Learning to Breathe Again (34 page)

Bayleigh drained her wine glass and held it
up to get Tommy’s attention, turning herself away from Rick once
again. “It’s been a year since I got on stage, Rick. And even
longer since I was on one by myself,” her eyes met Rick’s. “The
stage was never my life, it was Will’s. I just wanted to write the
music. But lately, even that’s not working out so well,” she
muttered, turning herself away from Rick once again.

Rick reached over and
took her hand in his. Bayleigh clasped it with a
death grip as she closed her eyes for a second. “Rick, the last
time I tried to get on stage, I had a flashback and a full-blown
panic attack backstage. There is no backstage here. If I go into
one of my panic attacks, everyone will see it.”

Rick nodded, his arm settling across her
shoulders, his thumb moving across her knuckles as he looked around
the crowded bar. “What if I sat in front, with Brian and maybe we
could even coax Dusty to sit up there with us? Would that
help?”

“
Is Dusty even here? I
haven’t seen him.” Bayleigh’s gaze wandered the room, trying to
find her friend. “And where’s Brian?”

“
Brian is sitting with Dusty
over in the corner booth in the shadows. We snuck him and Jade in
through the kitchen. He’s trying to keep a low profile for now. He
doesn’t want to upstage anyone who’s brave enough to get up there
tonight.” Rick picked up his beer bottle, tipping it towards her in
a salute. “We all came out to support you.”

Bayleigh stared at him, surprised. “Why?”

“
Why, what?” Rick’s brow
furrowed.

“
Why do you care so much,
about me and a song I wrote, I mean?”

Rick drained his beer and glanced around the
room again. “Because you mean a lot to Maddie and she’s really
concerned that you’re not going to come back from this. And I don’t
mean the break-up with Will or whatever happened with that dumb
asshole in Texas…”

“
He’s not a dumb asshole,”
Bayleigh protested, the denial automatic even though it was one of
the nicer names she herself had been calling Jack.

“
Well, he ain’t too smart if
he let you get away,” Rick pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “So,
who are you going to let win? That fucker in England who owned the
bar, that dumbass Will, or Maddie and her pushiness?”

Bayleigh laughed and leaned over to kiss his
cheek before sliding off her barstool. “Go find a spot up front and
you’ll find out when I do, I guess.”

“
Where are you going?” Rick
stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

“
I’m going to go talk to
Dusty and see if he can’t give me a better pep talk than that one,”
Bayleigh gave him a look before she turned and glanced towards the
large corner booth that was hidden in shadows. “I evidently have
something to prove tonight.”

“
Now you’re talking!” Rick
gave her a wink as he motioned to Tommy for a fresh beer. “Brian
and I will be standing up there front and center for you. You just
keep your eyes on us, and you’ll be fine, sweetheart.”

“
Thanks, Rick,” Bayleigh
blew him a kiss as she walked away to find Dusty and Jade in their
corner booth.

“
How in the hell did I get
talked into this?” Bayleigh glanced around the crowded bar as she
waited to take her turn on stage. She was hiding with Dusty in the
shadows at his corner booth.

Dusty grinned at her from across the table.
“Because you love me and Maddie and you know how much this means to
both of us.”

“
That may be, but I’m
seriously considering running out the back door! What the hell was
I thinking?” Bayleigh propped her head up with hands. “I can’t do
it, guys. I think I’m going to be sick,” she muttered, looking
around again.

“
You’re not going to be
sick. You’re going to pull your big girl panties up and suck it up
and get out there and sing that song!”

Jade shook her head at her husband and
reached across the table to put her hand on Bayleigh’s arm. “You’ll
be fine, hon. We’re going to sit here and watch and cheer you on,
and if you freeze, I’ll push Dusty out of this booth and he can
join you up there.”

Dusty caught Maddie’s signal from the stage
that it was time for Bayleigh to head over and he slid out of the
booth, holding his hand towards her to help her slide out. He
wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his
side. “You’ll be fine, Bayleigh. Take a deep breath and relax.
You’re among friends here tonight,” he reminded her “You ready to
rock this place?”

Bayleigh nodded, a slight
grimace crossing her features
.
“As I’ll ever be,” she muttered, pasting a wide
smile on her face as she watched Maddie walk onto the stage and
give the lead singer of the band that had just performed a hug. She
made her way along the edge of the crowd and stood at the foot of
the steps leading to the stage, waiting for Maddie to introduce
her.

“
Let’s give The Rustler’s
one last round of applause!” Maddie adjusted the mic stand as she
glanced over and made eye contact with Bayleigh. After a slight
hesitation, Bayleigh swallowed hard and nodded.

“
Now, as you all know, I
love to give up and coming singers and songwriters a shot at the
limelight on my stage. Well, tonight I’m going to finish off the
night a little different. A very good friend of mine left Nashville
for a few years and kind of forgot what her music meant to so many
of us. Well, tonight she is here, and I talked her into getting up
on this stage and showing us what she’s got in store for Nashville
now that she is back! So, please give a warm welcome to Bayleigh
Morrow!” Maddie stepped back from the mic as Bayleigh walked across
the stage to the loud applause.

“
You’re going to be great,”
Maddie whispered to her as she hugged her tight. “You’ve got this,
girl!”

Bayleigh smiled at her friend. “Just promise
you’ll hide me somewhere for a few years if I faint or panic, or do
something else equally embarrassing up here tonight.”

“
That’s not going to be
necessary but if assurances are what you need, you know I’ve always
got your back,” Maddie gave her a wink and turned to walk
offstage.

