Authors: Amy Ruttan
And it was then that he saw her. Their gazes locked across the bistro and she couldn’t tell whether he was happy to see her or not, but he didn’t take his eyes off her...
“Now that you’ve taught me to two-step, what’re you going to teach me next?” she had teased as she’d run her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I thought I would sing for you.”
“Sing now?”
“Yep.”
And then he’d begun to sing in her ear. A sultry song she hadn’t recognized, but she hadn’t cared because it had been the man singing it to her, holding her close on that snow-covered street in the middle of the night that had mattered...
The song ended and there was applause. She was breathless, her heart fluttering at the memory. She’d been so in love with Reece it was overwhelming, all the memories coming back to her.
I should leave.
“Thank you, everyone. Have a good night,” Reece quickly said before disappearing off the stage.
Vivian sat back, suddenly nervous, and she didn’t know why.
It wasn’t long before Reece made his way through the crowd, but he was no longer the country singer. He was the man she was familiar with. He slid into the booth, his back to the stage.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said.
“I could say the same of you.”
He nodded. “Well, it’s a side of me that...I can’t even finish that sentence.”
“Why?”
“Singing in public is hard for me. It brings back too many painful memories.”
At least that explained his behavior at the Opry.
“I didn’t know you performed like this.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re amazing. In fact you sound exactly like Ray Castille. I’ve never noticed it before. It’s eerie.”
His look was thunderous; even in the shadows she could see the change. “How do you know Ray Castille’s music? I thought you hated country music.”
“I grew up listening to it. He was my father’s favorite. He wanted to be like him.”
Reece nodded slowly. “I don’t sound like Ray Castille.”
“You do. It’s uncanny and I’m not the only one who thinks that way. You should’ve seen the audience, their faces when you began to sing. It was...I can’t describe it.”
Reece shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not.” Then she reached out and touched his hand. “Why does it bother you so much? You have a talent.”
He stiffened. “My talent is surgery.”
“Yes, that too, but singing... It was beautiful. It was better than Ray Castille as far as I’m concerned.”
“No, Dad was the far superior singer.”
* * *
Reece watched her closely. It didn’t take her long to process what he’d said. It was a shock to him that he was actually admitting it. That he was telling someone that his father was Ray Castille. That he was finally telling Vivian his darkest secret.
That he was the son of a late country music legend.
A son who’d done nothing but disappoint his father by walking away from the gift of music to pursue the gift of healing instead.
“You can heal souls with music, Reece. You can’t with medicine.”
Telling her, though, felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He’d been hiding this from her for so long. It felt good, but also made him nervous. Why was he letting her in like this?
And for a moment he regretted his decision.
“Your father?” Vivian stammered. “But your name...”
“I changed it.”
She blushed. “You have me there. Why did you change your name, though? You’re country music royalty.”
“No,” Reece snapped. “I’m not. I’m a surgeon. I love music, but it’s not my passion. Medicine is.”
She nodded. “I get that. Does Gary know who your father is? Is that why he asked you?”
“No. He doesn’t know. He knows I sing. He’s caught me at some smaller venues and he’s been asking me to come here and perform for a long time, but my schedule doesn’t let me.”
“For someone who is vehemently against connections to one of the greats, it’s so odd that you come out here and sing.”
“I’m not vehemently against it. Music relaxes me, but I’m careful about it. I don’t perform often and I avoid the places where people might recognize me. As you said, my father was a country music star and there were a lot of parties. It’s why I changed my name. I just want to keep my anonymity.”
“Fair enough. Though singing your dad’s stuff and sounding like him, it will be hard to keep that secret.”
“I have been able to keep it secret for most of my life.”
“You got me there.” She smiled at him and it made his heart skip a beat. He liked seeing her like this, relaxed and talking with him as if no time had passed. “I never noticed it before. I can’t believe I haven’t.”
“It only seems to come out when I sing his stuff. I never sang his songs to you before.”
