Bluestone Song (4 page)

He didn’t hesitate. “Yep.”

“You won’t be alone here, either. Everyone
here wants to claim you as one of us.”

“You don’t?”

“You were a summer boy.” Something inside her
relaxed with the gentle taunt.

He set his bottle on the counter beside his
shirt, his smile widening. “I guess so. I felt like this was
home.”

“Do your parents live in Nashville now,
too?”

“They do. Their house got damaged in the
floods a couple years back, but they’re rebuilding. My sister lives
in California, has two kids, so they spend a lot of time out
there.”

She was being swept away by memories, of his
family that had been so normal, especially compared to hers. His
family had included her in so much because she was important to
Maddox.

She was happy for his success. She was. But
standing in this elegance made her want to squirm. Besides, it was
a home on wheels, ready for him to take off again, temporary. She
capped her bottle and set it on the counter. “I need to get
home.”

He straightened. “Why? You don’t work for a
couple of hours, and Linda is taking care of the baby, right?”

She eased toward the door. “Those aren’t the
only things I have to do, you know.”

“What else?” Something flickered across his
face. “You have a boyfriend?”

Dale’s image flashed in her brain and she set
her jaw. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” His eyebrows winged up. “You do or
you don’t.”

“I’m—thinking about it.”

He stepped closer. “I’m surprised you haven’t
married before now.”

She snorted and put her hand on the door
latch. “Because I need another responsibility.”

“That’s not the way to look at it.” He
scooped her hair back from her face. “You share the load.”

“Not in my experience.” She hated how her
voice shook as she looked at his mouth. Was it her imagination or
was he leaning closer? Her breath came faster. “I don’t want
another summer romance, Maddox. I don’t have time.”

“Okay.”

For a moment, he lingered, and she thought
he’d kiss her anyway, but he eased back. “It’s good to see you
again, Beth. You look good.”

Maybe, she thought as she made her escape.
But she was more trouble now than she’d been as a girl.

Beth was unnaturally jittery the following
night as she hefted a tray of drinks. She’d tried to get out of
working tonight, but Quinn had called in all hands—and hired two
new girls and another bartender—to accommodate the expected crowd.
Beth felt Maddox’s attention on her as she moved through the crush.
Time was, she’d appreciated his attention as she waited tables in
the diner, would even do a little swirl now and then to impress
him. But now, best to stay under his radar. He had plenty of other
admirers around him. She’d never seen so many women in Bluestone
dressed in tight-fitting T-shirts and cropped shirts, snug jeans
and short shorts.

Yet he watched her.

She’d expected he’d be busier, setting up or
something, but all he had was his amp, his mic and his acoustic in
the corner of the bar on the hastily constructed platform Quinn had
put in earlier today. She remembered the first guitar he had, one
he’d gotten at a garage sale. She’d saved up her tips all summer
long, telling him she was saving for a car. Instead she’d bought
him an acoustic Gibson.

She’d never forget the look on his face, the
delight, the wonder, followed by a drive to the lake and some
excellent kissing and serious petting on the hood of his car.

She wondered when he’d last played in a bar.
The last she’d heard, he was doing arena tours with Carrie
Underwood.

Of course there were almost enough people in
here to fill an arena, and all of them wanted beer. Now.

Maddox’s voice through the amp startled her.
“Welcome to Quinn’s, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Maddox Bradley.”

The applause and cheers echoed off the
rafters. Beth would have covered her ears if she didn’t have the
loaded tray.

He started with one of his hits, which
surprised her, knowing the little she did about concerts. She
thought the artists held their best stuff until last. But this way,
even with the crowd in Quinn’s singing along, she could pretend she
was listening to the radio, that the man himself wasn’t sitting a
few yards away.

She’d forgotten what a lovely voice he had,
without all the back-up instruments and technology to make him
sound good. He didn’t need any of that—he had a talent all his
own.

Once the raucous applause died down, he
leaned close to the microphone. “I’d like to play a song I wrote
when I was here in Bluestone one summer, a long time ago.”

