Lost in NashVegas

Acclaim for
Lost in NashVegas

“Thoroughly down-home delightful.”

—best-selling author Stephanie Grace Whitson

“Move over Jennifer Weiner—a new voice has just hit town!
Lost
in NashVegas
gives us a fun peek at what it might be like to be a struggling songwriter in the heart of the south. Hauck's storytelling is a rare and luminous gift. I'm her number one fan.”

—Colleen Coble, author of
Fire Dancer

“
Lost in NashVegas
strums the heart strings with humor and a girl's search for purpose. For Robin McAfee, finding the spotlight isn't easy, but always fun.”

—DiAnn Mills, author of
Lanterns and Lace

“Fun, funny and full of good ol' country charm,
Lost in
NashVegas
grabbed me on the first page and didn't let go. Pour yourself a tall glass of sweet tea, sit back in a comfortable chair, and get ready to meet one of the sassiest Southern chicks in Christian fiction. You won't be sorry!”

—Virginia Smith, author of
Just As I Am

“Thanks to Hauck's masterful storytelling and characterization, aspiring songwriter Robin Rae McAfee from Freedom, Alabama lingers in my mind like a lifelong friend.
Lost in
NashVegas
breaks through genre lines so smoothly that anyone with a heart and a sense of humor will love this story.”

—Christine Lynxwiler, author of
Arkansas
and
the Pinky Promise Sisterhood series

“Perfect! Beautifully written with perfect Southern charm, Rachel Hauck superbly captures the world of NashVegas—the fears, the hopes, the people, and the aspirations of a wanna-be songwriter. I found myself cheering for Robin Rae: a brave, spunky, good ol' country gal shouldering not only her dreams, but the dreams of the people she loves. Encore, Encore!”

—Susan May Warren, award-winning author of
Everything's Coming up Josey

“With a lively cast of characters and a Southern setting so real I feel like I've just returned from a visit,
Lost in NashVegas
grips the reader from start to finish, offering a fun glimpse into the world of songwriting and a storyline that's as good as warm apple pie on a lazy afternoon.”

—Diann Hunt, author of
RV There Yet?

Last in
NashVegas

  
Rachel Hauck

Dedicated to my dear friend, Stuart Greaves.
I'm inspired and challenged by you—that you
spend your talents, your ambitions, your time on
a radical pursuit of Jesus. Without your touch
my life would be incomplete. I love you, bro.

Copyright 2006 by Rachel Hayes Hauck.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

WestBow Press books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

Publisher's Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hauck, Rachel, 1960-
   Lost in NashVegas / Rachel Hauck.
     p. cm.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59554-190-1 (pbk.)
  ISBN-10: 1-59554-190-X (pbk.)

  1. Women country musicians--Fiction. 2. Musical fiction. I. Title.

  PS3608.A866L67 2006
813'.6—dc22

2006026231

Printed in the United States of America

06 07 08 09 10 11 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

Acknowledgments

Reading Group Guide Questions

1

How I let Daddy and Granddaddy Lukeman talk me into
singing a “couple” of my songs at the Spring Sing,
again
, is beyond me. I can't do it. I can barely breathe, let alone sing.

Blood thumps from my heart up to my ears, over my scalp, and down to my toes. Cold sweat beads on the back of my neck and under my arms. My feet burn as if I'm standing on Florida sand in mid-July.

“Gonna chicken out again, Robin?” Smiley Canyon nudges me with his pointy elbow.

“Nooo,” I lie, gripping my old Taylor guitar for security.

Smiley laughs at me. “Let's see—last year you broke out in hives the night before the show, didn't ya?”

“I had a rash from stem to stern. You saw me the next morning.”

“And the year before that you couldn't find the keys to your truck . . .” He plucks the strings of his beat-up Gibson, trying to tune. Smart aleck. No wonder Nashville kicked him back home to Alabama.

“And didn't you get lost driving across town once?”

I ball my fist. One pop, right in the kisser. Come on, Lord, look the other way, just for a second.

But when I look Smiley in the eye, I see what I don't care to see: the truth. I relax my fingers and attempt to deflect attention. “Your song was real good. Was it a new one?”

“Naw, wrote it a few years back.”

I nod. “Good for you.”

He tips the brim of his cowboy hat my way. “Better go get my seat. Don't want to miss your debut.” He says
debut
like “de-butt”—as if I'm going to fall flat on mine—and walks off snickering.

With a tiny step forward, I peer around the stage curtain. Freedom Music Hall is packed. An electric twinge constricts my middle, and I take two giant steps back. Let Smiley be right. Let him laugh at me again. It's better than public humiliation.

Turning to flee, I bump smack dab into Jeeter Perkins, the Hall's emcee.

“Get ready, Robin Rae. You're up next.” He grins and adjusts his bolo tie.

