In Your Honor (6 page)

“
Are you here to see her
play?” Kaylee giggled, and Lucy clenched her jaw. The last thing
she wanted was for Blake to see her on stage tonight.

“
You're still playing?”
Blake asked her, his tone hopeful. She couldn't keep all of her
thoughts straight when she was looking at his face. She broke eye
contact and looked over to Harrison, who had finished his pie
already.

“
You need more pie,
Harry?” she asked, avoiding Blake's question. Not that it mattered,
Kaylee wouldn't shut up.

“
She plays every weekend
at Red's, duh.” Like the whole room was supposed to know, but she
didn't stop there. “She's playing tonight at the—”

“
Festival,” Blake finished
for her. Lucy's head jerked up, he had looked down to his plate and
begun eating so she couldn't read his expression. Not that she ever
really could. He was always thinking one thing and doing
another.

“
Yeah!” Kaylee exclaimed.
“So you
are
here
to see her!” She leaned on the counter facing Harrison like she was
telling a secret. “She's playing for Taylor Stevens, he's very
cool.”

Harrison nodded along, ever the
gentleman, as he ate his second piece of pie. Lucy wanted very much
to break the coffee pot over Kaylee's head, but decided against
it.

“
Can I get a refill,
Lucky?” Blake asked from his end of the counter. Lucy's face went
hot as she blushed involuntarily.

“
Lucky?” Kaylee frowned,
spinning to look at Lucy as she poured the hot liquid into the
ceramic mug. She felt the heat increase and radiate out from her
ears as she considered sticking her head in the ice box.

That name coming from those lips
wasn't fair. It brought back too much. Made her feel things she had
long since buried.

Blake ignored Kaylee
again, focusing on Lucy alone. She wanted to hide in the back. She
wanted to get in her car and drive far, far away. She also wanted
to fling herself into his arms and never let go. What was he doing
to her? Why was he here? He did this every time. He'd show up, act
like everything was cool between them, and break her heart as he
drove out of town. The last time he had
promised
it wouldn't happen again.
He swore he was never coming back.
And
yet,
she thought as she blew a stray hair
out of her face.

She leaned back and crossed her arms
over her chest. She had to get him to stop whatever it was he
thought he was doing. She wouldn't let him have complete power over
her this time.

“
Have you been home yet?”
She raised her eyebrows at him. His jaw clenched noticeably and she
knew it wouldn't take much to set him off. If he could call her
Lucky like it wasn't a big deal, then she could tell him to go see
his mama.

“
I didn't want to bother
her.” Blake drained his coffee and she expected him to get up and
prepare to leave. But he remained seated.

“
You always have an
excuse.” Lucy saw the storm clouds roll into his eyes but kept
going. The only way to guarantee him not coming to see her play
tonight would be to piss him off now. Blake could hold a grudge,
and she needed him to. For her own sanity. “I'm gonna tell her you
were here.”

“
You always know how to
wreck a nice visit, you know that?” Blake growled, cooling the
atmosphere of the room. Just like a prairie thunderstorm. Hot one
minute, cold and dangerous the next. Kaylee fell silent and
Harrison hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Lucy didn't flinch, she'd survived
Blake's downdrafts before. “Take her some pie. I made extra.” She
met his gaze, waiting for the cursing to start. But it never
came.

He simply stood, lowered his aviators
and walked towards the exit. Harrison smiled apologetically at her
and hustled after him.

Blake turned at the door and lowered
his glasses a fraction so he could have eye contact with her. She
heard her heart, bags packed, telling her that it was leaving with
him again and she was going to have to deal with it. “I'll see you
tonight, Lucky.” His voice was dark and too damn playful. She
couldn't respond and he sauntered out into the sunshine.

Lucy watched him until he was no
longer in sight, her hands trembling and her eyes burning with the
angry tears that had pushed to the surface.

“
Whoa. There is some
history between you guys.” Kaylee's usually peppy voice was hushed.
But Lucy understood why. It was because Blake had sucked all the
air out of the room when he left.

She untied her apron and
threw it in the bin.

“
I'm leaving early. Mac
will be here in fifteen minutes anyway, you'll be fine.” She didn't
want to answer any of Kaylee's questions. She didn't want Blake to
come to the festival tonight. She didn't want to feel like her
insides had just been ripped out and smeared along the sidewalk.
Most of all, she did not want Blake Diedrich back in her
life.

***

“
I just want to say, for
the record, that I thought you handled that quite well,” Harrison
said encouragingly as they strode down the hot sidewalk. Blake
grunted in acknowledgment.

He didn't say any of the
things that he had wanted to say. He knew what she was doing and he
wasn't going to be manipulated like that. Especially not by her.
Why the hell was she even there in the first place? She was
supposed to be in Tulsa. He would have asked, too, if she hadn't
made it so obvious that she wanted him to leave. He wasn't going
far though, she was playing tonight, there was no frickin' way he
was going to miss that. He hated how his soul ached to be near her,
to hear her. Even if she
did
despise him.

It's why he avoided this entire damn
state. His body honed in on her like a frickin' beacon. He hadn't
planned on seeing her. When he saw her, he hadn't planned on
touching her. But then his arms automatically went where they fit.
Her sweet honeysuckle skin and the promise of everything they could
have been together was all he could see. She had to know how she
affected him. She had to know that when it came to her, he was a
wreck. Lost. And she was his North.

They got back to the buses and Blake
went to find Luke. He climbed the steps to his brand new, beautiful
white bus and banged his fist on the door. Luke opened it almost
immediately and frowned, looking back and forth from Blake to
Harrison, concern written on his brow.

“
What's going on?” he
asked, not bothering to hide his worry.

“
Who are you scouting
tonight?” Blake asked sternly.

