Outlaw Country (16 page)

 
“Kitt is playing like his life depends on it. Roy Boy is playing like his life depends on it. Lee, L.J., Kevin, and Alabama; they’re all playing like their lives depend on it, because do you know what? It does. Those boys ain’t good at anything else, and you know it. If this ship sinks, they’ll be back to playing outdoor Derby Day parties. This is their life, and it should be your life, too.”

“Never liked Johnson City. Fuckin’ town is full of inbred hicks.”
 

The waitress picked the perfect time to bring their food. She stood balancing the plates before them.
 
She set the food down, Colton’s plates landing with less than her usual soft touch. “Help you boys with anything else?”

“No, thank you. I think we’re all set.” Roger’s voice was apologetically sweet. Colton didn’t bother to look up at her. He wasn’t sorry. Johnson City
was
a shithole.

Colton was already diving into his French toast when Roger spoke again, “It’s not Johnson City. It wasn’t Roanoke two nights before, and it won’t be Asheville tonight.” Despite all the groupies, and all of Colton’s post show activities, Roger had never had to bring up women with him. As long as Colton put on a good show and didn’t hurt anybody, Roger was usually pretty lax. People were getting hurt, though. Colton didn’t want to admit it, event to himself, but Roger was right.

“Why don’t you tell me about Gracie?” Colton’s face was still turn down to the French toast. He was stabbing at it over and over again.

Colton let her name sink in. He let the sound of it reverberate in his mind. Kitt could have asked the same question, and Colton probably would have told him to fuck off. Colton saw Roger in a different light. Roger believed in him when he was nothing. It wasn’t far off from how Colton had to believe in Kitt after his third stint in rehab. Colton could be honest with Roger most days of the week. The thing with Gracie had him all shaken up, though. It had him questioning his relationship with everybody, including himself.

“Ya found me out. Sherlock fuckin’ Holmes, over here. What do you want to know?” Colton’s jaw was tight, moving from side to side.

Roger was poking a bear, but Colton reminded himself that it was Roger’s job to do the dirty work. Gracie was keeping Colton off his game, and that had to change.
 

Curling his finger until Colton looked up, the manager then mimed pulling the glasses down. After a few seconds, Colton complied. His eyes were bloodshot, huge bags under each one. Roger probably wouldn’t have been surprised if Colton told him he hadn’t slept a wink.

“Once upon a time there was a kid named Colton. Put a guitar neck is hand, and he became Colton Wade. Give him chicks and booze, and he stayed Colton Wade. Apparently that doesn’t work anymore. Now he needs Gracie Hart to be Colton Wade. Nothing wrong with that.” Roger put up his hands to preemptively stop anything Colton might say.

“Nothing wrong with that, at all. In fact, some might say it’s a sign of maturity. I know how much you despise that word, so I will say it again. There’s nothing wrong with needing somebody else. In a twisted way, I need you. Without Colton Wade, Roger Ellery isn’t shit, and I know that.” After a pause, Roger asked the hard question, “Could it be that without Gracie Hart, Colton Wade ain’t shit?”

 
Colton didn’t know what to say.
That’s been going around lately,
he thought. Roger was right on the money as usual. It didn’t matter how bad he fucked up, Roger was worth his weight in gold. Colton would never let that one get away.

He had let Gracie get away, though. He had called himself a chicken shit, a coward, and immature. Colton tried to figure out what that thing was inside of himself that ruined a good thing. The band had been the only thing in his life that was a real success, and that was only because of Roger. Colton knew that without his manager, they’d still be playing four-hour gigs at bars where no one cared enough to listen.

“You might be right.” Colton
knew
Roger was right. He was just trying to hang onto hint of his pride. “Ah, fuck. I’m crazy about her, boss. Absolutely up a fuckin’ tree. Hell, the morning you gave me the bad news in Nashville…” It was hard, but Colton had to tell himself to be a new man. “Never mind, boss. Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell.”

Roger laughed. Not just at the juxtaposition of Colton calling himself a gentleman, but at the crushing weight gone from the relationship. He and Colton had been at odds ever since Nashville, and it was good to feel the tension between them lift.

“Yeah, gentlemen. You’re a gentleman like I’m an astronaut. I know what you mean, though. What’s the plan then, Casanova? How do you win her back?”

Colton shook his head. The hangover was fading, but he wasn’t going to chance it by moving quickly. “No idea. Winning women back has never been my strong suit. I can get them, but once their gone, I’m clueless.” He looked to his manager for advice. Roger was always there for Colton when things got rough.
 

