Love Songs (12 page)

Warner reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’ve had too many people tell me I wouldn’t sell.”

“I don’t think they’re right.”

“I seem to have you hypnotized.”

Clara leaned down and kissed him softly. “I think I have my wits about me and I’m free all next week.”

“Oh, yeah.” He laughed. “I am too. The joys of unemployment.”

“From Monday morning until Friday night we are going to record and write.”

Warner pushed his head further into the pillow to look up at her. “Clara, I can’t take you away from what you’re already doing so that I can chase some silly dream.”

“If I thought it was silly I would have told you so. But something tells me there will be a day when the tour bus belongs to you and Patricia Little is serving me my Starbucks.”

Warner pulled her to him and rolled her until she was on her back and he was pressed against her.

“I’ve never said this to another person in my life,” he sucked in a breath. “I love you.”

Her eyes misted as she looked up at him. “You do?”

He nodded. “I’ve never felt like this before in my life. This is crazy, right?”

Clara wrapped her arms around his neck. “Not in my world.”

“I’m glad I happened into your world.”

“So am I,” she said as she pulled him closer and kissed him again.

He was never going to sleep anywhere else again. She was keeping Warner Wright for the rest of her life.

***

Warner had been right. The next morning there was a horrid review in the paper about Clara’s performance. She had read it no less than a dozen times before Darcy snatched the paper out of her hands.

Darcy sat down at the table in Arianna’s office and looked at her. “You’re not going down with this.”

“I know. It still stings.”

“It’s made up.”

Clara nodded. “I don’t understand hurting someone just for publicity. Warner has never done anything to that woman.”

“Sure he has. He’s made her very famous.”

Clara snorted a laugh. “How has he done that?”

Darcy threw the paper toward her. “By failing miserably.”

That stung as bad as the review. “He’s not a failure.”

“He is when she keeps setting him up to do so.” Darcy leaned in on her arms. “Look, she’s not famous because she’s nice. She’s riding this fame and fortune all the way on being nasty. People eat that up.” She sat back in her chair. “Admit it. She was why you watched that stupid show. You wanted to see a cat fight.”

Clara had to smile at that. She was right. She’d watched it faithfully just to see who got in the woman’s way. She just never would have guessed that she’d fall in love with the stepson Patricia Little detested or that she’d be one of those people that Patricia stepped on.

Darcy pulled her phone out of her purse and began to scroll through items on the screen. “So, I have six reviewers coming from different papers. I have two news stations coming to do a piece on the theater and you. One at the matinee and one at the evening’s performance.”

“You did that?”

“You betcha, sister.” She scrolled through a few more items. “And Summer should be here in an hour to go through a quick run through with Duke for Sunday’s final performance.”

Clara felt her mouth fall open. “Excuse me? The paper says I was that bad, but I wasn’t.”

Darcy grinned as she slid her phone back into her purse. “You have a performance that night with your lover man.”

“I told him I couldn’t do it. Randy was going to back him up.”

“Yeah, well Randy knows who is coming to listen to you two perform. You’d better find a few minutes between playing Maria and lying in bed to practice.”

“Darcy!”

Her almost-sister-in-law cackled a laugh. “Prove that Little woman wrong. Make the world hear Warner Wright. Together you can do this.”

“You really think so?”

“You love him don’t you?”

Clara’s shoulders dropped. “I do. I really do.”

“Then it’ll all work out.” She reached her hand across the table and covered Clara’s. “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”

Darcy did know what she was talking about. Love could win out over everything if they just worked as a team.

A warmth moved through her. She would get to be there when Warner performed. She thought he should perform his new song, the one he wrote on the back of his eviction notice. The thought made her laugh. He was such a musician. They often got so into what they were doing they never noticed the obvious—such as the notice.

Well, whatever Patricia Little’s purpose was in kicking him out of his home it had worked in Clara’s favor. Warner was more of a Keller than he knew. He belonged with them.

