Love Songs (11 page)

But there really wasn’t much of a choice.

Clara affixed her wig and let it fall long over her shoulders. She then took the white ribbon and tied it with a bow atop of her head.

Her makeup was heavy and the hair, oh the hair would always make her laugh. But it transformed her into Maria and for the next two hours that would be who she was. Maria, the girl in love with Tony.

All day things had been running through her mind, one was the look in Warner’s eyes when he’d stopped by for the key. Something was bothering him and it was bad enough he couldn’t even talk to her about it.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She held onto the breath for a moment and then let it out slowly. There was no time to let a man work into her head. Well, not her man. There was about to be a rumble between the Jets and the Sharks and that’s all she could worry about. As far as she was concerned, for the next two hours, Warner Wright didn’t exist.

Warner had stood outside the bustling theater for nearly twenty minutes. He’d watched her family walk inside. All of them including, what he assumed, were her grandparents. If he walked away there would be an obvious hole in the row of seats, she’d said there’d be a ticket waiting for him.

He rubbed the back of his neck and started up the steps to the theater doors. As he entered the lobby the lights dimmed and returned. This was a sign that the curtain was about to rise and he’d better get his butt in gear.

Warner approached the ticket window by the door. “I’m a guest of Clara Keller. Warner Wright.”

The woman nodded and an enormous smile formed on her mouth. “Oh, good. You’re here. She’s been up here four times to see if you’d picked up your ticket.”

His jaw tensed. He forced a smile and headed toward the theater. He’d more than likely stressed her out just by thinking he may not show. Patty was right, her reviews were going to be bad if her head wasn’t in the game and it would be all his fault.

The usher walked him to the front row. He’d been right. Right in the middle of the front row, which was occupied by her entire family and some of the second row as well, was an empty seat.

It looked like he’d be spending his evening between Ed and her mother. Certainly it wouldn’t look good if he threw up right there, center stage, since his nerves were shot.

Everyone stood and let him through. Each of them said hello to him, by name and shook his hand. Darcy was, perhaps, the sincerest yet.

Ed’s handshake was a bit firm. “I thought maybe you forgot.”

“No. No. Just got tied up.” He tried to smile as he said it.

Clara’s father stuck his hand out and in front of her mother to shake his hand. “Good to see you, Warner.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said as he shook his hand.

“Carlos. I appreciate the manners, but call me Carlos.”

“Yes, sir.” Hell, he couldn’t help himself. At least Carlos smiled.

Clara’s mother, Madeline, pulled him in for a hug and kissed his cheek. “It’s good to see you again. Clara hasn’t stopped talking about you all week.”

She sat down and Warner followed as the lights dimmed.

The first notes of the overture began to play from beneath the stage in front of him. That chill that he got when he was about to see any kind of live performance, washed over him.

He got his first glimpse of the man who would steal Clara’s heart—Maria, he corrected himself—and prepared himself.

It seemed like forever before the curtain opened on the third scene and there was the woman who held his heart. She stood in a white dress, her hair much longer and darker than usual. A chuckle wanted to surface when her Tennessee accent had been converted.

His eyes were locked on her and she was fully into character. Her entire family was within feet of her, yet she focused beyond them all. She
was
Maria.

Soon Maria met Tony and sparks flew. Even Warner was hopeful for them. But eventually they were in each other’s arms and their eyes gazed into the other’s. His own heart began to beat faster. When Maria kissed Tony for the first time, Warner was much too aware that it was Clara kissing that man.

His palms sweated against the pant legs on his thighs and his muscles tensed. There was chemistry between them and everyone in that audience felt it. Couldn’t they get to the point where they all died—quickly?

What if she liked kissing that man? What if she’d kissed him often, off stage?

It was all too much and it swam in his head as if he were drunk. She’d known that man much longer than she’d known him. If sparks were going to fly between them they would have. It was him she’d asked to sleep in her bed, whom she’d made love too, and who had just moved into her house and left one hell of a mess in his wake.

