Six Miles From Nashville (9 page)

Betty patted her friend’s back. “I am so sorry for you both.”

“See, that is why I know that your mama would understand.”

Betty shook her
head sadly. “Daddy would understand, but Mama has her ridged rules. If you walk out of line, she can turn away.”

“God hasn’t turned away from you.”

“Mama would say that He has. He has rules too.”

Sweetie took her place back in the rocker and straightened the front of her uniform. “God does have rules, but they are for our protection. He wanted to show us that no matter how hard we try to follow all of His commandments, we fall short.”

“Miss Sweetie, I went to Bible School. I know all the Scriptures telling that the wages of sin is death.”

“There is a finish to that verse. It says, ‘but the gift of God is
eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.’ That means that He wants you. He doesn’t want to keep you away. You are His child.”

“But I have made so many bad mistakes. I haven’t prayed like I should. I never was good at reading the Bible every
day. Memorizing is almost too much for me. I have failed on every attempt to be good.”

“Haven’t you ever experienced the love of God? There is a place in His love where you know that He will help you live the life you were meant to live. He wants you to hold your head up and trust that
, ‘If you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.’ You are a very intelligent girl. I know that if you spend some time in prayer, you will know that I am right.”

Betty looked down as she stood. “I need to get busy. It is almost time for the lunch crowd.”

“No, I want you to go to your place and write that letter. You can’t work until you do. I will mail it for you to be sure that you wrote it. First, you need to have a conversation with God and tell Him you are sorry that you haven’t been trusting Him enough to know that He loves you.”

“Miss Sweetie...”

“Don’t ‘Miss Sweetie’ me. I will check on you in ten minutes. I expect to see the letter then. Yes, I will be reading it so that I can be sure you are being forthright with Johnny. Now, scoot!”

Betty walked through the quiet cafe and up to her apartment. She fell on the floor next to her bed and sobbed out a prayer to God. It hadn’t
occurred to her that not trusting in His love for her might have hurt Him. “Oh God! Oh God! I don’t know what to say. I am so lost right now. How can I be so lost? I have never left Your house. I have prayed.”

She sobbed and blew her nose. “Okay, God, I am going to try to talk to you regular-like. I want to do right, but I mess it all up. I guess it is because I am trying so hard to fix myself... by myself. Help me! Forgive me for not trusting You to take care of me.”

She glanced around the small room and continued, “You have been taking care of me, haven’t You! How is it that you care about me? I’m not worth it.”

She crept to the floor and pounded her fists on the hardwood surface. “I do love You and thank You for showing me how to help my baby...my...son.” Groaning, she turned her cheek to the side and sucked in a gulp of air. “Please be with him and let the people who took him in love him like they should. Show me what to do. And...about
Johnny...I don’t know if I should bother him. I am such a mess. Help me write what You think I should write to him. You know Miss Sweetie is expecting me to write, so I have to. Help Miss Sweetie and Bill to heal from their sorrow.”

She paused for a long minute, “In Jesus
’ Name I pray, Amen.”

Her hands trembled as she took a sheet of notebook paper from the cabinet drawer.
I know this is a big mistake.
After many attempts, the letter was written.

Betty entered the cafe and found Miss Sweetie in her office. Wordlessly, she placed the letter in front of her.

Dear Johnny,

Just today I got word from my mother that you stopped by to see me. I hope she wasn’t rude to you. I never told her about you because I thought you were too good to be true. You were like a beautiful dream that was over way too soon. Mother has a way of messing with my dreams. I wanted to remember you as you were.

I have left the Bible College at present. Life wasn’t the same without you or Trudy there. Right now I have a good job in a cafe on the outskirts of Nashville. Someday, I may make the six mile trip there and see if I can get a job as a backup singer or songwriter.

I am happy here and you really don’t need to worry about me. It would be great to see you again, but I know you must have moved on. I still have the promise ring and the memory of your love.

Love

Betty Jo Barnes

Miss Sweetie looked up from the letter with tears dancing in her eyes. “You wrote a fine letter.”

“I don’t want to send it,” Betty said as she wrung her small hands.

“He loved you enough to give you a promise ring. That means he deserves to know where you are. After this is sent, it is up to him to come to you. I am going to see to it that you have a proper return address on the letter so that he can find you.”

Betty nodded and walked out of the room, leaving the letter behind. It was out of her hands. If Miss Sweetie and God wanted Johnny to get her letter, he would.

Chapter 10

Betty was early for the morning shift so she sat at the back booth and drank her coffee in the semi-dark room. She had put on the little ring. It was silver and matched the POW/MIA bracelet she wore. The name of the serviceman was familiar to her only in that she had looked at it every day since it had arrived in the mail. She knew his name and rank. That was all she knew of the man. She wondered if he had a wife or children.

She wrote to the people in California that put together the information for the bracelets and asked to have one sent to her with her brother’s name on it. His circumstances seemed to be different than the Lt. Col. who appeared on her wrist. She just knew that he was not dead. She stared at the name and it seemed to leap from the shiny band. “God,
wherever this man is...and my brother...help them. Walk with them through the jungles of Vietnam.”

