The Plan (20 page)

Claire undid the chain lock and opened the door.

“Hey, Claire. I'm Alison. I hope you don't mind me stopping by like this. Frank told me you'd arrived earlier today.”

“Oh, yes. I mean, no.” Claire blushed and wondered why she sounded so nervous. “I mean, no, I don't mind, and yes, I arrived earlier today. Frank and I had a good rehearsal right after I got here.” She stepped aside to invite Alison into her room. The young woman entered, wearing an adorable sundress and what Claire thought must be at least four-inch heels. Her height, which was already much taller than Claire's, was dizzying.

“That's what Frank said. Anyway, I thought I'd come by before dinner. I figured we could talk a bit and then walk over to the restaurant together, if that's okay. It's two doors down from the hotel.”

“Sure. That'd be great. Have a seat while I finish getting ready. I'll only be a minute.”

“Oh, no hurry. Most of the group is usually late anyway. We aren't exactly punctual people. Well, Frank is, but not the rest of us.”

“Oh, yeah?” Claire called out from the bathroom where she was digging in her toiletry bag for her favorite pair of earrings. She was sure she'd thrown them in here. “How does he handle all of you being late?”

“He's usually had two martinis by the time we get to him. If he was annoyed before, he isn't by the time we show up.”

Claire laughed. “Good to know. Frank. Martinis. I'll remember that tip.” She walked out of the bedroom, fastening the earrings she'd finally located. Alison was seated in the chair next to the window. “Anything else I need to know? Why don't you give me the lowdown on everyone?”

“Girl talk! Perfect. Music to my ears. Ever since Terri left, I've been thirsting for another woman! Mitch is wonderful and all, but…”

“Okay, so is Mitch your boyfriend?”

Alison nodded. “Did Frank tell you that?”

“Not exactly, though maybe he alluded to it. I saw the two of you close together on the first night, the one where I auditioned for Frank. You weren't holding hands, but you looked like you wanted to,” Claire teased.

“You're very astute.”

Claire smiled. “How long have the two of you been dating?”

“About a year now. We kept it a secret for a while. The team works so well together, we didn't want to make anything awkward amongst any of us. We were also worried about what would happen if we broke up. We didn't want others to worry about that, too.”

“Now you're not so worried?” Claire said with a smile.

Alison smiled along with Claire. “Nope. Life is short. We don't know what the future holds, but for now, Mitch and I are happy together.”

“Well then, I'm happy for you.” Claire went to the closet and bent
down, digging through the duffle bag on the bottom, in search of her black, strappy sandals.

“What about you?” Alison asked.

“What about me?”

“Any man at home? A boyfriend?”

Claire paused, thankful her face was hidden by the door of the closet. She took a deep breath before replying. “Nope. There's no one.”

She'd wondered if Frank would tell them. She knew he was aware of her situation. He hadn't said much to her about it, but had indicated in conversation he'd researched her and learned about the accident. He'd left the conversation open so Claire could have continued on with the topic and, when she didn't, he didn't pursue it, much to Claire's relief.

She was grateful, too, when she'd realized he hadn't said anything about her past to the others. In the short amount of time she'd spent with Frank, he'd come across as an ethical, no-nonsense type of man, so his discretion didn't surprise her. She didn't plan to keep her story a secret forever. Eventually, she imagined, the others would all need to know. She'd want them to know. They just didn't need to know right away. She didn't want the first thought on their minds, when she walked into the room, to be of tragedy and loss.

Poor Claire. There's that woman who lost her whole family. How does she get up each morning?

No. Claire wanted to walk into the room tonight and have them merely think, “Oh, there's Claire, the new member of the team.”

Thanks to Frank, it looked like she'd be able to do just that.

“That's probably good,” Alison said. For a moment, Claire couldn't remember what Alison was referring to. “It's difficult to have a long- distance relationship with a job like we have. I know. Before Mitch, I was dating a guy from my hometown.”

