just not working.  So, will you marry me and make me the happiest man ever?"

Lauren grabbed his face and kissed him, then pulled back and said, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and continued to kiss him some more.  She then took the ring from the box and put it on her finger.  After gazing at it for a moment, she said, "I prefer the sparkle in your eyes when you are making love to me, but this will do."

Mike laughed, and got up.  "Thank goodness you said yes.  I have been coming to your concerts for the last couple of weeks, and I could never find a way to get backstage to talk to you."

"Wait, you have been here all along, but you didn't tell me?  All you had to do was just call me and let me know!"  Lauren said, a little mad that she had been without him for no good reason.

"Well, I loved listening to you and hearing you dedicate a song to me every night.  I could not continue to fight my feelings for you, so I was glad to get the ticket to this concert and the backstage pass."

"You are so stubborn!"  Lauren told him, "But so am I—or at least, that is what I hear.  Let's go and show everyone my new ring and tell them we are 'going to the chapel, and we're
gonna
get married..."

I hope that you loved my book, as much as I loved writing it for you.

I would appreciate a review on Amazon very much, as it will help others to make the decision to purchase this book.

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Holding Out For A Hero, The Five Sisters Series Book 1

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www.vabrowning.com