Authors: K.T. Hastings
Secondly, Brandee had already discovered that she would like to get to know Janelle a little more.
She thought,
I'll buy her a hamburger and then send her away after we talk. That way, it won't be awkward for me with Jake.
Brandee had discovered more than ever on this tour how much she fed off of the adulation of her fans. They were the Vitamin Awesome that she needed to get her fired up every night as if it were the first night. She figured that some time up close and personal with someone who was so obviously starstruck could only be added impetus as the show moved on to Jackpot the next day. Brandee didn't want to rest as much as she actually needed to rest after a good concert. She needed more and more of the same more and more! She was rapidly becoming an adrenaline fiend.
She asked Janelle if she would like to join the band for something to eat at The Ale House. She knew that The Ale House had live music and she was hoping that someone from the concert would recognize her and ask her to sing something on the stage at the restaurant. She would dedicate something fast and fun to her new friend Janelle and make this truly the best night of Janelle's young life.
Janelle's eyes grew enormous. The way this night was turning out, she felt like she should pinch herself until she drew blood. Less than an hour ago, a sweaty security guard was trying to put cuffs around her wrist. Now, she was having going to have “something to eat” with the most beautiful and amazing singer that she had ever heard.
“Hell yes!” she shouted, giving Brandee a surprise hug. “Thank you thank you! Thank you very much!”
Brandee laughed as she returned Janelle's hug. She figured that she should tell the rest of the group that Janelle was going to join them. She hoped they would be okay with it, but also knew it didn't really matter.
What are they going to do?
she thought,
Throw me out of the group that's named after me?
***
She found Suzi outside her dressing cubicle, putting the finishing touches on her hair. She was wearing a western cut shirt that she had picked up at Ford's Department Store in Salt Lake City on their day off. She turned this way and that, looking at herself in the full-length mirror.
“That looks cute on you, Suzi," Brandee said, smoothing the path toward what she wanted to tell the guitar player. “Hey, do you mind if we bring Janelle along to The Ale House?”
Suzi cocked her head and looked quizzically at Brandee. She had been thinking about how much better things would be if Brandee and Jake would make nice again. She didn't see how bringing someone new into the mix would help that happen. Then again, she should probably keep her mouth shut, no matter how hard that was for her. As Bruce so often reminded her, she couldn't be the fixer for the world.
“That's fine, Brandee," she said. “I'm almost ready to go.”
Brandee went in search of the other three. She found two of them together near the exit door of the dressing area. Bruce was freshly shaved, though it was hard to tell. Suzi sometimes called him “The Shadow” after his scruffy appearance. Brandee noticed the contrast between Bruce and Jake as they stood in the dressing room. Jake didn't even need to shave every day. Brandee was fine with that, though. She liked a smooth soft face next to hers.
Diane came out of her dressing area just then. She was fingering mousse into her short blonde hair. She smiled as she saw Jake and Brandee standing side by side. Maybe this was the thaw.
Brandee spoke up when Diane joined them. “I'm bringing Janelle to The Ale House with us," Brandee said, using the “assume close” that insurance agents and car salesmen used so effectively. She just assumed that they would agree and that only the particulars needed to be decided.
“I'll drive the Sprinter and Jake can tuck in with you guys. Does that work for you?”
Each of the other three had a different internal reaction to this. Bruce was the least fazed by the change in normal protocol. He was used to Brandee getting her own way and figured that her spat with Jake would be all over as soon as Jake came to grips with what he and Bruce had discussed that afternoon. Bruce grunted his assent.
Diane was saddened. She thought that Brandee was doing this as a way to show everyone that she was still mad at Jake. She thought to herself that this was no way to act around someone who treated you as well as Jake treated his wife. Diane hoped that this wouldn't widen the rift between the Evanses.
“We can find a place for Jake," she said. “Bruce and Suzi will just have to snuggle.”
Jake nodded quickly and said, “That's fine. I'll ride with them.”
He turned away quickly so that Brandee wouldn't see the hurt in his eyes. They hadn't been separated from a vehicular standpoint since the tour had begun. Now, Brandee was blowing him off. He knew that he was being silly about the whole thing, though.
What is it, 6 miles?
he thought.
I told Brandee that she should grow up last night. Maybe I should do some of that myself.
Brandee went back into her own dressing area to collect Janelle. By this time, Suzi had joined the others and they had headed for the main exit together.
***
The Ale House wasn't like the usual post-performance places that the group usually frequented. It was a high-energy establishment that, this time of night anyway, catered to the bar crowd. Normally, the members of
Brandee
chose someplace a little more laid back where they could unwind after a show, but the noise and chaos of The Ale House suited Brandee Evans' mood tonight. She wanted to kick up her heels a little and not have to think about her conflict with Jake.
The group plus one sat at a round table in the middle of the restaurant, about 20 feet from the dance floor. Brandee seated Janelle to her right and Jake to her left. The others dispersed themselves around the table in their usual fashion. Bruce was flanked by Suzi and Diane, with Suzi on his right. Suzi was the only left-handed one of the group, a subject that Bruce loved to tease her about, calling her “wrong-handed”, and “handicapped”. For her part, Suzi would occasionally let her elbow fly when they ate side by side. Only after poking Bruce did she apologize in an exaggerated way for her awkward eating style. The couple never tired of this game.