“You didn't get to see him much, huh?”

“Barely at all. Callum is in high demand. We travel around forty weeks a year.”

“So, I should plan to live in a perpetual state of exhaustion?”

“That would be a good idea. You'll be more tired than you ever thought possible. You'll sleep in places that, before joining us, you'd never, in your worst nightmare, have even thought you'd lay down a pencil.”

“Gee. This is sounding better and better by the moment.”

Alison laughed. “I know. I'm awful. Mitch and Callum would kill me if they heard the pep talk I'm giving you. They're both so excited you're here, especially Callum. He'd be furious with me if he thought there was any risk of me scaring you off.”

“Callum's excited I'm here?” Claire asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Very. He'd been getting fed up with Frank.”

“Oh?” Claire asked. “Why?”

“Frank had known we'd need a new vocalist for months, at least since Terri was about five months along, when we were all pretty sure she wasn't going to lose this baby.” Alison's voice softened. “She'd lost three in the past.”

“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah. It was rough on her and Seth. He worked with the team, too, helping Wyatt.”

“Has someone been found to fill his job?”

“No. Callum and Wyatt think we can get by, at least for now, without bringing someone else on.”

“But Terri needed to be replaced?”

“Oh, definitely. For one thing, music is vital to what we do.”

“How so?”

“Music is a universal language. A lot of people Callum speaks in front of don't speak English, and so he has to have a translator. He
doesn't love it. It would be so much better if he spoke their language or if they spoke ours, but…well, that's not realistic. However, when it comes to music, no matter what the language, it seems it can touch everyone's soul. It speaks deeper than words.” She shrugged her shoulders. “At least, that's what Frank says.”

“I think he's right.”

“Callum thinks so, too. That's why he was so anxious to find another singer—that and the fact that we needed another woman to join the team.”

“You didn't like being the only one?” Claire sat down on the bed.

“Not really. All the guys are extremely nice and I have Mitch. But it's always more fun to have another woman around.”

Claire nodded in understanding. Alison was a pretty girl. It was easy to see why Mitch was attracted to her. Even at her young age, which Claire took to be late twenties, Alison had an air of sophistication about her. It was in the way she sat and held herself, the way she crossed her legs and the way she tilted her head. She was bubbly. Claire could already see Alison was going to be fun to hang around with, but she was no dumb blonde. It was clear Alison was a smart cookie, smart enough to hold her own around four men in places all over the globe.

“Plus,” Alison continued. “We go to a lot of countries that are…well, kind of backwards. They aren't big fans of women and one woman traveling with four men, especially when she's not married to any of them, that's a big no-no. I need another female to travel with and room with in those countries.”

“I see,” Claire said. She hadn't traveled extensively during the course of her life, but she was an avid reader and always prided herself on keeping up with world news. She knew the issues that existed in many countries around the globe. “So, tell me what your job is. I'm not really clear on that.”

“Okay, let me explain it this way. Callum speaks. Wyatt carries stuff. Frank plays the piano. Mitch helps Callum.”

“And you?”

“I do everything else.” A wicked little smile rose from Alison's mouth to her eyes and Claire couldn't help but completely love the girl.

“A woman after my own heart!” Claire knew all about the concept of “doing everything else.” After all, wasn't that the role of a mom? Nurse, cook, chauffeur, tutor, maid. Maintaining the lives of her family members had been like running a small company.

She could envision Alison's job being very similar with nothing but four men around.

“I am the organizer. The booking assistant. The accountant. The donation consultant. The funds' raiser. The travel agent. The thank-you-note writer.”

“I'm beginning to be very thankful all I have to do is sing a few songs.”

Alison sighed. “I wouldn't have minded if Callum had said he was also going to hire someone to take on part of my job, but alas, that has not yet been the case.”

“You sound overwhelmed.”

