story before or are
you going to let me tell it?"
Laughing, he said, "I'm your captive audience."
"It was pure luck things went off without a hitch. It
was fun and I felt important for the first time in my life,
like I could do something I really loved. Grant asked
me to come to the next show and then the next. I
was ... smitten." She knew it had actually been more
starry-eyed and more like a lovesick puppy, but it hurt
too much to think she'd made mistakes for something
so trivial.
"He talked big, saying he was saving up for a road
trip and needed to do some demos to shop around and
give to radio stations along the way and to record companies. He just didn't have the cash for studio time."
She sighed. "I was eager to help."
"How'd he luck out?"
She knew Brock was referring to the hard time she'd
given him about working with him in the studio. "I was
naive back then."
"And now you're worldly and wise?"
Her laughter caught on the wind and sounded far
away.
"Hardly. Just a little more mature."
"I like that about you."
Josie looked at the sky, feeling the cool breeze caress
her cheeks. "I'd been working in the school studio
doing some projects, so I offered to lay some tracks for
him there. It was the right price-free-and it gave me
the opportunity to work on his music." And be with
Grant. She didn't have to add that because Brock already knew they had been involved. "There was nothing fancy about the studio, just basic equipment. The
sound was pretty primitive by Nashville standards."
"It shows how talented you are. You got Grant
noticed by the bigwigs in Nashville. That sound set him
apart from the others."
The blush that crept up her cheeks warmed her face.
"Thank you. Anyway, our relationship was discrete. His
idea. He said no one would take me seriously as a
sound engineer if they thought we were dating. I
thought I was falling in love when he asked me to go on
the road with him."
"At barely eighteen?"
Closing her eyes to the memory, she sighed. "Yep,
my mother was livid. I'd just turned eighteen and told
her I was going on the road with a country singer. We
fought for days and when the morning came for me to
leave, she told me if I walked out that door, it would be
the last time I ever saw her. She was right."
Brock's arms squeezed her shoulders in comfort.
Josie was glad the moon had sailed behind a cloud and
kept his face from view. Her bottom lip quivered and
she had to push the words past her throat.
"I never went home and she never contacted me. My
father called when they put her in a nursing home a few
years ago. She has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember
me at all now."
"Do you see your dad?"
Hot tears she hadn't shed in a long time slid down
her cheeks, making her shiver. She swiped her face
hard. "No, he died last year of a heart attack. I went to
the funeral. I saw my mother for the first time in years, but she didn't see me. She looked right at my face and
didn't know who I was."
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Me too. We left a lot of things unsaid because I was
stubborn and thought I knew everything there was to
know."
"You were young."
Laughing wryly, she said, "I was stupid. I promised
myself that day there would be no more regrets."
"Is that why you decided to go back on the road?"
"Yes. It was time."
He smiled. "It took some convincing. Are you sure?"
She shrugged. "I was scared. Back then, I thought I
knew what I wanted. Only I didn't see what was really
there. It slammed hard into my face one day in
Nashville though. You see, I was in love with Grant
Davies, a man who was going straight to the top of the
charts. He was loving every pretty face that smiled at
him, only I was too blind to see it."
Bitterness ate at her words. She remembered the first
time she'd found Grant back stage holding another
woman in his arms, speaking the same words he'd spoken to her just hours before. She learned that day they
were just words he gave
you going to let me tell it?"
Laughing, he said, "I'm your captive audience."
"It was pure luck things went off without a hitch. It
was fun and I felt important for the first time in my life,
like I could do something I really loved. Grant asked
me to come to the next show and then the next. I
was ... smitten." She knew it had actually been more
starry-eyed and more like a lovesick puppy, but it hurt
too much to think she'd made mistakes for something
so trivial.
"He talked big, saying he was saving up for a road
trip and needed to do some demos to shop around and
give to radio stations along the way and to record companies. He just didn't have the cash for studio time."
She sighed. "I was eager to help."
"How'd he luck out?"
She knew Brock was referring to the hard time she'd
given him about working with him in the studio. "I was
naive back then."
"And now you're worldly and wise?"
Her laughter caught on the wind and sounded far
away.
"Hardly. Just a little more mature."
"I like that about you."
Josie looked at the sky, feeling the cool breeze caress
her cheeks. "I'd been working in the school studio
doing some projects, so I offered to lay some tracks for
him there. It was the right price-free-and it gave me
the opportunity to work on his music." And be with
Grant. She didn't have to add that because Brock already knew they had been involved. "There was nothing fancy about the studio, just basic equipment. The
sound was pretty primitive by Nashville standards."
"It shows how talented you are. You got Grant
noticed by the bigwigs in Nashville. That sound set him
apart from the others."
The blush that crept up her cheeks warmed her face.
"Thank you. Anyway, our relationship was discrete. His
idea. He said no one would take me seriously as a
sound engineer if they thought we were dating. I
thought I was falling in love when he asked me to go on
the road with him."
"At barely eighteen?"
Closing her eyes to the memory, she sighed. "Yep,
my mother was livid. I'd just turned eighteen and told
her I was going on the road with a country singer. We
fought for days and when the morning came for me to
leave, she told me if I walked out that door, it would be
the last time I ever saw her. She was right."
Brock's arms squeezed her shoulders in comfort.
Josie was glad the moon had sailed behind a cloud and
kept his face from view. Her bottom lip quivered and
she had to push the words past her throat.
"I never went home and she never contacted me. My
father called when they put her in a nursing home a few
years ago. She has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember
me at all now."
"Do you see your dad?"
Hot tears she hadn't shed in a long time slid down
her cheeks, making her shiver. She swiped her face
hard. "No, he died last year of a heart attack. I went to
the funeral. I saw my mother for the first time in years, but she didn't see me. She looked right at my face and
didn't know who I was."
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Me too. We left a lot of things unsaid because I was
stubborn and thought I knew everything there was to
know."
"You were young."
Laughing wryly, she said, "I was stupid. I promised
myself that day there would be no more regrets."
"Is that why you decided to go back on the road?"
"Yes. It was time."
He smiled. "It took some convincing. Are you sure?"
She shrugged. "I was scared. Back then, I thought I
knew what I wanted. Only I didn't see what was really
there. It slammed hard into my face one day in
Nashville though. You see, I was in love with Grant
Davies, a man who was going straight to the top of the
charts. He was loving every pretty face that smiled at
him, only I was too blind to see it."
Bitterness ate at her words. She remembered the first
time she'd found Grant back stage holding another
woman in his arms, speaking the same words he'd spoken to her just hours before. She learned that day they
were just words he gave
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