Brandee and Janelle had left for the ladies' room almost as soon as they had arrived at The Ale House. Brandee was brushing out her hair before re-entering the main part of the restaurant. Janelle was watching.
“You have the prettiest hair ever," she said. “When I hugged you back at the place, I noticed how soft it is. Even in crappy bathroom light it's so shiny.”
Brandee nodded. “It is crappy light, isn't it?”
Janelle took a mental deep breath and shot for another addition to her diary of this incredible night.
“Could I brush your hair?” she asked. “Just a little?”
Brandee's hair was her pride and joy. It was so thick that one of her beauty secrets was to use Mane and Tail hair products. Jake had brushed it a time or two, but just for a minute. Only she knew just how much pressure to put on it so that it would brush smoothly and not catch painfully in the brush. She was going to draw the line on Janelle with this request.
“Sorry, sweetie," she said. “I have to do it myself. It's too unmanageable and I can't afford to be on stage with broken hair. I know you understand.”
Janelle had never been in a more agreeable mood. Her parents wouldn't have recognized their child in the docile young adult that was looking at Brandee in the mirror.
“It's okay,” she smiled at Brandee. “I'm fine just looking at it.
“Here, would you like this?” Brandee asked, reaching into her purse and producing a silver hair clip. She didn't remember where she had gotten it and it was a little too small and flimsy for what she needed anyway. She held it out to Janelle, who couldn't take it out of her hands fast enough.
“Oh thank you, Brandee," she said, before realizing something that she should have covered.
“Should I call you Ms. Evans?” she asked. “I mean the group is Brandee and all...” Her voice trailed off.
Brandee threw her head back and laughed. Janelle seemed so incredibly young. Brandee figured her for 3 or 4 years younger than herself at the most but she presented as someone who was about 15 years old. Brandee wondered if she had ever been that young. She had felt old since she was young.
“You can call me Brandee, Janelle. When I hear 'Ms. Evans', I think somebody is looking for Jake's mother. I'm not even old enough to be your aunt.”
“More of an older sister," Janelle said.
“That's right. Let's go get something to eat, sis," Brandee said.
With that, the two young ladies, one striding confidently, the other still in a near-trance, left the restroom and went through the two sets of doors that would take them back to the others.
***
Meanwhile, the members of the group had discovered that it was difficult to carry on a conversation at The Ale House. Mostly, they watched the singer that was just finishing his set on the stage. Janelle, for her part, couldn't have cared if Charlie Daniels and Jesus Christ himself were doing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” on that stage. She had eyes only for Brandee and ears only for what she might pick up about Brandee from snippets of conversation she might overhear.
Jake realized that The Ale House might have been a good choice tonight. It was hard to have an awkward silence in the din that was coming from the place. It was awfully hot in there though. He looked around to see if he could spot a server.
A tall brunette server saw Jake's look and came over to take drink orders for the group. Suzi had a Diet Coke as did Diane, whose blood sugar had been running a little high in the last few days. She knew that she needed to be careful. Jake ordered an iced tea for himself and a Dr. Pepper for Brandee. He didn't know what Janelle would be having. When the server finished taking the drink order, she smiled at Jake and brushed his shoulder with her hand as she walked away. It was the kind of brush that could have easily been an accident or purposeful. Jake only noticed it insofar as to wonder whether Brandee was paying attention.
Jake looked beyond Brandee at Janelle.
“I didn't know what to order you to drink, Janelle," he said.
“I'll have a Dr. P when the waitress comes back," Janelle said.
Drinks were sampled and food ordered all amidst the din of The Ale House. The singer finished his set on stage and the lights came down while the establishment's sound system provided the music. The members of
Brandee
were undisturbed by others in the restaurant as the group relaxed after their night's work.
Brandee Evans was usually in a mellow mood after a show. Most often, she sipped a few Dr. Peppers to cool her throat and blended in with the conversational arc of the group. Tonight, she found herself wired. She went through a couple of soft drinks and ordered some chicken strips, all the while tapping her foot impatiently. Suddenly, she grabbed Jake by the arm and said, without preamble, “Let's dance.”
Jake was startled, to say the least. He and Brandee had gone out dancing several times before they left on this tour but never once had he even considered it since they left Fortuna. The days were full of busy. Driving to the venues, setting up, listening to the performance, and breaking down the venue all to do it again the next day was starting to wear him out. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to be one of the performers. They had to be exhausted. He looked around at the other members of the group. They all looked as surprised as he felt by this abrupt request from their vocalist.
“You're kidding, right?” Jake asked his wife. On the one hand, it was the first friendly thing she had said to him since their dust-up in Laramie. He didn't want to stumble if this was her tenuous effort toward reconciliation. He wouldn't have expected her olive branch, if that's what it was, to come in the form of an invitation to dance. On the other hand, Brandee was known to be mercurial at times. Lots of times lately, in fact.
“I'm not kidding, you old fogey. I want to dance,” she said pulling on his arm.
Maybe
, he thought,
I'm over-analyzing the whole thing. Maybe she just wants to dance with her husband.
“Sure,” he said, standing up and taking her hand. “Let's dance.”