She looked down at her wrist at the infinity tattoo and the word family which was written into the design. Darcy had a matching one as well. The thought made her smile, maybe Warner needed some ink.

Just as the curtain rose on the first act of the musical, Carrie, the ticket counter girl, tapped Clara on the shoulder.

“He’s here. He even bought a ticket and one for tonight.”

Clara turned to her. “You let him buy tickets?”

Carrie smiled. “He was very final about it.”

Clara smiled and gave Carrie a nod. She had told her to watch for him, though she hadn’t expected him to come. Warner should have been writing songs and practicing, but he had even bought a ticket to see her perform.

Suddenly she was more nervous that she’d ever remembered being. At least at last night’s show she knew where he would be. She knew where to look and where not to look. Tonight he hid, among the many reviewers, in the seats of the small but crowded theater.

It shouldn’t be like any other night, so she wasn’t going to let it be.

Soon it was time for her to make her way into Tony’s life and forget about Warner. But in a mere few hours it looked as though she’d be changing careers. She was about to be performer of a whole new kind. She was the voice to Warner’s songs, unless she could convince him that he should be, then she’d be along for the amazing ride.

Warner was possibly in the furthest seat from the stage, but he liked it. This way he could really focus on her and the crowd.

It was hard to focus at all; he had to admit to himself. He had a song running though his head and he needed to get it on paper.

He could have stayed home and worked all day. She hadn’t asked him to come see her, but he’d wanted to. He’d found the review from the man he’d confronted the night before. It was nasty, just as Patricia had promised it would be. But when Clara hit the stage anyone in that audience who had seen the review knew it was all lies.

She was remarkable—though he knew she would be. And next week she’d promised they’d record all week. By the end of the week he’d have his demos. But even that thought wasn’t right anymore. He wanted more.

Oh, having a woman love him and believe in him gave him a whole new lease on life. No longer did he want anyone else to sing his songs. He wanted to sing them. And why not? He was the one who felt them. It would be nice if she’d sing them with him.

After hearing what she and Randy had done to
Love Song
he simply couldn’t imagine anyone else recording it.

Then he thought about Jordan Farr sitting on Patricia’s couch. He’d thought perhaps the man would have given him a chance. He’d been the only one not to shut the door in Warner’s face. It was no use. He was just going to have to battle Patricia till the bitter end. Only now he wanted to. He had a secret weapon and her name was Clara Keller.

At intermission the lights came up and Warner stood to stretch his legs. The man next to him turned toward him. “Are you Warner Wright?”

His chest tightened and he felt as though he’d been socked in the stomach. “Yes.”

“I thought so.” The man eagerly extended his hand toward him. “Jeremy Smith, with Smith-Parks Entertainment.”

The tightening in his chest continued as he shook the man’s hand. Smith-Parks Entertainment was the company that had first put the Nashville Ex’s on TV, before selling it off to a bigger studio. Warner could feel his jaw tighten.

“I hear you’re a song writer,” Jeremy Smith said with an enthusiastic smile.

“I am.”

“And I hear that Clara Keller is going to be recording your songs.”

This man was good. He had some spies in some pretty remote places. “Yes, that’s the plan. She’ll be the voice on the demo tracks.”

“I’d love to talk to you about a new show I’m putting together. It’ll follow the careers of three different song writers and singers trying to make it to the top. You have a great angle already.”

And there was the catch. The man knew that if he could get Warner on TV and Patricia could get her claws into him even more publicly it would be a TV frenzy.

“Mr. Smith, I appreciate it. But I certainly don’t have the same appeal that Patricia Little does. I don’t think anyone would want to watch me.”

Jeremy Smith’s smile didn’t diminish. He pulled a card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Warner. “I hate Patricia Little. If I’d have cast her I’d have kicked her off the show. They hired her after I sold the rights.”

Warner looked at the business card and then back at the man standing before him.

Jeremy reached for his coat which hung over the back of his seat. “Give it some thought. I’ll be in touch. You have a good nature, Warner. I think people would be happy to see it, especially now that they know what kind of bitch you grew up with.”