Hello, Robin. What'll it be? Anxiety attack in front of a thousand of your closest friends and family? Yes? Right this way.

“Jeeter, I changed my mind. I'm not singing.”

He rolls his eyes. “Now, Robin Rae—”

“How about you let old Paul Whitestone go on with his Dixie Dos?” Behind Jeeter, the former bluegrass icon waits with his round-faced, rosy-cheeked granddaughters—Elvira, Elmira, and Eldora. (Identical triplets. Tall, big girls.)

“Listen, girl, I've heard your songs a hundred times on your granddaddy's porch. You got a gift. A gift.” Jeeter pinches my arms in his bony grip and bugs out his eyes. “Sometimes you have to face your fears.”

I squint. “And sometimes ya don't.”

This isn't like the first day of school or one of Momma's Saturday night dinners. Nope. Singing in the Hall is optional. And I'm opting out.

Jeeter shakes his head and brushes past me as the Blues Street Boys finish and exit stage left to mild applause. “Thank you, boys,” he says into the mike. “I don't think I've ever heard such unique,
ahem
, harmonies.” He glances over at me and raises one bushy brow.

Shaking my head, I step backward and poke Paul Whitestone, who's nodded off. “You and the girls are on, Paul.”

The old man sputters to life. “Huh? Oh, we're on?” He waves his long arm at the triplets. “Girls, come on. We're up.”

Jeeter rouses the crowd with a big call into the microphone, waving his hat in the air. “How y'all doing?” They give Jeeter what he wants—hoots and hollers, whistles and cheers.

“The hills are alive with the sound of music!” Jeeter cuts a glance at me. “We got a real treat for you folks tonight . . .”

Hand on my guitar, I tip my head in the direction of the ladies' room and mouth, “Got to go.”

“Next up,” Jeeter's voice trails after me, “Paul Whitestone and the Dixie Dos.”

Ducking into the ladies' room, I push the lock and fall against the door. My stomach feels like a firecracker just exploded in it. My heart is racing at top NASCAR speed, and my legs are trembling like Granddaddy's old hound, Bruno, when it thunders.

Go out there . . . Sing in front of folks . . . Who'm I kidding? Freedom, Alabama, and their
Nashville
tradition have haunted me for the last time.

I shift my guitar so it hangs down my back and dampen a wad of paper towels. Patting the sweat beads from my forehead, I wonder if I'll make it out of the Hall alive. Blue spots flicker before my eyes.

“Should've stayed home where you belong,” I scold my reflection in the mirror. “At twenty-five, you should know better.”

Grandpa McAfee is right: if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. Drawing a shaky breath, I adjust my guitar strap so that it's not cutting into my shoulder and unlock the door. But before I can jerk on the knob, the door flies open, bonking me on the head.

“Ouch!” My hand goes to my forehead as Arizona Parish shoves her way inside.

“What're you doing?” She tilts her soft blond head to one side and props her hands on her skinny waist.

I pop her on the shoulder. “What are
you
doing? There's only room for one in here.”

“I came to find out what
you're
doing.” She looks down at me with her eyebrows pinched and her lips tight. “So, what are you doing?”

“Hiding. My palms are sweating, my heart's racing, and my stomach feels like the finale of the Fourth of July show.”

“Robin, it's just performance anxiety. Stage fright.” She grabs me by the arms. “Take a deep breath, say ‘Help me, Jesus,' and get on out there.” She gives me a quick shove toward the stage entrance. “Wow 'em.”

“Your sympathy is overwhelming.”

“I'm not here to be sympathetic, Robin. I'm here to tell you the time has come to face your fears. You sing like an angel, and your sappy lyrics have ruined my mascara more times than I can count.”

“Well, hot diggity dog for me. I don't care what my lyrics have done to your mascara, I'm not going out there.” I jab my finger toward the stage door. “I'm going home.”

My boot heels thud across Freedom Music Hall's ancient wood floor. The floor that has borne the soles of Garth Brooks, Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, and the great Billy Graham. Center stage, old Paul is plunking his banjo while the triplets clog on top of a three-tiered platform, shaking their ruffled skirts, shaking the entire Hall.

Arizona follows me to my guitar case. “How three pudgy girls move their feet so fast is beyond me.”

“They've been clogging and eating since they were born.” I settle my guitar in its case.

She sighs. “Got to admit, they have the best legs in Freedom.”

This makes me laugh. “Can't argue there.”

“Robin, don't lock up your guitar. Get out there. Beat this stage fright. If those triplets have the best legs in Freedom, you have the best voice and the best songs. Please. For me.” Arizona clasps her hands under her chin and bats her eyes.

I stop buckling up my guitar case. Arizona Parish has a way of getting under my skin, forcing me to dig deep and dream big. She introduced herself to me a few years ago as “the girl from Miami.” Her journey to Freedom is still a mystery.