The Pretty Lady and the Cowboy (Songs from the Heart) (13 page)

“If you need help, give me a call,” Jess said.

I dashed out the door without replying. I didn’t need help. Not from Levi, not from Jess. Not from anyone.

# # # # #

By the time I got to the police station, Ally was asleep on a cot in one of the cells and was just about impossible to wake up. The police had provided a basin for her to use “just in case,” and she had obviously used it. The cell reeked. As I sat down next to her, I was ripped in half emotionally. One half wanted to sympathize, comfort, and protect her; the other half wanted to give her a good swift kick in the seat of the pants. This was how my romantic day was ending, picking up a drunk sister from a smelly jail cell.

I tried shaking her gently, but that barely roused her. “Tired—go ’way,” was about all she was able to say. It took several minutes before I was able to get her to sit up. And it took the help of two officers to get her to stand. Her legs were wobbly, her gaze confused. She knew who I was but she couldn’t figure out where we were. I was told that the driver of the car was in another cell, but I didn’t even want to know about him. One intoxicated student was already more than I could stand. Whoever he was, he was going to have to depend on his own parents or guardian to rescue him.

The two officers managed to get Ally to put her arms around their shoulders and they half carried, half dragged her, stumbling, in the direction of my car. Fortunately, the rain had let up by this time, so at least she wasn’t drenched by the time they made it there. They dumped her into the backseat and struggled to get her seat belt fastened around her waist before she collapsed sideways onto the seat. She looked terribly uncomfortable. Not my problem, I thought coldly. I considered taking her to my apartment, but the thought of trying to get her up to the second floor made me veto that idea. Her room was on the first floor of the dorm, so that’s where I headed.

By now it was dinner time and lots of students were coming and going to the dining hall. I managed to commandeer a big, strong-looking guy and told him I’d give him ten bucks to help me get Ally to her room. It turned out he was a good choice. He didn’t make any sarcastic comments, he didn’t treat the situation as a joke, and he was, in fact, really strong. He simply scooped her up and carried her to her room and laid her on her bed, without my having to provide anything more than directions. A few minutes later, he had a ten dollar bill in his pocket and Ally was safe and sound. For the moment. When I tucked a blanket around her, she hardly moved.

Ally’s was a pretty standard issue dorm room. It was too small for all the stuff kids bring to college these days and probably would have been okay for a single student, but of course she had a roommate, so the jumble of books and clothes and papers and electronic equipment was doubled. I looked at the papers on Ally’s desk. Some had been graded and the grades were pretty good. At least she didn’t seem to be in danger of flunking out, even if she wasn’t working as hard as she could.

I was on my way out when an envelope on the corner of her desk caught my eye: the lease I had signed for her apartment off campus. I didn’t even think twice. I took it out of the envelope and tore it in half before putting it in my purse. That deal was now officially off. I left a note on top of her laptop:

Be at The Finish Line at noon tomorrow. No excuses.

The store had closed an hour ago, so there was no point in going back there. I headed for home, exhausted and depressed. I checked the phone, but there were no voice mails—not that I had expected Levi to call after the way I had left him. I had been blinded by emotion when Ally phoned me. I guess I’d be looking back on my time with Levi as the shortest romance of my life. I still didn’t think he was right about leaving my sister in jail overnight, but I had to admit that the fury I’d directed at Levi should have really been directed at Ally.

Or at myself.

I mixed myself a protein shake for dinner and then sat down on the couch to think. Tomorrow I’d begin some real tough love with Ally. I got out a pad and paper and made some notes about the new directives I would be issuing for her. I was gaining firsthand experience in which parenting styles work, and which ones decidedly do not. By the end of the evening I had distilled my new plans for her into a few simple rules.

As I wrote and thought, I had managed to push Levi to the back of my mind. But when I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin, I remembered the warmth of his kisses, his strength, the stillness and serenity of his embrace in the limousine. I replayed in my mind the tune he had gently hummed while he held me.