“
What is this about,
Blake?” Luke stepped outside and came down the stairs as Blake
backed away from him.

“
Just tell me now, are you
scouting Lucy?” Blake was trying to control his anger, but he knew
his voice was louder than necessary. He saw crew heads turn his
direction but he didn't care. If Luke knew and he hadn't bothered
to tell him, Blake was going to seriously go off.

“
No.” Luke shook his head,
eyes wide and confused. “I wouldn't do that to you. I would
never
do that to you.
It's some kid named Taylor Stevens.”

Blake cursed and stomped a few paces
away, bringing both hands up to run through his hair. “She plays
for him, Luke!” His voice ricocheted off the buses and the brick
building they were parked beside.

“
What? She does? I had no
idea.” Luke was obviously just as shocked as Blake had been. He
rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “You want me to call the
whole thing off, man? I'll do it, just say the word.”

Blake took a deep breath and looked
across the parking lot, trying to find the right answer in the
mirages floating off the hot pavement. Luke really would do that
for him. But what if this was Taylor Stevens' best opportunity? He
didn't even know this guy, he could very well be discovered by
someone else later on down the road. They weren't obligated by any
means to change this guy's life.

But Blake remembered how hard it had
been for him to break out of this little town. He didn't want to be
the reason someone else's dream came crashing down.
Dammit!

And then there was Lucy... if she
really was playing again... this could be the best chance for her
to see how talented she really was. He had tried for years to
convince her that she was better than this little hick town. Maybe
this would break her out of here once and for all.

Blake didn't know if he could handle
it. He brought his hand up to touch the spot where he'd inked her
name along his side.

He'd let her down enough in this life,
he couldn't do it again. If they didn't make it as a band, it
wouldn't be his fault.

He faced Luke, his mind made up. “Give
them an honest shot. If they're what you're looking for, then...
I'll figure out how to be okay with it.”

“
Blake, seriously,” Luke
shook his head, “we don't have to do this.”

“
Yes, we do.” Blake was
resolved. “I'll be fine. I'll stay away from her... and all that.”
He ran a shaky hand through his hair again and trudged towards his
own bus, leaving Luke and Harrison behind him.

He wanted to get frickin' hammered but
he wasn't going to do that. He was going to be clearheaded tonight.
He hadn't heard her play since... well, it had been far too
long.

Sway was taking a nap on the couch in
the main lounge, but the brilliant sunlight that came in with Blake
woke him up.

“
Hey, where you been?”
Sway asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “And why do you look
so pissed?”

“
I went to the diner.”
Blake slumped into a chair. The heaviness he carried settled across
his shoulders.

“
What? I wanted to go with
you!” Sway looked hurt.

“
I took Harrison,” Blake
mumbled, then closed his eyes and sighed. “She was there,
Sway.”

“
Really?” He sat up
straighter, worry in his voice. “I thought...?” He didn't finish
the question. He didn't have to. Blake had thought the same
thing.

“
She wasn't wearing a
ring.” It was eating Blake inside to have that information without
knowing anything else. It was the second thing he had noticed when
he saw her standing in front of him, right after her gorgeous
face.

Sway was quiet for a few seconds.
“Maybe she killed him.”

Blake glared at him before he finally
let out a stubborn chuckle. “You never liked Lucy.”

“
It's not that I didn't
like her,” Sway explained carefully. “She scared the hell out of
me. There's a difference.”

“
Me too,” Blake muttered,
feeling that old familiar burn in his chest.

***

It wasn't the biggest crowd Luke had
ever seen, but it was fairly large for a local band. His eyes swept
over the buzzed audience and he smiled at the memories of playing
similar venues in his younger years. Large, open lawn, no chairs,
just people milling about and packed densely closer to the
stage.

He squeezed Lenny's hand as they made
their way through the crowd. He wanted to be far away to see the
entirety of the show. A friend had sent him a demo CD of Taylor
Stevens and it had piqued his interest. He knew what the guy
sounded like on a recording, now he wanted to see if he had enough
stage presence to be viable as an opener. He was still nervous
about Lucy being a part of the package, regardless of what Blake
said or what promises he had made. She was his
kryptonite.

He found a small patch of open lawn
and sat down, pulling Lenny with him. He draped his arm around her
back and pulled her to his side.

“
Where's Blake?” Lenny
asked, looking around at the people nearby.

“
He and Sway are down in
the pit.” Luke gestured to the throng of people at the front of the
stage. “They wanted a front row seat.” He had tried to talk them
out of it, and he thought Blake should skip the show altogether.
But Sway was certain that he'd take care of it if anything
happened. Luke still didn't know what that meant. Sway had been
right there when Blake had gotten the tattoo. Luke didn't agree
with his methods.

“
What about Mike and
Harry?” Lenny sat up straighter as the stage lights came on and the
crowd moved closer to the front.

“
Mike wanted to check out
their set-up, so they went backstage to meet the guys and stuff.”
Luke rolled his head back and forth, cracking his neck. His
movement drew Lenny's attention and she bumped him with her
shoulder.

“
Don't worry so much.” She
smiled crookedly at him. “I'm sure everything is going to be
fine.”

Luke smiled back, his worries easing
slightly. She was his center. His beautiful, perfect calm that he
could stand still in forever. He leaned towards her, brushing her
lower lip with his thumb, and then captured her in a deeper kiss
than he probably should have for the setting they were in. The
crowd began to gain volume, and he broke away from her reluctantly
to return to the task at hand.

Taylor Stevens crossed the stage
without any fanfare. His stride was even and purposeful, like any
man heading to do a day's work. The rest of the band filed out
behind him, taking up their posts. Luke recognized Lucy immediately
with her wild brown hair and easy stage presence. The bass player
wore a bowler hat and the drummer was already shirtless, waving at
the screaming ladies up front.