Final Encore (3 page)

go home with Jean. She would drop him off in the

morning on her way into town.

Bily agreed and drove back at a leisurely pace,

taking a mental recap of al that had happened to him

since he’d left New Orleans. He eventualy made it

back to the ranch and, after checking on the mare and

fily, hopped back into his truck and headed back to his

motel room for the last time. When he got there, he

stripped down to his shorts, brushed his teeth, and

climbed into his bed. For a long while he lay there and

anticipated the next day and night.

THE next morning, Bily drove out to the ranch, and

after completing the necessary paperwork required for

new employees, he was given a slip of paper that

assigned him to the “Palomino” bunkhouse, with a

highlighted map directing him to his new home.

Fortunately, his new job came with lodging at the ranch,

which realy helped with expenses. He folowed the

directions and found his new home, a large, rustic log

cabin. He pushed open the screen door and entered.

The open room was lined with three sets of bunk

beds on each side, numbered one through twelve.

Between each bunk were double locker-like closets

and two smal foot lockers, al with corresponding

numbers. At the other end of the room were a smal

kitchen area and a set of doors that he assumed were

the entrances to the bathrooms and showers. Seated at

the smal table in the kitchen were several men Bily

assumed were other ranch hands. Also seated at the

table was Buck Stevens. Bily introduced himself and

nodded in Buck’s direction. After chatting with the men,

he found out that many of the other ranch hands were

also looking for their big break. Some of these guys had

been trying to break into the business for many years,

and some, like him, had just started their journey. Buck

said he wasn’t a singer, but his girlfriend was and she

was a major up-and-coming star. Most of the guys

roled their eyes and smiled.

Bily also quickly noticed that the more

experienced guys seemed worn-down and weary, while

the newcomers had the same gleam in their eyes as he

did. He was both encouraged and disheartened, but he

knew Nashvile was ful of talented aspiring entertainers

and only the best of the best would make it. He found

his bunk and unpacked what little he had brought with

him.

Reporting to the west barn, he found Jules

already visiting with the newest addition to the ranch.

They exchanged helos, and Jules began to give him the

ins and outs of his new position. Bily would be in

charge of the hands who hosted the trail rides for

Nashvile tourists. Each day, tour guides led six groups

of twelve riders on a breathtaking five-hour tour of

Mount Juliet, which is known as the city between the

lakes. Midway through the ride, each guide would set

up a picnic lunch and then return with his group by three

o’clock in the afternoon. Because Bily had six groups

to supervise each day, in the beginning, he would take

turns accompanying different groups to familiarize

himself with the terrain and to get to know the other

guides and their capabilities. Jules went on to explain

that each morning there were seventy-two horses to

saddle and prepare. He and his staff arrived at seven

o’clock, and his day was done no later than five thirty.

Bily was overjoyed to know that this new

schedule would give him plenty of time for a quick nap,

a shower, and some dinner before he hit the town in

search of a gig. On his first day, he stayed around long

after everyone had left the barns just to familiarize

himself with the tack and the horses in order to get a

jump on the next day. When he finaly retired, it was

nine o’clock in the evening, and he was exhausted. He

had grabbed a late sandwich from the mess hal and

made his way back to his bunkhouse, showered, and

turned in.

When the first light peeked through the windows,

Bily could hardly stand the wait. He was up and ready

to go before any of the other hands were even stirring.

Bily found his way around the smal kitchen and made

the first pot of coffee. When the pot was brewed, he

poured himself a cup and made his way to the west

barn.

He was immediately greeted by Jules. “Morning,”

Jules said. “Sleep okay?”

Bily smiled. “Hardly slept at al, guess I’m too

excited about today and… tonight. I’l be just fine,

though. Where do you want me to start?”

“This morning, you can start in the tack room,”

Jules replied. “Every bridle, saddle, and blanket is

personalized with the horse’s name on it and should be

sorted that way. The other hands won’t get here for

another hour or so, but you can get everything ready to

get used to the process. We have only eight riders in

each group today, so it should be a fairly light day.” For

a second time, Jules was impressed by Bily’s

capabilities and thought,
If he’s as good onstage as he

is with the horses, Jean might just have another star

on her hands.

Because it was Bily’s first day, Jules led one of

the tours to get him familiar with the trails and showed

him where and how to present the lunch. When the

rides were over, Bily helped the guides remove the

saddles and blankets, replace the bridles with halters,

and take the horses, one by one, to the walker for a

cool-down period. When they were adequately cooled,

the ranch hands released them in the pasture for grazing

until it was time to put them in their stals, feed them,

and secure them for the evening. The day went by very

fast and without a hitch. By five o’clock, Bily was

headed to the bunkhouse to get ready for his big night.