Jeremy started out of the aisle and turned back. “By the way, I was here last night too. Her performance was spot on and that review that weasel put up about her was phony. I brought a few tonight to write some real reviews.” He gave Warner a wave. “We’ll talk soon.”

Warner looked back down at the card. It was as if he were holding Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket. He could have everything he’d ever wanted if he just didn’t mess it up.

Jeremy Smith hadn’t come back to the vacant seat. Not that Warner had really expected him to.

Now his head was buzzing with the thought of the TV show. That song was still whirling around in his head and Clara was kissing that guy on stage again.

He looked down at the card to take his mind off of that kiss.

When the show was over he poured out of the theater with the rest of the patrons and waited in the lobby. Clara probably didn’t even know he was there, would she know to come find him?

He took out his cell phone, turned it on and the text message pinged in his hand.

I’ll find you when I’ve changed. Thank you for coming.

So the girl at the ticket counter did tell her he was there.

Warner looked up from his phone and a man stood right before him. “Warner Wright? Can I interview you?”

He felt as though he were walking in some alternate universe.

“And you’re?”

“Sorry. Cal Carson. I’m with channel five.”

“Right. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to get your take on the performance and the theater.”

Warner looked at the man, who now held his iPhone out in front of him as a recording device just to catch his voice, but he didn’t have a camera.

“I thought the performance was spectacular.”

Cal raised an eyebrow. “Anything else?”

“What else can I say? The theater puts on top notch entertainment and has since they opened.” He knew because Madeline had made sure to tell him how amazing Clara was as Annie. “The music is superb, the sets are fantastic, and of course the actors were amazing.”

Cal nodded. “Clara Keller. How do you think her performance rated over last night’s performance?”

Ah, there we go he thought. “Both nights were perfectly executed. Her timing, her voice, her emotional delivery. I can say I’ve never seen Maria done better.”

Cal hit the button on his phone and held out his hand to Warner. “Thank you for your time.”

Warner narrowed his eyes on him. “Is that all you wanted to ask me?”

“Most certainly was.”

He nodded. “Mr. Carson, it was a pleasure.”

Cal Carson walked away as Clara emerged from the door behind him.

“Was that Cal Carson from TV you were just talking to?”

He turned and kissed her cheek. “Yes it was.”

“What did he want?”

“He wanted to know what I thought about the performance.”

She bit her lip. “He wanted to know why last night sucked and this one didn’t? Did he want to know why Patricia Little hates me now too?”

Warner ran his tongue over his teeth. “No. I was a little surprised her name didn’t come up at all. I certainly thought it would have.”

“So he only asked you about your thoughts on the show.”

“Yup.”

She grinned that sexy grin he’d been getting used to. “And you told him you thought I was absolutely amazing?”

“I absolutely did.”

“Really, Warner, that’s all that matters.” She rose up on her toes and gave him a gentle kiss. “Okay, I’m starving and I only have an hour to eat.”

“Doesn’t give us much time.”

“Deli around the corner. C’mon.”

Within the hour they were back at the theater, Clara was in her dressing room, and he was standing at the bar, sipping on a soda.

“Sticking around for the next show?” Arianna asked as she moved up next to him.

“Of course.”

She smiled easily. “I wasn’t sure that girl was ever going to fall in love. Looks like the right guy just hadn’t driven by her yet.”

He swallowed hard. “She had a lot of relationships?”

Arianna shook her head and the woman behind the bar handed her a bottle of water. She smiled at her, opened it and took a sip. “No. Clara was always one who was into enjoying her life with no strings attached. She liked her work here. She loves her friends. Her goals were more important.”

That stung Warner in the chest. None of that sounded like the Clara he knew. She was willing to give up everything to sing his songs and get them recorded. His mouth went dry and his took another sip of his soda.

“I’ve seen how she looks at you,” Arianna continued. “I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a family that waits for that perfect person. And when that perfect person comes along we scoop them up.”