Love Songs (20 page)

Was there a turning point back to that? What if he did sign a recording deal and he ended up on tour? There would be lots of booze, drugs, and women.

Clara tried to let out a calming breath. She seriously thought she was going to be sick.

It was then she decided sleep wasn’t going to happen and she’d go to the kitchen and get a glass of water.

As she filled her glass she heard footsteps on the stairs. From their rhythm she knew they were Christian’s. His limp gave him away.

“Hey,” he said softly from the living room.

“Hey.”

“You okay?” He walked into the kitchen and pulled down his own glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You have a lot to think about, huh?”

Clara dropped her shoulders and rolled her head to release the tension in her neck. “You heard all of that?”

“I heard.” He set his glass on the counter and turned to her in the moonlight. “What are you going to do? You don’t really know this guy.”

“
This guy
is my husband.”

“Who you ran off and married without telling anyone.”

“That’s what elopement is all about.” Her whisper was growing in volume.

“I’m scared for you. What if he still does drugs and you don’t know? What if that girl gave him some disease?”

“Dear Lord, did you hear everything.”

“This house isn’t that big you know.”

Clara paced the kitchen floor. “I love him, Chris. I love him so much. I have to think beyond all of this and accept that he’s not that same man. I mean look, he got a job and put himself through college. He has two different degrees. What kind of druggie does that?”

“I’m just worried for you. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like the guy.” He lifted his hands in the air and let them drop. “You’re my little sister. I’m supposed to think no one is good enough for you.”

“I know. But I married him and he needs me in more than one way. He needs all of us. He needs the Kellers. He needs that love, that strength, he needs family.”

Christian nodded. “I couldn’t agree with you more.” He walked toward Clara and pulled her into a hug. “You have a huge support group. Don’t let us all down by not using us if you need us.”

Clara only nodded.

Christian let go and headed back for the stairs. “Oh, by the way, congrats on the tour.”

“Thanks.”

“Can you get me Savannah’s autograph?”

She snorted out a laugh. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Clara was conveniently gone before Warner woke up. She had to be in Tom Wheeler’s office by noon and she had rehearsals all afternoon.

She had rummaged through Warner’s music and taken the pieces she liked best. It felt wrong to her, as if she were stealing them. But she left a note and a list. She was going to take them by the office supply store and have copies made first. She didn’t want anyone else stealing them either.

But before she dealt with her new found music career she needed to talk to someone. She’d called Darcy and asked her to meet her at the Starbucks.

After all, Darcy was as close to a sister as Clara had.

Darcy was already getting her drink at the counter when Clara walked in.

“I got yours,” Darcy called across the store and those in line watched her retrieve her drinks.

“Thank you.” She took the cup and carefully sipped.

“Do you want to go upstairs and talk in the board room?”

“No,” she was quick to answer.

“Oh, private conversation, huh? I love our sister time.” Darcy giggled and found them a table.

They both sat down and arranged their purses and jackets.

Darcy lifted her cup to her lips and peered at Clara from over the top. “Okay. So what’s the news? Are you pregnant already? That one I’ll let you have. I’m not ready until after the wedding. But since you went and got married first I assume you’re going to have a baby first.”

Clara shook her head. “No, there’s no baby.” Hadn’t that been on her mind too? She already had put a call into the doctor to get her back on the pill. She had been very optimistic and sure of herself the other night when she made a scene throwing out his condoms. But now, any little mishap—welcomed or not—wasn’t even something she wanted to think about.

Clara dove into Warner’s story, leaving no detail out. And when she was done she sat back in her chair and watched for Darcy’s reaction.

“You’re thinking about leaving him, aren’t you?” The question was posed, but Darcy sounded angry.

“No. Well—I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.”

“I should throw this coffee on you and wake you up.”

“What?” That certainly wasn’t what Clara expected.

“You’re judging him by the circumstances in which he was raised.”

Clara sunk into her chair and listened.

“You were born to a mother and father who loved you very much. Even when they weren’t together your step-father loved you and your parents were always around. You have aunts and uncles who love you and your grandparents are like no others. But what if—just what if your mom and dad didn’t work out again? What if Matt was an ass who beat you or worse? What if Arianna didn’t have her theater and didn’t care that you had talent? Then what?”

Clara’s palms were sweating. She didn’t like this.

“Imagine not knowing the people you called mom and dad all your life weren’t yours. Can you even imagine that?”

“Darcy, I didn’t mean…”

“No. You didn’t mean anything by it. But I know now what it’s like to have someone’s blood run through your veins that everyone hates. My biological father tried to kill you. Do you think about that when you think about that night? No. You probably don’t associate that at all. I’m your sister. He was a monster. Who would I have been had he not tried to kill me and Regan?”

Clara covered her mouth forcing back the sob she wanted to let free.

“Clara, who you are at fourteen, or eighteen, doesn’t define who you become. He’s clean. I can tell he’s not hiding anything from you like that. And he gave you all his music, right? You are now the artist of that music and he can’t sell it on his show. He has to come up with new stuff. That was unselfish on his part.”

“Oh, Darcy, what did I do?”

“You took an opportunity. Now go make something of it. I want to meet Blake Shelton and until you get into that crowd I’m not going to.”

Clara laughed a loud. “I love you. I’m glad that goofball brother of mine has you.”

“Yes, yes. You’re all lucky I came here looking for my missing piece. Now, I have a boring meeting with Zach and Ed. So I have to go back upstairs now. You go fix your marriage.”

Clara stood when Darcy stood and gave her a hug. She’d put her marriage back together after she rehearsed her stolen songs.

***

Beginning tomorrow Warner would have cameras following him three days a week. For today he was going to spend his time in his “studio” in the basement working on music.