And then tears filled my eyes as I finally recalled the name of the tune: it was the old Elvis song, “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.”

The phone woke me up before my alarm clock the next morning and I immediately panicked. What had happened to Ally after I left her? Had she woken up, left her bed, her room, the dorm? What new trouble might she have gotten herself into? I heard it ring three times, then four. I just wanted a few minutes of peace this morning so I decided to let the answering machine do its job. The last thing in the world I expected to hear was Levi’s voice.

“Hey, JK, sorry to call so early, but I’ll be in rehearsal all day. I hope Ally—”

I flew across the room and grabbed the phone. “Hi,” I said.

“Woke you up, didn’t I?” Now how could he tell that from my one syllable?

“How can you possibly sound so awake this early?” I looked at the clock. It was just past five a.m.

“Unfortunately, the answer is ‘practice’ though I always wished I was a natural born early bird.”

I didn’t know quite what to say to him. “I didn’t really expect to hear from you,” I began cautiously.

“Well, now, you don’t think you can get rid of me that easy, do you?” What was it about Levi? He always knew how to make me smile. “How’s your sis?”

I told him about picking her up from the police station and getting her safely back to her dorm. And I told him about the new rules I’d worked out and my determination to enforce them.

“Let me know if you need help,” he said. I wasn’t sure what to reply to that. What help could he give me with Ally? I was pretty sure I’d soon have the problem under control. He continued, “I gotta run now, but are you free after work today? Maybe we could go find ourselves some carrot apple juice and chat a bit.”

“Tell you what,” I said. “Come on over to my place a little after three and I’ll rev up my juicer and make some fresh just for you.”

“Talk about an offer I can’t refuse!” he said. “I love a girl who knows her way around a juicer. Here comes a kiss for you, right through the phone. Did you get it?”

I said I did. “But I have to confess I like the real thing much better.”

“That’ll have to last you until later,” he said, and hung up.

And that was that. He seemed to have a rare talent for making things easy. He had let whatever had happened between us simply slide away. I had never known anyone like this man, so centered, so sure. But unless he was held over a night or two at the casino, he would give only three more evening performances—and then? I didn’t know.

When I closed my eyes I could feel Levi’s lips on mine, his strong arms around me. He had said to Jess that I was “special,” and he certainly made me feel that way. What about the Elvis love song he’d been humming? Had he been trying to tell me something by choosing that particular tune or had the choice been completely absent-minded? I didn’t expect him to declare his love after only three dates; in fact, it probably would have scared me to death if he had.

But I couldn’t help wondering—what? In the far recesses of my mind I was beginning to admit that I was falling for this gorgeous, wonderful, tender, understanding hunk of a cowboy. And somewhere even farther back in my mind, the question was forming: Is there a chance he could, maybe not now, but
sometime,
feel the same way about me? I was afraid to even think about what the answer to that question might be.

I put on some running tights and a tee-shirt, laced up my favorite Nikes, and went for a run along the shore. As I watched the sun slowly rise over the water I knew only that I wanted to be in Levi’s arms again. I couldn’t let myself think beyond that.

# # # # #

from Levi McCrory’s song notebook

“Perfect for You”—verse 1

If you wanted me to, I would light up the sky

Write our names in the stars half a million miles high.

If you wanted to ride on the back of a whale,

I would search all the seas so that we could set sail.

I would put the whole universe right in your hand

But my darlin’ I wonder—can you understand?

In my life I’ve done things I wish I could undo:

Can a man who ain’t perfect, be perfect for you?

# # # # #

Ally actually showed up at The Finish Line right on time, looking like she had just rolled out of bed. Her clothes were wrinkled, her face was pale. She had pulled her uncombed hair through the back loop of a Finish Line cap I’d given her. She looked completely pathetic, but I steeled myself. I was not going to let sympathy for her get in the way of what I needed to do.

She greeted me with, “Let’s get this over with,” as if to show me that she was the one in charge.

“Works for me,” I said. “But I don’t want to have this discussion in front of my customers. Let’s go sit in the car where we can have some privacy.”