Beth couldn’t stop herself from pivoting
toward the stage. As if expecting her reaction, he tipped his hat,
then strummed the intro to the song. A tumble of emotions she
didn’t want to identify rolled through her, and she turned away to
get back to work. Nonetheless, she found herself stopping to listen
as he sang the song that she remembered him writing, the full moon
over the lake, the crickets chirping, the pretty girl beside
him.

One he’d written when they were together.
He’d played it for her the morning after they’d spent most of the
night making out on the hood of his car under said moonlight. Son
of a bitch. He had to know she’d remember. What was he trying to
do? Manipulate her was what, but manipulate her into doing what?
Going to bed with him again? Why? He could have any girl he
wanted.

She kept her back to him, not wanting him to
see how he affected her. But she couldn’t drown out his voice.

The floor beneath her vibrated as he broke
into the song that had made him a star, the party anthem about
drinking, playing pool and picking up women. It was a catchy song
and she found herself moving in step to the music. Damn him.

“Take this to Maddox,” Quinn shouted at her
over the music, passing her a bottle of pop and nodding in the
direction of the stage.

“I have enough tables.”

Quinn glowered. “Too busy to be shy here,
Beth. Take him the damned drink.”

“Fine.” She set the tray down on the bar and
let it clatter. “My other order better be ready when I get
back.”

She snatched the bottle by the neck and
charged through the crowd to deliver it. At least he hadn’t
backslid, but what would people think about a man who sang about
whiskey drinking a carbonated beverage? She slipped and slid
between the people circling him and held out the pop silently when
she reached him. Damn, he looked even better than he sounded, sweat
dampening his hair around the edges of his cowboy hat, glistening
at the opening of his western-cut shirt. Her tongue curled against
the desire to lick his skin. He stopped mid-strum to take the drink
from her. She watched like an idiot as he tilted his head back and
drank, watched the muscles of his throat work. He set the bottle
down and picked up the song exactly where he’d left off, to the
delight of the crowd. He grinned at Beth, which jolted her back to
awareness, and she spun away to fill her other drink orders.

“Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to tip your
waitresses,” he worked into the song.

She managed to avoid taking him drinks the
rest of the night.

Leo Erickson and Trinity Madison walked in
and settled at an empty table in the far corner of the room. Beth
hesitated before walking over to them. They’d recently gotten
engaged and only had eyes for each other. Even taking their order
seemed intrusive.

And she was big enough to admit to a little
jealousy here. A big time news reporter who comes back to town to
fall in love with the elementary school counselor—the story had a
definite Cinderella vibe. Not that Beth wanted a fairy tale ending
herself, but she was happy for Trinity, who had been alone way too
long.

She pulled out her pad and approached. Leo
looked up from where he was rubbing his thumb back and forth over
Trinity’s knuckles, beneath a gorgeous, round diamond ring.

“Seems to be working so far,” Leo said,
nodding to the bar where Quinn and Jess were hopping to keep up
with orders.

“Let’s hope it has the effect of bringing
more people here to spend money all over town.” Leo, Trinity and
Lily Prater, the owner of the landing across the street, had
devised the idea of a concert series in Bluestone, to draw tourists
back to the dying town. Maddox was meant to be the highlight of the
series, but had backed out at the last minute. Hopefully his
appearance would bring people from the cities. “What can I get
you?”

Leo ordered a beer and Trinity a glass of
tea. Beth couldn’t help herself. She lifted an eyebrow at the
younger blonde woman, who blushed. All the answer Beth needed.

“We’re not telling anyone just yet,” Trinity
said, tightening her hands on Leo’s. “My parents haven’t quite come
to grips with us doing things backwards.”

Trinity’s father was the retired preacher,
her brother the current preacher. Beth made a zipper motion with
her fingers across her mouth. “Got it. I’ll get your order out as
soon as possible.”

But the two had already turned their
attention back to each other.

Beth almost bumped into Dale as she pivoted
toward the bar. He was heading for the door. She placed her hand
against his chest for a moment, then let it drop almost instantly,
too aware of the intimacy of the contact.