He figured, as he wrote down the chords he’d just put together on the sheet music, that Clara leaving so early in the morning without waking him wasn’t a good sign.

He’d texted her a few times, but she hadn’t returned them.

How could he blame her? He’d dropped a heavy load on her last night and expected her to just understand. The good sign had been that his bags hadn’t been packed and by the door.

When he heard footsteps upstairs he checked his watch. It was already six o’clock. But there were more than one set of footsteps. There were many and they were coming down the stairs to the small apartment in the basement.

Warner put his guitar on the stand and walked out into the hallway. Walking through the door were a lot of Keller men. Ed, Christian, Spencer, John, Zach, and even Carlos.

“Hey guys,” he said and he hoped they didn’t hear the fear in his voice. Had she sent her hit men to take him out?

Ed stepped forward. “Rumor has it you have the night free.”

“I do?”

Christian laughed. “Your wife said so.”

“Oh.” Again he was sure they wouldn’t beat him, but help throw his stuff in the truck—yeah.

Ed stepped closer to him. “See, there’s only one problem with running off and getting married so quickly.”

“Only one?”

Ed smiled as he rested his hand on Warner’s shoulder. “You didn’t get a bachelor party.”

His breath of relief must have been so audible that even Carlos had smiled. Family—he was going to have to get used to it.

As bachelor parties went, Warner figured this one to be tame. They ended up at a sports bar on Music Row. He too wondered how planned that was.

There was a huge table by the bar reserved for them. Someone had already ordered platters of wings and fries and pitchers of soda. Obviously word had gotten out about his past—or so he would assume, otherwise he had to figure those pitchers would have been full of beer.

It didn’t matter. These men were there to take him out and accept him as one of their own. This was a blessing. If he made it home without any of them beating him in the parking lot and his wife was there he figured they’d be okay—forever.

Carlos was the first to fill his plate with wings. “So, Warner, tell us about this TV show you’re on.”

“Oh, well, it will be interesting. I think he’s thinking of me more as a performer than a song writer. But now with Clara performing my songs, I really don’t know what they will be doing with me. I mean the purpose was to get the artists and their music found.”

“It certainly sounds interesting. And Clara will be traveling?”

“Ten cities."

“My baby is a performer." He smiled. "We're pretty proud.”

“I'm proud of her too.”

Zach was the next to fill his plate. “I heard a new recording company is starting up soon. We were just approached for a bid to design. New building with studios.”

That had Warner's attention. “Who’s heading that up?”

“It was a group, can't say I know any specific names.”

At least it was promising, he thought. If Patty owned part in another company maybe this would leave him with some options.

The conversation was good and that was what Warner needed most. There was no doubt these men knew his story but not one of them seem to judge him. As the evening progressed, one by one each man left after giving Warner a pat on the back and their own words of congratulations. Eventually it was Carlos and Warner left at the table. Warner was sure this was by design.

The waitress approached the table and told Carlos that the bill has been taken care of by Zach. Carlos shook his head and laughed. “That man never ceases to amaze me. He's taken care of a lot of us over the years.” Carlos took a sip of his drink and set it back on the table. “He knew I set this up and was going to pay for it I don't know why he does that. He's just that kind of a guy.”

Warner shifted in his chair. “You set this up?”

Carlos nodded. “Yes. You needed a night out with the guys, and we needed to celebrate your marriage, like men.”

Warner laughed. “I appreciate it more than you know.”

“It sounds like things haven't been easy for you. I know that's hard. Clara won't give up on you. She's not made like that.”

“I hope you're right. I love her more than I thought I could love anybody. And I'm not just saying that because you're her father. It's true. Fate stepped in at the right time. Though I have to admit I didn't expect any of this. The marriage. The show. Her singing my music. Or gaining a family.”

Carlos leaned on the table with his elbows. The look on his face said that he was contemplating his next phrase. “I didn't know I was giving my blessing for a wedding when you and I last spoke. But I think she did good with you. Not everybody gets to choose how they start life. We get to choose how we live our life. You seem to have made the right choices.”

Warner wasn't the kind of man to cry, especially in front of another man. But he could feel the tears well in his eyes and sting in his throat. “I just wish mistakes from your childhood didn't have to follow you into adulthood. I'm more than what I was when I was a teenager. Things would be different had that have been different.”

“You can't change that. It's time to move on. And something tells me things are going to go your way very soon.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You're married to my daughter. She gets what she wants out of life. And she wants you and your success. Like I said, everything is going to be fine.”

Warner bit down on his lip. The tears were stinging harder in his eyes. “I think you're right. As a team I think we can conquer anything. We will just have to get past these few weeks, even months, until we can move forward together.”

“Let me ask, because it wouldn't be a fatherly thing if I didn't, what are your plans if your music doesn't take off?”

“I would go back into teaching,” Warner said without hesitation. “I enjoyed the kids and seeing what they could learn. I truly think that's where my calling is, aside from writing music.”

Carlos smiled wide. “I totally understand that. I don't know what I would have done all those years had I not been teaching. The administrative side was a whole lot different. The magic is in the classroom. Those kids are yours to mold, to shape the future. I think you'd be a fine teacher.”

Warner cleared his throat. “Thank you for that. That means a lot.”

“You'd better get home to your wife then. She'll be looking for you soon.”

“Thank you for the night out. It was unexpected and very nice.”

“You're one of us now. We're a support system for each other. The women in this family, well, they come with a support group.”

Warner laughed. He supposed that was true enough. From what he could tell already the Keller women were a strong breed. And those other women who joined the clan, well they were just as strong. The men in this family would have to be a good alliance for their women and for themselves. But he was part of a family now. And families stuck together—especially this one.

The following week was filled with rehearsals for Clara. She was all of twenty minutes of the concert, for only a few dates, and she couldn’t believe how much time she’d already put into practicing everything.