I told Dan and Jess I’d be out back for a while, then led Ally to the parking lot. I sat in the driver’s seat. It was just a symbolic gesture, but, hey, I needed all the authority I could muster. Ally got in next to me and slammed the door extra hard. I ignored
her
symbolic gesture and took a deep breath.

I pulled out the lease that I had torn in half last night, gave it one more tear for good measure, and then put it down on the seat next to her. That got her attention.

“But I had it all
planned
,” she whined.

“Your plan is now officially cancelled,” I said.

“You can’t just—”

She tried to interrupt, but I cut her off. “Here’s the new plan. Listen carefully. IF you make dean’s list this semester and next, and IF there are no more incidents with alcohol, and IF you stay away from guys like the one whose drunk driving landed you in jail last night, and IF you check in with me every single day so that I can hear your voice and know that you have not been drinking…” I paused and took a breath while Ally glared at me. “Then MAYBE,” I went on, “we’ll discuss the possibility of an apartment in your junior year. Meaning NEXT September. Until that time, you remain in the dorm.”

Ally looked stunned. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me. You have no right to ruin my life like this.”

“On the contrary, I’m your guardian, so I have every right. And my primary goal here is to make sure that when you finally turn twenty-one you will actually still
have
a life. I’ve written the rules down for you so you won’t forget them. Here they are.” I handed her a sheet of paper that listed all my new requirements.

“And if I refuse?” She was still trying to be defiant, but I was not going to back down a single inch.

“No worries.” I shrugged my shoulders. “If you refuse, you can get your own place.” She brightened at that but as I went on, her face turned stormy. “Of course, if you refuse, you will no longer receive an allowance from the trust fund. And your tuition to college will no longer be covered, so you’ll have to drop out. And with only a high school degree, you’ll be faced with finding a job that will pay for your apartment and your meals and your clothes.” I paused. “I hear McDonald’s is always hiring.” I really didn’t want to sound like I was gloating, though I was, a bit. “Ally, the bottom line is this: I love you and I need to find a way keep you safe.”

“This is so freaking unfair I can hardly stand it,” she said. “You’re just being mean to me because I have a life and all you have is your lousy store. I have real dates with real guys and you’ve got some pathetic fantasy relationship with a guy who’ll be gone by next week.”

She knew how to hit below the belt. I had to take a deep breath to keep myself from escalating the argument. “Take some time to think about this when you’re not hung over, and I think you’ll see that it’s for your own good.”

She grabbed the paper I’d given her, stuffed it into her purse, and then opened the car door and got out. “Dad would never have done something like this to me,” she shouted. The whole car shook as she slammed the door shut.

I watched Ally as she stalked off to the bus stop, then I walked slowly back to the store, thinking. Was she right? Would Dad have handled this differently? Or better? It didn’t matter. I had to try to save Ally from herself and I had to do it my own way.

But it was her comment about my love life that hurt the most. Was she right about my relationship with Levi? For that matter,
was
there a relationship? Was I capable of a deep connection with a real guy that would last for more than a few days or a few weeks?

Too many hard questions!
I had done a pretty good job of maintaining a calm and authoritative exterior with Ally, but inside, I was a wreck. I hate arguing, especially with Ally. I was learning the hard way that being her guardian wasn’t all girl talk and pedicures.

I needed chocolate. A lot of chocolate. There are times when a turkey sandwich on whole wheat just isn’t going to cut it, and this was definitely one of those times. I headed to the drug store, bought a giant Hershey bar, and ate the whole thing instead of lunch. I didn’t even feel sick.

Jess cornered me immediately when I got back to the store. “So how goes it with the wayward younger sibling?” she asked.

I apologized to her for being such a crab the previous night and then I filled her in on the new rules I’d set down. “I think I made it pretty clear. This time, it’s my way or the highway,” I said.

Jess patted me on the back. “I’ll keep rooting for you,” she said as she dashed off to take care of a customer.

# # # # #