Music City (13 page)

“So, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is, Cheryl wasn’t too happy about it. She told me that she has already told her husband all about us, and that they are going to divorce, and I’m not just going to walk out of her life like this after she has already turned her world upside down.”

“Did you ever give her any indication that you wanted anything more with her than what you already had?” Derek asked.

Tracy stood and shook his head emphatically, “No! Never! In fact, she always encouraged me to date other girls because what we had was sex, and nothing more than that. Derek, you have to believe me.”

“I believe you, calm down and tell me what the problem is.”

Tracy started pacing, “Now she says she has told her husband, and she wants the world to know how much she loves me, she says she wants to marry me. She’s threatening to go to the press, to my Momma, to anyone who will listen to her. I’m not so worried about me, but I don’t know what this would do to Brandy, she’d probably never speak to me again, and my Momma? She’ll kill me. Lord, Derek, I don’t want to get married. I don’t love her. How did I ever get in this mess? She told me last night that she was going to start by calling my Momma. I’m embarrassed to say, she is old enough to be my Momma.”

“Have you talked about it with anyone? Your sister, maybe?”

“Vani would kill me. You know how protective she is of the family name. Vani will absolutely kill me and this will kill my Momma. Double funeral.” He sighed dramatically, “Great.”

Tracy sat down on the sofa with a thump, dropped his head and took a deep breath, “I don’t know what to do, Derek, I really don’t.”

“Well kid, I think the first thing to do is to talk with Vani, get her take on things, she’s a wise woman, has a good head on her shoulders. I think that’s the place to start—and sounds to me like you might need to do it, like yesterday!”

“She and Mom are on that flight to Alabama this afternoon, Derek. It’ll have to wait. I’m supposed to have dinner with Brandy tonight at her parent’s house. How in the world am I going to face this girl and her parents with this hanging over my head?”

Derek just shrugged, “I guess you just push it as far to the back of your mind as you can and concentrate on enjoying Brandy’s company.”

“I guess.”

“Yeah, but hey, don’t put off that talk with Vani for too long. Your sister is a powerful ally. Don’t you forget that.”

At about the same time that Shelly and Vani were boarding a plane for Auburn, Alabama, Dorothy Thompson was stepping down from a Greyhound bus in Nashville, Tennessee. Dorothy looked around, she had expected Nashville to be much more glamorous than what she was seeing.  As far as she could tell, it didn’t look much different from North Carolina, and that disappointed her.  It was a dreary place, and didn’t look much better as she managed to squeeze through the outside door.  She looked around at her surroundings, there was a dingy looking place with a sign that read Cowboy’s Pub and Grub on the left, and across the street a sign boasted twenty-four hour printing and faxing.  Dorothy walked into the station and approached a uniformed attendant. 

“Sir?” Dorothy said apprehensively.

“Yes Ma’am, how can I help you?”  The friendly man smiled at her.

“Please. C
ould you possibly tell me how to get to the nearest hotel or motel?”

The man glanced down at Dottie’s
well-worn shoes and ragged jeans, he knew that how a person dressed didn’t matter a lot these days.  She did look familiar to him, but he just couldn’t place who she was. “Why there’s a motel about five blocks north, Ma’am.”  He smiled kindly, “But if I was you, I’d just grab a taxi and go on out near the airport, there are some real nice places out there, the Marriott is real nice.  It would be a good choice for you.”  He lowered his voice conspiratorially, “You don’t want to be a walkin’ anywhere around here after dark .  It just ain’t safe.”

“Thank you so much,” Dorothy smiled.  “How do I call a cab?  I don’t know the number.”

The man tipped his hat to Dorothy, “I’ll go call one for you right now, Ma’am.”  With that, he was gone. 

Dorothy wondered how much the cab fare would be, then she remembered all the money she had in her purse, and she held it a little tighter to her body.  She was afraid, but she was excited too, she had never been to Nashville. Actually she had not been out of North Carolina, and she felt a little breathless as she peered through the window from the back seat of the cab. It was nearly dark, and she felt like she had spent three days on the bus instead of one. 

She could feel her heart beating in her chest, she’d never done anything so bold or daring, to her, Nashville might as well be Saudi Arabia. 
She’d never been in a cab before and she’d never spent the night in a motel. She hoped she could fake her way through the evening without losing all her nerve and calling Billy Joe. No! She’d never call Billy Joe, not in a million years. She’d be fine.

The cab pulled up to the
Marriott, Dottie stared at the lights of the lobby and the hotel looked huge to her. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do next, but she pulled a fifty dollar bill out of her purse. Tonight she needed to sit down and count that money. She had no idea how much she was carrying. The driver told her it would be $18.50, and Dorothy remembered that she should give him a tip. She looked deeper into her purse and found a folded twenty, egg money, she remembered that she had hidden from Billy Joe. She gave the driver the twenty, and told him to keep the change. He held the door for her and helped her with the small bag she carried, so she decided she’d done just fine with her first cab ride.

She opened the door to the
hotel, took a deep breath and walked over to the reception desk.

“I’ll be needin’ a room for a week,” she whispered.

“Excuse me? Can I help you,” asked a beautiful woman with skin the color of creamed coffee.

“Yes, ma
’am, I’ll be needin’ a room for a week. How much will a week cost?”

“Our nightly rate starts at $
119.00 for a single. Will you be needing a suite?”

“Ummm, a sweet? Uhhh, no, thank you. Does the room have a kitchen?”

“No kitchens, but we do have a small microwave, a coffee pot and a small refrigerator in each of our rooms.  A complimentary Continental breakfast is also included in that rate.”