When the curtains finally closed and the lights came up for intermission, Warner took inventory of how he looked and how he felt.

He’d been very conscious that Carlos had had his eyes on him the whole time. But it was Madeline’s kind smile that met his eyes first.

“Isn’t she amazing? Just amazing?”

“Yes. She really is.” He meant it too. Clara Keller was full of talent.

“You should have seen her here the first night they opened with
Annie
, after they rebuilt.” Madeline placed her hand on her chest and batted her eyes which had grown moist. “Oh, just thinking about it still gets me misty.”

The thought of a young Clara with a red curly wig made him smile. Acting was different than performing music. Clara had to step aside from her life and create another, even for a few hours. He could take his trusty guitar up on stage and play as though it were giving him the breath he breathed. But not once did it mean he had to kiss a woman on stage and pretend he liked it.

That image was going to stick with him and he needed to let it go. What good was a jealous boyfriend when you had the career first? Yeah, he knew what that meant. It meant he’d be kicked to the curb and she’d still be kissing men who for a few hours she called Tony.

Warner excused himself and headed out to the lobby. Christian gave him a wave from across the room and he nodded in return. There was a small bar in the corner and Warner thought he certainly could use a drink. But would that look bad? What would her family think of that?

“Hey, Warner, what can I get ya?”

He looked up to see Ed and Darcy smiling back at him. To Ed’s side was one of her uncles—he fished for a name—Curtis. He was married to the French aunt. It was all coming back to him very quickly.

Warner walked toward them. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.” He thought then it wouldn’t seem too strange.

“Another Bud,” Ed said to the bartender.

“So what do you think of the show?” Curtis asked as the bartender handed him a bottle of beer.

“It’s amazing. I haven’t been involved in musical theater in years, but I can tell you this is a class act.”

The smile on Curtis’s face told him all he needed to know about how proud he was of Clara and her aunt. Warner knew enough about the industry to know he should be proud of them.

Ed handed him his beer. “Thanks.”

“Here’s to Clara.” Ed lifted his beer up and they all tapped theirs to his.

It was then Warner noticed the man in the corner holding his cell phone at a peculiar angle. Just the right angle to take pictures. Then he recognized the man.

He swallowed hard. “Excuse me,” he said to the Kellers as calmly as he could and walked to where the man was now furiously using his thumbs to type something into his phone.

“Why are you taking pictures of me?” he asked the man who continued to type away.

“Just a job, man. Just a job.”

“Erase them.”

“Already sent.”

Warner wanted to sock the guy in the gut and throw the phone against the wall, but he was very aware that the entire Keller family was watching him.

“Are you snooping or writing her review?”

That had the man’s head snapping up. “Just a job, man.”

“So you’ve said. I hope your review is more eloquent than that. And her performance is top notch. And if you print otherwise I’ll make sure there is rebuttal against it. Her money isn’t worth you ruining the career of someone else.”

The man made an obvious gesture to push send on whatever he’d been typing and then tucked the phone into his pocket. “Like I said, it’s a job…”

Warner held his hand up to stop him and he noticed it shook with anger. “Get out of here before I have you removed.”

The corner of the man’s mouth curled upward as he gave Warner a curt nod and walked out of the lobby through the front doors.

Warner sucked in a breath and then took a long pull from his beer as Ed walked up to him.

“You okay?” He reached out and rested his hand on Warner’s shoulder.

Warner quickly evaluated his situation. Ed could very likely take him down right there in the theater literally or he could take him down by telling Clara he was no good for her. But then again, Warner knew that already in his own heart and he was sure he’d mentioned it to Clara too. But the fact was he loved her and he wanted her safe and happy and successful. How was that supposed to happen with him around?

“Seriously, man, you’re freaking me out.” Ed withdrew his hand.

“I’m fine.” He let out a breath. “My ex-stepmother has sent one of her many minions to write a bad review about Clara.”

“Why?”

“Because she can and people will listen.”

Ed took a drink from his beer and was obviously contemplating what Warner had just said. “Why is Clara a threat to her?”