Bayleigh looked around the room, her gaze
finding and holding Rick’s for a moment as she stepped up to the
mic, taking a moment to readjust it. With a subtle nod to let him
know she was holding it together so far, she took a deep breath and
looked up to face the rest of the crowd.

“
Thanks, everyone. It’s been
great to be back in Nashville these last few weeks. I’ve been busy
trying to write some songs, and with the help of an old friend,
I’ve actually completed a couple. This one I’m going to sing for
you tonight has already been spoken for by a great guy who wants to
include it on his next album. So pay attention and you might just
be hearing it on the radio soon!”

Bayleigh adjusted her guitar strap around her
neck as she strummed the opening notes to the song she’d finished
with Dusty the day before. She let the notes wash over her and lost
herself to the music.

It had been a long time since Bayleigh had
felt this excitement, this joy, in bringing the music to life. She
had poured her heart into writing this song; all the heartache and
pain she’d been feeling the last few weeks had come out while she
and Dusty had been working on it. If she had any desire to be a
performer, this song would be way too personal to give away to
anyone else.

Less than five minutes later, the applause
was thunderous as the last notes faded away. Bayleigh opened her
eyes and looked towards where her friends were standing. Dusty had
left the safety of his shadowed booth and was standing just in
front of it. He caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up, the grin
on his face telling her all she needed to know.

As she turned back towards the crowd, a
figure standing near towards the back of the room caught her
attention. Maybe it was the cowboy hat he had on, but something
about him made her think of Jack. Bayleigh squinted, trying to see
through the haze the bright stage lights cast over the room but
whoever it had been faded into the crowd and Bayleigh lost sight of
him.

She raised her hand in acknowledgement of the
crowd as she stepped back from the mic and released the guitar
strap from around her neck. Maddie stepped back onto the stage,
stopping Bayleigh’s exit with a hand on her arm.

“
I told you, you didn’t need
anyone to hide you. You nailed it!” Maddie gave her a quick hug
before she released her friend and stepped up to the mic once
again.

Bayleigh heaved a sigh of relief as she set
the guitar down that she’d borrowed and moved offstage as Maddie
introduced her house band to finish up the night of live music. She
grinned when she saw Rick standing at the bottom of the steps,
waiting for her.

“
You did good, kiddo.” Rick
told her as he held out his hand to help her down the steps.
“Feeling okay?”

“
I feel like I need a shot
of something stronger than wine,” Bayleigh told him, accepting his
hand as he led her back to the corner booth Dusty had been hiding
out in all evening. She was a little amazed no one had figured out
who was hiding there tonight, but didn’t hesitate to take advantage
of the anonymity of it.

“
That little performance
calls for a celebration! We need tequila!” Jade raised her hand and
waved one of the servers over, asking for the best tequila Maddie
stocked and all the extras needed to do shots.

Dusty turned towards Bayleigh as she slid
into the booth. “You rocked that song. Still sure you want to give
it up?”

“
I’m positive. I have no
desire to be up on that stage any more than necessary!” Bayleigh
told him as the waiter returned with the tequila and shot glasses.
She laughed as Jade quickly set up the shots for everyone to
do.

“
How drunk is she?” she
asked Dusty.

“
Not very. No one has
recognized me yet and for once, we’re getting to have a true date
night.” Dusty picked up the shot glass his wife set in front of him
and raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m not going down alone, you
know.”

“
I’ll do one shot, that’s
it,” Bayleigh agreed with a laugh, reaching for her own shot glass.
“You know I’m not into tequila shots.”

“
No, but I remember those
Jell-O shots Maddie used to make and how you’d put them
away.”

“
Yeah, back when I was in
college and didn’t care how I felt the next day,” Bayleigh grinned
at Rick as he slid into the booth on her other side. “Bottoms up,
boys!” she slid another glass in front of Rick, as Maddie slid in
on his other side. Maddie shook her head as she took in the shot
glasses, but reached for one of her own.

Jade glanced around the table to make sure
everyone had a shot glass. “Okay, everyone ready? Remember how to
do this? On three…lick, salt and…go!” Jade called out as they all
licked the salt off the back of their hands and tossed back the
shots of tequila and reached for the lemons.

“
God, I hate tequila,” she
shuddered as she and Rick both set their glasses on the table,
stuffing the used lemons into them. Jade laughed at them as she set
up the next round for her and Dusty.

“
Yeah, can’t say I’m a fan,
either,” Rick agreed, his eyes roaming over the crowd. “So, not
trying to put a damper on things here, or scare you, but I noticed
a guy watching you while you were getting ready to go on stage, and
I don’t think his eyes ever left you while you were up there
singing.” He tilted his head in a brief nod to his right. “He’s
over against the wall again, staring at all of us, but I’d bet his
eyes are watching you more than us. Any idea of who he is or do
Brian and I need to pay him a visit?”

Bayleigh shifted in her seat so she could see
who Rick was talking about. “Well, shit,” she muttered, drawing
back into the shadows once again. “What the hell is he doing
here?”

“
Who’s here?” Brian asked as
he stepped up to the table.

“
That guy holding up the
wall,” Rick’s eyes flicked back to the stranger as Brian also
shifted to see around everyone.

“
Isn’t that the dipshit you
left in Texas?” Brian asked, turning back around to face
Bayleigh.

“
That’s Jack? Holy hell,
he’s hot,” Maddie told her as she caught sight of who they were
talking about.

Bayleigh groaned and buried her face in her
hands. “I was hoping it wasn’t,” she muttered.