Bill appeared with a fresh pot of coffee and topped off her mug without asking if she wanted a refill. He studied her face and said quietly, “Sweetie tells me that you can sing.”

“How does she know?”

“The letter said something.”

Her cheeks turned a dark crimson. “Oh, that.”

“Can...I mean...will you sing harmony for me tonight? I aim to sing a few songs for the folks.”

She flashed a quick smile. “What songs are you singing?”

He shuffled on his feet nervously. “I was thinkin’ on, ‘I’m so lonesome I could cry
’, ‘Hey good lookin’’, and ‘I saw the Light’.”

“So you are a Hank Williams man. Those are good songs. What key do you sing them in?”

He stepped to the kitchen and reached through the door, retrieving a guitar. “I am gonna set up the Gibson for tonight, but the acoustic will do to practice for now.”

He turne
d the knobs slightly as he fine-tuned the instrument. Betty watched, thinking,
This could end up to be really good or terribly bad.

Soon he ran his fingers across the strings and fretted the chords. The way he played sounded to Betty like there were multiple instruments playing along. The man was skilled.

He began the soft, haunting words, “Do ya hear that lonesome whippoorwill? He sounds too blue to fly...”

She found her voice and added a full low alto that matched the
timber of his voice. Gus and Sweetie wandered into the room and listened in awe of the music they made. Susie and Daisy entered through the back door and listened in silence until the end. The room erupted in applause.

“I had no idea! That was wonderful!” Sweetie said.

Bill winked at Betty. “Hey, hey, good lookin’ whatcha got cookin’?”

Betty joined in and sang the flirtatious little song with him.
The morning coffee crowd hurried to their tables and clapped and stomped their feet  in time to the music. “Sing another one, Bill!”

Betty broke away from Bill long enough to fill their coffee mugs and take their orders while Bill played an instrumental. The music brought the place to life.

Bill put away the guitar and stood on the platform. “Tonight will be our first live music night. Tell everyone and come have supper while we play.”

Miss Sweetie was a ‘twitter with excitement as she knocked on Betty’s door. She had a garment bag in her arms with a boot box balanced on top. The girl opened the door and backed up, wide-eyed. “What is all of this?”

“Your performance outfit. I got you a white satin shirt to match Bill’s. Took me all day to sew on the red fringe. We picked out the colors after we found the boots. Look at these!”

The boot box fell as if on cue. Bright red leather boots with fancy tooling, accented in white, skittered across the floor.

“You can wear your
blue jeans. Just tuck in the tail of the shirt.”

“Miss Sweetie...I...ah”

“Don’t thank me now. I didn’t get you a hat yet. Maybe you won’t need one for awhile. After you get discovered, we will see to that.”

“I...ah”

“Here, put it on. Bill has one, too. That new Singer sewing machine he bought me was a ‘flying today. You two will look as professional as you sound.”

Sweetie unbuttoned the white shirt and shoved it toward Betty. The girl dashed to the bathroom and put it on.
How did Miss Sweetie know how to make this fit so well?

Miss Sweetie was beside herself at first glance of Betty. “You look better than Loretta Lynn!”

“Thank you, Miss Sweetie. You are too good to me.”

She entered the cafe through the kitchen. Bill stood next to the swinging doors and took her hand. “Thank you so much, little girl. This is a big night for me. Well...us.”

“You are the one with the talent. I am happy to sing with you.”

Betty didn’t know where all the chairs came from. People sat at every available booth, table, and inch of floor. People stood at the door and looked in as Bill began to play his electric guitar.
The crowd quieted down as he began the first ballad. She breathed in and sang with all her might. It took all of her power to match his voice. They mesmerized the people with their perfect blend.

Someone stood and began dancing with his wife. Other couples followed suit. Betty wondered how they found a spot to even turn around. The last song was over and she joined the other waitresses in serving the customers. Many of them handed her a tip before she took their
order. “This is for your singin’, hun.”

They closed the place down at midnight. It was close to one a.m. before Miss Sweetie turned the key i
n the lock of the front door. “Bill, I would call that a success.”

Bill grinned as he handed her a card. “Guess what this is.”

“Tell me, Bill.”

“He is a scout for one of the record labels. He wants to meet with Betty and me.”

Sweetie hugged and kissed him passionately. “I knew it.”

Chapter 11

“I like what I heard at the cafe last week, Mr. ah..”

“Wall, the name is Bill Wall and this is Betty Barnes.”

Betty’s heart thumped loudly. The sound seemed to fill her ears and then the room. The scout sat behind a smallish desk in a plain room. She had always thought that recording studios were lavish. This one was far from it. She brought her thoughts under submission quickly because she was known to be someone who was easily read by others.
Goodness knows Mama knew what I was thinkin’ almost before I did.

“...are you agreeable with that, Miss Barnes?”

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

The man stood and edged to the front of the desk and sat on the corner of it. “The label I represent wants to hear a new song. A song that you and Mr. Wall have written together.”