She smiled. “True.”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Gary about this, though,” Reece said. “Or he’ll bug me to perform again.”
“I won’t tell him, but you know word is going to get out. You’re skating on thin ice, my friend.”
“What will they hear? That there’s a guy who can sing like Ray Castille? As long as they don’t know the real truth it doesn’t matter.”
“And you don’t think Gary is going to ask you to sing with him at the Opry, especially if you sound like your dad, which you do?”
“Well, my schedule just became impossible. He’ll forget about it the longer I put him off. Like most music stars I’ve had the acquaintance of, he’ll move on to something new and shiny in no time.”
“How is your trial coming?” Vivian asked. “I know you don’t like me asking about it, but I’m curious.”
“It’s coming along well. The medicine is being well received.” And it was. All his patients were doing well and Sandra was recovering nicely, with only a few minor side effects.
“Have you been to see your mother since she came out of sedation?”
“I have and she hasn’t had too many blips. When will you release her?”
“By the end of the week. I have a few more memory tests to run on her.” The waitress set down a cup of coffee in front of Reece.
“Can I have a coffee, maybe with a shot of espresso?” Vivian asked.
“Sure,” the waitress said, taking away the empty glass that had been sitting in front of her.
“Are you planning on burning the midnight oil?” Reece asked.
“Yes. Until I find out what’s causing Gary’s illness.”
“You’ll find it.”
“Why do you have so much faith in me? I mean, it’s clear the rest of the hospital is questioning my abilities, but you have faith in me. Why?”
Because I’ve never lost faith in you, even after you destroyed me.
“You’re a good surgeon.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Castille.”
The voice addressing him by his family name sent a shiver down Reece’s spine. He turned and saw an older man in a bolo tie and suede jacket standing beside the booth—the one who had approached him at the Opry.
He’d recognized the man too, but couldn’t place him then. Now he could. Andrew Sampson. His father’s producer and the man who’d written several of his father’s platinum hits, including the one he’d sung tonight.
“I’m Dr. Castle. Not Mr. Castille.” Reece didn’t like lying, but telling Vivian was one thing, letting the whole world know was another.
The man smiled indulgently. “If you say so. But you can’t deny how much you sound like Ray.”
“Thank you,” Reece said quickly. “This is Dr. Vivian Maguire. She’s working with me. We’re both treating Gary Trainer at Cumberland Mills.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Dr. Maguire.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sampson.” Vivian then slid out of the booth. “I really have to head back to the hospital. I’ll let you two gentlemen chat.”
Reece got up and touched her elbow. “You don’t have to leave.”
I want you to stay. Don’t leave me here.
He needed her, but he couldn’t vocalize those words. He couldn’t ask her for that.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll get my coffee to go and head back to the hospital. I won’t feel good until I figure out what’s wrong with Gary. I’ll see you later at the hospital?”
Reece nodded. “Yeah.”
He watched her leave and his heart sank in disappointment. He was trapped and now he really regretted coming up here and singing his father’s songs, but tonight he’d been feeling maudlin. Watching Vivian with her mother made him yearn for something he’d never had with his parents. Tonight he’d been regretting not seeing his father more often, for not working out his issues with him.
So he’d broken with tradition and sang his father’s songs.
He shouldn’t have done it.
“You’re a doctor now?” Andrew asked as Reece returned to the booth.
Reece nodded. “I am. I’m a neurosurgeon.”
Andrew’s eyebrows raised. “I’m impressed. I always knew you were bright.”
Reece cocked his head to one side, giving up on trying to pretend he wasn’t Ray Castille’s son now that the two men were alone. He snorted. “Did you?”
“Of course.” Andrew cleared his throat. “So you and that pretty doctor are treating Gary Trainer?”
“Yes.”
“I hope Gary recovers soon. What’s wrong with him? There’s a lot of talk.”
“I’m not at liberty to say. I can say the talk is wrong.”
Andrew smiled. “Well, it’s great to hear that the gossip is just that. It’s always so disappointing when talented musicians fall prey to the drink and drugs.”