Dorothy wasn’t sure if that was a good price or not, nor could she figure out in her head how much a week would cost.  “Umm, Ma’am, could I
have a scrap of paper so I can figure out how much a week will cost?”

The lady at the desk smiled at her, and tapped on the keyboard of her computer.  “Ma’am, I can give you a couple of discounts for staying the whole week, let me see what I can do.” And she tapped some more on her keyboard.  When she looked up, she smiled again, “I can give you the room for seven nights, for a total of  seven hundred
dollars, which includes tax.”

“Well,
that sounds like a pretty good discount to me.” Dorothy smiled, this was easier than she thought it was going to be she thought to herself as she counted out the money. 

The clerk looked like she was handing her toy money,
“Ma’am, we really do prefer to have a credit card.”

Dottie nearly cried. “I ain’t got no credit card, but I got money. Won’t that do?”

The woman’s eyes softened, she felt bad for the woman, she was obviously not from around here, the city would eat her up.  The least she could do was waive the credit card requirement.  She reached for the money, “Thank you, this will be fine.” She handed back a card.  “Please fill this out for me, and I’ll get your key ready.”

Dorothy filled out the paperwork, not sure if she should use her real address or not, finally deciding that it would be fine, this hotel wasn’t going to call Billy Joe.  She handed the card back to the receptionist, and the receptionist handed her a credit card looking key and her receipt. 

Dottie held the key card tightly in her hand and looked at the paper the woman had handed her. It read: ‘Dot Taylor.’ Good. The woman had copied it just exactly like Dottie wanted it. She only hoped she could remember to use Taylor instead of Thompson.

She headed to the stairs the woman pointed toward, and as she took the first step, a flash went off right in front of her. She looked up and it flashed again. Then she realized that someone had just taken her picture.

“Sorry Ms. Shepard! You are just too beautiful! Love this grunge look you’re sporting. You look real good, real good! I’ll be seein’ ya!” the young man shouted as he headed quickly for the door.

Dorothy didn’t have time to worry about it, he just had her mixed up with someone else. She shook her head, and continued up the stairs, keeping a tight grip on her purse and bag.

Shelly and Vani were visiting at the home of a very gracious Noel Bradshaw. The flight was pleasant, and they had checked in to a very plush and elegant hotel not too far from Noel’s home.  Shelly called from the hotel and made arrangements to meet Tom Bradshaw’s daughter at her home. As they talked, Shelly learned that Noel’s ex-husband had worked for a company based in Montgomery. After their divorce, Noel got the house and her mother and father moved in with Noel and her children to help Noel.

The next morning, Shelly and Vani pulled up in front of Noel’s home at eight. It was a lovely two-story brick colonial just outside of Montgomery. As the ladies talked and shared coffee, Noel told them how much of a blessing it
was to her for her parents to move in with her and her children. She said her parents were glad to get out of the frigid winters in Erie. They were a great help to Noel, and Noel and her children were blessings to Tom and Opal. But soon after they moved to Alabama, Opal Bradshaw died, and unfortunately, in the last several months, Tom needed more care than Noel could give him, and feel like her father was getting the absolute best care possible.

Noel was thrilled to hear the story Shelly told her about her father
.  Several times while Noel sat and listened, she had to wipe tears away from her eyes.

“That’s my Daddy, his heart is sure made of pure gold! Now, let’s get you over to see him, Ms. Shepard. I hope he remembers you.”

They walked down the hall toward Tom’s room, Noel leading the way. She had taken a personal day from work, and she wanted Shelly to visit with Tom during the morning hours when he usually felt his best. She knocked gently on the door, then opened it. Shelly and Vani hesitated behind her.

“Good Morning, Daddy, why look at you! You look great. You must have known you’d have company this morning. Look, Dad, I’ve brought some folks to see you!”

Shelly and Vani stepped through the door, a smile bright on Shelly’s face.

“Mr.
Bradshaw, it’s so good to see you. You might not remember me, but…”

Tom
Bradshaw’s smile was the biggest his daughter had seen in months, possibly years, “Well hello there, Miss Shelly! It’s about time you came to see me.”

Shelly knelt by his chair, and took his hand in hers. “You remember!” she smiled, her voice choked with tears. “You remember me.”

Tom’s blue eyes sparkled and he held her hand tightly even though his voice was a bit weak and hoarse. He reached his other hand across his lap and patted the hand that held his.

“I never forget a pretty face, Miss Shelly. You haven’t changed one bit!” Tom looked at Vani standing behind Shelly, “
This beautiful young lady is your daughter, isn’t she?”

Shelly introduced Tom to Vani and the old man was mesmerized by the two beauties
that had come to visit with him. He regaled them with stories of his travels, and with stories of his beloved wife and daughter. Shelly and Vani thoroughly enjoyed sitting back and listening to him talk.

They left when the staff brought Tom his lunch, but not before Tom had convinced everyone he most definitely knew who she was. He’d followed her career over the years, recognizing her face in the music tabloids that his wife loved, though he’d never tried to contact her. He told her that he and Opal had collected every album she’d ever made, but only he and Opal knew that she
was that brave little girl Tom had helped to Nashville.

Shelly was smitten. She told him quietly how much she appreciated what he had done for her so many years ago and how very happy she was to see him again. She told him a little of her life, but found to her astonishment, he already knew much of it. She promised to return often and Shelly
knew that was a promise she was going to love keeping. She put her arms around him and softly kissed his whiskered cheek good-bye.

Before they left to catch their flight back to Nashville, Shelly made arrangements with the
nursing home to contact her if Tom had any special needs and she checked to see that their maintenance staff would be able to install the sound system she was going to order for their common area. She wanted to make sure Tom could listen to any music he and his friends wanted.