Heartstrings (27 page)

“God, he’s beautiful, Tammy Jo. He’s absolutely beautiful.” She held him and felt the sting of tears as they ran from her eyes.

She placed him in Tammy Jo’s open arms, and the woman stared at him with unadulterated love.

The doorbell rang, and Abby scrambled up onto her feet and wavered a little until she got her legs under her. Tammy Jo wasn’t the only one weak from the strain. She let in the EMTs and almost hugged the first one across her threshold. “Thank God you’re here.” She ushered them into the living room and started spouting off vitals and times.

One of the medics looked at Abby. “You delivered the baby.”

Tammy Jo smiled. “Yes, she did. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her.”

Abby patted Tammy Jo on her arm as the medics readied the gurney to transfer mother and baby onto it. “You did all the hard work. I have to say, you did a fine job of it.”

Tammy Jo grinned from ear to ear.

The men moved her from the blood-covered couch to the clean white sheet on the gurney. Tammy Jo reached out and took her hand. “I won’t let him destroy you, Abby. Thank you.”

She squeezed her clammy fingers. “No, thank you for believing me. But I’m sorry too.”

Once the ambulance left with Tammy Jo and her baby, she flopped onto the floor and looked at the bloody, wet mess of the couch and bath towels. Just like her life, everything was ruined.

Mike turned out to be a stranger, and Seth broke her heart.

But did he? She blinked as her mind raced with a new realization. If Seth was sleeping with Amanda Lang, why would he have spent the night raising hell at Gatlin’s with Tucker and Vince Cowley, and why would he still be staying with Johanna?

When her gaze fell on the old sweeper, she broke down and laughed as tears ran down her cheeks. Just like her living room, maybe her life could be cleaned up too.

Chapter 13

Seth paced the bedroom of his bus. The band had come out on it. Damn, what was wrong with him? He slapped his thigh and stopped to peer at his reflection in the mirror. He and Amanda had spent the morning rehearsing their performance. Onstage now was the local band Lawman and they were working a crowd of about ten thousand.

The fair committee hadn’t advertised Seth’s performance and tried to keep Amanda’s appearance quiet as he’d requested, but once she and the camera crew arrived, the game was up.

Then the paparazzi showed up after Mike sold his shitload of lies to a rag. He hoped Abby was holding up through everything. The news of her delivering Tammy Jo’s baby yesterday was all over town.

So was Tammy Jo’s refusal to see her husband.

Abby. He needed to talk to her. Staying angry with her for not trusting him was not worth the heartache. But she had to understand, he would always have professional relationships with women that required more contact than sharing office gossip around the water cooler. Potentially acting out sexy scenes with actresses in his videos, possibly singing love songs with other female singers, and God only knew what the crazy groupies would try to get to him. But Abby had to trust him enough to know his days of being a playboy were over. He only wanted her.

He wanted to come home to her and their daughter.

The ring in his jeans pocket felt heavy. It belonged on the hand of the woman he loved. He had no idea when he’d pop the question, but he wanted to do it soon.

The director of the video ducked her head through the doorway. “You’re on in five minutes.”

“Thanks.” He grabbed his hat and guitar.

At the back of the stage, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Live video shoots were always nerve-wracking, but tonight he was out of sorts with his thoughts. He also had the added stress of knowing his daughter would perform with him later.

“Man, you okay?”

He nodded at the stagehand and adjusted his guitar. He took the wireless microphone as Amanda stepped up beside him.

He slipped the mic on and raised an eyebrow at her. “Who’re you channeling?”

She shrugged and fluffed her hair. “Daisy Duke.” She put her hands up and did a little twirl, showing off short denim shorts and a sleeveless plaid shirt tied below her breasts. She’d obviously forgone the buttons altogether, because her cleavage showed down to the knot. “What do you think?”

He laughed and pointed to the stilts pretending to be boots. “Don’t break your neck.”

She smiled and adjusted her mic. “Try to keep up.”

“Right.” Then he headed out onstage to the applauding hometown crowd. He waved and looked for Abby as he gave it all to a song he really was starting to hate.

Especially when he didn’t see the woman he loved amongst the sea of excited faces.

* * * *

Abby stared at the massive silver signature of Seth Kendall on the side of the shiny black tour bus. The tail of the last
L
scrolled and formed an outline of a guitar.

Emily unlocked the door and turned. “You coming?”

“Are you sure about this?”

Emily bounded up the steps and looked over her shoulder. “Yes. Seth told me to meet him here.” She held up the key. “Why do you think he gave me this? After he’s done with his set, he’ll come get me while Amanda sings.” Emily shuddered as Seth’s voice faded and the crowd’s cheer went up loud enough to be heard for miles around. “Holy crap, how many people do you think are out there?”

Abby glanced over the back of the outdoor stage. “Your grandma told me they sold over ten thousand tickets. About three times as many they normally do.”

Emily paled and swayed a little on the top step.

“You gonna be okay?” She went up the steps and set her hand on Emily’s shoulder.

She swallowed and met her gaze with widened eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this, Momma. What if I get out there and freeze up?”