A knot twisted in Reece’s stomach.
“How can I help you, Mr. Sampson?” Reece asked, shutting those memories of his parents’ past from his head.
“The thirtieth anniversary of your father’s first single going platinum is coming up. It’s sad he’s not here to celebrate it with us at the Opry, but you have his gift, son. Come sing at the Opry. Come sing for your father.”
Sing for your father.
Only he couldn’t.
Singing at these small venues was one thing, but getting up there on the stage and singing for all those people... He couldn’t do that.
He was a nothing.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Sampson, but I’m going to have to decline. My work just won’t allow me to do it. I’m sorry, but I have to get back to the hospital.”
He didn’t stick around to listen to all the reasons he should sing for his father’s big anniversary. He wasn’t sure if he could do his father justice anyway. It made him angry at himself, at his father. This situation was the exact reason why he didn’t want people to know who he was.
What he’d done was foolish.
Just one night and he was standing in his father’s shadow. He was no longer Dr. Reece Castle. He was Reece Castille, son of Ray Castille, and he would never measure up to his father’s greatness.
He collected his guitar and went out the back of the bistro into the alley, keeping his hat low so that no one would notice him.
“Where you headed, cowboy?”
Reece was startled to see Vivian standing in the shadows. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were going back to the hospital.”
“I was, but then when I got halfway there I remembered the way your face looked and thought I should return. You okay?”
I’m fine.
“I wanted you to stay.”
“And now?” she asked.
Leave.
He should tell her to go home. He should go home.
“I want you to stay.”
A blush crept up her cheeks. “Good.”
“Want to get out of here?” he asked.
“More than anything.”
He took her hand. “Let’s go.”
And he knew the moment he took her hand in his all bets were off and all those walls he’d built up to protect himself from her were threatening to come down and he didn’t care.
Not one bit.
CHAPTER TEN
V
IVIAN
HAD
NO
idea where he was taking her, but they were leaving Nashville behind them and she suddenly realized that they were heading out of town toward the woods northeast of the city.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked. “You’re not taking me back to Kentucky, are you?”
“Kentucky?” he asked, confused.
“Don’t you remember that cabin in the woods?” And the night they’d spent wrapped in each other’s arms.
“Oh.” His expression changed and he cleared his throat. “No, we’re not going up to the Smoky Mountains.”
“Are you taking me out to the woods to murder me now that I know your secret?” she joked, trying to ease the tension.
“No.” He looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one being mysterious.”
“You want to know where we’re going?”
“Yes.”
“My cabin up in Hendersonville.”
“Your cabin?”
“Yeah, I bought it five years ago and restored some of it myself. It borders Johnny Cash’s land—well, not his land anymore.”
Vivian cocked an eyebrow. “You have hidden depths.”
“Cash is my favorite singer.”
“Not your father?” she asked.
“No,” Reece said quickly. “If you don’t mind, I don’t want to talk about him. I’ve had enough of talking about him tonight.”
“Sure thing.” She understood that. She didn’t like talking about her father either. It made sense why she and Reece had connected right from the get-go. She’d never known why, but hadn’t questioned it.
They’d had so many good times together and worked well together. Reece had been her closest and best friend, but it was apparent she’d never really known him. Not at all. Just like he hadn’t really known her.
No one really did and it was better that way because she didn’t deserve to have anything more than what she had right now and she wasn’t sure she could trust anyone with her heart. Not after watching her mother’s heart break over and over again through the years.
He turned down a wooded path that was switchbacks through the woods until they came to a small clearing, where a cabin was lit up. As if expecting someone to come. She realized it was more than just a cabin he visited occasionally. This was his home.
“You live here?”
“I do.”
“I thought you’d live in the city. Maybe in your family home.”
Reece snorted. “It’s a shrine to my father now. Sorry, a
museum
. I prefer this. My grandfather had a place like this. I spent many a happy summer here, until he passed from Alzheimer’s.”