Roger understood enough about production and music to help in the studio when the band hit a snag.
 

Colton knew that Roger was there one of the nights that Kitt almost went back to using. Things had gotten rough, and Roger got him through it. Colton didn’t know of any problem Roger couldn’t solve.

Roger knew that look coming from his young star. It was the deer in the headlights look. Roger raised his left hand. “Do you see a ring on here? No, you do not. That is for a good reason. God, if you only knew.” Roger laughed and thought of his pitiful plea to Kathleen. It was laughably bad, and he respected her more for turning him down. It hurt, but he still had to respect her.

“Colton, I’ve watched you pick up women who straight-up hated your guts when they first met you. You clearly know what to say. Just form that charm into some kind of an apology. One for Gracie
and
one for her mother. The way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a woman’s is through her mother.”

Roger had never felt so close to Colton. He saw the singer as his son in a way, but they never talked about feelings or emotions unless it was to touch up a lyric or two.
 

“Well, ain’t that some shit?”
 

Roger nodded. “You and me both.”

Colton reached up and pulled his aviators off. There was a questioning look on his face. Roger had dropped another hint about Gracie’s mother. “Boss, you wanna let me in on something?”

“I guess so.” Roger knew he couldn’t hide it, so he caught Colton up on everything between him and Kathleen. Everything from their fiery interactions at Muscle Shoals, Roger pouring his heart out the same morning Colton and Gracie were together, and the collaboration album that the record company demanded. The two ate as if the problems of the world didn’t exist for a few minutes.
 

As Colton’s hangover faded, the thought struck him that the hangovers would only get worse. At twenty seven, he knew age was going to dig its inevitable claws into him. He couldn’t keep living like a teenager.

He found that he didn’t want to keep living that life. He still wanted to tour and make music his life, but there was nothing saying he couldn’t do that with a good woman by his side. All Colton had to do was get that woman back.

Roger looked over at Colton. “Recording starts in three days. I guess you’ve got some work to do, slick.”
 

 
The studio was just a few years old, built deep in the Smokey Mountains. After a climb up through the trees, the private drive opened up and gave a great view of Grapeyard Ridge, the namesake of The Grapeyard. Arvin had suggested that particular studio because it was modern, but still had the Southern charm that country musicians fed off of. The entrance to the building looked like it used to be part of a shipping container with windows from end to end. Once inside, the view was enough to make you drop into one of the Adirondack chairs along the wall.

Colton couldn’t help but smile as he stood on the porch with a guitar case in each hand.
Inspiration
. That’s what he saw when he looked out into the vast rolling green. After months and months of waking up five hundred miles from where he had gone to sleep, two weeks in one place would be a fuckin’ dream.

Two weeks without worrying about the fight with his brother, two weeks without the star fuckers who were getting on his nerves more and more, and two weeks of making some kick ass tunes with a producer he really respected. After he apologized to all parties involved, of course. After he made up, things would be silky smooth. The record company had even used a word Colton had never heard before he was hooked in with Gracie: unlimited. Their time was short, but their budget was
unlimited
.

Colton had already sent his two treasured guitars in for a complete once-over. He’d bought a few items that he’d been eying for some time, including a decent amount of new equipment for The Guilty Party. After all, it was on the record company’s dime.
 

After one last nod of his head, Colton backed his way through the door to the studio. Some solid hours with his band and Gracie would help clear his head. Thinking about his band made him wonder if Kitt would show up. If he did show up, Colton would take the high road and ask for forgiveness. Some part of Colton didn’t care of Kitt showed up or not. That part was bigger than Colton cared for.

Armed with his two favorite guitars and a notebook filled with some of his best lyrics, Colton set his mind on the future. His future; Gracie’s future;
their
future.

As much as Gracie was looking forward to seeing Colton, she wasn’t looking forward to work. Ever since her mother had gone from helicopter parent to prison guard, Gracie wanted nothing to do with the music business. Other than the phone calls in secret, she didn’t have access to Colton. Not seeing him was digging away at her heart.

Part of her was upset that he hadn’t come to save her. She knew he was no white knight, but it still would have been a dream come true. She would’ve taken his pickup truck over a stallion any day. Gracie was a prisoner, not only to her mother, but to her contract. There was a two week break in the tour schedule, and that was exactly when the recording would take place for her and Colton’s album.