“She’s not. She just happens to be the woman I love so she’ll do all she can to destroy that.”

He saw the vein rise on Ed’s temple. “Love? You’ve known her less than two weeks.”

“Yeah. I know it sounds stupid.”

“If you’re busting his chops for that I’ll punch you in the stomach, Ed Keller,” Darcy walked up behind Ed. “Warner, what can we do to stop his review?”

“Nothing. Freedom of speech.”

She nodded. “There are a lot of reviewers. Not all of them have been to the show.” There was a shimmer in her eye and a sparkle to the smile that formed on her mouth. “Let’s just see what we can offer Nashville in twenty-four hours.”

She walked away and Warner shifted his gaze back to a mortified looking Ed.

“What is she planning?”

Ed shook his head. “Patricia Little just messed with the Kellers. You don’t mess with the Kellers or the people they love.” Finally a smile broke from Ed and he reached for Warner’s shoulder. “Hold on tight. Might be a bumpy ride.”

For the rest of the show Warner sat between Ed and Madeline trying his best to keep his body still like a small child enduring the theater. Truth was that he wondered how many others Patricia had sent.

When Clara wasn’t on stage, Warner would quickly do a subtle scan of the audience to see if he could see anyone he might recognize. He didn’t.

There was no reason for Patty to mess with Clara, or him for that fact, except her disdain for him pushed her ratings and gave her a bigger paycheck. Maybe he needed a reality show.

The thought nearly made him laugh it was so funny, and the laugh would have been very out of place. It had come right as Tony was shot in the back.

He’d waited all night for this moment and now it was here. No more kissing, until tomorrow, but now there were tears in Clara’s eyes. But he had to remember those tears were Maria’s not Clara’s.

It didn’t matter though. He wanted to jump up on that stage and wrap her in his arms.

When the curtain closed and reopened he found that he’d been the first to his feet with his applause. Or he thought he was. Carlos Keller was a swift man.

As Clara took her curtain call, center stage, she looked down at him and blew him a kiss.

He already knew he’d fallen in love with her, which he also knew was a big mistake. But the crushing tightness in his chest at that moment nearly had him on his knees. It was mutual love and a mutual respect for each other that made fate intertwine their lives at that stop light.

His mother didn’t love him—nor did his grandmother or Patricia Little for that matter. That woman, on stage who had been kissing that other guy, she loved him. She respected him and she’d sleep in his arms tonight and wake in them tomorrow.

His applause grew louder until his hands had gone numb.

When the curtain closed he turned to see Madeline smiling up at him. It wasn’t just a happy smile as though she’d watched her daughter give an amazing performance. This was a happy mother smile—happy that he was there, happy that he loved her daughter.

A lump formed in his throat. He turned to follow Ed out of the aisle. And as every Keller cleared the aisle they turned back and gave him some kind of reassuring look or gesture that said Clara’s success was his success. It was a gesture a family would make.

The lump in his throat grew and landed in his stomach as a large boulder.

They were accepting him into their family. For the first time in his life he was part of something more than just him. He was part of a family and the feeling was nearly as overwhelming as the love he’d found he had for Clara.

Ed was right—you don’t mess with the Keller family.

Patricia Little was going down.

Clara ran her finger tips over Warner’s chest as she lay in bed with him. This wasn’t what she thought she’d be doing with her life—shacking up with a man she didn’t really know. But it felt so right.

“Ed said you confronted some guy tonight at the theater.”

She felt his breath hitch before he eased back against the pillow again. “Reviewer. Or someone Patty paid to take some pictures and give you a bad review.”

“I’ve had bad reviews before.”

“Sure, buried in the back of a newspaper. I will guarantee she will have this to discuss on that stupid show next week.”

“Good thing there are only three more shows, huh?”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “You’re something.”

“I hope you’ll always think so.” She rolled so that she lay atop him and looked down into his eyes. “Why do you want to sell your songs? Why don’t you record them and sell you?”