“Where you going?”

He inclined his head toward Maddox. “Too loud
in here. I don’t come in here to listen to music.”

The warmth in his eyes let her know exactly
why he came in here, and she blushed. “Tomorrow should be
better.”

“You work the lunch shift?”

She shook her head. “Quinn has a couple of
new girls at lunch so his more experienced waitresses can cover the
craziness.” She inclined her head toward the stage.

“How long do you think he’ll be here?”

Her blush deepened. Did he suspect about her
past with Maddox? “I have no idea. Not long, I’m sure. Things will
be back to normal before you know it.”

He kept his gaze steady on hers, those brown
eyes seeing too much. “I hope so.” With a nod, he edged past
her.

She followed his progress, then turned back
to see Maddox watching her through the crowd.

The bar cleared out pretty quickly once
Maddox stopped playing, but the place was a mess. Beth gathered up
beer bottles and other detritus from a table, and felt the tray
wobble. She spun to steady it, only to see Maddox standing on the
other side, his hands on the tray.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping.”

She didn’t let go of the tray and the bottles
rattled. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I can carry this. How hard can it be?” He
took a stronger grip and the bottles swayed.

“Maddox, don’t!”

Too late, the bottles and glasses shifted and
tumbled. Her reflexes weren’t quick enough and they fell to the
wooden floor with a crash. Quinn shouted from behind the bar and
Beth jumped back as bottles bounced on the wood floor.

“Are you trying to make my life miserable?”
she demanded, snatching the tray from him and tossing it Frisbee
style onto a nearby table before crouching to gather the bottles
and broken glasses. “Don’t!” she snapped when he reached toward a
jagged piece of glass. “The last thing we need is for you to cut
those hands and not be able to play.” But then he’d leave and life
could go back to normal. She picked up the piece gingerly and
placed it on the table behind her, then gathered the other bottles
within his reach before he could.

He sat back on his heels with a sigh.
“Beth.”

“I don’t need you to save me.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re butting in where you’re not
wanted and—”

“Problem?”

Beth looked up the long, jean-clad legs of
her boss, who stood over her, leaning on a broom. She popped up,
losing her balance for a moment, catching herself before she fell
back onto broken glass. She took the broom from Quinn without a
word and aimed the bristles between Maddox’s boots, sending bottles
rattling across the floor.

“What the hell, Beth?” Quinn grabbed the
broom back and looked from Beth to Maddox.

Heat flushed her face. “Why don’t I go help
Jess?” she said, not meeting either man’s gaze.

“Why don’t you?” Quinn agreed, and swept up
the mess himself.

Distance from them didn’t make her relax,
though. She was focusing so hard on ignoring Maddox that she didn’t
realize he was waiting for her outside when she was done. She
jolted when he pushed himself upright from where he’d been leaning
on the rail.

“So is that the guy you were thinking about?
When I asked if you were seeing anyone?”

“What guy?” Her head was starting to pound,
and the last thing she needed was Maddox Bradley stalking her.

“The older guy, the one who looked like he
wanted to kiss you when he left.”

Understanding clicked. “What, Dale?” They’d
had a flirtation for a bit, but he moved a little slow, which was
fine with her. She didn’t have time for another complication,
though she liked spending time with him, liked being around him. He
didn’t make her uneasy like Maddox did. “We’re friends.”

“He wants more.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have time to give him
more. I already told you that.” She started down the steps and he
followed. “Did you wait for me?”

He spread his hands as if to say, “Clearly.”
“I thought I’d see that you got to your car okay.”

“Maddox, this is Bluestone. We may not have a
lot, but we don’t have crime. And I didn’t drive tonight.”

He stopped for a moment. “You were going to
walk home at this time of night?”

“I do it all the time. It’s not far.”

“All right, then. I’ll walk with you.”

“No, thank you.”

“Beth.”

“Maddox. It’s the only time I’m by myself all
day. I’m not scared, I’m not in danger. I look forward to
this.”