When he arrived at the bunkhouse, some of the

other ranch hands, already off duty, were sitting around

the large table on the porch having a beer and waiting

for dinner. They invited Bily to join in, and he obliged.

The first and most important question asked, to the guys

at least, was if Bily could cook. One night a week, the

mess hal was closed and the hands shared cooking

responsibilities in rotation, and they were wondering

what kind of grub they could expect when it roled

around to Bily’s turn. Bily assured them that he knew

his way around a kitchen, and they seemed relieved.

In a short time, Bily felt pretty comfortable

around them. Much to his surprise, someone brought up

Buck’s name, and they al had a little to say about the

guy. It was general consensus that he was not realy

liked. The other hands thought he was rough around the

edges and pushed his girlfriend very hard and treated

her as his meal ticket, although they didn’t think she was

that good. After about an hour, Bily excused himself

and explained that he was headed to Jean’s for open

mic night. They al wished him wel and said to give Jean

their best. A couple of the guys even said they would be

there to lend some support. He thought they were more

curious than anything, but he knew a familiar face would

make him feel a little more at ease.

Bily showered quickly, dried his body, towel-

dried his thick black hair, and then wrapped the towel

around his waist and headed back to his bunk to dress.

He put on his best pair of black Wranglers, an emerald-

green silk shirt, his favorite black boots, and his lucky

black belt with a large oval-shaped silver buckle he had

won at a rodeo back in New Orleans. When he finished

dressing, he reached up to the top of his locker and

puled down a box containing his black Stetson with his

favorite onyx and rhinestone hat band. He stuck it on

his head and stepped back and opened the locker

door. Looking at himself in the mirror, he thought he

looked his best.

AFTER picking up a burger and a coke at a drive-

through and eating it on the way, he puled into the

parking lot at Jean’s at exactly seven forty-five. He

checked his teeth in the rearview mirror for burger

residue, got out of his truck, and nervously started for

the entrance.

He was surprised to see the place was already

very busy. Scanning the club, he saw Jules was sitting at

the far end of the bar talking to Jean. “Evening, folks.”

Jules smiled genuinely and said, “Hey, son.”

Jean said, “Hey, honey,” and gave him a kiss on

the cheek.

“You ready for tonight?” Jules asked.

“Oh yeah, I’m ready. Chomping at the bit, so to

speak.”

Jean handed him a clipboard containing a sign-up

sheet and a list of cover songs made popular by other

artists.

“You better sign up and pick out your song

choices so I can pass them along to the house band.

You’l need to pick two, because if you’re chosen by

the crowd as one of the top three performers, you’l do

a second song.”

Before he chose his songs, Bily took a quick

scan of the bar to see who his audience was. To his

surprise he saw Buck Stevens sitting with his arm

around a fairly attractive older woman with auburn hair

and a realy big hairdo.
That must be his meal ticket,

but who wears their hair like that anymore?
he

thought. Turning his attention back to the audience, Bily

saw that it consisted mostly of women, so he thought he

should choose tender songs to try and establish an

immediate connection with the ladies. He signed his

name on the clipboard and reviewed the song list. After

much thought, for his first song he chose “Moments” by

Emerson Drive and for his second song, if he needed it,

he chose “Love Me If You Can” by Toby Keith.

With that done, he decided to have a beer while

he waited for the show to start. Just as the bartender

brought his drink, Jules came over and sat on the empty

barstool next to him.

“Are you nervous, son?”

“Not a chance, sir. I was born to do this.”

They sat at the bar talking, and promptly at ten

o’clock, the lights dimmed and the house band took the

stage.

Jean walked up on stage and welcomed everyone

to open mic night. Shortly after she introduced the first

act, Bily started to get butterflies. Not because he

didn’t think he was good enough to compete, but

because he hadn’t sung with this band before, and

singing with a band for the first time could be a

chalenge. For that reason, he decided he would stick

with the original artist’s version of the song and not do

any runs or ad-libbing. He also wondered how many of

the other performers had already sung with the band at

previous open mic nights, as that could give them a

slight edge and realy make a difference. Bily forced

himself to calm down and focus on the performers to

size up his competition.

Before he knew it, Jean was introducing him, and

he was about to take the stage at Jean’s Magnolia

Saloon. Jean said, “Ladies and gentlemen, for the first

time at Jean’s, please welcome Bily Eagan.”

Bily walked onto the stage, placed a barstool

from the back corner at center stage, took a seat, and

adjusted the microphone stand. He nodded to the band

as a signal that he was ready when they were. As the

band played the intro, he waited and then began to sing.