“Oh, I am. Completely. But I also love my job. I mean, love, love,
love
it, so I can't complain too much. Though I sure do moan about it often enough, as you'll see.” She glanced over at the nightstand next to the bed. “Dang it! We need to go!” She hopped off the chair.

“Frank will be on his second martini by now?”

“At least!”

The woman could move quickly when she wanted to. Claire was impressed with the speed she gathered in those heels. Claire took three steps for each of Alison's one.

They made it to the restaurant in record time. The hostess took them to a small room in the back, which held just one long table and
at a quick glance, Claire could see she and Alison were the last ones to arrive.

“Claire, I saved a seat for you,” Frank called out and indicated the chair next to him. Alison slid into a seat next to Mitch. Claire gave Mitch the once-over as she took her own place at the table. He was the quintessential All-American male, with his fraternity-boy smile, square jawbone and dirty-blond hair that spiked a bit, no doubt with the help of some gel. Claire remembered how she used to style Luke's hair that way and her heart dropped, but momentarily. She still loved her babies, fiercely, but she was beginning a new life. She couldn't let memories of her old life ruin it. So much had already been ruined.

Claire looked across the table and directly into the piercing blue eyes of Callum. It was clear he'd been staring at her and Claire had to wonder for how long. If he was embarrassed she'd caught him in the act, he showed no signs of it.

Frank stood and clinked his glass with his spoon to get everyone's attention, though it wasn't really necessary. There were only six of them. Claire got the feeling Frank was a showman, even when not on stage.

“Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Savannah. I hope you all had a wonderful two weeks with your families and got a lot of sleep! We won't be getting very much of that for a while, unless we can manage to stay in one time zone for more than two days.”

Everyone around Claire chuckled. She did, too, though she wasn't sure it sounded all that funny. It sounded extremely tiring. But also exhilarating. Claire was in need of an adventure and this was going to be one heck of one.

“I'd also like to introduce the new addition to our team. Claire, would you mind standing?”

She looked up at Frank like he must be kidding. There were only a half-dozen of them here. Was it really necessary to be so formal? He was acting like they were in front of a hundred people.

“Nothing like making her feel uncomfortable,” Alison piped up.

“Don't feel bad, Claire,” Wyatt said. “Frank here could spook a stick horse.”

Claire stood hesitantly. “I'm not sure I know what that means,” she said to Wyatt.

“Don't worry,” Mitch said. “None of us do, either.”

Frank continued as if the others had been carrying on a dialogue that didn't concern him. “Claire is going to be our new vocalist. If you haven't heard her practice, you're missing out.”

Claire couldn't help but blush. She wasn't that good. If he talked her up too much, she was worried she'd end up disappointing.

“Claire,” Frank turned to her. “Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?”

He gave her a warm smile. She knew he didn't mean for her to tell them about the most significant part of her life. Even in the short amount of time she'd spent with him, she knew he wasn't that type of person. But, she would've appreciated a warning he was going to put her on the spot tonight so she could have come up with something witty and entertaining to say.

“Um…”

“Come on, Claire,” Mitch said. “What should we know about you?”

“Well, I live in Florida, or at least, I did until two days ago when I packed up and came here. I have a degree in Vocal Music, but haven't done much singing lately.”

“You'd never know it,” Wyatt said.

“Thank you,” Claire said, smiling timidly. “I've actually been working as a writer for the past ten years.”

“What kind of writing?” Alison asked.

“Mostly magazine articles. A few online things.”

“Do you have family?” Mitch asked, casually wrapping his arm around Alison with an ease that reminded Claire of how Jack used to pull her close.

She paused and could sense the silence becoming awkward. How was she supposed to answer that?

“Doesn't everyone have a family?” she finally asked.

She looked across the table. Callum was still staring intently at her. That shouldn't have come as a surprise. She was, after all standing up in front of them. But there was something about the way he was looking at her that made her believe he'd be staring at her even if she was one of a thousand people standing.