Abby smiled and turned Emily around. She had no choice but move into the bus. She followed and sucked in a breath when she got a look at the red and tan leather seating, the gray marble of the kitchenette and the polish of the finely grained, blond wood paneling.

Two guitars hung on the wall over the couch and a banjo leaned against the wall. She shook herself when she realized Emily was completely at home on the tour bus, setting her guitar case on the floor and flopping on the couch with her feet on the cushion. “Momma, did you hear me?”

“You’ll be perfectly fine out there.” She moved Emily’s feet to the floor and sat beside her.

“How can you be so sure?”

She smoothed Emily’s hair and smiled. “Because you have too much of your father in you to not feel right at home on a stage, whether you’re singing to a handful of people or ten thousand.”

Emily seemed to search her gaze for a long moment before looking away. “Momma, I’d really like to make a record. Seth said he’d help me and produce it. We could do it after his recording studio is finished on the Double K.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” She couldn’t believe she was agreeing to such a thing. For years, she’d tried to smother Emily’s talent.

Emily sat straighter and stared at her. “Really?”

She wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, really. I think it’s great that you and Seth have music in common.”

The smile melted, and Emily shrank in her embrace. “But Daddy won’t allow it. He hates that I want to be a singer. All he talks about is me going to college.”

“Emily, I’d like you to follow your dreams. But I think we need to talk about Mike.”

“What about him?”

She considered her response. Now wasn’t the time to spring what she knew on her, but when the time was right, she was going to suggest she agree not to spend so much time with Mike. “We’ll talk after the show. Okay?”

Emily nodded and sighed as she glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s almost time.” Opening her guitar case, she lifted the amplified acoustic out and set the strap around her shoulder.

Abby felt an overwhelming sense of love and peace. Her little girl had grown into a beautiful young woman.

The door opened and Seth stepped into the bus. He stopped short when he saw her. She stood and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He took a step toward her and paused again. “I...I was looking for you in the crowd. I almost fell over an amplifier cord because I wasn’t paying attention.”

This thrilled her more than anything he could have said to her. She put the knuckles of her fisted hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. “That would have made an interesting video.”

“To say the least.”

She wanted to kiss the grin right off his handsome face.

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Emily raised her hands in exasperation. “Will you two kiss and make up already?”

Abby couldn’t hold in the laugh any longer. She took a step toward Seth the same time he moved toward her. His low chuckle filled her heart as he pulled her into his arms. Feathering his fingers over her cheek, he gazed into her eyes. She’d never doubt his love again. “You silly woman. I’ve loved you since I was six years old and you told me to go jump in a lake after I said you looked like a sissy in that frilly pink dress you wore to my birthday party.”

She wrapped her arms around him as the sting started in her sinuses. Damn, she was going to start crying. “And I’ve loved you ever since you stood up to those bullies on the playground when they started calling me names.”

“Which time was that?”

“Every time.” Then she kissed him.

He wrapped her up and deepened the healing until Emily reminded them they were not alone. “Okay, guys. I said kiss and make up, not make out.”

Seth pulled back and set his forehead on hers. “But you have to trust me. I’ll never betray you, but I do have a job and it requires playing nice to women like Amanda.”

“I know. I don’t have to like it. But I understand.”

He kissed her quickly on the nose and pulled back. “I heard you were a real hero yesterday.”

“All in the line of duty.” She shrugged and felt her cheeks warm. “Tammy Jo will be okay. But Mike’s really hurt her too.”

Seth raised his brow.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Emily stepped between them, and Abby was surprised to see tears in her daughter’s eyes as she wrapped her arms around her and Seth. “Now that we’re all good, the old man and I have thousands of fans to entertain.”

Seth tugged on Emily’s ponytail. “Who are you calling old?”

She shrugged and stepped back. “If the shoe fits and all that.”

* * * *

Seth stepped onto the stage and the crowd cheered. He glanced at Emily anxiously bouncing the toe of her boot on the wood floor in the wing then faced the audience. “Before I introduce my next duet partner, I’d like to thank all of you for coming out here tonight. Without y’all I wouldn’t be here singing tonight.” He paused as the crowd applauded and cheered. “But I paid a terrible personal price for my fame. One I’ve come to realize I’d have rather not paid.”

He cleared his voice. The crowd settled down as they realized this wasn’t a typical introduction, but a confession.

“Tonight I’d like to introduce you to someone who has recently come into my life, but there hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought of her in the past fifteen years.” He looked back at Emily and held out his hand. “I’d like to present my daughter, Emily.”

She stepped out and the crowd gave out a collective gasp. He waited until the chatter quieted down. He turned his mic off and whispered, “Ready?”

She nodded and took his hand. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

He smiled, turned his mic on, and faced the band. “One…two…three.”

As the band struck up the intro to the song he and Emily had written together, she stepped forward and belted out the first verse like a pro.

Dear God, she had the voice of an angel.

* * * *

“Holy crap, that was a rush!” Emily bounced down the stairs, heading for the tour bus. They’d sung four songs together then she’d finished with one of her own.

Seth wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You were fantastic.”